Page 4 of Incubus with Benefits
I couldn’t imagine limiting myself to just one source of power for the rest of my life, not after having been spoiled for choice for so long, which was exactly why my growing obsession with Lily was so strange. The sexy little witch danced in front of me, her body knowing precisely how to move to make me want to drop to my knees and worship at the altar of her body.
Maybe it was the lure of something I couldn’t have. A challenge. Maybe after I’d won her over and I’d spent several days or weeks pumping into her, the covetous feeling would fade. Yes, that must be it.
My head of security, Nathan, caught my eye from across the room with a look too grim to ignore. I excused myself, reluctantly peeling away from Lily’s presence.
“What’s the news?” I asked, stepping into the shadowed hallway with him.
The huge-ass bear shifter didn’t waste words. “Someone tried to mess with our cameras. Ran when we spotted him. Disappeared around the corner.”
We went out back to scour the area. The corner the guy disappeared around was a dead end. Nothing but a wall, a garbage can, and the strong smell of ozone.
“Ozone,” I said. “He used a portal.”
Nate nodded. “Think it’s the po-po trying to pin something on you after last week?”
“Could be,” I said noncommittally.
My entire security team had been on high alert since last weekend, when two witches vanished after leaving the club. The cops came on Monday—not Cooley and Hayes, the pair I was used to dealing with—but two men I’d never met before. They arrived with all sorts of accusations, playing good cop andbad cop, and trying to get me to slip up and say something incriminating.
They were convinced the disappearances were tied to Delerium. Demons of any kind were often the first suspects when women went missing, incubi and succubi even more so. It was hard enough fighting the stigma to keep my club open. I didn’t need rumors flying about witches disappearing at my club.
I didn’t know what happened to those witches, and that was the truth. But I also hated being in the dark. This club, this whole block, was mine to protect. And I took that seriously.
Lucky for me, we had video proof that both witches left the club. One even hit a twenty-four-hour kebab place across the street. My cameras caught her crossing the road, and the money trail backed it up. Still, one of those smug bastards tried to claim my footage was doctored. But facts don’t lie. And neither do credit card transactions.
And now someone was tampering with my surveillance. Nate was right; it could be the cops. But it could also be whoever is targeting witches.
We did a quick walk of the perimeter and headed up to the roof for a quick check before stepping back inside to the security room, where several screens met us. The only video we’d gotten of the guy was useless. Dressed head to toe in the epitome of nondescript black clothes, the guy had pulled a buff over his face. There were no defining features at all.
I continued to scan the videos, then cursed when my eyes landed on the video of Lily by the bar. A guy was giving her unwelcomeattention, grabbing her ass, which resulted in her throwing her drink at the man’s face.
“Little Lily, already getting into trouble,” I mumbled under my breath. “Send someone to defuse the situation, will ya, Nate?”
Usually, I’d trust her to take care of herself; I knew she was capable. But with the witch-napper on the loose, I’d much rather she draw as little attention to herself as possible.
“I’m on it.” Nate barked a few orders through his radio, and a guard showed up just as the idiot decided to grab her by the hair. But it seemed Lily didn’t need help after all because the man’s face suddenly screwed up like something was grabbing his balls. No one touched him, but Lily’s magic sizzled around him, the same bright pink as her aura.
Soon Lily was walking away with a replacement drink in her hand, and the idiot was being taught that here in Delerium no meant no, and it was enforced by monstrous guards not scared to show their less-than-human side.
I finished scouring the rest of our feeds, taking longer than I wanted, before I returned to the public-facing area of the club, leaving Nate with his screens. About time too. I was missing too much of the action, and I didn’t want my newly jobless little witch going home with someone else. I’d decided that she was my newest conquest, and if anyone was going to distract and console her, it would be me.
What I saw next had my nonexistent blood boiling.
Lily was passed out at their table, and her friends surrounded her, worried. Thanks to the privacy spell around the VIP tables, no one else noticed them.
“What happened?” I squeezed my way through the circle to reach her.
“We don’t know,” Penny said, wringing her hands. “We got back from the ladies’ room and were dancing, then she felt dizzy and had to sit down. Then she was out cold.”
Griselda, or Gigi for short, reached out to touch her friend. “It’s a spell. I can feel magic that isn’t her, but I can’t trace it.” She looked out into the writhing mass of clubgoers like she was trying to see who was responsible. “It will fade. But we should probably get her back home.”
“Should she be alone right now, though?” Penny asked. “You know, because of the thing?”
The thing? What did she mean?
“You’re right,” Gigi said, nodding. “Someone should watch her, at least until she wakes.”
“I’ll do it.” I didn’t realize I’d volunteered until the words left my mouth.
