Page 95 of Accidentally Vacationed with an Incubus

“Where the warden of the prison just so happened to be a dragon—” He waved his pen vaguely toward the cluster of healers surrounding Lobato.

Lobato, despite being barely conscious, managed to lift a weak hand and wave.

One of the healers grabbed her wrist and forcibly put it back down.

The ogre continued, “—who then made you part of her hoard, which she conveniently keeps stashed beneath the prison—”

Lobato groaned loudly at the location of her precious hoard being announced so casually.

The sheriff ignored her. “—which resulted in your magic being suppressed for almost a decade.”

“Yeah,” I muttered.

He turned the page again. “Then, once you were finally released, you came back to your”—he checked his notes—“sentient magic house, which is haunted by a living bedsheet named BooDini—” BooDini, who was hovering close to Lobato, overseeing the healers, issued the sheriff a little wave. “—who had hidden the functional CCTV footage that could have provenyour innocence all this time, because it was sulking for being chastised.”

BooDini casually floated behind the cluster of healers and out of sight.

“So then,” he said, “you come home and find an incubus demon living in your house—”

“Vacationing,” Devlin corrected from where he lay slumped on the couch, having refused to leave my side.

The sheriff gave him a dry look. “Right. Vacationing in your family home. Who just so happens to be your fated mate—who you couldn’t summon because of your prison-slash-dragon-hoard situation.”

“Uh-huh.”

The sheriff blew out a long breath and tapped his pen against his chin. “And then your stalker—”

“Only in the technical sense of the word,” I interjected.

“—dropped off the mortal police files, which poked holes in the evidence. And Mr. Cadmus”—another jab at the ash pile—“found out, panicked, and decided to spike a pie with his venom to knock you out, presumably to murder you and your mate before you could besmirch his wife’s memory.”

“Yeah.”

The sheriff flipped to his final page and skimmed it before shaking his head. “But he didn’t count on the fact that when he showed up to enact his double homicide, the dragon prison warden would be paying you a visit.”

“Exactly,” I said.

The sheriff glanced between me, Devlin, Lobato, BooDini, and the remnants of Mr. Cadmus, his brows furrowing like his entire career had just peaked in this one absurd moment.

Finally, he let out a low exhale, stuffed his pen behind his ear, and muttered, “Yeah. That all makes sense.”

I blinked. “... Wait,really?”

He shrugged. “Stranger things have happened. But,” he said, leveling me with a serious look, “we will need to run some tests on that pie, and we’ll wait for Warden Lobato to regain her strength to corroborate your story.”

Lobato managed a weak, “Sabbatical.”

Which earned her a tight-lipped, “You are going nowhere until you’re fully healed,” from one of the healers.

He flipped his notebook shut. “You’re part of the Briar Coven, yeah? And your head witch is a Ms. Lily Cole?”

I nodded.

“We’ll be contacting her with our findings. She’ll decide if there’s gonna be a trial. Until then, I suggest you don’t leave town while we process all this.”

I nodded again.

The ogre tipped his hat. “Alright, Ms. Myers. That’s all we need for now. I’ll be in touch if we have further questions.”

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