[Spirit of Lust 2] Chapters 851 & 852. (Patreon)

Chapter 851: Contact with Lucy White.

She was… pretty, I guess. Dark brown eyes that contrasted with her wavy, almost blonde clear brown hair. The form fitting black leather riding suit she was wearing forced me to remember that one woman I saw driving past me a week ago, but the motorcycle parked behind had me believing and accepting that she was the same one. The bike was 100% the one Alex and I had been working on, and… the woman’s figure had left an impression. Curvy, fit, tall, busty. 

Those were the least… annoyingly distracting things about her.

It felt wrong having to fight my own instincts, and I don’t mean the baser, animalistic ones. I mean the ones I’d been passively honing the past year, the ones I had learned to trust. But this time my brain was forcing me to push them away, the situation we were in calling for caution more than anything else.

I’ve never been particularly good at hiding my feelings, and at times like these they show even more. And despite Luke’s backing, my alertness and mistrust were plain for her to see.

“You have questions, I know,” she said, smiling wryly with a hand on her hip. “And I promise to answer them all. But first… one of Luke’s men is waiting here in a van to take these two away. Unless you want to call the police here and have them do it, but that’s gonna be a whole thing.”

“...” I sighed. “They’ve been here for three hours, right? Why not take them away sooner?”

“None of us can get in, of course,” she answered, nodding towards the two trespassers. “They passed out the moment they jumped the fence. Your domain defences are pretty strong.”

“...” Right. My domain. Ugh, I feel like an idiot. I should’ve known that, but now I look like someone who doesn’t even understand his own powers.

I looked down at the two men. It was true that if the police came, they’d ask questions. And as much as I wanted these two to get some form of punishment for trying to invade my home, it was better to keep this under wraps, considering how the supernatural was involved.

I peeked outside the gate and saw the van she was talking about. After a sigh of resignation, I picked up one of the men and effortlessly threw him over my shoulder. The woman raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as she stepped aside to let me pass.

I felt a bit of relief seeing the driver of the van. Not someone I knew well, but someone I was acquainted with. He was the head of security at the hotel, so our jobs didn’t have us interact much, if at all, but we’d been introduced. 

He was a tall, burly man of dark skin in his early 40s. I believe his name was… Jason. He smiled kindly and apologetically at me. “Sorry for the awkward start to your morning, kid, but this sort of thing happens sometimes. Good thing it was solved before anything could happen.”

I nodded. “Yeah. So… What’s gonna happen to these two?”

“The boss will ask some questions they’ll willingly answer without a speck of pain. What happens next depends on what they say, but they'll likely be let go after a little memory wipe.”

I flinched. “Luke’s going to erase their memories?”

“You’d prefer they remember the reason they tried to infiltrate your home in the first place?” he asked me.

I clicked my tongue. “I suppose not.”

It was like Frey had said plenty of times. Getting involved with this side of the world wasn’t pretty. Even something like this left a very bad taste in my mouth.

“Throw them in the back for me, yeah? It doesn’t look like it, but you’re stronger than me,” he said, laughing.

How many times had he done something like this to treat it as just another day of work? Unlike him, I could feel my hands trembling from… I don’t know. A bit of fear, stress or something like it. Maybe it was a shot of adrenaline meant to keep me alert. Still, it made me feel clumsy.

I threw both guys in the back of Jason’s van and he waved goodbye after telling me the boss would give me an update and to not let this worry me too much.

Now… there was someone else to pay attention to.

I turned back to look at the woman. She was still patiently waiting by the opened gate, not having moved a step. Red was still watching her carefully, but he had stopped growling.

“...” She’d been watching us for weeks without us knowing, huh? Can’t say it sat right with me, but… if it was to protect us… And it was Luke who gave her the task, anyway. “Have you eaten anything?” I asked her.

Her eyebrows shot up and she blinked. “Um… No, not in the last five hours,” she admitted.

“Come on in, then. I’ll make you breakfast.”

She swallowed. “That’s not… necessary,” she said, feeling awkward.

“We’re not going to talk out here. It’s cold. And I won’t have a guest in my house going hungry.” I could tell my tone was harsher than usual, and it bothered me. Again, it was like my brain was fighting my instincts and trying to make me not trust her fully yet. That didn’t mean I had to be rude, but…

I went past the gate and waited for the woman to walk in as well before closing the gate.

Red slowly approached her, wary… but the woman let him smell her hand. “I’m not here to harm them, I promise,” she said to him, almost whispering.

I blinked. I could feel a sort of… unnatural warmth in the air, and it was like Red understood immediately. His entire body language changed, and while not exactly friendly, it was clear the German Shepherd had dropped his guard.

“What did you do?” I asked her.

The woman flinched. “Sorry. Of course you’d notice. It’s a harmless spell, I assure you. I like animals, so… I learned to talk to them, sort of. It’s more like… understanding intentions than talking.”

Noticing how on edge she was made me realize something like a slap on the face. She was the one who had something to fear, not me. This was my territory, and I was the one possessed by a higher spirit. By her understanding, she was the one at a massive disadvantage.

I swallowed a groan and rubbed the back of my neck. “Come on. Let's have something to eat. I’m starving, too.”

And so… I invited Lucy White into my home.

************

Chapter 852: Intermission - Contact with Oliver Brooks.

She had screwed up. There was no doubt that it was her fault and she had to take responsibility for it. In theory, she could’ve left those two men sleeping on the grass and made her way back home. Oliver’s domain was clearly powerful enough to defend them against most things. Lucy’s presence was needed to protect them against the few things it couldn’t.

After the screw up, she had called her boss to ask for further orders. After a moment to think, Luke Allen told her to make herself known. After all, the objective was to protect this family’s peace of mind. Keeping quiet would likely only make things worse.

Lucy followed Oliver into the house. He had explicitly allowed her in, so her stiffness and nerves had nothing to do with his domain’s effects. She followed him to the kitchen, and she hoped he didn’t notice that she was already somewhat familiar with the layout of his house. After all, she’d… watched them from afar plenty of times now.

“Anything you can’t eat?” He asked her.”Eggs or cheese or something else?”

“I can eat anything. Thank you,” she said softly, feeling awkward at how quiet her own voice was.

“Take a seat at the table. At that end of the table, if you don't mind,” he said, gesturing with his head and with a small, apologetic smile. “By now we all kind of have our spots.”

Lucy nodded, then sat down. She watched him text something on his phone then quickly get to work breaking eggs to scramble them, to mix them in pancake batter, boiling water, toasting bread, pouring jam into small glass bowls, getting the butter… The moment the smell of the pancakes hit Lucy’s nose, her stomach grumbled.

She’d eaten five hours ago… and that had been a couple of protein bars. It had been a night in which she had no time to have a proper meal.

“...” Lucy watched him set a plate with toasts, one with pancakes and an empty mug in front of her. “Um… Are the others coming down?” She asked.

Oliver set his own plate of pancakes before him and sat down at the other end of the table before shaking his head. “I just asked them to stay upstairs for a little while. I’ll tell them everything later, of course, but I think you’ll be a bit more comfortable without eight people staring at you.”

It was true, but… Lucy wondered if he also didn’t trust her enough to let her get close to his girls. Only natural, she supposed. And smart. One should be careful of people from the underworld.

“I didn’t do anything to the food, if you’re wondering,” he said. “Don’t even know how, but I’ll understand if you’d rather not eat.”

She had to eat. It was a show of trust on her part. Oliver Brooks was Luke Allen’s irreplaceable partner. If her actions here soured their relationship…

Lucy poured herself some coffee, added no sugar or anything else and took a small sip before she also tried the pancakes. They were fluffy and perfectly cooked. In fact, she noticed that while hers were all neat and beautiful, the ones in Oliver’s plate were a bit deformed and overcooked.

Warmth filled her chest, and not just from the coffee. She was always so busy that all she ever had were MREs. And when she was home, she was too tired and lazy to make herself anything. Not that anything she made was ever this good.

“Thank you. It’s good…” she said, her voice at the edge of cracking.

Oliver groaned softly and shook his head. “I’m… sorry for the way I talked before. I’m on edge, but I’m sure you are, too. Eat first if you want. You can explain things after.”

The first bite only made her hungrier. She had come down from the adrenaline rush and her body felt heavy. She shouldn’t have, but she took him up on his offer. She ate the pancakes, drank coffee, had scrambled eggs on toast, accepted another cup of coffee… She hoped she at least didn't look like she had swallowed it all in one go.

“I’m sorry for the trouble, but thank you. That was delicious,” Lucy said, wiping her mouth with a napkin. Oliver smiled. It was gentle and… beautiful. No doubt an effect of the Spirit of Lust’s powers. Right? It had to be.

“Can you tell me what happened, then? And… why you’ve been watching us?” he asked her.

Lucy nodded. “Some time ago, you confronted a dangerous man. Joseph Milán, a petty, spoiled business man used to throwing his money around to get what he wants.”

Oliver sighed. “I had a feeling…”

“Mr. Allen knew he would retaliate against you, or try to… get the girl he wanted by force. He has hired four groups of… mercenaries, let’s call them, to kidnap Fernanda Santos and to harm you.”

Lucy felt it in her bones. The moment she mentioned Fernanda’s name, Oliver tensed up and his expression hardened. Lucy paused for a moment and Oliver took a deep breath.

“Four groups?” he asked.

“Yes. The one from last night was the latest. This time it was only one man. Unlike the others, this one… had supernatural abilities, like me. I fought him, knocked him out and had him taken away.”

Oliver blinked. “You… fought him?”

Lucy nodded.

“Are you okay?” he asked, frowning with worry.

“We exchanged blows, but I am unharmed. You probably understand that one can use magic to reinforce one’s toughness.”

Again, Oliver sighed, but nodded. He seemed to be believing her words. She didn’t notice the skepticism that was there at first. Then again… He could be reading her mind. She hoped he was. Not only would it make things easier, but it would be the smart thing to do.

“You knocked him out and had him taken away…” he repeated her words. “Then… what about those two guys passed out by the gate?”

Lucy tensed up and took a deep breath. “My failure. We normally know when someone will be sent to attack thanks to Mr. Allen’s information network and spies. It was the case for this last mercenary, which is why I was prepared. Those two… we didn’t know about. Either they slipped past our information network or aren’t affiliated with Joseph Milán. By the time I noticed them, they were jumping the fence and I couldn’t stop them.”

Lucy felt a bit sorry for him. Waking up in the morning like usual, only to be hit with all this. To suddenly learn that dangerous things were happening just outside his house while he was asleep…

She’d known from what Luke told her, but the troubled look on Oliver’s face confirmed it. He had power beyond what most people will ever approach… but he didn’t belong anywhere near the underworld.