Page 87 of How to Seduce a Slender

Smithsatinoneof the plush chairs in front of the crackling fire with Melody curled in his lap and his arm extended out to Dahlia. The Lady of the Manor fretted in front of her chair while Sebastian tried to calm her fried nerves. Dahlia snatched up the front of her skirt and whipped to face her husband. He removed the mask happily, taking a kiss from her before she tossed herself into the chair. Moonpie chirped, jumping up into her lap. Sebastian had to take the feline, pouting and unhappy as her mother extended her arm to Smith.

“Game plan, we wake up in the library. We go to the woods to meet the witch. We strike a deal. Then we leave. No other shenanigans, understood?” Dahlia barked.

“Understood,” Smith exhaled.

Dahlia laid her head back, took a deep breath, and as she let it out, she slapped her hand into his.

Like the lurch of being hit by thick, swinging door to the back, Smith was tossed forward and only weighed down by Melody in his lap. One moment, they were in Rosemont Manor, the next they were in a red oblivion. Crimson walls adorned with scorched black trim. Shelves rose beyond where eyes could see behind them. At the center was a heavy rug made of werebear fluff, a massive face stared at the crackling firepit before them. Desks for studying loitered around the edges of the clearing. Books floated from one shelf to another. Little shadowy things crawled out of their peripheral into the shelves.

Dahlia rose first, stepping away from the seats. Her chair disintegrated into ash. Melody followed her, spinning around in a circle. Her mouth fell open as she absorbed the Library of Madness. “What is this place?”

“The Nightmare Realm. My Library of Madness,” Dahlia sighed. She twisted and extended her hand to Melody. “Let’s not linger, I’m not sure what all lurks here, but I don’t have to time to stop and chat with whatever creeps around the shelves.”

Melody took her hand and extended one to Smith. He took hers and saw the switch in her eyes. They were a pretty cherry color. Glowing and inviting as she smiled up at him. Dahlia didn’t let them linger as they traveled across the library floor. Down the stairs they flew and out into the endless waste. A dusty earth lead them to a draw bridge dropping before them. As they cleared the edge of it, Persephone stood at the edge of the trees a few, dizzying yards away.

“Now, I’ll be damned. You did it, little Wolfie. You convinced the stubborn broad to bring you home?”

“Watch your mouth,” Dahlia spat.

“Or you’ll what?” Persephone snorted. The group met up with her at the edge of the trees. She was her sweet-faced, beautiful form dressed in purple fabric that clung to her curvy body. “Remember, Hungry One, you’re not quite one year old. Just a little one. I could gobble you up if I wanted. You’ve barely eaten anything since we last spoke. How are you expecting to frighten anyone in this state? Tsk-tsk.”

Dahlia’s face reddened but cooled as Melody broke free of both Smith and the Lady Rosemont. “Witch of the Woods, I want my wolf back.”

“I’d sure hope you did, given how you traveled all this way, sweetie. Come, let’s speak over my cauldron.”

Persephone spun around, flouncing through the trees. Smith didn’t like how pleased she looked. Granted, she was a goddess of horror, there was no telling what she was plotting. But he wasn’t about to take any of it lying down or blindfolded. Instead, he took up Melody’s hand and strode after the witch. It felt like an eternity stuck in his own head as he kept Melody from wandering in the wrong direction and Dahlia from burning down the trees that tried to grab her hair. It took longer than expected.

However, they finally broke through the trees and found themselves at the chicken feet of a massive witch’s hutch. It lowered itself down and let Persephone step up onto its porch. Smith studied the witch for any tells that things wouldn’t go well as they all climbed aboard. They were ushered through the front door as the hutch climbed back to its full height.

“There, much better, who wants a cup of cocoa? Tea?” Persephone walked around a cozy cabin with exposed rafters and ratty curtain covered windows. Herbs and bones dangled from the ceiling with twine. A cauldron made of thick, black iron sat at the center of the home. It bore the face of someone stuck in pure terror, like the cauldron was molded around it. Countertops of glossy wood were covered in pieces of potions half done or on the verge of completion.

Persephone raised a large plank of wood over her head and dropped it over the top of the cauldron. Immediately four seats snapped around it like they were being pushed in and not summoned from the very shadows around them. Four mugs of steaming liquid slammed over it. Smith pulled out a chair for Dahlia, then moved to pull one out for Melody when she yelled.

“No!”

He barely had a moment to wrench an arm out to his side and stop her from flying across the floor. Over a large plank of wood, was a wolf pelt. Its fur was matted and face torn in horror. A third eye had grown at the center of its forehead like mushrooms do on the forest floor. In fact, several large mushrooms of varying species grew from the fluff. There were tufts of moss growing out of it where moths crawled across the fur undisturbed.

“What have you done to me?” Melody whined, heart break etched into her features.

“Not a thing. All things adapt to their environment. Your wolf has merely soaked in all the eldritch magic. Plus a few things specific to me,” Persephone shrugged as she sat down. She motioned for Melody to join her at the table.

“What do you mean, specific to you?” Smith pulled out Melody’s chair and planted her in it.

“I was once a fae. Not like the new fae you exist near in your city of advancements. No, the old fae. The kind that belonged to the earth and the soil. We were once gods in our own right. My magic is still of that nature. Soil, moss, mushrooms, and rot. The rightful cycle of life. Life, then death, then life brought out of that decay.” Before them, the beautiful woman faded into an old crone. She was hunched over the table with long, gnarled fingers. She cupped the mug in front of her and stroked it tenderly. The steam fogged up milky eyes that took a long time to clear. Then three rabid, yellow eyes full of swirling madness stared at them from across the table. “Now, little Wolfie, you want your skin back.”

“We are willing to negotiate.” Smith jutted in, folding his hands over the table as he put himself into a chair as well.

“Just like a lawyer to have the gumption to negotiate terms with a goddess,” Persephone snarled, turning her attention to him. “Then fine, the terms are thus. Melody Deathless may have her pelt back. I will even stitch it back to her body. But the second that fur grows back on her body, she won’t be mortal. She is of the Nightmare Realm now, whether she likes it or not.”

“What!” Dahlia barked.

“You spend this many years soaking up eldritch energy and in my presence, you’re bound to turn a bit nutty.” Persephone swiveled her head without moving her shoulders, grinning a broad, rotted tooth smile at Dahlia. “If you spent more time in your library, you’d see that, my scrumptious morsel. But it’s your library, ignore it all you want. I could give two shits what you do. Now, back to matter at hand, Lawyer; Melody Deathless won’t be mortal.”

Smith glanced at Melody, but her eyes were on the wolf. She didn’t even hear the words. Or maybe she was in shock, but her whole heart was bleeding out on her face as she silently wept for her pelt. He spared a hand to hers. She didn’t move, but she snatched it up. Melody clutched his hand to her chest as she stared into the wide eyes of her wolf. Tears trickled down her cheeks.

He sighed, returning his attention to Persephone. “That is a fact we can’t argue and is a moot point, it seems. Regardless, we want the pelt back.”

“Good, I like when my clients arereasonable.” Persephone’s voice turned into a low hiss like a possess tea kettle. She slid her mug further across the table to fold her hands before her. “My terms are this—Melody belongs to the Nightmare Realm now. She will be the new Guardian of the Woods. The Big Bad Wolf, so to speak.”

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