Demon Lover: A Paranormal Incubus Romance by Heather Guerre

Author:Heather Guerre [Guerre, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

7

“Hello, love.” Irdu wore his human face again—swarthy skin, broken nose, warm brown eyes. His black hair curled messily, blowing around his face in a teasing wind. She didn’t bother telling him to get rid of the illusion. He wanted to be human for a little while, and she was grateful that she was the person he could do that with.

They sat at the top of a mud-brick ziggurat, overlooking the bustling streets of an ancient city. The city was encircled by a tall wall. From their vantage point above the ziggurat, Autumn could see the green farm fields outside the city walls, cut through with snaking irrigation canals. Down in the city streets, people and animals streamed past covered market stalls.

“Is this where…”

“Borsippa,” Irdu confirmed.

Autumn inhaled sharply. “Why would you want to bring me here?”

“You often ask about what the world was like when I was human. It’s easier to show than tell. What do you think?”

“It’s fascinating. But macabre, considering what happened to you here.” Autumn turned her gaze back to city. “Can we walk in the streets?”

Irdu took her hand, and suddenly they stood on the edges of a packed-earth street in the shadow of a towering wall. A man and woman passed by them, dressed in brightly colored robes, elaborately draped, belted at the waist, and decorated with tassels and fringe. Their dark hair was fashioned into curls, elaborately worked metal jewelry encircled their throats, fingers, wrists. Up ahead, less finely dressed people made up the bulk of the crowd, wearing shorter, belted robes and little jewelry. Laborers—men—dressed only in wrapped loincloths stood atop the wall, heaving bricks into place.

“It’s not perfect,” he told her. “My memory is a little hazy.”

“Well, it’s been several thousand years,” Autumn allowed.

Irdu took her hand and pulled her towards the stretched awnings of a street market. Goats, chickens, and stray dogs milled among the people. They passed another temple, a square building, towering high above the street, but nowhere near as tall as the ziggurat they’d just left. Bas-relief sculptures decorated the walls leading up to the temple.

“What’s that?”

“The temple of Inanna.”

Autumn stiffened beside him. Inanna—the very figure whose descent into the Underworld may provide the clues Autumn needed to… what? Save Irdu? Was it even possible? She glanced sidelong at him.

Irdu’s gaze traveled over the city street, his expression remote.

“Does it bother you to remember this?” Autumn asked.

“I tried to wait for you to dream of a place you remembered. But your dreams were strange tonight. Darkness and faces…”

“I can try to show you something.”

“It doesn’t work that way. Once I enter your dream state, only I—”

Autumn ignored him, concentrating on the image of her paternal grandparents’ home. The ancient city whispered away like smoke, and suddenly the two of them were standing in the living room of a small Chicago bungalow. The walls were wood-paneled, and the shag carpet beneath their feet was some indeterminate color between green and brown. Kitschy green owls hung above a red brick fireplace.

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