The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga Taliesin Govannon (best free ereader .txt) 📖

                “Piss off.” he said curtly. He instead walked up to me.

                Well, isn’t THIS special? I thought warily.

                I needn't have worried. He tossed the cigar stub hurriedly at the ground, wiped off his hands, and kneeled.

                “My lady,” he said, “I do welcome the Sorceress to my place of business, and my home.”

                Lacking anything else to say, I just nodded and said “Thank you.”

                “I must apologize for the lack of a warm welcome.” he continued, standing up again. “It’s just that you never know what kind of hell beasts that Mister Hawkins might be bringing with him at any time.”

                “Now, that's kind of unfair..." Trevor started to say but was cut off by Evelyn.

                “Well,” she said, “there was that one time you brought a rabid lycanthrope to Jexo’s place in Morocco.”

                “It escaped the cage that Trevor had it in.” Jexo explained to me, his voice clipped. “Killed twenty of my best employees and turned another fifteen. I now have a procurement team that needs flea treatments.”

                “Okay, one time… “ Trevor protested.

                “And then there was that time,” Evelyn said, cutting him off again, “you know, in Argentina, when Trevor showed up at Jexo’s compound there with a Himalayan shadow monster on his trail?”

                “Ah yes, the soul-sucker.” Jexo replied. “I had to close that place down. Nobody would work there after what happened.”

                “Yeah, but I killed the beastie in the end!” Trevor said aggressively.

                “At the cost of only two hundred lives, at that.” Jexo added.

                “And then there was… “ Evelyn began, but it was her turn to be cut off.

                “Okay, OKAY!” Trevor shouted. “Who’s side are you on?!?”

                "Well, obviously not yours, you stupid git." she shot back.  "I mean, you're my brother, and I love you." she continued, her tone softer. "But sometimes you've got the judgment of a mid-western accountant on a three-day coke binge."

                “Yeah, well this time I brought the Sorceress.” Trevor retorted triumphantly.

                “You brought someone being chased by a trio of hellephants, who could do serious damage to my compound, to my back door!” Jexo replied, anger rising in his voice. He stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. “My apologies.” he said gently to me. “It is an honor to meet you, Lady Sorceress. Please, come with me.” He smiled, which looked not as alien on his face as I expected.

                “My friends will accompany me.” I said quickly, not wanting to be separated from them.

                “Of course, my Lady.” he said. “I will treat your friends with all of the deference that I would show to you, personally.” His smile faded as he looked at Trevor. “As much as that will pain me in some cases.”

                “Well, aren't you the diplomat!" Trevor said, with a grin, to Jexo. "I'm not used to seeing you this polite and well-spoken."

                Jexo started to respond, but stopped himself.

                “I don’t think that the Sorceress will mind if you tell him to sod off.” Evelyn said.

                Jexo looked at me. “Go right ahead.” I said with a grin.

                “Go fuck yourself, Hawkins.” Jexo said, and led us from the room.

                                                                                                *                *                *

                The accommodations that we were given were surprisingly opulent. We had a sitting room that looked like something out of a five-star European luxury hotel, and the six bedrooms that were off of the main room looked even fancier through their open doors.

                “The way here looked like a military base.” I said under my breath to Evelyn. “This is surprising.”

                “Jexo deals in a lot of arms.” she answered just as softly. “Saudi Princes don’t like to stay in the barracks.”

                “I hope you find these accommodations acceptable.” Jexo said after we all filed in.

                “Yes, these will be lovely.” I answered.

                “Now, you have free run of the facilities while you’re here, Jexo said, “But there are some areas that could be dangerous. I implore you to have a staff escort before entering any restricted areas.”

                “That’s not unreasonable.” I said.

                “I’ll make it easy for you.” Jexo turned and whistled behind him.

                A woman, dressed in camo with her long auburn hair tied back in a ponytail, walked in and stood at attention by her boss.

                “This is Sargent Tiffany Collins.” Jexo continued. “She will be available all hours of the day or night to assist you in any way needed.”

                “Thank you, really.” I said, genuinely grateful.

                “I invite you to dine at my table tonight.” Jexo said. “Sargent Collins will notify you when it’s ready. Now, I must take my leave.”

                “Thank you, Jexo.” I said. “See you at dinner.”

                He left, and Tiffany stayed at attention.

                “Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked stiffly.

                She has the most peculiar accent I thought. Like a blend of New Zealand and South African.

                “I could use some clothes.” Katsu replied.

                Shit! I exclaimed inwardly. She’s still naked! I can’t believe I forgot!

                We had been interrupted while installing a camera, and Katsu had never gotten a chance to retrieve her clothing before we had to run.

                “Of course!” Tiffany said. “They… may not be very pretty.” she added, faltering.

                “Functional is sufficient.” Katsu assured her.

                Tiffany left, and Gaia turned to me.

                “Some of those guys we passed looked pretty rough.” she said. “I’m surprised that none of them even stared.”

                “Jexo went into full VIP mode when he found out that Annabelle’s the Sorceress.” Trevor explained. “His employees know what that means. Jack could have slipped her some D in the hallway and nobody would have batted an eye.”

                “As lovely as the thought is,” Evelyn said, changing the subject, “we should pick our rooms. I want to get a nap before dinner.”

                And I’d like a joint I thought.

                                                                                                *                *                *

                Forty-five minutes and two supply runs by our camouflaged assistant later, all of us save Evelyn were