The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga by Taliesin Govannon (top 10 novels of all time .txt) 📗

                “Sounds lonely.” I said, my heart breaking for her.

                “But it wasn’t.” she smiled. “It wasn’t because I had the Sorceress to keep me company. I had my idea of the Sorceress, anyway. She was someone I could talk to, cry to, tell the things that I was afraid to tell other people.”

                Tiffany paused and took a deep breath. “She was the first person I told that I was gay.” she continued. “It was the first time I said it out loud.”

                “Wow.” I said, exhaling hard. “I never knew that being someone’s imaginary friend could make me feel so good.”

                “It made me feel good, so… there’s that.” she said, grinning. “But that’s the thing… you’re not imaginary anymore! You’ve come, and have crossed our paths… I wasn’t going to miss a chance to get to know you, even for a little bit.”

                “I might disappoint you.” I said, myself serious this time. “I have the potential for great power, but I’m still a young woman from Ohio at heart, warts and all.”

                “That just makes this even cooler.” she said, still smiling. “You can’t be friends with an ideal. You can be friends with a person, and I’m hoping we can be friends.”

                It was my turn to smile.

                                                                                                *                *                *

                We stepped out of the elevator into another tall room, this one labeled ‘Warehouse 4 – K’. I took a quick look around and my jaw dropped a little.

                It was the strangest warehouse I had ever seen. Narrow shelves, stacked far too high to be safe, sat on either side of wide aisles. A scaffold with mechanical lifts on either end hugged one side of each row, and the top two shelves on each stack held items behind a glowing orange force-field of unknown origin.

                “There’s no way those shelves are stable.” I said, concerned.

                “They look tall and wobbly, yes.” Tiffany said. “But they’re the work of Fae contractors. You could crash a jet into them and they’d hold.”

                “Does that include the enchantment up top?” I asked, gesturing to the orange force field.

                “All original equipment.” she replied. “It’s tricky. Nobody can touch any item behind the citrus wall if they have deception or malice in their hearts. That includes my Uncle. They’re the most dangerous items in our inventory… dangerous mystical items.”

                “Wow.” I said, looking around. “How many warehouses like this one are in this facility?”

                “There are four categories, numbered accordingly." Tiffany answered. "Ones are My Little Pony collectibles, twos are art, threes are munitions, and fours are mystical-slash-paranormal items. There are three level ones, six-level twos, eighteen level threes, and thirteen fours."

                Daaaaaamn! I thought. “And how many facilities in the world?”

                “Seven.”

                “Similar numbers?”

                “Pretty much.”

                “There are people trying to attack us.” I told her. “We don’t know if they’re coordinated or not, or how dangerous they really are. But… “ I grinned, “… if there’s going to be a fight, I get the idea that you guys are good to know.”

                Tiffany grinned back. “You have no idea.”

                                                                                                *                *                *

                I reached into the wooden box that our host had left on the coffee table in the seating area of our suite and pulled out two joints. I went to hand one to Tiffany.

                “I don’t know,” she said, “I’m technically on duty… “

                “I have full authority to make any request of you I wish, correct?” I asked her.

                “Yes, fully.” she replied.

                "Well then, I am declaring you off duty for every responsibility except ensuring my comfort, which includes smoking a doob with you and getting to know you better." I said, patting the sofa next to me. "I'm talking full-on, let your hair down hanging out."

                Tiffany smiled and pulled out her ponytail as she sat down next to me. “Yes mam.” she said as she lit the joint.

                “Jesus, Annabelle.” Jack said, laying with his head on Katsu’s lap across from us. “Are you corrupting the boss’ niece again?”

                “Damn straight!” I replied, exhaling.

                “Ha!” Tiffany snorted. “Like you could corrupt me more than Becky Bowman!”

                “Was she hot?” Gaia said, entering the room and sitting on the chair between the sofas.

                “I was seventeen, she was nineteen." Tiffany said. "I was horny as hell, and she was sex on a stick. We had just shuffled personnel around the globe, and we had a temporary lack of young ladies in our dating pool around here. The next youngest after Becky was forty! I mean," she paused, "it's not like older women aren't attractive… Cassie is damn near fifty and someone I would sell my sibling just for a chance to experience her embrace for a night! It's just..." she trailed off, looking for the words.

                “Generational.” I said. “It’s generational. I’m sure that there are lots of bodies that are nice to rub against for an hour or two, but there comes a time for conversation, and it’s nice to do it with someone who shares your pop culture language.”

                “Exactly.” she said, shifting in her seat. “You know,” she continued, “Becky asked me if I loved her once.”

                “And what did you say?” I asked.

                “I said that I loved her like a friend, but a really dear friend, you know?” she replied. “One that I trusted so much that I would be extremely physically vulnerable around so that we could both get some physical satisfaction, as well as soothe the human need to be touched.”

                “And did she take that badly?” Jack asked next.

                “Quite the opposite.” Tiffany answered. “She was glad that I felt the same way she did. She had been terrified that she was going to break my heart by having to move on someday, and she could enjoy our time together better since she knew that I might miss her when we part,