Page 114 of Oh No! There's an Incubus in my Hot Spring
“This would not be hard to rip through,” Apollo says as he drags his extended claws across the metal grate separating us.
I grab his hand and pull it down to my lap. “Let’s save all that anger for the Turd, shall we?”
She snorts. “You call him the Turd?”
“He wears turtlenecks all the time. Turdleneck.”
She full-on laughs. “Fuck. You are a riot.”
We turn onto the road for Silver Mountain Resort, and Officer Rosa lets us out at the front door.
Apollo stands much too close to her as he gets out, his eyes hard as ice. “I don’t like you.”
She shrugs. “I don’t really like me, either.”
“Maybe you need more time in our hot spring. Get that magic back that you’ve been missing,” I say.
She smirks at me. “Maybe I do.”
I grab Apollo’s hand and turn for the resort. As long as he’s with me, I can face this prick. As long as he holds my hand, I can do anything.
The lobby is empty this early, and instead of being calming, it’s creepy. There’s soft jazz playing from the overhead speaker, and it’s dark despite the orange glow outside. It almost feels like the start to a zombie apocalypse movie.
“Come to my office, please,” Mark’s voice blares through the speaker.
“And what if I don’t want to?” I say, hands on my hips.
“Then why did you come in?”
I sigh. Got me there. I do want to know just what the hell this turd wants with us after all this harassment. Seriously, can he not just get over his ancient family drama?
“Well, where is it?” I ask to the empty room.
“To the right, up the stairs.” The speaker cuts back to jazz.
Asshole.
Apollo grabs my shoulders and turns me to him. The look in his eyes is intense, and pained. It makes my heart ache.
He cups my cheeks. “No matter what he says, please know that I love you, that I only love you, and always will.”
“I’mwaiting,” Mark’s voice blasts through the speaker.
Apollo kisses my forehead, then takes my hand.
I swallow hard and turn for the hall to the right. We walk past fake plants and awards for “Best Hot Spring in Tri-County Area,” along with pictures of Mark and his family. The stairs are dim, and I feel like Mark could’ve turned on the fucking lights for us. Dickhead. He wants me scared and off-kilter. Well, fuck him. I’m tired, and hungry, and I have a headache to rival all headaches. I’m not off-kilter. I’m pissed.
I don’t knock on the door with his name plate, throwing it open instead. He’s sitting at a large oak desk at the end of a long room that has several full-length windows overlooking the springs and the mountains. It’s honestly kinda gorgeous.
No, fuck that.
I march through the room and stop in front of his desk. He swivels around in his chair and looks at me, and then at Apollo.
He smiles coldly. “So, you finally found your mate, Great-grandfather.”
The silence that passes between us after Mark’s declaration settles on me like an icy blanket.
“What?” I sputter.
