“Incubus?” He was clearly accusing her of something, and his words stung. “I don’t know what an incubus is, but I think you well know that whatever powers he used on me were magical and therefore hard to resist. Abe was attacking me, and Zee came in to stop it. Hugo had been sucked dry before I even got in there.”

“Abe.” He spat the word like a curse. “You said he had golden skin and grey eyes?”

“Yes. And dark brown hair. He seemed perfectly charming at first.”

“Abrax,” he choked out the word, laying Zee down on the table. “I can’t believe you succumbed to his charm. I want to flay his skin from his body.”

Holy hell. “Who is he?”

“He’s an incubus. He works for Nyxobas, the god of night.” He crossed to her, his body crackling with fiery magic. “There aren’t many incubi in the world, and this one is pure evil.”

Dread crawled up her spine. “What, exactly, is an incubus? And what makes him so evil?”

“Incubi like him have the power to drain people. They can drain energy, magic, even souls to give to Nyxobas. That’s what he did to Zee. And an incubus can inflame sexual energy and take power from that. I’m guessing that’s how he transfixed you.”

She cleared her throat, listening to the sound of the howling wind batter the side of the boat. God, she was freezing. “There’s no point rehashing what already happened. It’s over. What do we need to do now?”

“It’s amazing to me that you dismiss tonight’s events so quickly.” He stepped closer, boxing her against the wall, his face burning with fury. “You failed to reap Hugo’s soul, and you let a shadow demon claim it. You do realize what this means?”

Fear tightened her chest. He’s going to send me to Emerazel.

Chapter 26

Preternatural power flickered in his eyes.

Adrenaline flooded Ursula’s veins. I need a weapon. He’s going to kill me. She still clutched her wyrm-skin purse, but Abe had run off with her blade lodged in his gut.

She scanned the room for something sharp, her eyes landing on an old cutlass that hung above a porthole. But with Kester blocking her path, she wouldn’t be able to get to it.

He inched closer. “I should never have let you go on your own.”

“Emerazel said you had to send me alone, and I know you can’t disobey her.” Anger tightened her chest.

His eyes flashed. “That’s one of the few sensible things you’ve ever said.”

Frantically, Ursula’s eyes darted around the room. Since the cutlass was out of reach, she needed to identify an escape route if he was going to sacrifice her. “And she said you need to send me to her if I screwed up again.”