Strings of Fate by Kit Bryan
Chapter 245

Strings of Fate

Cam 2- Lonely and laughing

I stare at the Incubus in shock, then roll my eyes. Does he think he’s being funny? That he’s going to somehow convince me to sleep with him by promising me love rather than just a good time? What possible reason could I have for believing him? I walk away and go to take someone else’s order. After I’ve made a few drinks and not returned to him, Harrison calls out

to me again.

“Cam?” I sigh, straighten my shoulders, flick my hair back behind my ear and turn back to

him.

“Yes?” I ask.

“You didn’t really answer me before.” He points out.

“I didn’t think you needed an answer. You didn’t ask me anything.” I respond. Okay, so maybe my answer is a cop out but it’s all he’s getting. Harrison furrows his brow and looks a little put out but he doesn’t complain or argue. He looks briefly contemplative before turning a cheesy grin my way.

“Right, well in that case I’d like to order a drink. Can I get a Pornstar Martini?” he requests with a wink. I take a moment to consider what drink to make him. He’s not getting what he asks for. He’s probably the only person who doesn’t get the drinks they ask for. I won’t give him a spelled drink again, mixing spells and potions can have dangerous effects. But I can still pick a nasty tasting drink or maybe one with a gross or insulting name. I already gave him a blue balls shot and a sweet poison. Hmmm… I decide to make a drink called Buzzard’s Breath. Let’s see him figure out this one. I have to admit I did search for insulting drink ideas. on the internet since he seems to be searching for as many dirty named drinks as possible, something that really isn’t that hard to accomplish. I drop the drink off in front of him and with no hesitation at all he takes a sip. Seriously, I’m starting to think this guy has no taste buds, or he’s just fearless. Even after all the awful drinks and suspicious spells I’ve fed to him, he always downs whatever I put in front of him. It’s why I started testing potions on him in the first place. All Magics respond to spells differently and need different strengths of spells and ingredients so I like to experiment. I can test drinks for Witches on myself, and replaceing Humans who want to try weird spells is easy enough. There are enough magic obsessed Humans out there that I can manage. It’s the more obscure races that I need to test more. I’d love to test drinks on a few Shifters. I have a friend who is a doctor and she helps me out.

1/3

occasionally, but that’s mostly with medical related potions; not so much with ones I make for fun. But Shifters are a paranoid lot and I don’t know any who are willing to try my concoctions. I’ve decided that incubi are a little more resistant to magic than the average

Human but recover slower than a Shifter. Also they seem more inclined towards spells that

reduce inhibitions, or maybe they just seem like they work better because they aren’t all that

inhibited to begin with.

As the evening goes by and it gets later and later, Harrison keeps drinking and the bar slowly empties. At last call there’s almost no one left in the place but he hasn’t left. Not long later

it’s time for me to kick him out.

“Hey, it’s time for you to clear out. Do you need me to call you a ride?” I offer politely. He never accepts and I’ve never seen him get more than a little bit tipsy, but it’s part of my job. Plus I do experiment on him with weird drinks so you never know how drunk he’s going to

end up.

“Alright, I’m going turns back to me.

He pushes away from the bar and sighs. Before leaving he stops and

“You know I’m really glad I found you. I don’t know if I love you yet. But I’m sick of being alone. I only recently reconnected with Ryann and before that I had no one. I wasn’t great to be around in my teenage years and she knew that. It took longer than it should have for me to grow out of it. I’m lucky she forgave me. She’s the only friend I have left. You would have hated me back then. Like, more than you do now.” He sighs and his shoulders droop.

my best

“I know you don’t believe me, or maybe you don’t want to believe me. But you’re it for me.

I’m probably not the kind of person you thought you would end up with. But I’ll do

to be right for you. Not waiting for an answer, Harrison stalks his way out of the bar and into

the dark night

“What was up with him?” Cora, my other bartender for the night asks. I shrug.

“Not sure, maybe he was more drunk than I thought?” I suggest. She laughs.

“Could be. Or maybe Incubi get lonely too.” Cora says quietly. I roll my eyes.

“Yeah right.” I tell her sarcastically.

243

Cam 2- Lonely and laughing.

But

“Hey, I know you’re all down on love and are busy doing your single and independent business owner thing and that’s great. I totally respect it and you’re doing awesome. But not everyone wants to be alone like you.” She objects. I try not to flinch. It’s not that I don’t WANT to fall in love or have a relationship. But I want to be sure, and since I know that magic can affect anyone in the right circumstances and my family are relentless. without their involvement, dating an Incubus would result in the same problem. How could I ever be sure about my own feelings with someone who can manipulate them? That would require a level of trust that I don’t think I’m capable of. It’s better not to let him get his hopes up. No, there’s no way I could ever give him a chance. But maybe I should cut him a bit of a break. Cora is right, just because he’s an Incubus it doesn’t mean he isn’t lonely. Isn’t that why people come to places like this in the first place?

Each night Harry turns up at my workplace I do my best to maintain a professional, polite but disinterested attitude. Although I do have to confess to messing with him a little bit when it comes to drinks, but how can I not retaliate when he orders a ‘Screaming Orgasm‘ or a *Redheaded Slut‘ and asks if I can make it blonde. I keep waiting for him to lose interest and move on, but he continues to turn up night after night and patiently waits for me to serve him. I work most nights and he seems to know it because he always comes and every time his presence is accompanied by a rush of heat which makes me flush red and contemplate all the things we could do if I were to just flirt back a little and take him up on his increasingly. outrageous offers. Damnit magic like his is just not FAIR. But as much as I want to hate him. for it I can’t. So every night I wait for his arrival with a combination of dread and

anticipation.