Page 53 of With This Witch
“It’s alright. Is there anyone else on the radar for you right now?”
“There’s some potential with a vamp named Vlad, but that’s about it. We’ve just started chatting, so there isn’t much to tell right now.”
“Well, you let me know when that changes. I want all the details!”
“As long as you keep me updated on you and demon-boy.”
Petra doesn’t respond as they walk up to the cashier with arms full of clothing items. Once all is said and done, they’ve added another two bags each to their haul. Petra feels good about how this afternoon has gone and has barely thought about the chaos known as her life. This was precisely what she needed.
She’s not naive enough to believe that retail therapy will cure all, but spending time with Daisy and feeling relatively normal again feels nice. They’ve finally hit the last store in the mall, and Daisy has decided she’s done for the day, thank Hecate.
As they return to Petra’s car, Petra spots two familiar silhouettes ahead.
“Fuck!” Petra whispers, grabbing Daisy’s arm and pulling her to the side.
“What? What is going on? What are you doing?” Daisy swivels her head, trying to see what is catching Petra’s attention.
Petra motions to the people walking ahead of them. “That’s Sloan and Francesca. I’d rather not have a run-in with them right now.”
“Got it. So what do you want to do?”
“We’ll give them a minute to two to leave, and then we should be good to go.”
Daisy nods in confirmation. They stay hidden among the bushes, watching Sloan and Francesca get in their car and leave. When the coast is clear, they return to Petra’s car.
Petra pops the trunk, and they throw their bags in. Petra is trying to decide if they should get something to eat before dropping Daisy off at home, when Daisy calls out from the passenger side of the car. “Uh, westie?”
Petra sighs, resigning that that term is not going away. “What’s up?”
“That’s what’s up,” she says, pointing to the front tire that is very obviously flat thanks to the small dagger sticking out of it.
Petra’s magic flares in anger, and a sapphire mist soon surrounds them. She knows that dagger and knows the insignia on the hilt. She bends down, yanking it out of the tire, then throws it in the trunk along with their purchases. She slams the trunk shut, and by the time she spins back around, Daisy is on the phone to Lachlan, calling in support.
“Lach will be here in twenty,” Daisy informs her as she pops up to sit on the car’s hood. “Looks like they noticed we were here anyway.”
“It appears that way,” Petra responds, seething.
“What now?” Daisy asks, waving her hand before her face to shoo away the magical mist.
“I’m not sure. But this is not okay. Sloan and her minions need to be put in their place.”
“They sure do. And as the incumbent Premier Witch, you will have that ability,” Daisy responds, a wicked grin forming.
They see Lachlan’s familiar Jeep across the emptying parking lot a few minutes later. Lachlan hops out. “Are you okay?”
They reassure him that they’re fine, and he gets started jacking the car to change the tire. As he does so, Petra fills him in, and she can see it takes everything in him not to hop back in his vehicle to let Sloan know precisely who she is fucking with. Petra manages to calm him down enough to change her tire, and when she looks at Daisy, she can see that stupid smirk again.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Lachlan
After putting the spare tire on Petra’s car, he follows them back to Daisy’s as Petra insists on dropping her off, and then he and Petra head home in their separate cars. He’s still internally fuming when they return to the house, and he may have snapped at Petra in his frustration. Not his best moment, that’s for sure. Now, he sits alone in the living room while she takes a bath upstairs, claiming she needs both to relax and some space from him. He could think of better ways to do that, but she, in no uncertain terms, told him not to speak to her until he stopped acting like a two-year-old.
To keep himself from thinking about her naked, soaped-up body, he tries to figure out why she was targeted. Is it related to him and the underworld? Does he need to protect her from what lies in the underworld, waiting for him?
Realizing he needs to think and knowing his fury over tonight’s events would keep him up, he makes his way to the kitchen and decides to bake. Pulling out the flour, yeast, and water, he builds a bread dough, carefully weighing out the ingredients to ensure he has the right hydration. With the dough resting for the first proof, he moves to the couch.
He hears the tub drain from upstairs, and shortly after, Petra emerges wrapped in a silk bathrobe that does nothing to hide her delicious peaks but everything to excite his inner demon. He pushes down the shadows that reach out for her. Petra sits in the chair opposite him, curling her legs underneath her and leaning on one of the arms, leaving the robe gaping far enough that Lachlan can see a perfectly curved breast underneath.
