Page 31 of Incubus with Benefits
Julian
Itwasmysecondday of following Nathan around, and so far, I’d found nothing out of the ordinary. The shifter didn’t even have magical wards or charms around his home, which meant I’d been able to sneak in and scout the place out.
The inside was a shrine to his daughter. There were photos of her everywhere. Molly at the beach. Molly in a tutu. Molly with a giant stuffed bear at some amusement park, where someone hadclearly tried to Photoshop his ex-wife out of the family picture. Badly. Her outline still lingered like a cursed ghost.
There were also several more recent photos of Nathan and Molly with a familiar woman, this one not Photoshopped out. They looked like a happy family. This must be Marissa.
This morning Nathan had dropped his daughter Molly off at school, just like he had yesterday, and headed to his other gig, private security for a jewelry store downtown.
Nathan’s job was exceptionally monotonous. He just stood there by the door in his uniform all day, and I’d found myself distracted by everything else that was happening around him instead.
Despite being not too far away from Delerium, I was unfamiliar with the area. I’d gotten too comfortable with my routine, and it had been some time since I’d gone out and actually explored the city. Darlington had been changing at record speed since The Wall fell, and our magical town was exposed to the world. It was technically a small city now, and with it came tons of new businesses.
A new restaurant called Rodízio Nocturne caught my eye with its elegant and mysterious front entrance. I dug out my phone—I’d brought it today, just in case, even though it meant I couldn’t pop into or out of existence—and looked it up. According to the website it was a Brazilian steakhouse that opened only after sunset, and where the servers might not be entirely human.
Here in Darlington, it was not uncommon for the servers to be non-human. But the way it was worded and the design ofthe website hinted that perhaps the owners and servers were vampires. Intriguing.
Vampires were creatures I wasn’t sure existed, and I’d been around for a very long time.
Dragons? Check.
Witches and wizards? Plenty of them.
Demons and incubi? Right here!
Nagas, minotaurs, and mermaids? Seen ‘em all.
Shifters? A dime a dozen.
But vampires were still in the realm of rumors and hearsay. If they were real, I’d guess it was because they were very private beings.
Before I could overthink it, I snapped a photo of the front of the restaurant and sent it to Lily.
Me: Ever been here?
She didn’t reply immediately, and Nathan was still standing by the jewelry store like a statue, so I tried to distract myself by doing some people-watching. Downtown Darlington was great for that.
A woman in a pencil skirt and heels strode past, phone pressed to her ear, her voice clipped and sharp. She looked completely human, but the faint shimmer around her betrayed her truenature. Siren. Probably working in finance. A trio of teens loitered near the café, laughing too loudly and sipping bubble tea. Wasn’t it still school hours? A delivery driver parked his scooter and jogged into a café, returning a moment later with two packages of food.
But it was the man across the street in a neon safety vest who caught my attention. He’d been there arranging and rearranging traffic cones around a pothole. I had disguised myself as an old man reading his daily newspaper and settled onto a nearby bench. Hours later he was still arranging and rearranging the same traffic cones.
I squinted, making the rods and cones in my eyes as sharp as those of an eagle. Sure enough, the pothole I’d assumed was there wasn’t.
Who the hell was he, and what was he doing here?
The phone in my pocket vibrated, and I picked up.
Lily:Nope. Never been. But it looks good.
Me: Want to go?
Lily: You trying to seduce me with steak?
Me: Don’t need steak for that. Just makes it easier. How about tonight?
There was a pause.
My eyes drifted up to check on Nathan. There was another security guard there now in the same uniform, and they were conversing.
