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It hit me then.

Of course.

“Incubus!” I called out. “I can feel you now! Show yourself!”

When there was no response, I spoke again, “The fact that I’m able to sense your interference should concern you, if you don’t make yourself known as I’ve asked. I have the ability to resist magical influence, but I can also manipulate it. If I breathe fire right now, it will harm you in the waking world.”

A few more moments passed, but then with a burst of black smoke, he materialized into being, appearing where Draven had been but moments ago, several feet from me.

“There’s a great deal unknown about me, specifically. If it’s any comfort, I’m sure your comrade wouldn’t have ordered you to dreamwalk me if he’d known about the danger that I could truly pose to you in this state. I believe he thought I would be the one in danger from you and your Incubus abilities. It is sweet how willing you were to risk that and help him, though. You hold him in high regard and trust him dearly, yes.”

“I do,” he answered, a little unsteadily, after all I’d just revealed. “That’s why when he tells me something is off about you, I believe him.”

“So, he sent you to try to learn more about me in an attempt to gather information so he can perform his puppet mastery on me?”

Instead of answering directly, he asked me, “Is this why you were sent to Maven Academy? Because you basically destroyed that other dragon?”

“There was a lot of collateral damage and heavy destruction before we reached his home in this space. That was more of a concern. I could have taken it easier during that aspect of our battle, but I didn’t. He needed a full demonstration of my wrath and thirst for destruction. I refused to show mercy to him or those who watched our battle, especially those who underestimated me and had hedged their bets with him.”

“Wow, that’s… a lot.”

“Well, we live in a time of control and repression. Something I don’t take well to.”

“I get that,” he murmured, his sexy horns glowing with his magic, the sign that he was highly-emotional.

Since discovering that Kai Hunter was close and allied with the Incubus, I’d done my research on his kind. That had been a little difficult, because he was actually a hybrid, and part sorcerer, so it hadn’t been clear where the line between true Incubus and what he was capable of was actually drawn.

I strode toward him and he tensed, and shifted his weight in his sexy black leather pants and extremely tight blue shirt that was basically molded to his skin and his chiseled torso beneath.

“You’re a gorgeous specimen,” I told him, as I stopped just a couple of feet from him, marveling at his expressive ice-blue eyes and his layered dark-blue hair that brushed his shoulders.

He tensed even more at my words.

“Not to worry, your allure doesn’t work on me.”

“Your interest alone could be what I’m actually concerned about.”

“I doubt that.”

I brushed some strands of hair out of his eyes and tucked them behind his ears with sensual movements that had him trembling, a little telltale moan escaping him.

“How about you play nice and tell me what Kai’s true intentions are with Ariana, and why he’s so threatened by my presence in her life?”

“It’s the other way around.”

“He’s concerned about my intentions?”

He nodded.

“How so?”

He shook his head and didn’t answer.

“Hmm, he believes them to be predatory, is that it? It’s the likely conclusion given what I am.”

“Maybe.”

“Interesting, so he is protective over her. It certainly didn’t come across that way with what he’s been doing to her.”