Chapter Thirty
The next afternoon, Victor is in the shower, trying to recover from a long night of talking and explaining everything to his friends over several adult beverages. He knew spending an extra day to recover was a good idea. As he lets the water pour down on his face, he feels a presence behind him.
“Someone doesn’t know the definition of privacy.” Victor looks over his shoulder, and Derek, dressed in his suit, stands in the shower behind him. “Are you here to help me wash my back?”
“I just wanted to check out how good your assets are,” Derek says as he leans in the corner.
Victor turns around, and Derek can’t help but examine Victor’s wet and naked body. “If you were physically here, I would have thrown you through the wall into the next room.”
“Sounds like a good time to me. I like it rough,” Derek taunts.
Victor crosses his arms, not bothering to cover himself. “If you’re looking for Leo, you can see he’s not here with me. You have no reason to feel threatened.”
“He knows better. And if you know better, you should find another mentor,” Derek suggests.
“And why would I want to do that?” Victor probes.
Derek places his hands in his pockets and smirks. “Because he’s going to be useless to you soon. And then he can come back to me.”
“From my understanding, he doesn’t want to be with you anymore,” Victor jabs.
Derek narrows his eyes. “Unfortunately, that’s not his decision.”
Victor takes a step forward. “How did you find me?” Derek is around the same height as Victor. Victor locks eyes with Derek, trying to gauge his intentions.
“We’ve met once before, remember? It was back at your apartment,” Derek scuffs.
“I thought for you to astral project to someone, you would have had to be in close contact with that person.” Victor notices Derek’s eyes shift side to side as he tries to keep eye contact.
Derek finally responds, “And who told you that? Leo? He wouldn’t know what he’s talking about. That boy can’t astral project himself.”
Victor steps back into the water, letting it pour onto his shoulders. He studies Derek’s aura and can tell he’s lying.
“Are you trying to see my aura?” Derek comments with a touch of sass. “You know you can’t do that with someone astral projecting. Fuck, who’s teaching you all this misguided information?”
Victor keeps his poker face going. What if Derek is a telepath? Could Derek read his thoughts? “Why are you here? Besides being a peeping Tom.”
Derek stands up straight and smooths out his jacket.
“My superior has been informed that you’ve been receiving invitations to join a coven.
He would like . . . “ Derek clenches his jaw and tilts his head. There’s an expression of discomfort for what he is about to say.
“He would like to extend his invitation, against my better judgment.”
“What, he couldn’t hand me the invitation himself? He has to send his lackey?” Victor pokes.
Derek’s nostrils flare, trying to remain professional. “He has more important things to do than send out meaningless invitations.”
“And why would I want to accept his invitation?” Victor inquires.
Derek sighs and gives his best sales pitch. “Because our coven would be the best for you. You’ll be able to thrive and grow more than you would in other covens.” Derek’s face returns to annoyance. “You’ll get the invite soon. My superior will be expecting a response from you.”
“I would rather have my left nut explode than join a coven with an asshole like you in it,” Victor declares.
Derek tries to grab Victor’s neck, but his hand goes through. Victor feels a slight tingling from Derek’s hand. “You’re lucky I can’t choke you right now,” Derek comments as he retracts his hand.
Victor leans forward, almost nose-to-nose with Derek. “I might like it.” Derek’s face wrinkles with aggression, and then he vanishes like the steam from the shower. Victor watches the vapors dissipate, trying to come up with his own conclusion of this unexpected, and possibly provoked, visit.
Victor turns off the shower and says aloud, “If he is a telepath, I hope he doesn’t know what we’re planning.” As Victor dries himself off, he looks at himself in the mirror. “There’s only one way to ensure he doesn’t try reading my thoughts if he’s close by.”
Victor finishes getting dressed and hears a knock at the door. He opens it, and Leo is on the other side. “Come in. We need to talk.”
Leo walks into the room with a worried expression. “What’s the matter?”
“Derek visited me . . . in the shower,” Victor responds while gathering his shoes from the closet.
“What?” Leo hollers in shock.
Victor gets upset as he starts packing his clothes in his suitcase. “You’re going to need to have a word with that husband of yours. It was completely inappropriate to show up in a man’s shower without an invite.”
“He saw you–”
Victor cuts off Leo, “Naked? Yes. I think he was trying to size me up. No pun intended.”
Leo walks up to Victor. “I’m sorry. He shouldn’t have embarrassed you like that.”
Victor moves to the other side of the room to collect his charging cords off the nightstand. “I’ve been naked with so many guys that I lost count. I’m not embarrassed. I didn’t appreciate that he thought visiting me in the shower was necessary.”
“What did he want?” Leo asks.
They hear some rustling at the door. They turn their heads when a small envelope slides under. “He wanted to tell me about that.” Victor walks over and picks up the envelope. He opens it and pulls out a pentagon-shaped black business card with a gold emblem.
Leo notices the card and is perplexed. “Is that an invite from Superior Tederich?”
Victor holds up the business card and studies it. “It’s interesting that Superior Tederich picked a pentagon shape for his invite. It’s probably because a pentagon has five points, like a pentagram. How appropriate.”
Leo watches Victor put it back into the envelope. “You’re not going to consider joining his coven, right?” he asks.
Victor rolls his eyes and tosses the envelope in the trash can. “You really think I would want to be in a coven with that husband of yours?”
“Why are you upset with me?” Leo questions.
Victor spins around. “Because you need to gain a better grasp of your man. It’s becoming annoying that he accuses me of keeping you from him.”
Leo becomes confused and sits down at the foot of the bed. “What’s gotten into you?”
“What’s gotten into me? Maybe I don’t appreciate someone’s jaded lover approaching me while I’m trying to shower.” Victor shakes his head as he goes back to packing. “I don’t know how to feel about this. We’re not even dating, but I’m disgusted that you’re still with someone like him.”
Leo stands and strides over to Victor. “Victor, please, I would have left Derek years ago if I could. But I’m attached to him because of my ignorance of taking that blood oath. And if he knew that I was planning any harm to him, he could execute that oath. Which would ultimately kill me.”
Victor doesn’t look at Leo as he stops beside him. “We need to get going. Superior Charles needs to speak to us before we go to Mexico.” Leo places a hand on Victor’s shoulder. “Please, I don’t want you to be upset with me.”
Victor barely gives Leo a side-eye glance. “I’m ready to go.” Victor shrugs Leo’s hand off and walks out the door. Leo lets out a sigh of defeat, following behind him.
A short drive later through the metroplex of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, they come to a building. Victor looks up at a three-story 1950s art deco-style building. The stone exterior has been sun-bleached. Eagles, also made of stone, are perched on top as the building’s gargoyles. “Where are we?”
“We are at the library,” Leo replies subtly. “We need to get you some books to read.”
Victor sighs, “Great, more reading.”
Leo gets out of the car first and looks over at Victor. Victor exits through the other side. Leo observes Victor head up the stairs. Victor twists around and gestures to Leo, Are you coming? Leo’s shoulders slouch as he closes the car door and catches up to Victor.
They walk through a huge, heavy brass door covered with stained glass.
When they enter, the odor of old books surrounds Victor’s senses.
The interior resembles your average library, filled with both wood and metal shelves, covered with books.
While walking toward a large circular desk in the center, Leo turns down one of the aisles.
Victor follows behind until they come up to a wall of bookshelves.
Victor looks up and notes the signage of the section. “Self-Help?”
“I mean, technically, all the books you’ve been reading are self-help,” Leo comments as he pulls a book down, and a metallic click comes from behind the wall.
A narrow portion of the bookshelf jerks backward, allowing Leo to push it aside.
Walking through the doorway, it is almost as if they were transported into an entirely different building.
The bookshelves are made of dark-stained oak, with gold trimmings and elegant carvings along the edges.
A massive Himalayan pink salt crystal hangs like a pendulum in the center, directly above the librarian’s desk.
The light coming through the dome above reflects off the crystal, illuminating the library. Five small birds are fluttering around.
Victor and Leo approach the desk, where a single witch sits, reading a book.
She has thick, round glasses and short, curly red hair.
She’s wearing a cream-colored Edwardian-style tea dress with light blue floral prints and a laced square collar.
There is a small bird perched on her shoulder as she reads.
She’s nibbling on the cap of the pen she is holding.