Page 85 of Oh No! There's an Incubus in my Hot Spring
He takes another drink of sake. “It was lonely. I had many siblings, but I always seemed to be on the outside. My needs were not aligned with theirs. I don’t know why he made me this way.”
I touch his hand, drawing his gaze to me. “You’re perfect.”
He smiles softly. “They would take trips to the Earth plane in twos and threes, coming back with information for Father. He used that information to teach us about the world. I think he knew that I suffered especially. He sent me out first, alone, with his teachings.”
“How long have you been here, on this plane?” I ask, squeezing his hand.
He shakes his head. “It’s difficult to say. Perhaps four hundred of your years. When I arrived on this continent, it was underdeveloped. There were roaming bands of humans, nomads, and I consorted with them regularly. I helped them make fire when their wood was too wet. I helped them find food when they were hungry. And in return they fed me.”
I try to imagine Apollo interacting with the indigenous people in his natural form. They must’ve thought he was some kind of god…or monster. But he helped them in exchange for their pleasure. For his sustenance.
“I wandered a bit, finding roving bands who knew me, asking for my favor understanding what I needed in return. Until another people came. I couldn’t walk among them as I was. I had to disguise myself. But they were much more amenable to feeding my needs in exchange for money, which was easy to conjure.
“I spent years living among the new people, moving between cities, seeking my mate in all of them.” He looks down at our joined hands. “But she was never there. She didn’t even exist yet.”
I open my mouth to ask what he means when the sushi chef sets our order on the glass counter in front of us.
“Please enjoy,” he says with a dip of his head.
I take a deep breath and remove myself from Apollo’s grasp to grab the plate. The sushi looks incredible, but my mind is whirring away at what he said. I want to ask him more, but I don’t want to push him.
Apollo grabs his chopsticks to try again, and I help him pick up his first roll to put on his plate.
“You want soy sauce though,” I say, grabbing the bottle and tipping some into his sauce dish. “And try a little bit of wasabi.” I dip my chopstick in the green paste and hold it up to him.
He smirks, opening his mouth for me and tasting the end of my chopstick. He closes his mouth and his brow furrows. Then his face scrunches together as he winces.
I can’t help but laugh. “Yep. That’s wasabi.”
He takes a drink of his water. “And youlikethat?”
“I love it,” I say, grabbing a big scoop of it and dropping it in my soy sauce.
I tell him more about sushi and help him with his chopstick skills as we eat. We laugh, and lean closer to one another with every secret joke. When the sake is empty and our bellies are full, I tilt on my stool and put my head on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry about what you’ve been through.”
He strokes his fingers down my back and grabs my hip. “The past can’t be changed. It made me who I am and brought me here.”
“And are you happy?”
I don’t know why the fuck I just asked that.
He turns his head and kisses my brow. “Immeasurably.”
twenty-two
Ghost Hunter Help
Icomb through my unruly hair and apply the heat of the straightener again. My hair uncurls for a moment, and as soon as it cools, it bunches back up again. I growl at my reflection and pass the heat over another section of hair.
“What’s wrong?” Apollo asks from the doorway.
“My hair,” I snap. “It refuses to obey.”
His chuckle irks me. “You look beautiful.”
“But not professional,” I retort.
