Page 95 of The Witching Hours

“Yeah,” I agreed stopping his from naming a figure because that would be inhospitable at best and vulgar at worst.

“I know why you’re worried,” Aeskilas said while looking at David. “You’re thinking the banksters will hassle you about depositing large amounts of untraceable cash.”

“I wasn’t thinking about that,” David said, “but now that you mention it, cash is more problem than king these days.”

“It won’t be a problem for your family,” Aeskilas said. “The money you receive will be, ah…” The whispers surged. “The money will be charmed. No one at any level, in any institution, will question you or your funds.”

“That sounds great, but what’s the fine print?”

“Fine print?” Aeskilas didn’t get the reference.

“The catch? The loophole? The hidden part of the deal?” he asked.

Aeskilas grin was beautiful and engaging, but from a different perspective, I could see it being scary as hell. “What you see is what you get. Simple terms. Let us use the portal withoutinterference. We’ll take care of you. As long as you are here, we don’t have to worry about other humans getting in the way. Likewise, you won’t have to worry about other humans fucking with you or your family.”

“I have children,” David said. “They’re good kids, but kids will be kids. I can’t absolutely guarantee that one of them, say, Dart, won’t wander into the former dining room out of curiosity or misplaced bravado.”

“I can erect a barrier that locks in place when any of the children approach.”

“And will these travelers confine their presence to the dining room? I mean the space formerly known as our dining room.”

Aeskilas smiled. “Yes. The only exception being the house or residents under threat.”

“My family and I agree,” David said. “Happily. Gratefully. But if possible, might I please ask one more thing?” Aeskilas nodded. “Could you return my little girl’s blanket?”

Aeskilas turned to the side and appeared to be having one of his private conversations with entities disguised as little bits of light.

Alex’s blanket materialized in mid air and landed on David’s head. I gave Aeskilas a look that said, “Really?” He chuckled in response, clearing having a good time with us.

After pulling the blanket off his head, and running his hand through his hair a couple of times, David took a bigger drink of his cocktail. “What if we want to move to a bigger house someday?”

“The deal would be unchanged so long as you own this house and keep up the…”

I could see Aeskilas was searching for real estate details. “Taxes and maintenance?” I supplied.

“Right,” Aeskilas said. “Do we have an agreement?”

David said, “I think we should wall off the dining room and just keep the door that leads in from the kitchen. That way the kids can still have friends over, and things can be sort of normal.” He looked at me. “Can you think of any reason why not? Are you sure we don’t need to know the kind of business they’re conducting?”

I shook my head. “I think that’s none of our business, that it’s going to transpire with or without you. I also think you’ve just turned lemons into golden eggs.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Aeskilas said. “But do we have an agreement?”

I could tell Aeskilas was running out of patience and was glad David said, “What do we need to do to finalize?”

A large parchment, the size of the Declaration of Independence, appeared on the table with terms in calligraphy. It was exactly what had been discussed, no more, no less.

“How do we know this document won’t become something else after it’s signed?” I asked.

“I’m deeply disturbed by your lack of trust,” Aeskilas told me.

“Somehow I doubt that I have the ability to offend you.”

He laughed then turned to face David. “If the agreement is broken, you can recall your witch to exorcise us from the premises.”

I didn’t believe that was possible, but it was just what David needed to hear. Aeskilas glanced at me as if to say that the two of us are in cahoots. I should’ve felt really uncomfortable with that, but didn’t.

Aeskilas produced a pen. As he signed the surge of whispers was almost deafening.

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