Page 20 of Incubus with Benefits
When had he called Julian? Then I remembered Nathan fiddling with his headset earlier. He must’ve done it then.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Nathan asked tightly. “Alone?”
Great. So much for my investigation. I stood. “It’s okay, I’ll go.” Then I squeezed past one sexy incubus and made my way back out to the club.
The club was just starting to fill up. People trickled in through the velvet-curtained entrance, some dressed to impress, others already half-drunk and ready to dance the night away. Colorful lights flashed overhead, casting quick bursts of pink and violet across the glossy dance floor.
I scanned the crowd, noting the mix of humans and monsters. Some of them were glamoured to blend in, I was sure, but most flaunted their inhuman attributes proudly. A pair of mermaids—or were they naiads? I could never tell the difference—sat perched by the bar. They wore their legs, but had fins jutting out behind their ears, the scales shimmering iridescent in the light. There was a being with an ogrelike face with both horns and tusks jutting out of it, but he was red instead of brown or green.
They were accepted here, no matter what they looked like.
My hand went to the thick gold chain hanging around my neck. Julian had let me borrow it for one last attempt at a protective charm. Apparently, getting thoroughly tangled up with him had done the trick. I’d managed to channel enough energy into it without another magical mishap. A good thing too, because I already felt horrible enough for ruining his dining room. I didn’t want to melt his jewelry too.
The charm wouldn’t activate unless I was in real danger, but it wasn’t inert either. The necklace should heat up in the presence of offensive spells like a magical warning system.
I stepped onto the club floor, blending in with the crowd like just another party girl on a Friday night. But my mind was still back in that cold little room, replaying every word Nathan had said.
He’d mentioned a coven. Of the two witches who’d gone missing after visiting Delerium, only one was officially part of a coven. Marissa. A dream witch who specialized in dream walking and astral projection.
I made a mental note to talk to her coven sisters. If they suspected Nathan, I needed to know why. That was one thread worth pulling.
As I danced, I kept my eye on the bartender. The DJ was different from last night, but the bartender was the same. I made my way over to grab a drink and maybe chat him up. But the music was so loud, I realized small talk was going to be damn near impossible.
I know! The bouncer!
I slowly made my way off the dance floor, which was really starting to fill up, and headed for the door. I found the bouncer, a fire imp, letting in the last groups in the line. The women looked young, and he was painstakingly checking all their IDs. As he did, I took out my phone and pretended to check it. When it was nothing but us and Darlington’s streets, I went to introduce myself.
Deciding to start off with a little bit of my magical charm from the get-go this time, I turned on my talent ever so subtly. Since my talent wasn’t like a spell you could cast, and it wasn’t offensive, I hoped it would get past the club’s offensive magic shields, which surely extended out beyond the club if only to protect its employee. It was still strange to use it after so many years pretending it didn’t exist.
I introduced myself, but he already knew who I was.
“Oh, you’re the lady from last night. I hope you’re feeling better. I’m Flint.”
“Fire demon?” I thought it was a little obvious, but I asked anyway. To my surprise, he rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little sheepish.
“Kinda. I let everyone think I’m a normal demon, but I’m actually just an imp.” His tough-guy persona and massive body seemed to shrink a little. “Flint, the fire imp, at your service.” He held out a hand.
I grinned and took it, trusting he wouldn’t burn me.
To my knowledge, imps were still demons, but just a more diminutive type. Less magic, less power, less substance. It seemed Flint was a little bit embarrassed about it, so I decided to boost his ego a little.
“Well, I would’ve never known if you hadn’t told me. You’re just as big and bad as any demon.”
He stood a little straighter and puffed back out to his previous size. “Thanks. I’ve been working out.”
Flint and I chit-chatted a bit before I asked about the missing witches.
He was worried that any negative attention on the club might force it to shut down, and he’d be out of work. “It’s not like the old days, where we could just hang out in the woods. We actually need income now if we want to be part of society. Besides, I’ve done the whole hideout in the woods thing enough. It’s boring as fuck. It’s a lot more fun in the city.”
I liked Flint; he gave off chill vibes, despite being a fire imp and looking like a giant wall of flaming muscles.
“Well, I’m Julian’s friend, and I don’t think he has anything to do with it. I just need to find out what really happened to get the cops off his ass.”
“Good. He’s a good guy for an incubus, and this is a good gig. If I find out anything, I’ll pass it on.”
“Thanks. You’re being a lot more helpful than Nathan.” I watched his face for any reaction.
The fire imp chuckled. “Of course. He used to date one of the witches who went missing. Marissa. Anyway, she dumped him because her family didn’t approve of her dating a bear shifter with a kid. Her coven and family are sure he’s behind everything.” Flint rolled his eyes. “I think it’s silly, because she wasn’t the only witch to go missing, and Nathan didn’t know theother one. And Nathan wouldn’t do anything like that anyway. He was heartbroken, but he’d never hurt her.”
