Page 20 of Oh No! There’s an Incubus in my Hot Spring (Getting Cozy with Demons #1)

twenty

Final Preparations

I rene declares she’s coming up to the springs with three weeks to go until launch. Despite her fear of the place, she knows I need her, even though I didn’t ask. Plus, the banners must be placed just so, she says, or it’ll ruin everything.

Summer has breathed its last and autumn is finally upon us, so of course I’m in black leggings and an oversized green sweater with a silver snake coiled on the front. Apollo kisses my neck as I pull my hair up into a bun. The warmth of his lips makes me shiver, sending goosebumps pebbling across my arms. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.

“She’s here,” he says, squeezing my hips.

I smile at him in the mirror. “I should probably get a doorbell.”

I bound down the stairs and Apollo is waiting for me at the door in his human form. His light hair makes his blue eyes deeper, like voids of lust. I look away from him in his stupid black turtleneck and dark jeans before I try to kiss him.

Irene pulls up in a blue Subaru hatchback—so Colorado. The hatch is popped and there are poles sticking out of the back with little red flags on them. She jumps out of the car with a big smile and comes toward the house.

I meet her in the gravel drive and give her a hug. “Thanks so much for coming up. I’m so nervous.”

She gives me one more squeeze. “Not to worry, hon, we’ve got this. Ohh…and who’s that?”

I pull back and look over my shoulder to see Apollo leaning in the doorway like some casual god, his light hair feathering in the breeze, his bare feet skirting close to the opening. Irene is already walking toward him.

“That’s…” I choke on his name. Apollo is special. It’s mine . “That’s Paul. He’s been helping me with all the carpentry.”

Apollo smiles and reaches out to shake her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Irene grasps his hand with a giddy smile at me. “Helping you lay some wood, huh?”

“Wood flooring, yeah,” I shoot back, my burning cheeks definitely giving me away.

Apollo’s grin is brilliant as he looks at me. “We have a few more things in here to wrap up.”

“I bet you do,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

I smack her arm. “We’re setting up the lobby.”

“I’ll leave you to it and get to work on the signage,” she says, waving her fingers playfully at Apollo. “Nice to meet you, Paul.”

We draw back from the door and watch her head to her car.

“She likes you,” he says, and I can’t read the emotion in his voice.

“Yeah, I like her, too.”

He rubs my arms. “Let’s finish up.”

I nod, turning back to the lobby.

We place display stands with business cards on the reception stand, put magazine holders in the corner beside the plush, green couches, and stock the little bookshelf with some of my favorites—non-explicit, of course. We put mints in the bowls and fold towels on the racks leading to the pools. There are full water dispensers everywhere with little recyclable steel cups beside them and signage that reminds people to stay hydrated.

An emergency button that calls the front desk has been placed in every room and they all tested perfectly. Camera systems watch the halls and the outdoor baths, where clothing is mandatory. The private baths are optional, so no cameras in there.

We’ve got the legal paperwork in order, and a waiver for everyone to sign when they make a reservation. The POS system is ready to go with the same waiver on checkout, new bank accounts primed and connected, and the merch station will be filled tomorrow with hats, T-shirts, sweaters, water bottles, and key chains. We decided to start small for the initial launch, with only our best three designs.

Everything is in order. Everything is ready.

Except I have no staff.

There’s three weeks to go and I have no staff.

My stomach plummets and I struggle to pull in air. I stare down at the towel return hamper in the hall outside the locker rooms, wondering how I’ve actually made it this far in life. How could I have failed so epically ?

“Sylvia,” Apollo hums as he grabs me from behind. “I have you.”

I touch his hands softly. “I know, but…who’s going to run our front desk? Who’s going to clean the locker rooms? Or the pools? Who’s going to handle customer complaints, emails, questions, scheduling?”

He holds me tighter. “You’ve made friends in town, yes? Reach out?”

“I have. Irene is here, right out there,” I say, gesturing to the door beyond the lobby. “She won’t step foot in this place. She’s scared of it.”

Apollo grumbles. “We could help her to not be scared, if you want to reveal me to her.”

“How would that help?” I ask.

“I didn’t know who she was until I saw her, but I may have frightened her and the man she was with a few years ago—not on purpose, of course. I just wanted to get a little closer to their energy so I could become corporeal. I may have accidentally started to take shape in the mist while they were pleasuring one another.”

I look over my shoulder at him with a glare. “You’ve seen my friend naked.”

He shrugs. “I have seen many people naked. They have bathed in me. I assume I will see and touch many more naked and partially clothed people in the coming time.”

My jaw is tight and my eyes narrow. Jealousy swirls around my stomach, turning my bile and making the back of my throat sour.

Apollo’s gaze softens and he touches my chin. “That’s what it felt like when you talked about Jason.”

The words hit me like a bucket of cold water. I have no right to be jealous of what’s happened in the past, and of course, Apollo is this mountain, this hot spring. There’s no way for him to not experience the people coming and going, but he’s choosing to stay in this form, and stay near me.

I flop my head against his chest. “Sorry.”

He strokes my hair and massages my neck. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. In fact, I think I like it when you want me all to yourself.”

I chuckle. I do want him all to myself.

“Do you really think telling her is the best idea?” I ask again, looking out the window and seeing her distorted image moving around the trees.

“Not telling her holds more risks, in my opinion,” he says.

I could pay her more than she’s making at the diner to be full-time with me, which is incentive enough, I’m sure. She’s a fucking grinder. She doesn’t quit and she’s loyal. I need that.

And I need her . I need her friendship. But to earn it, there can’t be a secret of this magnitude between us.

“You’re sure?” I ask him.

He nods.

I exhale hard and walk to the front door of the lobby. I lean out to see Irene fixing a colorful ribbon around a tree lining the road. She’s marked several of the trunks with these teal ribbons and it creates a sense of driving through an arch. I love it.

“Hey, lunchtime!” I yell out to her. “Sammies and chips!”

She turns to me. “Okay!”

My heart thunders in my throat as I walk to the apartment. This is happening really fast, but I’m out of time to start hiring staff. What if she freaks and runs? Apollo’s hands grab my shoulders, halting my pacing. I look up at him. He’s still in his handsome, human guise.

“It’s going to be all right.”

“How do you know?” I whisper, watching Irene approach through the window.

“Because this work, and you, make her very happy. She feels so grateful. A little magic isn’t going to scare her off.”

I swallow and suck down a deep breath, then go to the fridge. I pull out the container of premade sub quarters and put them on the dining room table with the bag of chips. I go back to the fridge and pull out a bottle of champagne.

Fuck it.

Let’s do it.

Irene avoids the main building and comes straight to the apartment, knocking once on the doorframe despite the door being thrown open. I wave her in and hold up the bottle.

“Hell, yeah, day drinking. Let’s go!”

I pop the cork and Apollo is beside me in an instant with three glasses. I pour the bubbles and we sit around the table as a fall wind blows through the room. It smells like the moments before sleep. Like wrapping myself up in a big blanket against the cold and listening to rain on the window. It’s the perfect time to tell her.

She raises her glass. “To a stellar launch that’ll knock everyone’s socks off!”

“Cheers,” I say, smiling genuinely despite the nerves bouncing around in my gut.

Our glasses clink and everyone takes a sip. I break open the container of sandwiches and let Irene talk about what she’s done all morning while my brain whirs away on how to break the news.

“All right, what’s going on?” Irene asks.

I blink up at her. “What do you mean?”

She raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “You haven’t touched anything and you’re staring at my face like you’re looking into an abyss.”

I pull down a deep breath and Apollo grabs my hand under the table.

“I need to talk to you about something.” I start, hesitating.

“You have to let me go,” Irene says with a frown.

“No.” I shake my head, trying to find the words.

“Sylvia, just tell her,” Apollo says gently.

“Oh, shit…” She grins. “You guys want to have a threesome?”

I gasp, choking on my spit, and then laugh. “No, no. I mean…” I eye her up and down and we both laugh. “No. I want to ask you to join me full-time, but some of the work won’t be ideal since you don’t want to go in there,” I say, jerking my head toward the springs.

“I can get over it,” she says resolutely. “I’d like to work with you full-time. These have been the best weeks I’ve had in a long time.”

“Well, before you jump to saying yes, you need to know one more thing.”

I start and then stutter, my thoughts scattering like marbles dropped on tile.

Apollo squeezes my hand.

“Oh, just say it,” Charlie quacks.

“This place is magical,” I blurt.

Irene chuckles. “Yeah, you guys sure made it live up to the name. Those glowing crystals in the lobby are atmospheric AF.”

“No. Irene…” I sigh. “I’m a witch and Paul… Apollo is not human. Magic is real.”

That perfect eyebrow comes up to another strong point. “Come on, don’t try to spook me now.”

“I’m not trying to spook you, just the opposite. I want you to be comfortable working here. I want you to know the truth and still want to be here. I didn’t want to keep a secret like this from my friend.”

She looks between us. “Prove it.”

I nodded, figuring that was coming next. “Do you want a parlor trick or the full monty?”

She sucks her lips into a fine line and bites down. I can’t tell if she’s angry or scared.

“Hit me with the full monty,” she says finally.

I look at Apollo and nod.

His human facade melts away like ice, revealing his dark skin and swirling tattoos. Irene screams, throwing her chair back so fast she falls with it. I reach forward, summoning the wind to catch her and right the chair. The gust blows our lunch off the table, scattering chips and sandwich quarters all over the floor.

Irene pants heavily. Her eyes are wide and locked on me, her knuckles white and locked on the table. “What. The. Fuck.”

“I must apologize,” Apollo starts. “I didn’t mean to scare you and your boyfriend those years ago. I was hungry and you were both putting off so much energy—”

“Okay, one thing at a time,” I cut him off with a glare. I right our empty cups and fill them with champagne. “Let me start from the beginning.”

When the bottle is empty and we’re only about halfway through explaining what Apollo is and how magic works, I open a red and give us both a refill. Irene relaxes on her third glass, taking deeper breaths and getting more inquisitive. Her gaze stops darting to Apollo in fear so much. He hasn’t moved an inch since revealing himself.

“You were watching us that night?” Irene asks Apollo when she’s downed her fourth glass.

Apollo nods. “I was trying to gather enough energy to sustain my form.”

“Aaaand, will you be feeding off our customers?” she asks and my heart does a little leap.

Our customers.

“No, Sylvia is everything I need,” he says, looking at me affectionately.

Heat creeps up my neck to my face as Irene’s eyes drift over to me, a lewd smile on her lips. “Is that so?”

“Anyway, so that’s that. Now you know. Do you still want to work for me?” I ask in a rush.

“For you and your kinky, voyeuristic demon boyfriend?” she asks, swinging her empty glass between us as she points.

I hold my breath and nod.

She snorts. “Of course I do! Now that I know I’m not batshit crazy and that the haunting was pretty benign—you’re still a creeper, though,” she says, pointing at Apollo, “everything’s great.”

“Are you going to feel this way in the morning when the alcohol has left your system?” Apollo asks.

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I’m not that drunk.”

I let a breath out in a whoosh and all the tension leaves with it. “Great. Well. Okay. Welcome aboard, Irene. I’ll draft some paperwork for your full-time position. I have an agency that helps with contracts, benefits, and the like, so it’ll be a few days.”

She pours herself some more wine. “You gonna initiate all your employees like this?”

“No, I don’t think so,” I say, pouring the rest into my glass. “I’m not sure how much staff we’re going to need, honestly. With me living here, I’ll be taking on a lot of it.”

“ We’ll be taking on a lot of it,” Apollo corrects.

I smile as the image of him mopping up the bathrooms, his wings getting stuck on the stall doors, flutters through my mind.

“You guys are freaking adorable ,” Irene gushes from the rim of her glass and I think she’s probably a little more drunk than she thought. She hasn’t stood up yet…

I look at the food still scattered across the floor. “I should probably order a pizza.”

“Oh! I bet you’re a sausage girl, aren’t you,” she grins, leaning forward on the table.

“Hawaiian.”

Her face screws up and she makes a retching noise. “I was wrong about you. We can’t be friends.”

“But I’m down for sausage every once in a while,” I say with an exaggerated wink.

We all laugh, even Apollo getting the innuendo.

“I’ll order a meatza.”

I flip over my phone and see three missed calls and two texts.

Unknown: I’m staying at the Triple Tree in town.

Unknown: I need to see you. Please.

The heat in my blood becomes stifling. Another new phone number just to antagonize me? Where is he getting the money? I swear to fuck, if it’s my mother—

“Do we need to commit a murder?” Irene asks.

I look up from my screen to see both of them staring, all joviality gone. Is my face that easy to read? Maybe Apollo never even needed to sense my emotions to know what’s going on with me.

“My ex is staying at a hotel in town. I don’t know what his aim is. I don’t know how he keeps getting new phone numbers. I don’t know why he won’t just leave me be!” I rant angrily as I order a meatza, a molten chocolate cake, hot wings, and a big heaping of garlic knots with marinara sauce.

“Maybe he comes over for a chat and accidentally drowns?” Irene offers.

“Another death here three weeks before the grand reopening? I don’t think so.” A humorless laugh hisses out of me. “He’ll fuck over my business from the grave.”

We’re quiet for a moment as I finalize the order, and I sigh dramatically. “And I don’t want him to die. I just want him to go away from me, forever.”

Irene noisily sips the last of her wine and sets the glass down. “Yeah, death can help with that.”

We chuckle again, but I shake my head. “Nah, he’s a dick, and he should have to live with his consequences, not escape them.”

“Mm, sagely.” She nods her head and tilts her glass again, then frowns at me through the bottom of it, her lips appearing over-wide, like a carnival mirror.

“Be right back,” she says as she pulls out her car keys and stands.

“You’re not driving somewhere, are you?” I ask.

“No, just getting a few things from the back,” she says, walking toward the door.

I stand, the floor canting. Apollo grabs my elbow to steady me.

“Need help?” I ask, following her much less elegantly with Apollo at my side. Irene is used to drinking at altitude. I am not…

“I got it, just a sec,” she calls, closing the door behind her.

Apollo gently tugs my arm and I fall back against him. The warmth of his chest against my already heated skin makes me pant. His fingers splay over my belly, holding me in place against him as I wobble. The drag of his claws on the slip of my skin under my sweater sends a shiver down my spine and I groan.

“Oh, no,” he murmurs against my ear in mock apology. “That’s not what I meant to do at all.”

“Liar.” I swallow hard and take a step away from him.

He grins.

The door opens and Irene yelps out a curse. “Sorry,” she mumbles, coming toward the table with a box. “Forgot you were blue.”

I look back at Apollo. He’s more like slate gray, but whatever.

She starts unloading gear that looks like it’s for filming, another bottle of wine, and a game box with the title “Crude Questions,” while Apollo and I pick up the food littered across the living room.

“What’s all this?” I ask, pointing to the telescopic tripods.

“The sun will crest the mountains in four hours so we have some time to kill, and some time for you to sober up while we write lines. We’re going to record all over this place, get lots of content ready for the lead up to the launch and beyond. And then drink more wine and play games until we’re best friends because there’s no way I’m not gonna be best friends with a badass witch and her demon boyfriend.”

Badass witch…

I chuckle as she lays the game plan out with so much confidence. I’m so glad I found her.

“Hey, are you going to tell her about me?” Charlie peeps from the counter.

Irene scowls. “What the hell was that?”

I chuckle as I get up and wobble toward the kitchen. “This is Charlie. I gave him consciousness by telling him all my problems.”

“Nice to meet you!” Charlie chirps as I set him down in front of Irene.

“A rubber duck,” she says, staring at him.

“Yeah, he’s my struggle ducky.”

She closes her eyes for a long time, then blinks them open rapidly. “Okay. Hi, Charlie.”

She’s taking this a lot better than I did.

Irene looks up at me with a resigned smile. “Any other surprises?”

I shrug. “I don’t think so.”

“All right, new idea.” She pats Charlie on the head. “This little dude is going to be the face of your social media.”