“Superior, please, have faith in me,” Victor begs.
Superior Charles takes a deep breath, cracks his neck, and then nods. “Give me the night to think about this. I want to make sure both of you are not putting yourselves in danger.” He points at Victor while holding his glass, proclaiming, “But if this goes sideways, and you die, I’ll find you in the River Styx, bring you back, and kill you myself.”
“Noted,” Victor responds with a leer.
Superior Charles finishes his drink in one gulp, then clears his throat. “Go see your friends. They have many questions to ask you. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
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.
