Chapter 42. Guardian of the Basement

I jolted awake, my head throbbing like a drum and every muscle protesting as I moved. Groaning, I flopped back onto the pillow, but then a familiar, intoxicating scent enveloped me. My eyes snapped open.

"Lottie."

Her fragrance was everywhere—clinging to my skin, woven into my hair, seeping into the sheets beneath me. A grin spread across my face as I inhaled deeply, the pain momentarily forgotten. Without a second thought, I buried my face into the pillow, rolling around like a pup in fresh grass.

"You're like a lovesick puppy," Havoc chuckled in my mind.

"Can't help it," I replied aloud, my voice muffled by the linens. "She's been here, maybe. On me, though, yes! Do you realise what this means?"

"That you should probably take a shower?" he quipped playfully because I could sense that he, too, was overwhelmed with joy.

"Never!" I declared dramatically, wrapping myself tighter in the sheets. "I'm never washing this bedding a