Ethan shook his head. “Sorry, Ocho. I have nothing to tip you with.”
The imp pointed toward the hallway off to the side.
“Let me guess,” Ethan grumbled. “That’s where the gift shop is?”
Ocho nodded and huffed before turning back toward the elevator, pouting and grumbling under his breath.
“Just so you know, this is the only hotel I’ve ever stayed in where people need to tip to use the elevator.”
Ocho’s little red face split into a grin. It was chilling. The imp was something out of a nightmare for Ethan. He was sure someone like Ruby would find him just adorable. After all, she was a beautiful succubus who was used to this world.
“Hey, cutie,” a soft and musical voice called out as the elevator door slid open with a musicalbing.
Ethan turned to see who in the world could possibly be calling Ochocute. The imp was far from looking like a fluffy puppy … unless it was the fluffy puppy from a nightmare.
His breath left his lungs when he saw the voice’s owner.
There stood Ruby wearing a light pink dress that clung to her body like a second skin. Ethan’s head swam with visions of her nude and writhing under him. Uncomfortable, he cleared his throat. He had no right thinking about her like that.
Ruby scratched the top of Ocho’s leathery head, and the creature actually closed its eyes in bliss. The imp evenpurred!He turned his head off to the side so that Ruby could run her fingers behind his massive pointy ear.
“Morning,” she said, finally meeting Ethan’s eyes with a smile.
Can I get that kind of morning scratch too?His wolf snickered, and Ethan was shocked that the thought had come from him.Nothis animal.
“Good morning,” he responded after his brain finally caught up with him. “Would you like to join me for breakfast?”
Ruby’s answering smile made his chest puff out with pride. She nodded and laughed softly. “I’d love that, but before we do that, we need to talk to my aunt.” She took his hand in hers. “Come on. Let’s go to her office before she has a chance to corner us in one of the restaurants.”
“Corner us? Is that what she’s been doing?” he chuckled.
“She’s thorough, and I’m sure we get more of her attention than the other guests, but that also means that we can ask more of her.”
Ethan considered this. “You sure first thing in the morning is the best time to approach her?”
“Oh, yeah.” She continued to tug on his hand until they were walking down the hallway.
The white marble floor had veins of gold running through it, and the walls were also a pale, bright color. Not exactly what Ethan would’ve thought would be a Hell resort, but he would rather this than some kind of freaky dungeon.
“This is the gift shop, by the way. We need to stop here after we’re done with Portia. You need to grab some tips for Ocho. You’ve never seen an angry imp, and you should keep it that way.”
“I still can’t believe that Ocho isn’t mad. He looks furious. Constantly.”
“It’s because he is hungry. You need to tip before you not-so-mysteriously get locked in the elevator for a couple of hours.”
Ethan balked. “He can do that?”
“He can choose too. Yeah!”
“First Portia, then gift shop.”
Ruby giggled. “You got it.”
Ethan was pleased that she didn’t let go of his hand. Their fingers were intertwined as they continued to walk down the hall, past the gift shop, and right up to a big door on which golden letters spelled outHotel Resort Manager.
They opened the thick door and walked right into the office without any knock or warning. The space was hardly what Ethan expected, but then again, there was very little about Hellscape Holiday Resort that was actually how Ethan dreamed up in his head.
When he thought that a space would be cheerful, it was the opposite. When he thought it was going to be a nightmare, it was all rainbows and lollipops. When Ruby suggested they barge in on Portia in her office, Ethan expected the room to be painted in dark shades of red with all kinds of black accessories. Feathers, leather, and all kinds of decorations in black.