Ash’s idea was to change his phone number and not do anything unless Gareth forced our hand.
Needless to say, I was one hundred percentagainstthis plan. Unlike Ash, I didn’t think Gareth was going to go away of his own accord, especially after Ash had let me read through the rest of the messages.
It was almost chilling to see how Gareth was unwinding as time went on. The more Ash ignored him, the more threatening he became.
So no. I wasn’t about to sit and wait to see what happened next. Not when Ash was potentially in danger.
Equally, I wouldn’t go against Ash’s wishes…which put us at an inconvenient impasse.
After a lot of discussion, we met in the middle.
Ash sent Gareth a message telling him in no uncertain terms that he was involved with someone else and not to contact him again. That was fine, but to make matters clear, I followed it up with my own message.
This is Lochlan, the ‘someone else’ he’s involved with. If you threaten Ash again or continue to stalk him, I’ll be paying you a personal visit. From what Ash’s told me, you don’t like being the least powerful supe in the room. Trust me when I tell you that I have no problem showing you just how insignificant your powers are compared to mine.
Okay, so it was a bit arrogant, but I meant it.
If Gareth continued to fuck around, he was going to find out.
Ash had rolled his eyes but let me hit send anyway. “Maybe he’ll back off now.”
“Maybe.” Yeah, there was no way. Everything Ash had told me about Gareth suggested he wasn’t going to fuck off without a fight.
It was just a matter of when it’d happen.
I knew Ash was capable of handling himself if Gareth did make the moronic mistake of getting physical, but I was still worried. What if he caught him off guard?
To try and ease my fears, I added several layers of wards around Ash’s house and work. He already had some, of course,but Gareth wouldn’t be familiar with my signature. Hopefully it’d be enough to slow him down until I got there.
With Ash’s permission, I also reached out to Cassie to see if she could help. Turned out she wasmorethan happy to provide some assistance. Apparently she’d been waiting for the go-ahead from Ash to throw some curses at the fucker.
It’d take her a week or so to come up with something that we could use to force him to stay away. In the meantime, I just had to hope he wouldn’t show his face. And that if he did, we’d be able to handle it.
I wasn’t letting him hurt Ash. He might not have ever raised a hand to him, but the emotional trauma he’d put him through had left deep scars.
I wouldn’t let him add anymore. Not while I was still breathing.
It was a couple of days later and I was humming as I approached Ash’s door.
He’d broached the subject of us exchanging keys yesterday. I’d been so touched by the gesture, so moved by the fact that Ash was as into this as I was, that I’d been robbed of the ability to speak. Again.
Instead, I’d gone to my knees and used my mouth to show him my feelings in other ways.
This was the first time I was using it, and I couldn’t deny the satisfied thrill that zipped through me as I opened the door.
But that sensation went away as an eerie silence met me.
Dropping my bag, I walked deeper into the house. “Ash?”
Nothing. My power zipped from me, searching him out.
Upstairs.
Something had to be wrong. In the time I’d known Ash, I’d never known him to be quiet or still.
He’s probably asleep,I reassured myself as I took the stairs two at a time.
But what if he isn’t…what if Gareth crossed your wards without you realising and…