Page 82 of With This Witch
It takes a moment for his kiss-fogged brain to catch up, but he is up on his feet, following her into the house. “Where do you think you’re going?” he growls.
“Me? Oh, I have to get ready to meet Daisy,” she says over her shoulder before running upstairs, leaving him hard and wanting.
“You’re in so much trouble, witchling,” he yells after her.
All he hears back is a cackle as she starts the shower.
* * *
Breathing heavily, sweaty, with his muscles like liquid, he pauses his run and stands on the shores of the lake. It’s been a while since he has run this route, usually avoiding the lake because of how busy it can be, but it’s oddly quiet this late morning. As his breathing slows, the steady waves ground him.
“Lachlan? Lachlan Grace?” he hears someone call out behind him. His back stiffens, recognizing the voice. This can’t be good. He hopes they will think they have the wrong person if he doesn’t respond. Only they call his name again, markedly closer.Shit.
He turns to see Selene striding toward him.
Fuck me.
“It is you! How lovely to see you, old friend,” she says, stopping before him, her voice like a snake winding through his chest, squeezing out every last bit of growth he’s made over these past few years. “Don’t be like that,” she says, noticing his tense stance, locked jaw, and the growl rumbling in his chest.
“Is that what we are?”
“You always were such a joker.”
“I didn’t realize what I did for you and Viktor was a joke,” he says through clenched teeth, barely keeping his shadows at bay.
“Come now. I hear you have made a nice little life for yourself here. You own a bar, have friends, and even found yourself a pretty little witch for a wife.”
“You leave her out of this,” he barks, letting go of his hold, shadows emerging from the ground, winding toward her.
“Oh, put those wispy things away. I came here as a peace offering.”
He draws the shadows back, allowing them to shift and flow around his feet. A warning that he’s ready should she try anything funny.
“How so? As far as I remember, you know nothing of peace.”
“Things change.” She examines her nails. “I hear you are looking for information about a certain troll.”
He folds his arms across his bare chest. “What of it?”
“I happen to know something about what he has been involved in in our world. How he’s been using the underworld to do his bidding, including harming other council members.”
“At what cost? And what do you mean harming council members?”
“No cost. As I said, a peace offering,” she says, her tone softening, almost apologetic. “To protect my sources, all I can say is there is a reason Gladys was unable to be healed. If you agree, I will tell you everything I know and help you in any way that I can.”
“Why?”
“Well…it’s not the same without your regular presence in the underworld. Not because you were great at what you did, but because people trusted you. It’s gone to shit, and we need you back.”
“Why would I return when you and Viktor did everything possible to turn me into a monster like you?” he asks, years of buried pain rising to the surface.
“It’s not the place you remember. The community needs to see that there are alternatives to what we did. What we no longer do. That’s why I’ve been trying to reach you these last few months. I have done what I can to keep things going in your absence, but I can’t do it alone anymore. The people need you.”
He admits that supporting the people of the underworld would be a wonderful way to contribute to their community. As the council representative, it has always been an odd feeling to be connected to that world but still an outsider in many ways. This could be a way for him to pull it all together. To help demons like him find their way.
“Does Viktor know you’re here?” He asks.
She hesitates a moment. “He died. Last year.”
