Sage wanted to add that he also only did laundry pretty much whenever, and half the time when he went grocery shopping, he only got a quarter of the things he’d set out to get, and all the cats he adopted from the shelter just left of their own accord after about a week.Sage really wasn’t good at all the adulting shit.At all.Peter couldn’t possibly expect him to take care of anything as complicated as another witch?A real person?He couldn’t even keep a fucking bewitched rubber glove alive—although the remaining piece of it was still pretty eager to please.
“It’ll be fine.I’ll pay this one a stipend.I’ll drop him by soon, but there are a few things I need to take care of first.I just thought I should give you a heads-up,” Peter said.
“But, Peter, I don’t think that’s a good idea?”
Sage heard Peter breathe in and out slowly, as if he was trying to keep calm.
“Sage, how would you know that without trying it?I’m sure you’ll do an excellent job.”
That sounded like an order, and a second later they were ending the call, and Sage wasn’t totally sure what had happened.Apparently he’d been made teacher to a young witch.Then again, if young witches were anything like all the cats, they’d be gone after a week or so, which would be for the best.Sage looked over at the box of rubber gloves he’d bought specifically for his experiment.
“I should probably give this another try before Peter drops some kid at my door.”Sage peeled the eager rubber off his toe and went downstairs to the kitchen to warm up some water for the next glove, hoping there wouldn’t be any interruptions this time around.
3
Will
Willstoodinthemassive foyer, facing the door.His stomach was growling, but he’d be fine.He’d endured worse hunger.
The money Peter had left him felt like a lot, and spending it on delivery would be a waste.Will still needed to find out what the vampire would do to help him, and what Will would have to do in order to pay Peter back for his help.Spending so much money on a meal…Will couldn’t bring himself to do it.
He’d run past a small organic store just around the corner last night, and he was sure he could get something there that was less expensive than curry or Thai food.With a sigh, he decided he couldn’t make a decision about food right then and there.
He looked over his shoulder.The door to the office was open.With daylight flooding in through all the windows, he’d also had the chance to take in the large living room on the ground floor.It was all very neat, almost like a museum or a display room no one ever touched; one that wasn’t lived in.Still, he’d sat in an armchair for about five minutes, just so he could experience the exquisitely made piece of furniture.It had felt like a forbidden thing to do.
What complicated the issue of food further was that Peter had told Will not to leave the house.But Peter had also forbidden Will from going into the basement.
In all the tales, forbidden things are where the clues are.Touching something you’re not allowed to touch, pricking your finger on the spindle, that’s how you can be sure your knight comes and saves you.
Will had grown up with fairy tales.Or rather, while his sister had clutched her flute to her when they’d come to live with their grandfather’s pack, Will had hung on to a battered collection of fairy tales, and he’d read it over and over, over and over.He’d taken the book with him when he’d been given to Ed, but Ed had burned it in the kitchen sink during the first year when Will had still resisted.
Will pushed the memory of flames aside.“Maybe he’s not Peter Collins, but Rumpelstiltskin.Or the evil fairy godmother,” Will whispered in the large, empty house, hoping his words would fill the space.They didn’t.
He looked down at the menus, the note, and the bill in his hands.It’s like this is some kind of challenge.Or a trick.Maybe it’s a trick?
Despite his hunger, he couldn’t bring himself to let go of the menus and the note quite yet, so when he carefully walked to the basement door, he held on to them.He was quiet, even though he couldn’t hear anyone in the entire house.
“Doesn’t mean there are no humans locked up down there.”He didn’t really think there were, but he had to check, if only to distract himself from the issue of food.
The basement door was unlocked, and it opened to pitch-black darkness.He found the light switch, and a single bulb flickered to life, casting the vault below in an umber glow.
As carefully as he was able, Will ventured down about half the steps until he could see beyond if he craned his neck.
The lighting was poor with just that one bulb, and thanks to several shelves loaded with piles of tech junk, the eerie shadows were practically built in.Will kept listening.The only sounds came from a computer setup that wouldn’t have looked out of place in some spy movie.It hummed away like a living thing that was only sleeping, waiting for him to make a wrong move.
He went down the rest of the stairs, still listening for anything unusual.He gave the tech setup a closer look because it dominated the room, and it was clearly where Peter spent his time here.
A large L-shaped desk held several screens, even one turned ninety degrees so it was upright rather than horizontal.Will went to investigate, but nothing on the desk looked suspicious.Color palettes were taped to the tabletop, but that was about the strangest thing there.When he dropped into the desk chair, he accidentally brushed against the mouse with his hand, and the screens came to life…and Will found the weird staring right at him.
“Oh.”
Each screen had a different screen saver.The first was of a guy feeling up the chest of another guy.Neither wore clothes.It was a rather explicit photo.
The second was cartoonlike, but almost photorealistic, with one guy in white and the other in a black tux.They were both blushing as they held on to one another and stared into each other’s eyes with…a lot of sexy thoughts, Will was sure.Their fingers were intertwined, and wedding bands with gleaming, too-large stones shone brightly.
The third had to be the wedding night, and once more, there were no clothes, but the two had gottenwaycloser, deeper, harder.One of them was even drooling.
“Oh, wow.”Will narrowed his eyes, looking from one screen to the other.“These’re…you’re all the same, aren’t you?That’s some stalkery shit.”
