Page 13 of Oh No! There’s an Incubus in my Hot Spring (Getting Cozy with Demons #1)

thirteen

Just Witchy Things

W e clean up Apollo’s bloody chest and then fix up the things displaced by my power.

“So, what was that?” I ask him as we right a fallen chair.

“I’m not sure if you summoned the wind, or if you moved Turtleneck with something stronger, like telekinetic manipulation. I’d like to experiment with you.”

“Okay, but I’m not even sure how I did what I did.”

“I felt the surge of power through you. You borrowed my energy,” he says, pointing to my bare feet. “With your spell word, you made your intent known to that energy and then manifested your desire.”

“My spell word?”

“ Out . Very simple, but the command was clear. Young witches need spell words to shape their intents clearly for the energy to match what you want, but as you grow, you’ll be able to wordlessly cast with just ideas.”

I smooth my feet across the stone floor. “Will I always need to draw power from the mountain?”

“Once we discover what fuels your particular magic energy, you’ll be able to generate it all on your own,” he says. “And I have an idea of what it might be.”

“Oh?” I cross my arms. How could he know me better in a few days than I know myself?

“Learning. Whenever you learn something new, your aura glows radiantly.” His eyes trace a circle around my body. “Like it is now.”

I bask in his attention for a moment, liking the way he looks at me with appreciation.

“It might not be the ultimate fuel for you, but it is something,” he finally says after perusing me a good while.

“How do I know whether I used the wind, or something else to move him?” I ask.

“We try the same spell again,” he says. “But this time, I’ll be watching closely. I’ll be able to see your spell, watch it move through space, and better understand what it might be using.”

“See it how? Like, with your eyes?”

He laughs. “No, I’ll channel my awareness in the room and be able to view the flow of energy from all angles.”

“Oh! Just like you knew it was Mark outside?” I ask.

He nods. “Just like that. We’ll need something to practice on.”

“I volunteer as tribute!” Charlie says distantly.

I giggle. “All right, coming, buddy.”

I take the steps two at a time and find Apollo already in the room, holding Charlie in his palm.

“Since when are you doing this?” I ask, gesturing to the mist around him.

Apollo shrugs. “When I’m well fed, I can use many of my spells. Matter manipulation, like turning into the spring water, is as simple as changing the shape of my body. I simply stop existing in one point, dispersing the steam, and then start existing in another point.”

I’d forgotten that this body isn’t really him . That because of the witch before me, Apollo is actually the mountain. “Could that be one of the spells I learn?”

He grins. “We’ll find out soon enough, I’m sure.”

We take Charlie downstairs and set him near the open door.

“Ready!” he quacks with determination.

I plant my bare feet, straighten my spine, and summon my badass courage. Charlie is an invader that I must banish. Warmth slips into the arches of my feet and zips up my spine.

“You’re drawing from me so easily,” Apollo says somewhere behind me. “Now, show me your spell.”

I take a deep breath, square my shoulders, and point to the open door with a firm “Out!”

Wind ruffles my curly morning hair and blows past me before slamming into Charlie. He tumbles bill over booty through the door.

“Wheee!”

A fluttering sensation fills me up as I watch Charlie roll through the gravel and come to a stop.

I have magic powers and a talking rubber duck.

“You’re most certainly a natural witch, connected to the elements,” Apollo says. “You’re pooling the atmosphere in the room, condensing it at the tip of your finger, and then battering it against the target.”

I turn to him with a grin that hurts my cheeks. “This is so fucking cool.”

“You’re so fucking cool,” he says, with an equally bright smile.

We laugh until my stomach hurts.

“A little help?” Charlie peeps.

I bring him inside and wash him off in the sink. It reminds me that I still need to brush away my Dorito breath, and have a shower, and get some coffee.

And order some water-testing kits.

And organize the new office.

And draft up designs for the sitting room.

And look for furniture.

And get groceries.

And find a laundromat.

And register a new business name.

And get the website started.

And plan dinner for tonight.

And—

Apollo wraps his arms around me from behind. “Take a deep breath.”

I turn off the faucet and set Charlie on the counter, then close my eyes and breathe in through my nose. I hold it at the top and let it out slowly.

“Slower. Your heart is like a hummingbird’s wings,” he says, placing his hand against my chest.

I take another breath, and another, until my pulse slows back to somewhere near resting.

“There you are,” he murmurs, and I melt into his chest. “What’s troubling you?”

“Just so much to do, I got overwhelmed for a second,” I say with a final long sigh.

“One thing at a time. Start with a list.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, I know.”

Teeth.

Shower.

Laundromat.

Coffee.

Groceries.

The rest I can organize later.

“I know you have a lot to do, but I was hoping I could ask for a favor first,” Apollo says.

Ah-ha, back to the blowjob offer.

I turn in his arms, smirking as I run my hands up his chest. “Doing what?”

He smiles back. “I sense you’re anticipating a sexual request.”

“Am I wrong?”

“I wouldn’t say no; however, what I wanted to ask was for more of your magic. The top-level balcony is covered in debris. It’s been bothersome to be so filthy for so many years. It would be easy for you to blow it all away with your wind spell.”

I think back to my night on the balcony. It was dark enough that I didn’t really notice anything but the softly glowing pool of hot water.

“Let’s go check it out,” I say, pulling back from his embrace.

“Thank you.”

We take the stairs carefully since I don’t want to break my ass again. In the light of day, it’s much easier to see just how in need of assistance the whole place is. There’s trash in the corners, broken bottles and candy wrappers, empty condom wrappers…yikes. I’m going to add thicker gloves to my list of purchases.

The doors open to the patio automagically, and I finally see it in the light of day, sober. Just like I desperately need a shower to wash off the chip crumbs, poor Apollo’s been covered in pine needles, dirt, dead leaves, and probably more squirrel and bird droppings than he’d like to admit.

The town of Grizzlywood sits back in the valley below, looking like a blanket of silver and black in the forest of green surrounding it. We’re too far away for anyone to see what I’m doing, so I step up to the first dirty area with confidence and plant my feet. Like before, I straighten my spine, square my shoulders, and point my finger at the pile of decay in the corner near the right balcony wall.

“Out,” I command the junk.

A massive gust of wind blasts against the rock and shoots everything everywhere. I scream, covering my face as mud—please be mud—comes rocketing out from under the leaves and pinecones. Thick splashes smack my arms and chest. It smells like sulfur and dirt.

Apollo laughs, loud and deep from the pit of his stomach. I whirl to him, splattering mud across the stones as leaves flitter down around us. He’s covered in it, too, and his smile is brilliant.

“This is funny, huh?” I ask.

He nods.

I scoop a handful of the gunk off my chest and throw it at him. It lands with a splat and he only laughs harder.

“You screamed like you were facing death,” he says between fits.

“Why didn’t you warn me? This is so gross!” I grab another fistful and huck it at him.

“How was I supposed to know that would happen?” He suddenly disappears in a puff of steam and the mud falls to the ground. He reappears a foot away, completely clean. I growl in frustration and jealousy.

“I have half a mind to leave you like this,” I say, crossing my arms.

His expression drops from glee to a sexier-than-hell pout. “Please, lovely, I need your magic. I want to feel clean and I can help,” he says, lifting his arm toward the pool. One of his glowing swirly tattoos shoots off his fingertip and dives into the water. It comes back out like a coiling dragon, flying through the air toward me.

He twists his fingers and the water encircles me, brushing against my hair and face, then pulling the mud from my clothes. He snaps his fingers and the filthy water blinks out of existence.

“Where did it go?” I ask.

He shrugs. “I sent it to the drain-off area below the lowest pool. It’ll flow into the river leading through town eventually.”

I glance around at all the debris that’s now everywhere on the patio. There has to be a better way than just slamming it with air as hard as I can. I need to be able to do a steady stream of it, like a leaf blower or something…

I chew my lip.

Could the spell words be that simple?

I stand up straight and hold out my open palm. “ Leaf blower this bitch .”

The wind whooshes through my damp hair and compresses around my palm, then comes out in a wide cone. It’s not as powerful a blast as before, but it’s an appropriate strength to whip up the dry stuff. I walk forward, feeling my connection to the mountain stutter when I lift my feet. Warmth swells back in the arches of my feet as soon as I step down.

I move my arm back and forth, blowing the lightweight debris toward the edge of the balcony. Two of Apollo’s serpent-like tattoos shoot toward the wall, infusing into it. The ground shudders and the rocks peel back, making an opening in the balcony.

The leaves flutter over the edge and down toward the second-level balcony.

Shit.

“ Leaf blower suck !” I say, trying to stop it from dirtying the other area.

The wind changes directions and all the crap comes flying back at me. I yelp and fall to my butt.

“Out, out, out!” I scream, throwing both arms in front of me.

The leaves are hit with an explosive force that blasts them down to the gravel drive below in tiny particles. I blow a bit of hair out of my face and look at Apollo.

“I think I might prefer an actual leaf blower,” I say.

He chuckles. “You’ll get better with practice.”

He closes the gap on the balcony, then directs his magic to scoop up water from the two pools on this level. The snakes of warm mineral water splash across the stones and swirl around the patio, cleaning up all the mud and lingering debris.

He didn’t really need my help…he just wanted me to practice. Kinda sweet.

With another snap of his fingers, the filthy water disappears. The waterfall on the left side of the mountain leading into the first pool intensifies, refilling it until it overflows into a chute leading down to the second pool.

I pick myself up and dust my hands on my pants.

“Thank you for your help,” he says.

“Thanks for helping me with my magic,” I reply. “Well, now that’s done, I need to get clean.”

His fangs poke into his lower lip as he smiles. “Can I help?”

“You want to massage the shampoo into my hair?” I laugh, heading for the apartment.

Apollo groans seductively as he follows after me. “Yes.”

The sound of his interest has heat rising in my cheeks. Seeing me naked in the springs was one thing, but helping me shower is so…domestic. But the thought of his claws tickling my scalp as hot water washes over my sudsy hair sounds like heaven.

My heart speeds as I get near the bathroom. I grab a towel from a box that still needs to be unpacked and get a change of clothes, Apollo following me quietly the whole way. I stop at the door to the bathroom and look back at him.

“If you’re having second thoughts, I can lounge and read while you clean up,” Apollo says.

“It’s just, this is kind of a boyfriend -like thing to do. Showering with me, I mean,” I say.

“And you don’t want a boyfriend.” His expression hardens. “I understand. Enjoy your cleansing.”

He turns away, leaving me hating myself at the precipice.

I know I can’t fall for him, but it hurts so much to deny myself.

He can never love me. I’m protecting both of us.