Cleric of Desire

“Business turnaround,” Odai says and opens the door to Sage for me. There is a line, but there is always a line this time of morning. “That is what I will be assisting you with to fulfill your wish, and I thought it necessary to use some autonomy to do so. Unless you wish to take autonomy from me?”

“No! Of course not.” I feel an awful lurch in my gut, not wanting this to ever feel like having a… slave.

“I needed a reason for being here, did I not?” Odai looks down at me with his large black eyes like a puppy asking for approval.

“Yes. Sorry! I’m not upset, just caught off guard. How did you know the right things to say, or what a business turnaround consultant even is?”

“You have my amulet.” He nods at it, and because it is still out and gleaming and way too gaudy for the oversized sweatshirt and jeans I’m wearing, I shove it out of sight again. “I am attuned to my owner and all their knowledge. I spent most of the evening digesting the information of this age. The rest was researched using the office computer—once I knew what one was.”

I take that all in as we traverse the line for coffee. Keeping my voice hushed is not easy once what he’s saying hits me. “You were reading my mind while I slept?”

“Nothing too private or personal, merely common knowledge. It helps me adjust to each age more swiftly.”

That makes sense but also spikes my paranoia. “I wish,” I begin, and as soon as I do, I see Odai straighten and the tendons in his neck ripple like he’s excited, “for you to never lie to me.”

He looks even more pleased that that is what I asked. “I promise, Jeffrey, I have not and will not. Ever.”

Believing him assumes I believe everything else up to this point. I can’t even be sure if I do, but I guess it’s the best I’m going to get. “What now?”

“Coffee,” he says and pulls out a wallet I also have to question the appearance of, but he’s clearly planning on paying for us both. “After that, Jeffrey, it’s up to you.”

He orders my drink for me, and it’s my exact usual from Sage—a vanilla latte with almond milk and cinnamon foam. I still classify that as a little personal and wonder what else he might have gleaned from my mind.

Odai orders the same and we sit in a tucked away booth. It has to be one tucked away, because besides the very sensitive nature of talking shop with an incubus, it feels like everyone is staring at us. At the absolute smoke show of Odai, and probably wondering how the nerdy shlub with him scored such a hottie.

I play with my braid as much as I finger my coffee mug. Odai savors drinking from his like someone who’s never had coffee before. Maybe he hasn’t, certainly not anything frou-frou like this. Because he’s an incubus and has been asleep for at least a hundred and thirty-five years.

And he can give me almost anything I want.

“There are endless possibilities for what I can wish for,” I think out loud, “even if I can’t force someone against their nature or call too much attention to you existing. Other than wanting to save Madame Mattie’s, I don’t know where to start. But I guess Aladdin didn’t get it too wrong with some of the rules,” I snort.

“The tailor’s son? Once he had all he wanted, he was finished with me too.”

I pause mid sip of my coffee and nearly burn my tongue. Does that mean the original story about Aladdin is true too, and Odai is a slave to whoever has his, well, amulet in this case? “Odai, is it possible to wish for you to, um… not be what you are? To wish to free you from having to grant other people’s desires?”

“No,” he says solemnly. “That wish is not within my power to grant. But believe me, Jeffrey, I do enjoy fulfilling desires from the right masters. Whatever form they take.” He reaches across the table to rest his much larger hand atop mine. He is as warm as the amulet.

I use my other hand to touch the amulet through my shirt. “Do I have to wear this thing all the time?”

“No. But should someone else come into possession of it…”

“They’d be able to make wishes instead.”

“Correct. So, when not wearing it, I suggest you keep it somewhere safe. If your priority is to save your home and place of business from being purchased by another, I have suggestions.”

“I guess someone who researched business turnaround all night should.” I chuckle and turn my hand beneath his to lace our fingers.

Then I yank my hand away. What am I doing? This isn’t a date. We’re not a couple. We’re master and servant, for crying out loud, and I don’t even know anything about him.

Gratuitous sex acts last night aside.

Odai furrows his brow like he’s disappointed, but he pulls his hand back to cradle his mug.

“Go ahead then,” I try to deflect some of the awkwardness. “Tell me your ideas.”

His ideas are pretty straight forward actually. We need to get the neighborhood on our side, foster some direct partnerships, and open up more of the underground again to attract customers. After some discussion, we each order a second coffee to go so I can take Odai around the neighborhood and better explain each business to him.

“You don’t already know about them?” I ask as we step outside.