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ONE
PORTIA
Portia Flemming walked down the hallway from her office toward the jammed-packed lobby of Hellscape Holiday Resort. All kinds of creatures were either checking in or checking out.
Others had used the lobby as a meeting point before leaving in the direction of one of the many activities the resort provided for its paranormal guests. Portia had worked hard to make sure there was something for everyone. Every creature would find something fun to do, no matter if they were vampires, shifters, or demons. It didn’t even matter if someone didn’t want to have fun. Fun would be had in her place. Portia took her job very seriously.
There was also the added perk of helping people find love, perhaps sometimes under circumstances that would have been impossible without the hotel. Of course, there was a limit to what she could or would accept, and Lou’s latest scheme had brought a human to their shores.
That wasn’t the kind of attention they needed to make sure their business would continue to thrive. There were conditions to the resort, andno meddlingwas a very big one. Even greater than health code rules.
No meddling.
Portia was aware that she could be accused of meddling for helping certain couples find their way to each other, but finding love isn’t a bad thing. She couldn’t imagine a single couple being angry that they found each other with her help. Portia was too good to make mistakes. Besides, she loved her Hellscape Holiday Resort as much as she possibly could. It was her own little world. It was herplace.
Lately, though, there was only one fly in the ointment.
Lou.
“Hello, you,” the demon in question walked by Portia and took her arm in his to lead her to Lou’s Place, the bar he ran in the resort.
Portia smiled at him warmly. “Lou. What have you done now?”
He pouted. “Oh, come on, Portia. I’ve been very good. It hurts me that you think I’m causing trouble again.”
She rolled her eyes. “Lou, you are nothing but trouble. Take it easy, okay? I’ve got such a busy week ahead.”
Lou nodded. “You got it. I will try to behave.” He kissed her cheek before heading behind the bar. He began to prepare a drink, but Portia knew better than to expect it was for her. One of Lou’s favorite things to do was send unordered drinks to guests in the hopes of making a match.
The demon was a bit clumsy at it because he also liked a good laugh. Matching mismatched people was one of his favorite pranks. But he did expect his couples to be together forever. Or at least a very long time.
Portia had a different way of doing things. She used her instincts. Maybe those came from the fact that she was a succubus and a good one. Maybe even the best. She understood what people needed even if they hadn’t quite caught on yet.
“This is for you,” Lou offered a long, thin champagne flute. The liquid wasn’t bubbly or gold but rather black with floating red beads.
“What is it?” she eyed it with suspicion. “It won’t make me hallucinate, will it?”
He threw his head back with a laugh. “Oh, no. I keep those for your office when you’re off-duty.”
“I’m always on duty,” she replied.
“I know. Isn’t that just terrible? Who’s your boss, anyway?” he asked with a laugh.
“I run Hell’s resort,” she reminded him pointedly. “It’s definitelynotterrible. This is the perfect place to live and work.”
“If only I weren’t here to fuck it up, huh?”
Portia took a sip from her drink. “If only you could behave for more than two hours at a time. Maybe then I would have some peace.”
“I’ll do my best,” he assured her. “How is it?” He pointed toward her cocktail.
“Good. Very good.”
He puffed out his chest with pride. “I created that one for the coven of witches especially.”
“Nice touch,” Portia praised.
“I figured if they were going to spend their week-long girls’ trip here, I might as well design a cocktail just for them. It’s so good that I might have to put it on the permanent menu.”
