[Spirit of Lust] Chapter 142: Responsibility. (Patreon)

William had to wait and wish that the detective would not be long in coming over. Jeremy wasn’t exactly unconscious, just simply out of breath, in pain, and perhaps a little stunned. With a grimace, he turned the other man on his stomach and held his arms behind his back with a firm grip. Soon, Jeremy began to regain his senses. Surprisingly, he didn’t struggle much.

“How the hell did you do that?” he asked weakly.

“I’ve been lifting.” Will’s lie came out like a spat. “And why the hell would you do all this?” Will shot back with his own question, glaring, yet keeping a calm tone.

“...I can’t say no, Will. I can’t.” Jeremy closed his eyes shut with a grimace of his own.

“Do you want out of this mess?”

“Not until my sister is healthy again.”

Will blinked. “Your sister?”

“She’s having an operation soon. Jack might be a bastard, but he offered to pay for it if I did as he asked.”

‘He sounds honest, but there’s definitely more to this. My theory is Jack used this weakness to make him easier to enchant and put him under his service.’

‘The sexual energy we felt. It wasn’t his, right?’

‘Yeah. If it had been, I’d know. But then who?’

“Why were you following those girls?” Will asked.

“I was asked to. They’ve been asking his wife too many questions.”

Will grit his teeth. So because they were asking Cynthia questions, Jack wanted them out of the picture?

“And what were you supposed to do? Did it have something to do with the spray can?”

“Yes, but you won’t believe me.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “Try me.”

“He says it’s some sort of potion. A single whiff of it and they’d be under his control or something.”

Will frowned. “You’re being surprisingly cooperative.”

To that, Jeremy didn’t answer.

‘Can we believe him?’

‘It seems to me like he’s telling the truth, but because of you, I have a harder time reading guys than I do girls. And since he’s not exactly in the mood for naughty things, I can only do so much. You could fix that, though.’

Will had done it before. If he used his powers to increase Jeremy’s lust, he’d be easier to read, even for him. However… Will had a bad feeling. He couldn’t break Jeremy free like he had done with Aoi. His heterosexuality prevented him from forming the connection needed to clean his soul from Jack’s influence. That meant that, even if Will gave him to the police, he was still one of Jack’s minions. He didn’t want to hint that he had any sort of powers, especially since Jeremy seemed to know a bit about magic. Of its existence, at the very least.

“Do you really think he’ll pay for your sister’s operation? Or that it’ll all end after that?” Will asked carefully.

“No. But it’s the only choice I have left.”

Will heard the sound of a car coming close. It parked next to the road, and a man with small eyes, big nose came out. He looked close to his 40s and was dressed in a gray shirt tucked into his black pants. The most surprising thing was that the man was built like a rock. He was tall, too. Definitely an imposing sight. The man took his hand to his pocket and approached while showing Will his badge.

“William Sawyer?” he asked in a deep voice.

“Detective Sanchez?”

“I can take it from here. Aoi told me everything. Are the girls okay?”

“I think so. I’ll go check on them now.”

“Good.” He took his hand to his back and got the handcuffs that were hanging from his belt. There was also a small card between his fingers. Or maybe the card looked small in those huge hands.

Will made space for the man to cuff Jeremy. Again, his classmate put zero effort into resisting. Detective Sanchez then picked Jeremy up and lifted him like he was nothing.

“Here’s my card,” said the detective.

Will took it and raised an eyebrow at it. “Sanchez Electronics?” he asked incredulously.

“A side business, but it has my number on it. Call me if you need something else. I’ll be in touch, too. We’ll talk more at another time.”

Will nodded and watched as the big detective took Jeremy away. He gave Aoi a call to tell her what happened, and she confirmed that, yes, the huge police detective was indeed Mr. Sanchez.

“Don’t worry about him. This isn’t his first time working on something like this. He knows how to handle himself, and his suspects.”

Deciding to trust Aoi, Will walked back into the building and went down to the basement. However, as he reached the door, his stomach lurched in a rush of guilt.

Inside his apartment he would find Reina and Anna. He couldn’t help the sensation that them being in danger was his fault. That, if they weren’t involved with him, this wouldn’t have happened.

‘Bullshit and you should know it. You’re not the one doing any of this. That guy, Jack, was already using his powers to have others dance to his tune even before I found you. It just so happens that he’s now trying to fuck with your girls. That’s why we’re getting involved in the first place. Hell, if we weren’t here things would be much worse. Aoi would still be brainwashed, Reina and Ruth would be lost in that other world, and Anna would be a victim, too, simply for asking questions.’

Will took a deep breath. Ishtar wasn’t wrong. In a way, Jack wasn’t that much different to Will. He had higher standards, and that guy was definitely crossing some very thick lines, but in the end, both were selfishly using their powers to get what they wanted. However, Will refused to look away from his responsibility to the people he’d gotten involved in this, and that started with making sure no harm came to them.