Page 11 of Incubus with Benefits
Chapter 5
Lily
Themomentthesunburntidiot started spouting his bullshit about incubi and what he thought about them, I knew there was no way I could keep my mouth shut. I just hoped I managed to defuse the situation instead of making it worse, because I had a feeling that knocking some sense into the buffoon with my magic woulddefinitelymake things worse.
So that meant I had to rely on playing the dumb blonde, something I loved using to my advantage. It worked so well onstupid men, and some women too. I could have fun with this, especially since I managed to tag one of them with my innate charm talent. Too bad my natural magic talent was so weak that I could only influence one person at a time. It should be enough to give me a little extra sway.
Despite my charm talent, the two asked if I wanted to speak with them privately, like they thought I was too scared to tell the truth with Julian being there. Julian hadn’t invited them in, and that told me enough already. Tension oozed from him, and I knew that he’d have a problem if he lost sight of me. I also didn’t want to be alone with anyone, uniformed or not, with what had been happening. What if whoever it was paid a corrupt cop?
Why couldn’t it be Officers Hayes and Cooley? They were cool. But these guys, not so much.
I deflected by telling them that I’d known Julian for years… which technically was true. I’d known him… just not very well.
“So how can we help you?” I said, not planning on helping at all. I didn’t plan on saying anything more than I already had. I’d confirmed that I was, in fact,notmissing, and that was it.
The lobster-red one’s eyes were glued to my cleavage, so I used my magic to covertly cover up a little bit more, then tugged the cardigan closer.
The taller one cleared his throat. “We had a report of a woman with your exact description going missing last night after visiting Delerium,” said the taller one.
“Me? What do you mean?”
“Pink hair. Late twenties. Five foot six-ish. Short silver dress. Heels.”
I frowned prettily. “Well,” I said, keeping my voice sugary sweet, “aside from the pink hair and the heels, that’s not me at all. Also, I’m right here,” I repeated. “And I’m not missing.”
“Could anyone you know have called in to report you missing?” he asked.
I shrugged. Then, in my most dulcet tone, I repeated like a fucking broken record, “I’m not missing though.” I blinked several times.
“You have pink hair. That’s not very com—”
Julian butted in. “We had pink and purple lights flashing yesterday, and any blonde would look like they have pink hair.”
“That’s right, you did!”
That had both of them stumped. I took advantage of the silence.
“Well, it’s so nice of you to come make sure I’m okay. It means a lot.” I laid it on thick. “I know it’s hard work keeping Darlington safe.”
I stuck out my hand for a goodbye shake. The key was to get them to go for the shake, because they usually left afterward. It was drilled in to people. Shake, say goodbye, then leave.
They went for it, and I thanked them again even though they did jack shit. And soon they were getting back into their cruiser, and Julian and I were bounding up the stairs to his apartment.
The moment the door clicked shut, our eyes met, and we both broke into laughter.
“That was smooth as fuck,” Julian said, grinning.
I leaned back against the wall, trying to catch my breath. “Honestly? I wasn’t sure it would work. I might’ve cheated.”
“Magic?”
“Just a smidge.”
He stepped closer. “Still impressive. It didn’t feel like a normal spell. What was it?”
My face heated, and I waved a hand like I could shoo the question away. “It’s nothing.”
He didn’t budge. “That wasn’t nothing, Lily.” His eyes narrowed. “What are you hiding?”
