Chapter 4
As it turned out, my timing couldn't have been better.
I'd been saving up to buy an incubus for months. At the rate I was going, I wouldn't have had enough money until the end of the year.
Then yesterday, I stumbled across a flash sale.
Forty percent off.
I placed an order before I could talk myself out of it, and my new incubus arrived the very next day.
I named him Ansel.
Forty percent off. What can I say? I love a bargain.
I pulled Ansel into the apartment. He looked shy and kept his eyes lowered, barely daring to glance at Zarek.
"Um... has he been here longer than me?"
"Who the hell are you calling old?" Zarek snapped. "I'll roast you alive!"
Ansel immediately ducked behind me.
"Master, he's so scary."
He peeked around my shoulder at Zarek.
"I don't mind if he's mean to me, but he doesn't treat you like that too, does he?"
What a smooth little act. I loved it.
I patted Ansel's pale hand. "It's okay. Don't be scared. He'll be gone soon enough."
Zarek said nothing.
But his fists clenched, and the temperature in the apartment seemed to climb by the second.
"No wonder you specifically asked for a gentle temperament when you placed the order," Ansel remarked thoughtfully.
Zarek's face darkened.
"Tessa. Is that true?"
Before I could answer, Ansel nodded.
"That's not all. She wanted someone with pale skin, a low body temperature, and the ability to cook and take care of her."
Then he looked down at himself, as if he'd only just noticed something.
"Now that I think about it, I'm the complete opposite of him."
I stared at him.
Can he stop stirring the pot for five minutes? The apartment is already hot enough to qualify as a tropical climate.
"Is this your ideal incubus?" Zarek asked me.
I nodded. "He checks all the boxes."
Zarek didn't say another word.
He dropped the spatula he'd been holding, marched back to his room, and slammed the door so hard the walls seemed to shake.
He hadn't even looked at Ansel once.
"Master, did I upset him?" Ansel asked, sounding genuinely worried.
But when I turned away, the corners of his mouth lifted into a sly smile.
What a little devil.
The apartment stayed hot all night.
Apparently, Zarek had spent the entire evening fuming.
I couldn't afford to keep running the air conditioner at full blast, so the next morning, I messaged Josie.
[Me: How's the plan to get your incubus back coming along?]
[Me: Maybe we should do it today—]
I hadn't even finished typing when she replied.
[Josie: GIRL! THANK YOU SO MUCH! Your advice really got through to me yesterday. I went out that night and found my incubus!]
[Me: WHAT???]
[Josie: He hadn't even gone far! He'd been wandering around my neighborhood this whole time. When I found him, he was still asking if I was tired. Can you believe what a monster I was for abandoning such a sweetheart?]
[Me: Wait... you already found your incubus???]
[Josie: YES!!!]
Then what the hell is Zarek doing in my apartment?
Josie sent me a picture.
It was a selfie of her with her incubus.
The man in the photo had dark skin, horns, and wings.
He even had a magical marking in roughly the same place as Zarek's.
What are the odds?
[Josie: Well? Pretty handsome, right?]
[Me: Yeah... but yesterday you said you didn't like his personality.]
[Josie: Exactly! I'm impatient, but he's the opposite. He's so gentle and slow-moving. People can walk all over him, and he never fights back. That was what bothered me.]
[Josie: But it's not really his fault. I only specified his looks when I bought him. I never said anything about personality.]
I stared at the messages and let out a long sigh.
There is no way Zarek was her incubus. But if that's true, why did he act like he knew her at the shore?
I sent Josie a picture of Zarek.
[Me: Do you recognize this guy?]
[Josie: OH MY GOD. He's gorgeous! But no, I've never seen him before.]
[Me: You're sure? Not even once?]
[Josie: Trust me. I'd remember a face like that!]
So Josie really wasn't Zarek's former owner.
That evening, I decided to ask him myself.
His answer caught me completely off guard.
"That woman?" he said. "I don't know her. She just looks a lot like my sister."
"You have a sister?"
"Yeah. She died when she was little."
It was the first time Zarek had mentioned his family.
For some reason, I'd always assumed creatures like him had no family to speak of.
"My sister was afraid of water," he continued. "But she drowned trying to save me. She was about five in human years."
He looked out the window.
"When I saw that woman by the water, I reacted without thinking. I wanted to protect her. I've spent years feeling like I failed my sister. I guess I saw her in that woman for a second."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up something painful."
"Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who should be sorry."
He turned toward me, and some of the sadness in his face faded.
"I should've protected you that day. If I'd done that, you wouldn't have caught a cold. And you probably wouldn't have brought that guy home out of spite."
"Uh..."
How was I supposed to explain that I hadn't brought Ansel home to spite him?
Ansel had nothing to do with Zarek. I'd bought him because he was on sale.
But then I noticed Zarek's shoulders drooping, and I couldn't quite bring myself to say it.
So I changed the subject.
"Do you remember your former owner's name? I can keep looking for them."
"I told you, I don't know their name!"
"Then where did you get your name?"
"Because I—"
Zarek stopped himself and turned away, looking irritated.
He clearly had a secret he wasn't ready to share.
Fine. I wasn't going to force him to talk about it.
I was about to leave when he suddenly caught my wrist.
His skin was scorching hot. The moment his fingers closed around me, my heart gave an unexpected jump.
"Stay with me tonight," he said.
He hesitated, then looked me straight in the eye.
"And wear that outfit again. The one from last time."
