Page 12 of Signed in Incubus

The two disappeared down the back hallway. When I tried to follow them through the door leading to the apartment above, I hit an invisible wall. The sound of her giggling on the other side as the door closed filled my ears.

I sidled back to the counter and eyed the pastries. They looked good, and I ordered several to savor with my triple-shot ’smores latte. Then I took my goodies to one of the tables to wait for my little witch to come back.

About ten minutes later, as I was biting into the second pastry—a decadent chocolate and hazelnut filled affair—Griselda plopped into the chair opposite me. She mumbled a few words and waved her hands, and by the time I realized she was casting a spell, it was already too late. Invisible but strong cords wrapped around me, holding me in place.

She mumbled a few more words and made a throwing motion. I recognized the second spell. It was a blanket of silence meant to give us privacy. We’d be able to hear each other, but others could not.

“Who do you work for, Prax?” Griselda didn’t even bother with pleasantries.

I was about to tell her that it was none of her business, but when I opened my mouth, the words that tumbled out were, “Desmon, the dragon of Darlington.”

“And what do you do for him?”

I narrowed my eyes. That little tidbit on the sign about her failing at witchcraft was a big fat lie. The first spell hadn’t just immobilized me; it was also compelling me to speak the truth. Powerful stuff.

Unable to fight the magic, I blurted out, “Odd jobs.” I slammed my mouth shut, but my lips refused to stay closed. “But my contract is coming to an end.”

“Do you work for Penny’s dad?”

That one, I was happy not to fight. “No.”

“Why are you following Penny around?”

“I answered her summons, thinking it was just a booty call. I decided to stick around because I like her. Now, I’m bound to her.” The last few words surprised even me, even though I’d already seen the magic threads. Saying them out loud made it more real.

That seemed to appease the witch; she made a gesture, freeing me from her spells.

“The fuck, woman!” I sputtered. “You could have just asked like a normal person.”

“I’mnotnormal. And Penny’s my friend. She’s been through a lot lately. She might be too nice to force the truth out of you, but I’m not. But congrats, you passed.”

“What’s my prize? And don’t say a kiss. All my kisses belong to Penny for now.”

The witch raised her brows. “Cute.”

I frowned. This was the second time today that a woman had called me cute. I was not “cute.” I was “magnificent”. Oh well. This witch wasn’t the one I wanted to impress, so I let it go.

She reached out to touch one of the strands of Penny’s magic wrapped around my wrist.

I jerked my arm away. “What are you doing?”

“I want to see if there’s a way to remove them.”

“Don’t you dare!” I didn’t need any more of her witchy magic working on me.

She raised her brows again. I must be surprising her a lot today.

“I figured that as a demon recently freed from bondage, which I can tell you are, you wouldn’t want them. Why aren’t you trying to get them off?”

I was unsure myself. WhywasI okay with these? For one, they were thin and light, nothing like the thick chains of magic that had once bound me to Nastafar, the last wizard to control me. But that wasn’t it. No matter how delicate, if these wispy silver threads belonged to anyone else, I’d want them off of me immediately.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “But I don’t want you touching them.”

The witch just hummed thoughtfully. “Well, I should let you know that Penny’s going to be up there for a while, so I suggest you do something else for the rest of the day. She’ll need to go home and change before we go out tonight. You can bother her again then.”

Griselda returned to her spot behind the counter. Which was for the best anyway, because my phone was buzzing from my pocket. It was Desmon.

We’d taken my car, or rather, the car Desmon had loaned me while I was under contract, even though the coffee shop was within walking distance of her home, so I had my cell phone on me. As much as I enjoyed blinking in and out of existence, the inability to bring necessities along was annoying.

---