Needing is One Thing

Chapter 19. Flash your teeth, though the inside hurts.

Andrew shifted into 4th gear and accelerated, sliding through the traffic on Lake Shore Drive, dodging the slower cars and taking the curves instinctively. The sunlight flashed golden between the buildings, the highrises to his right blocking enough of the setting sun that he didn't need sunglasses. His Porsche revved as he changed lanes again, cutting off his fellow drivers. The honks, yelling, hand gestures, didn't even phase him.

This car had been Andrew's haven for most of his adult life. Driving helped him calm down, focus his body on a single task, and let his mind wander. Right now his thoughts were on the events of the day.

Sam. That was... unexpected. It had taken him almost a day to set up that charm. Harold hadn't specifically described the boys, had only off-handed mentioned a few skills, but his notes had been very specific about their magical signatures. He had made sure Andrew would recognize them if he ever encountered their magic. They were his lost children as well, and he wanted Andrew to help keep watch over them, should they need it.

Harold had been very clear that the second brother had the most power, the strongest magic. Andrew's charm shouldn't have cast without Erik being the one to trigger it. Perhaps the spell failed because they were brothers, sharing the same blood? It was difficult to know. You're only wasting time. Andrew's lips thinned as his frustration rose.

There were only two things in this life that Andrew wanted more than anything. Mika was the second. She was also quite possibly his key to the first.

Harold summoned the incubi, opened the gate and let them into the human world but he broke all the rules when he set them free. He snubbed the laws of the angels when he purposely gave the boys human identities and resources to live their lives undercover in the Prime Plain. They were a family of predators pretending to be human. It was then that Andrew finally believed he would help him as well.

Harold let those demons leave to find themselves. They were gone, doing whatever they wished while Andrew studied with him, developing his own demon magic under Harold's guidance. He waited, prepared for the day the warlock would free him, too. Instead, Harold was dead and the incubi had returned, moving in, James aiming straight for Mika. You just had to go for her.

Anger over life being unfair was useless. If Andrew let himself wallow in such self-pity, he would have never reached the age of eight. I need a new plan.

Sam had strength and speed along with his incubus powers of enthrallment. Strength required training to use it properly. Otherwise, he would only hinder himself. Andrew, himself, had never been physically strong. It would take months, years, to learn how to properly use it in order to make it worthwhile and he was certain it wouldn't do what he needed.

Speed? It could be dangerous. Human bodies could use demon powers in certain capacities, depending on the human; but some powers required a demon's body, their resilience and fortitude. The last thing Andrew needed was to find himself prematurely aging and burning his body out trying to harness it.

Damn it.

He was surprised to find the incubi there when Mika's mother escorted him back through the house when he left the party that night. He saw who he assumed were Erik and Damien, manipulating a drunk guest to get him to leave. Andrew couldn't strengthen his shields or get out of that house fast enough. He wouldn't go back in there, not into the lair of five demons.

There wasn't enough time to prepare. James' inopportune timing when he figured out Andrew wasn't "normal" forced him to act prematurely, reflexively. Now Sam's powers were all but useless to him. Not to mention I now have an incubus brother trapped in my workroom who would kill me just as quickly as James would if his memory returned. The other brothers won't be too friendly either.