Page 93 of Sugar, Spice, and Magical Midlife

“I do, but I didn’t see much on my camera.”

He nodded toward my bag on the nightstand. “Do you mind if I look at your footage?”

I shrugged. “Sure.” I didn’t want to disappoint him, but I’d already watched the footage on the flight to Italy, and I hadn’t seen much of the demon whose hoodie had concealed its face. I grabbed my phone and opened up my camera app. I’d installed cameras outside my front and back doors after we’d first moved into the condo out of an abundance of caution, though Colin had joked that I was paranoid. I showed Ric how to use the app as I scrolled to the night of our date.

Ric backed up the time, watching as I pulled into the drive before getting ready for our date.

“It happened at night,” I said to him.

“Yeah, I know.” He watched the footage with a predatory gleam. “But sometimes they case the place during the day.”

A chill swept through me at the thought of the succubus there while I was at home.

“Ahh, there you are.” Ric smiled when I came back outside, moving triple time as he sped up the camera. “What are you throwing away?” He pointed to the ugly unicorn vomit glitter bag in my hand.

I rolled my eyes. “Some awful picture.”

We watched as I drove away. “Hang on. Who’s this?”

“That’s my neighbor, Gladys.” I watched with disinterest as the elderly lady came outside. She looked over both shoulders before walking straight for the dumpster. Then to my surprise and horror, she picked the vomit glitter bag out of the trash can.

Ric hit pause and looked at me. “Why is she picking your picture out of the trash?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. I knew Gladys was weird, but I had no idea she was a dumpster diver. “That was the hideous photograph my ex-husband’s new wife gave me.” No doubt she wanted to see what was in the bag. The annoying bitch had no life and was always in my business.

Ric leveled me with a look so intense, I felt like a gnome caught in a flashlight’s glare.

“So after Gladys took a present that this new wife meant for you”—he enunciated each word slowly—“the succubus tried to break into her house?”

“Yeah.”Fuuudge.

How could I have been so blind? All the signs were there. Felicity wasn’t a good cook. She pestered me for my secret recipe. She gave me a gift. She was always sucking on candies, but they could’ve been made from salt for all I knew.

“Merlin’s balls!” My hands flew to my face as I gaped at Ric. “Homewrecker Barbie is a succubus!”

The End.