Page 87 of Accidentally Vacationed with an Incubus

This is going to be fun,I thought bitterly, dragging a rough hand down my face before collapsing onto the couch.

How the hell was I supposed to put this into words? How could I tell her that she was the reason I had come here in the first place? That for nine years, I had resented my mate for never summoning me, for forcing me to feed from strangers when she should have been the one to satiate me. That every pang of hunger, every hollow night had been her fault—at least, that’s what I had believed.

And then to learn the truth. She hadn’t abandoned me. She had been locked away, imprisoned for nearly a decade while I spent those same years cursing her name.

A sharp exhale left me, my chest tightening.

And if that wasn’t enough, there waseverything else.The tangled mess of emotions I hadn’t even begun to sort through.The feelings I had let myself have. The love that had taken root when I thought she was just a stranger. The brief guilt I’d felt when I’d considered breaking the bond with my fated mate for someone else, to reject her, only to realize it had been Jen all along.

A slow, shuddering breath escaped me.

Yeah. This conversation was going to be a fucking train wreck.

As the sky deepened into rich cobalt and twilight wove its way through the trees, I exhaled and turned to BooDini. “C’mon. Let’s do something special for Jen.”

Might as well set the stage for this disaster of a conversation.

An hour later, the soft creak of floorboards from upstairs signaled Jen was finally awake. I slid the apple pie into the oven to warm, inhaling the cinnamon-laced scent before turning to face my fate.

Moments later, she appeared in the doorway, her tattered black hoodie twisted, sleeves bunched around her hands as she hugged herself. Her hair was mussed from sleep, her hazel eyes still swollen with the weight of everything that had happened.

“Devlin,” she murmured. “We need to talk.”

My heart plummeted, but I forced myself to nod. “Come outside,” I said, gesturing for her to follow.

She stepped onto the porch—and froze. Her breath faltered as she took in the scene.

BooDini and I had transformed the small backyard into something softer and warmer. A wicker couch was nestled on the grass, layered with plush cushions and thick blankets—courtesy of BooDini, who had conjured them from whatever mysterious sheet-ghost storage dimension it had access to. A fire crackled in a stone-lined pit, its golden glow flickering against the dark stretch of sky. Nearby, a small table stood stacked with an assortment of candy and a box of tissues—because, well, I hadno idea how this conversation was going to go, but I figured I’d cover all my bases.

Jen hesitated for only a moment before stepping forward, pulling one of the blankets around her shoulders, her fingers curling into the soft fabric like it was the only thing keeping her steady. She eased onto the couch, her gaze locked onto the fire, the flames casting flickering gold into the depths of her eyes.

She didn’t look at me.

I swallowed hard and lowered myself onto the seat beside her, bracing for whatever came next.

“Have you known this whole time?” she finally asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

I exhaled. “I swear to Hades, Jen, I had no idea. I genuinely came here on vacation because I didn’t want to endure another Samhain without being summoned. I thought I was escaping.”

She let out a small, almost bitter laugh, but it faded as quickly as it came. Her fingers fidgeted with the edges of the blanket, twisting the fabric between them. When she spoke again, her voice wavered. “Do you hate me for not being able to summon you?”

“Hate you?” I echoed. “Jen, I’mmadlyin love with you. I could never hate you.”

She finally met my gaze then, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “I was going to summon you that first Samhain,” she admitted, her voice cracking. “It was all I thought about the entire summer.”

Something inside me, something fractured and aching, began to stitch itself back together at her words.

“It’s not your fault, Jen,” I murmured, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into my chest. She stiffened for just a moment before exhaling shakily, letting herself sink into me.

“Besides,” I continued, lips tilting into a small smirk, “this way, I got the privilege of falling in love with a crazy, candy-obsessed witch who asks indecently weird questions on the first date.”

Jen snorted a laugh, shaking her head against my chest. “When did you know?” she mumbled.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead, inhaling the familiar, grounding scent of her. “Only when I found out your dad was an incubus demon. But looking back...” I let out a quiet chuckle. “There were so many obvious clues I missed.”

Jen pulled away slightly, one eyebrow arching. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

I huffed a laugh. “Well, for starters, we met on Samhain. That should’ve been a huge giveaway.”

---