Warlock

Skeletons in the Basement

"Hello, scum."

Loch barely kept himself from throwing his hot chocolate in the naiad woman's face. "Hello, scummette. Can we speak in private?" He tried to appear sincere, but it had no effect on Lola's demeanor. As much as he did not care whether she hated him, he knew her hatred burned Skye's heart. "Please?" The word made it out of his mouth as a whisper, whistling through his clenched teeth.

The sight of his discomfort brought joy to her hateful face. "Alright. Come upstairs. Try to keep up." She motioned for the lycanthrope to replace her behind the front counter and led the way to the apartment staircase. Unfortunately, Loch did have to try in order to keep up with her much longer strides, but he aided his breathing with a touch of magic to keep her from having the satisfaction of seeing him out of breath.

Once they reached the apartment above the café, Lola turned to face him with a glare. "If this has anything to do with those online conspiracy theories, do tell. I'm listening."

"I – what? What online conspiracy theories?" This conversation was going in a different direction than he had expected.

"Ever since you hit the news for surviving one of the time-stopping attacks, conspiracy theorists have been ranting about how you're some immortal from the sixties. There's an actor that looks like you, but with dark brown eyes and hair." Her tone of voice indicated that she did not believe the theory, but her eyes fixed on his face suspiciously. At least it would serve as a good segue to his confession.

"Right. I didn't know about that, but it does relate to what I was going to talk to you about. I'm a warlock. Skye knows and you know, but that's it and it needs to stay that way." Vivian the murderess knew as well, but that was a topic he was not going to breach with this particular naiad. Loch found himself wringing his hands and quickly shifted them to cross his arms. He could not afford to look nervous. If Lola thought she had the upper hand, she would never stop taunting him. He missed the times when everyone feared him, though he had only begun hibernating because those times had grown boring.

Surprisingly, she did not respond with a glare. "What's your ability?" Perhaps she would be nicer now that she knew he was not human.

"Everything. I'm one of the ancients." Loch hated calling himself ancient. It brought to mind the image of a decrepit old man.

The glare returned just as quickly as it had vanished. "So that would make Skye one among many. Is he just a toy for you? A temporary boyfriend that you're just going to toss away when you get bored?" He had never met someone as protective as her. Skye must have had a lot of bad boyfriends.

"Relax. I've never dated anyone before. Does Trinity know about the conspiracy theories?"

"You've never dated anyone before?" She did not believe him. Wonderful; now he would have to be self-deprecating.

"I don't exactly have a sparkling personality. And I'm lazy. Relationships take effort. Can you please answer my question? Does Trinity know about the conspiracy theories?"

The naiad stared at him, her grey eyes searching his face for a hint of a lie. "Alright. Fine. Trinity doesn't know about the conspiracy theories. She asked me if I had noticed anything inhuman about you after your accident with the demon, and I said no. Not for your sake, but for Skye's. When he keeps a secret, I keep it too. So I'll keep yours." It felt like a weight had been lifted from his back. Loch let out a sigh of relief. "But, you have to put a shielding spell on me."

"What? Why?"

"There's a war on."

He tried to remember everything he had overheard in the last few months, but he only remembered an Other mentioning a war once. "With who?"