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Authors: John Corwin
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stared at him. "She taught you?"
"In a manner of speaking."
"What, you don't know how to love?"
"Not in the same way humans do."
I felt my eyebrows rocket upward. "What other
way is there?"
His eyes looked skyward, as if he were thinking
hard about it. "I remember the first time I saw her. I felt light
as air. I wanted to touch her skin. I wanted to stroke her hair. I
wanted to feel her naked body against mine."
"TMI, man!" I said, covering up my ears. I
lowered my hands. "In other words, you lusted after
her."
"At first. Eventually, she taught me what it
was to really love someone." He gave a wistful smile. "Sometimes I
regret it."
"You regret learning to love?"
"It's not a pleasant experience when you hit a
downturn."
"You mean like getting into arguments, or
arguing over the remote control?" I asked.
"As in the woman you love was just killed, and
you're faced with an eternity of anguish and
heartbreak."
I blinked a couple of times at his response.
"She's not dead. Your argument is invalid."
"At the time, I thought she was." He rubbed his
forehead as if warding off a headache, stopped, and turned to me.
"I met your mother when humanity was in its infancy. We fought a
war together. I thought she died. I then endured a very long period
of time in which I propagated Daemos across the mortal realm, made
up a bunch of meaningless rules to keep them in order, and tried to
forget the agonizing ache in my heart. I then discovered Alysea
was, in fact, not dead, but somehow a young girl being raised by—"
He broke off, brow furrowed as he looked around our bland
environs.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Just a strange feeling."
"In your case, I think we can safely say it's
not puberty."
He laughed. "I'm glad you have my sense of
humor, Justin."
"Keep going with the story," I said, not
willing to be dragged off track.
"Ah, yes." He tapped a finger to his chin. "I
don't know how I knew the girl was Alysea, but something inside me
surged at the first sight of her. The following years of waiting
for her to mature were more torturous than the centuries before
because I had no idea if she would remember me."
"She did, obviously," I said.
"After a time." He pursed his lips. "I took her
to the place I first told her I loved her." His eyes looked a
little dreamy. "It was like flipping a switch in her
mind."
He no longer seemed like the uncaring asshole
from two minutes ago, but a lovesick boy. I had to wonder if maybe
my dad had severe mental issues. "You make it sound like a fairy
tale," I said.
"I suppose it was."
"Then what the hell happened? Why are you
marrying Kassallandra?"
His gaze flicked to the side. "We aren't
alone."
"Are those men back?"
He shook his head. "No. It's something
else."
Ice seemed to glaze my stomach. "Something
worse?" I almost didn't want to know if something monstrous lurked
unseen in the fog, like a giant spider, or snakes—or even
worse—giant spider snakes.
"I'm not sure," he said, eyes sweeping the
grayness. He motioned me to follow and set off at a steady
pace.
I followed close behind. "How do you know
someone is there?"
"Use your senses."
"Your incubus senses are working?" I hadn't
thought to try them, especially since none of my other abilities
seemed to function.
"Just barely. It's an effort to switch them
on."
David was right. What was usually instantaneous
instead took me several minutes of closing my eyes and
concentrating intensely. Reaching inside to flick the switch was
more like fumbling through a pool of black tar to tug on a heavy
lever. When I opened my eyes, the fog glowed all around us,
limiting my field of view even more. On the other hand, it made it
a lot easier to detect where David was in relation to me. I jogged
to keep up with him and simultaneously sent tendrils of my essence
questing into the surroundings. Within seconds, I encountered
something alive. It wasn't human, and it didn't feel like an
animal. It radiated what I could only equate to a strange
"In a manner of speaking."
"What, you don't know how to love?"
"Not in the same way humans do."
I felt my eyebrows rocket upward. "What other
way is there?"
His eyes looked skyward, as if he were thinking
hard about it. "I remember the first time I saw her. I felt light
as air. I wanted to touch her skin. I wanted to stroke her hair. I
wanted to feel her naked body against mine."
"TMI, man!" I said, covering up my ears. I
lowered my hands. "In other words, you lusted after
her."
"At first. Eventually, she taught me what it
was to really love someone." He gave a wistful smile. "Sometimes I
regret it."
"You regret learning to love?"
"It's not a pleasant experience when you hit a
downturn."
"You mean like getting into arguments, or
arguing over the remote control?" I asked.
"As in the woman you love was just killed, and
you're faced with an eternity of anguish and
heartbreak."
I blinked a couple of times at his response.
"She's not dead. Your argument is invalid."
"At the time, I thought she was." He rubbed his
forehead as if warding off a headache, stopped, and turned to me.
"I met your mother when humanity was in its infancy. We fought a
war together. I thought she died. I then endured a very long period
of time in which I propagated Daemos across the mortal realm, made
up a bunch of meaningless rules to keep them in order, and tried to
forget the agonizing ache in my heart. I then discovered Alysea
was, in fact, not dead, but somehow a young girl being raised by—"
He broke off, brow furrowed as he looked around our bland
environs.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Just a strange feeling."
"In your case, I think we can safely say it's
not puberty."
He laughed. "I'm glad you have my sense of
humor, Justin."
"Keep going with the story," I said, not
willing to be dragged off track.
"Ah, yes." He tapped a finger to his chin. "I
don't know how I knew the girl was Alysea, but something inside me
surged at the first sight of her. The following years of waiting
for her to mature were more torturous than the centuries before
because I had no idea if she would remember me."
"She did, obviously," I said.
"After a time." He pursed his lips. "I took her
to the place I first told her I loved her." His eyes looked a
little dreamy. "It was like flipping a switch in her
mind."
He no longer seemed like the uncaring asshole
from two minutes ago, but a lovesick boy. I had to wonder if maybe
my dad had severe mental issues. "You make it sound like a fairy
tale," I said.
"I suppose it was."
"Then what the hell happened? Why are you
marrying Kassallandra?"
His gaze flicked to the side. "We aren't
alone."
"Are those men back?"
He shook his head. "No. It's something
else."
Ice seemed to glaze my stomach. "Something
worse?" I almost didn't want to know if something monstrous lurked
unseen in the fog, like a giant spider, or snakes—or even
worse—giant spider snakes.
"I'm not sure," he said, eyes sweeping the
grayness. He motioned me to follow and set off at a steady
pace.
I followed close behind. "How do you know
someone is there?"
"Use your senses."
"Your incubus senses are working?" I hadn't
thought to try them, especially since none of my other abilities
seemed to function.
"Just barely. It's an effort to switch them
on."
David was right. What was usually instantaneous
instead took me several minutes of closing my eyes and
concentrating intensely. Reaching inside to flick the switch was
more like fumbling through a pool of black tar to tug on a heavy
lever. When I opened my eyes, the fog glowed all around us,
limiting my field of view even more. On the other hand, it made it
a lot easier to detect where David was in relation to me. I jogged
to keep up with him and simultaneously sent tendrils of my essence
questing into the surroundings. Within seconds, I encountered
something alive. It wasn't human, and it didn't feel like an
animal. It radiated what I could only equate to a strange
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