My eyes flew open. “Oh.” My heart rate accelerated. His face was only inches from mine, and hadn’t I just been dreaming about him? I pushed away those thoughts. They weren’t going to lead to anyplace good. “I guess I fell asleep.”
“I guess you did.” He smiled. “Which is a good thing. It’s going to be a long evening.”
“Did you sleep?”
“No, but I don’t need as much sleep as you.”
“You don’t know humans as well as you think you do.” At least he didn’t know me.
“I know plenty. And please don’t ask me all the details. I’d rather you not hate me more.”
“I hate you more because you even said that.”
“Then I should have kept my mouth shut.”
“Probably. I feel that way a lot.” I stretched. Sleeping upright while strapped into a seat wasn’t the most comfortable position. “How does this work? Are we parking out in the open? Do we have to go in all secretly?”
“Do you usually have to be secretive about visiting bars on Earth?”
“No, but I’m also not generally out to overthrow an Emperor.”
He chuckled. “Really? I’d have thought you made a habit of it.”
“So we park normally and walk in like everyday patrons?” I was a planner. I liked to have every detail set out before I did it. Unfortunately that was far from the case this time.
“Yes. I have a list of people I need to find. As I told you before, stay close.”
His fingers returned to the console. “We’ll be ready to disembark shortly.”
I waited for my nerves to return, but they didn’t. Kelby landed the ship, even though I felt and saw nothing; I was only taking his word for it.
He pressed a screen above a side door I hadn’t noticed—it wasn’t the one we’d entered through, and it lifted up. I stopped short. “Wait. Don’t I need a spacesuit? How can I breathe?”
“The tunnel is set to adjust to its occupants. Same as the Bunker. You won’t breathe as well as you would back on Earth, but it will be similar to how you feel in here. It’s going to be okay.”
“It better be.” I followed him out, gaining new understanding for Rachel’s reaction to being back on Earth. Having to worry about oxygen was a consistent concern out here.
“Remember. Stay close,” he whispered as he led me down the bright white tunnel. Once again I lamented the lack of windows. Why was everything so closed up? Kelby turned at the end of the tunnel and led the way toward a purple and red vine-covered door. There is no way I would have picked the place out as a bar, but I had to trust him on it. What other choice did I have?
Kelby pushed open the door, and we stepped in. Loud music piped through the air, and I tried to get a handle on what we’d just entered. There were people—and all sorts of creatures—everywhere. I could barely see into the room. After the silence of the tunnel, my senses were on overload. “I take it this bar is popular.”
“Very.” His hand rested on my lower back. Normally I’d have chastised a guy for being so forward, but I was pretty sure he was doing it for my benefit. Even in the dense crowd, people still managed to stare at me.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I’d thought I knew what to expect, but I was wrong. I had never been in a place so crowded before. Didn’t they have some sort of capacity limit? Not likely. Not only was I not in the United States, I wasn’t even on Earth.
The translator buzzed in my ear as we moved along the room. At first the buzz was irritating, not painful exactly, just annoying, but after a few moments I grew used to the bits and pieces of conversations and was able to concentrate on everything else.
My mind struggled to take in the variety of people and, well, non-people around me. There were beings that looked like humans, just either taller or smaller, or purple or silver, or covered in fur. I tried not to stare when a woman, who was wearing no clothes but had thick bands of fur covering the parts humans kept covered, walked by. She winked at Kelby. He nodded and kept moving.
I was less successful at averting my eyes when I saw what appeared to be a half-human, half giant grasshopper drinking at the bar.
“Keep moving,” Kelby whispered in my ear.
“Are we looking for someone in particular?” I wasn’t sure of the plan. I was at once fascinated by where we were and terrified. Maybe Noah was right. I’d been crazy. I didn’t even know Kelby, yet I was relying on him to ever get out of here alive.
“It’s going to be okay.” Kelby wrapped his arm tightly around my waist. It was as if he’d read my mind, and that seriously freaked me out.
“Hello, gorgeous.” A soft purr from behind had me glancing over my shoulder. I immediately wished I hadn’t. I came face to face with a creature that did not match the soft, caressing voice at all. The face was completely black, with no visible eyes, nose, or mouth, and with a pair of gold horns coming out of the top of its head.
“Keep moving,” Kelby hissed.
I listened. I had no desire to see that creature again. There was something very disconcerting about a faceless being.
Kelby led the way over to the backside of a large multi-level bar. Still holding me tightly he pounded his fist on the iridescent counter top.
“Yes?” A face covered completely by long blond hair appeared. What was it with people with no visible facial features?
“I’m looking for King.”
King? Did I even want to know where this was going?
“King? I’m not sure if I’ve seen him. Delva, have you seen King?”
Another head—part of the same body appeared. This one was covered completely by red hair. “Oh yes. He’s in his room in the back. You know how to get there?”
“Yes, thanks for the time.” Kelby put a few coins on the countertop before leading us both away.
“Um, who is this King guy?”
“Just let me do the talking.”
“I was planning on that.” I wasn’t normally one to let someone else take full charge of everything, but I was in way over my head here.
“And don’t make direct eye contact.” Kelby leaned in. “Got it?”
“Got it.”
“I’m being serious. Just don’t.”
I nodded. “I get it.” Normally I would have scoffed at how serious he was being, but considering the situation I was going to heed his advice.
“Where is this back room?”
“In the back.”
“Come on. You have to give me more than that.” It was going to take me awhile to get used to Kelby’s expressions. His emotions were so different—his reactions. But maybe I wouldn’t have to get to know them. If things moved quickly, I’d be back on Earth soon. Strangely, some part of me hoped I’d get the chance to learn more about him.
“It’s through here.” Kelby kept me close to his side as we crossed through the crowds. Then all at once the crowd opened up as we turned down a hallway.
“Why is no one else back here?” I whispered. I wasn’t sure why I was whispering except we had stepped into sudden silence. Even my whisper sounded loud.
“Because these rooms back here are all private. Generally you need an invitation to get inside any of them.”
“And do we have an invitation?” I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like his answer.
“No. But King will see us.”
“How do you know?”
“Professional courtesy.”
“Okay…” I had no idea what kind of profession he shared with this King guy. I didn’t really know much about Kelby aside from him being Caspian’s cousin and somehow having connections. I guess this was all about his connections.
We continued down the quiet hallway until Kelby stopped in front of a completely nondescript metal door. He knocked in a strange repetition of two short—one long—four short—two long. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it, but eventually the door swung open.
There was no one there. Kelby stepped inside, and I followed even though my heart was
beating a mile a minute and every part of me was screaming at me to stop. Once we stepped inside the door slammed closed. I grabbed onto Kelby’s arm.
He tensed. “Is that the signal?”
“No. I’m scared,” I whispered.
“Don’t be.” He patted my back.
I let go of him. I barely knew the guy. I had to keep it together.
I glanced around the room. There was a deep purple curtain several feet away from us. The only other things were a set of metal chairs with large spikes coming out of the backs. I shivered. If Kelby had taken me to some sort of torture chamber, I was going to lose it.
I was moving into panic mode when pulsating music started blasting from speakers I couldn’t see. It was a mix between electronic trance music and the type of music you’d expect to hear at a circus. It was the strangest combination imaginable, and it didn’t put me at ease.
The music grew louder and Kelby leaned in. “Remember no eye contact.”
“Okay.” I tried to keep the fear out of my voice, but I wasn’t entirely sure I was successful.
I kept my eyes downcast but noticed the curtain was starting to move. I allowed myself to look up a bit more, determined I could manage it without making eye contact, whenever this King guy appeared.
I focused on the curtain, waiting for it to completely move away. I tried to imagine what King might look like. Kind of humanlike? More of an animal? There were so many possibilities.
“Hello, Kelby, old friend.” A voice said from behind us.
Kelby’s arm pulled me around to turn. “Kneel,” he whispered.
I awkwardly moved to my knees.
“Who is this you’ve brought for me?”
“I didn’t bring her for you.” Kelby’s voice was low. “She is here for me.”
“She is not an offering?”
“No. She is mine.” Kelby sounded positively possessive. Offering? Mine? My head spun. What kind of mess had I walked into? But I wasn’t stupid enough to say anything.
“That’s too bad. I would have traded anything you wanted for her. We don’t get many of her kind in here.”
“She’s unavailable.”
“Unavailable as a trade but not unavailable. I can find a use for everyone. But you know that.”
I needed to see who this guy was, but I wanted to be careful. Currently all I could see was a pair of sequined boots. I slowly let my eyes scan up past the tight black pants, to the velour looking blazer and a chin that looked remarkably human.
“Please rise to your feet. I would like to see all of you. Although I wouldn’t mind seeing you on your knees again.”
I recoiled and probably would have remained frozen if Kelby hadn’t helped me to my feet.
“Thank you.” I lowered my eyes and focused on the boots. They were coming closer.
“Yes. You will be perfect. Absolutely perfect.”
He didn’t directly address me, but I was pretty sure he was talking about me. Hopefully I was wrong. “Please take a seat.” The boots headed away. “I never enjoy being the only one seated.”
“Come on,” Kelby said under his breath as he led us toward the two torture chairs.
“You can’t be serious.” I eyed the spikes. On closer inspection the spikes weren’t sharp. They were dull, but I knew leaning against them would still be incredibly uncomfortable.
Kelby sat on the edge of one chair, and I followed his lead.
“What do you think of my new chairs? They are supposed to help with posture.”
I couldn’t help but get a look at his chair. Or rather throne. He was reclining against at least a dozen bright colored pillows. So much for his posture.
“So? Will you answer?”
Kelby nudged me. “Oh. Chairs are great.”
“Terrific. I already know why you are here, Kelby, and I will join your resistance if you meet my conditions. Tell me everything about yourself.”
I said nothing. Kelby nudged me again.
“What?” I hissed.
“He’s asking you a question. You need to answer.”
“How do you know it’s me? He could be asking you.”
“He knows plenty about me already.”
“Fine.” I forced myself to look at King while still carefully avoiding his eyes. I focused on the dark stubble of his chin. “Are you asking me?”
“Of course.”
“Well, my name is Angie.”
“Hi Angie. My name is King.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Oh, isn’t that splendid.” He clapped his hands. “So splendid. Tell me more.”
“I’m from Earth.” I figured my name and home planet was a pretty good overview.
“Please continue.” He gestured with his hands.
“What else do you want to know?”
“I told you to tell me everything about yourself. Tell me.”
“Uh, I’m twenty-two. I’m specifically from Missouri, a state in the United States of America on Earth.”
“St. Louis?” He let out a gasp. “Are you from St. Louis?”
Was it a good gasp? A bad one? I was afraid of studying his expression in case I accidentally made eye contact. I really hoped that was a real thing and not some stupid joke from Kelby or anything. “Yes, you’ve heard of it?”
“Oh yes. Sometime I will have to show you something.”
“Okay…” I looked at Kelby. He moved his head to imply I needed to turn back to King. “What else? I have a younger brother. I graduate this year. Well, I will if I get back home in time.”
He gestured for me to continue.
“I’m a history major with three minors, psychology, sociology, and anthropology.”
Kelby nudged me. “We’ll talk about that later.”
“And that’s probably everything.”
“Everything?” King sat forward in his chair. “Hardly.”
“What else is there?” I didn’t think I was missing much.
“Do I need to hold your hand and walk you through this like a child?” His words were demeaning, but his tone was actually pleasant. It was strange. Jarring. Kind of like the music that had faded out completely.
“Uh.. my favorite color is purple.”
“Okay. We’re getting somewhere.” King leaned back in his throne.
“My favorite season is summer because of the fruit.”
He adjusted his pillows. “Continue.”
“I love the beach but not swimming in the ocean. I don’t really like people. Or well, I don’t like socializing.”
“More.” He crossed his legs. The sequins on his boots glittered in the overhead light.
“Umm.” I tried to come up with anything else. “I play cello and guitar. I like to dance, but I’m awful at it.”
“I’m sure you are not awful at it.”
“I am.” Dancing wasn’t a skill anyone in my family had aside from Joseph. The rest of us were far better at watching from the sidelines.
“Prove it.”
“Prove it?” Ugh.
“Yes. Get up and dance.” King flicked his hand in my direction. “Right there in the middle of the room.”
I was an idiot. A total and complete idiot. Why had I added not being able to dance to my list? Because I was nervous, and I said stupid things when I was nervous. “Maybe another time.”
“Dance.” He pointed again. “I can’t work with someone who lacks confidence.”
“And you won’t be working with me. You’re working with Kelby.” I was just there to help in theory, although so far I hadn’t helped at all.
“No. It’s you I want to work with. He can stay. But this deal is going to be struck with you.”
“Why? I’m just a random girl from Earth.”
“And random girls from Earth have done some incredible things.”
Well, obviously that angle wasn’t going to work. “Ok. Well, I’m perfectly confident about everything other than dancing.”
“We need to fix that.”
“I’ll do it with you.” Kelby jumped to his feet. “Okay?”
“You’re going to dance with me?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Yeah. I don’t see why that changes anything, does it?” He eyed King.
“That is fine. Please go ahead.” King slumped down in his throne.
“But there’s no music.” I wasn’t looking forward to hearing that music again, but it did have a beat. That was a start.
“What’s your point?”
“How can we dance without music?”
“Who dances with music?” King laughed. “Where did you find this girl?”
“Uh… everyone.” Was he kidding? Because if he was serious, I was glad I wasn’t from wherever it was he was from. I had no idea what planet we were currently on, nor whether he was native to it.
“Not here.”
“Well, on Earth we do.” And it was hard enough to dance with it.
“Are you on Earth?” He stood up.
“No.” I was definitely not on Earth.
“Play the music in your head,” Kelby instructed. “You can do this.” He made it sound easy. It wasn’t. At least not for me.
“Okay. Is there a particular type of dance we should do?” This was ridiculous. Why was I even agreeing? Because I was terrified not to. Would Kelby freak out and leave me? Would we have any other hope of getting the resources we needed?
“Does that matter? Dance.” King tapped his foot. “Now.”
Kelby took my hand and walked to the center of the room. He put his other hand on my lower back. I put my hand on his shoulder, assuming that’s what he was going for. He looked surprised, but smiled, so I decided to go with it. He started to move with wide steps. At first I struggled to follow, but pretty quickly I got the pattern. Once I focused on the steps I wrote the beat into music in my head. Kelby was right. It was kind of easy. It was jarring, and like no dance I had ever done, but in that way it was easier. So much more fun.
King clapped. “Very good. Very good.”
Kelby released my hand and returned to his seat. Not knowing what else to do I did the same.
Stargaze (Half Light #2) Page 7