Page 6 of Knox

He didn’t see the metal beast until it was nearly upon him. A horn blared, a long, angry wail that pierced through the chaos. He froze, caught in the glare of its blinding eyes.

A hand shot out, grabbing his arm, yanking him back with a force that nearly sent him sprawling.

"Are you insane?!"

Adrian’s voice, sharp and laced with panic, jolted him back to the present.

Knox blinked, his heart pounding against his ribs as another metal beast roared past. He turned to glare at Adrian, anger replacing the shock that had momentarily paralyzed him.

"What in the hells was that?"

"A car!" Adrian snapped, his grip tightening on Knox’s arm as if he expected him to jump straight back into danger. "What did it look like?"

"Some manner of demonic contraption!" Knox retorted, wrenching his arm free. "And why are you following me?"

He could still feel the heat of Adrian’s hand on his skin, a lingering warmth that felt strangely inviting. Annoyingly so.

Did this human not know that you did not touch an incubus if you did not want to become his meal?

"You should be glad I was following you!" Adrian insisted. "I just saved your life! You were about to walk into traffic."

"Traffic?" Knox gestured toward the stream of metal carriages. "Is that what you call this chaos?"

Adrian ran a hand through his hair, his frustration evident. "It’s called a road," he said, his voice tight. "And those are cars. You know, automobiles? Internal combustion engines? Basic twentieth-century technology?"

"There’s nothing basic about this." Knox shook his head. "There’s no magic in these… contraptions. No enchantments, no living energy."

Adrian’s gaze narrowed. "Look," he said, taking a step back, "I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but it’s not funny. You’ll get yourself killed if you keep that up."

"I’m not playing any kind of game." Why would Adrian not understand that? How could Knoxmakehim understand? He took a closer look at the human, and noticed something that made his breath catch. "Where did you get that?" He reached out to the silver pendant Adrian wore on a necklace. A crescent moon intertwined with a thorny vine. It was the mark of the Night Court, the emblem worn by the prince Knox had once sworn loyalty to.

Back when he’d beenallincubus.

"That symbol…" Knox’s fingers brushed against the pendant, feeling its cool smoothness against his skin. No magic emanatedfrom it, but the recognition sent a jolt of something through him. "Where did you get this?"

Adrian flinched back. "It’s just… merchandise. I got it at a convention."

Knox stared at him. "Merchandise?" He shook his head, his frustration mounting. "This is no mere trinket. It represents centuries of lineage, of power." Sadly, it also represented theabuseof power. Generations of Knox’s family had served the Night Court faithfully, proudly…

But it had become corrupt.

Adrian licked his lips. "Actually, you can get one of these for five bucks on Etsy."

"Who is this Etsy you speak of? Is she a witch?" Even as Knox voiced his question, he knew that couldn’t be. There weren’t likely to be any witches around in a world like this.

That thought gave him pause.

Had he truly been transported to another world somehow?

But why?

"Look," Adrian said, "Maybe you should come back with me. You’re clearly confused."

Confused was an understatement.

Chapter

Three