Needing is One Thing

Chapter 12. And we'll start a fire...

James stepped closer, the moonlight shifting away as he entered the shadows Andrew stood in, the breeze blowing back his hair. The reflection on his glasses shifted to reveal the intense amber eyes behind as he approached.

"What, what do you want?" Andrew stammered, dropping his keys back into his pocket. Fear had his heart pounding in his throat but he held his ground as the taller man moved in and bent the few inches to meet his gaze full-on.

"Why can't my brother hear your thoughts, Mr. Lewis?" James quietly asked, his expression cold.

*

The boys heard the bang of a book hitting the floor upstairs. Mika was up. Matthew and Sam continued playing their game from where they sat on the floor in front of the television, but James watched her sneak past the doorway from the corner of his eye. He heard the click of the front door gently closing. She didn't lock it; she wasn't leaving.

All eyes slid to James but he shook his head and the boys resumed playing. It wasn't any of their business. Tomorrow the brothers would start hunting for Malix's gang. Once the devils were defeated, they could leave and James wouldn't have to face Mika anymore.

A couple minutes later, she came back inside, heading into the kitchen. They heard the coffeepot. Rather than heading back up to her room, though, James heard the garden door quietly open and shut.

"Where is she going, Damien?" he had to ask.

His youngest brother closed his eyes, focusing. "She's going outside to meet someone." He murmured, his brows creasing.

"Who?" James felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, certain he knew who was out there.

"I...I don't know. It's silent." The mind-reader frowned, trying harder to focus. "Just like..."

"Just like?" James prompted him to continue.

"Like when she was in the garden on the night of the party, and the other day."

"What do you mean?"

Damien opened his eyes and looked at him. "I don't know. It happens sometimes. Sometimes there are humans I can't hear, like K in the coffee shop." He chewed his bottom lip nervously. "There might be something wrong with my powers..."

James finally understood why Damien had been so hesitant to interfere in all of this. He forced himself to give his brother a supportive smile.

"It's alright. Don't worry about it. You and the others can head up to bed when you want." He addressed the rest of them, "Don't wait up for me." They eyed him with a frown but nodded.

Damien ducked his head nervously and got up from the couch, heading up to his bedroom as his James quietly slipped out the front door.

*

"What?" Andrew asked, incredulous, backing up a step.

"My brother can hear everyone's thoughts except yours. Every time you've come to see Mika he only hears hers. Why is that?" James strode forward, grabbing Andrew by his collar with both hands and lifting him up, eye to eye.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" The human's toes barely reached the ground. He tried to twist out of his grip, panicking.

"What sort of game are you playing?" James snarled, giving him a shake.

Andrew's hands clamped down hard on James' wrists. He muttered something under his breath as he looked at him. Black flames ran from James' wrists through him, lighting up every nerve in his body. Crying out at the sudden agony, he dropped Andrew and fell to his knees, bringing the human down with him. His glasses went flying.

Andrew stumbled and waved a hand in the air between them, more syllables passing from his lips. It lit James up again and he curled up, twisting on the ground and gasping for breath. His lungs felt as if they had caught on fire, stifling his scream. It burned him on the inside, leaving him panting. The human slid back away from him and made another motion, a scarlet circle flashing up around James where he lay.

Andrew rose, circling around the ring on the ground, runes bloomed on the asphalt beneath his feet as he walked and whispered under his breath. James fought the wracking waves of pain, tried to summon his brothers, but their names were caught in his throat. He felt himself weakening while Andrew appeared to be growing stronger.

"I don't believe I gave you permission to touch me, James." A whiff of brimstone hung in the air.

Andrew cocked his head, still circling, studying the incubus. "So, you're the Heir to the abyssal plains. Harold always wanted me to meet you. How did he put it? Oh yes, 'We would be great friends', I believe.

"For a Demon Prince, you're quite unimpressive." Andrew stopped, just across the line, facing him.

"What did you do to me?" James gritted the words out through his clenched teeth as his body went through another spasm.

"Oh, that?" Andrew twirled his index finger about, indicating the ring. He crouched, pulling the legs up a bit on his khakis to squat down on the balls of his feet. "That's a secret," Andrew whispered conspiratorially.

"A little spell, if you will," he grinned. "I wasn't 100% sure it would work but it looks like it got the job done."

James panted, trying to hold in his reactions to the pain flaring through his body. He didn't want to give Andrew the satisfaction. He tilted his head up and narrowed his eyes at his tormentor. "What are you?" he gasped.

"Oh! I thought you knew." Andrew stood back up. He raised his hand and traced another symbol into the air. "I'm just a little human."

Another jolt ran through James; he couldn't hold back the scream this time. It was strangely muffled within the circle. He turned his face into the asphalt of the driveway, gulping in air, his body shuddering.

"Did you think I didn't see you, James? That I didn't see how you looked at her? Or how she looked at you? And I thought those devils were a pain in the ass with their pathetic attempt to kidnap her!"

"You can't hold me here forever," James ground out.

"That's true," Andrew nodded, tucking his hands into his pants pockets as he regarded James. "But right now I've pretty much drained you of every bit of energy you have. That's going to hurt like a bitch in the morning."

Andrew stepped up to him, crossing the circle with his foot, breaking it, and nudging the toe of his loafer under James' chin. He tilted the incubus' head up, forcing him to look at him.

"I'm only going to give you one warning James, in respect for Harold," he explained to him with mocking patience. The circle flickered and faded out, leaving them in the shadows once more. "Stay away from my girl." Andrew cocked his leg back and kicked him in the side of the head as hard as he could.

James' world went black.