by LK Kelley
If there were three other women in the world who were more attractive and desirable as these three, not one of the men could name one. They were the epitome of all mens’ wet dreams. Not really realizing until now, all three women represented all three types of women – a redhead, a blonde, and a brunette.
Lola wrinkled her nose. Yuck! It stunk from all the testosterone and estrogen in the room. What was it with them? Was it really necessary to think of sex on a constant basis? Her own kind were not immune to it, either, but they were an ancient race, and had learned to control their libidos! She huffed, dragged the soft, fluffy throw from the back of the chair, and buried her nose into it to escape the scent.
Gem, dressed in green with her green eyes and red hair was absolutely breathtaking alone, but Taylor and Stacy added to the beauty in spades.
Taylor was the tallest, and had donned a shimmering, golden Roman style dress that dropped to her ankles. It had deep slits slicing both sides of the skirt, showing off her golden sandals, which laced upward to just below her knee. With one shoulder bared, and her arm sporting a slave bracelet on her upper bare arm in gold, her eyes glittered with excitement, while her dark, brown locks of hair had been pulled up on one side, and clasped in a golden barrette, glittering with yellow diamonds. And, at her neck, glimmered a simple golden chain. She was dressed as a goddess, Rick thought – and she was his!
In total contrast, Stacy twirled in a circle, allowing her brilliant, red dress to flare softly from her smaller frame. It was a soft, v-neck dress that dipped low revealing a lot of cleavage as well as dipping low in the back. Sleeveless, both sides draped to her upper waist that was held by a silver, filigree broach. The skirt flowed directly from it, and moved softly with any movement Stacy made. She wore brilliant, tall stiletto heels that were so high, it raised her shorter height by at least three inches. Stan gulped as he beheld her beautiful blonde, straight hair falling softly around her shoulders with a gorgeous head ornament that was placed on top of her head coming to a point on her forehead and shined with brilliant red jewels. A small ruby drop hung from the center, which rested on her forehead, between her eyes.
The men were similarly dressed in their own version of dress-up, but each as individual as the girls' dress.
Stan wore a simple pair of khaki pants, a black turtleneck, and a tan blazer with elbow patches. A brown belt and slip on shoes completed his outfit. Since he was bald, he didn't need any grooming there, but in place of his normal scruffy chin, he was clean-shaven. Stacy hadn't seen him shave in years, and she felt her heart skip a beat, reminding her of when they first met.
Rick, on the other hand, was dressed in a semi-shiny charcoal gray suit complete with a snow-white dress shirt, and a tie that was printed with different shades of gray. A black belt, and black dress tie shoes had been added. His dark brown hair was slicked back, which only emphasized his darker brown eyes.
Finally, after having torn himself away from Gem, Jaxx showed up in almost typical Jaxx attire, but with a couple of differences. Instead of a black t-shirt and jeans, tonight, he sported a cream colored turtleneck sweater over which he wore a black leather duster, and black jeans. With his messy black hair, and a scruffy beard on his face, he was heartstoppingly gorgeous to Gem. A black studded belt, and black riding boots completed his own look.
Taylor was just about to open the Vorc'ara, when Rick grasped her arm.
Lola blew out an exasperated breath as she saw everyone ready to open one of those damned wormholes again. Seriously? When would these so-called immortals ever learn, she wondered. As if opening one wasn't going to draw every single enemy to them! Right! Nah! They'd never learn. They hadn't learned in eons, so why would they start now? Her eyes met Gem's, and Gem was convinced, in that moment, that Lola was definitely no more human than the others!
“Are we sure about this? I thought that when one opened, other Anaerris could sense it?” Rick asked.
Taylor looked up at him, and nodded.
“Essentially, yes. That is true, but...” she began.
“Hold it! Wait! Are you saying that every time one of the, uh, wormhole thingies open, the evil guys know it?” Gem asked, surprised that five sets of eyes whipped around to stare at her. “What? I'm just saying!”
Taylor shook her head, and turned back to her mate, ignoring Gem.
“As I was saying...yes. That is true – in most cases....”
“I feel a 'but' coming,” Stacy muttered under her breath, receiving another glare from Taylor.
“BUT,” Taylor said with emphasis, earning an eyeroll from Stacy. “We're talking about an inter-dimensional Vorc'ara as opposed to a planet Vorc'ara.”
Shock registered on Jaxx's face. The Anaerris kept all kinds of their powers secret, but this was new to him!
“What?” he said – very loud!
“Oh, put a sock in it, Jaxx,” she rolled her eyes, while turning back to everyone else. “Opening a Vorc'ara to another dimension or across space alert others, and is what exhausts the Anaerris who opens it, lasting for up to two weeks, before they can open another. However, when the Vorc'ara is open on a planet, only, it takes little to no power, so we can quite literally open as many as we want with little to no detection.”
Taylor stared at Gem.
“But, there is a catch. If, say, Delinear opens an off-world Vorc, we might, or might not, be able to detect it? However, it is quite apparent that Gem can also open them, so even if one of us gets tired, the other one can open another one!”
Gem was fascinated, now. She had opened an inter-dimensional, and had no idea how she had done it. But what was Taylor saying? That she had the power to open one on Earth, and not be tracked? Hell, she had no idea how she had opened one in the first place! She needed to talk to Taylor to find out how to actually open one.
“But, Taylor,” she began, “I don't know how to....”
Taylor waved her silent.
“Tut-tut, Gem. I know you don't understand how you opened one, but that's OK. I am going to teach you. One thing I can say,” she turned to all again, “we have several advantages over Eloran and Delinear, among which we have the Jewel of Anaerris – whose name actually lives up to the legend – and she not only has the power to open Vorc'aras, but she can read the Code.”
Rick pulled Taylor to him, and kissed her forehead.
“So? What are we waiting for? Let's go to dinner before the guys decide to take you all back to our rooms for ravishing?”
Taylor rolled her eyes right along with Gem and Stacy, while the men laughed.
“Lola? You got this? Stay with the kids and protect them?”
Lola snorted her answer, and laid her head back down. These people were really idiots! As if she wouldn’t stay with the little tadpoles!
“Good. Thanks,” she said to Lola, hearing Lola snort a second time. “OK, Gem. Come here. I'm going to show you the secret even though you stumbled onto it by accident.”
Gem walked to stand beside Taylor, who bent to whisper into her ear. Gem's eyebrows rose markedly in surprise.
“That's it?” she asked.
“That's it!” Taylor told her with a grin.
“No shit!” Gem said in amazement.
“Nope. No shit,” Taylor answered. “You want to try?”
“Sure. Why not?” Gem said.
Gem positioned herself, and simply did what she did before. She closed her eyes, raised her arms, and called up an exit! Feeling a rush of wind and cold, Gem's eyes opened in surprise, and she stared at the Vorc'ara whirling in front of them.
“Oh, wow!” she murmured.
“Wow, indeed,” Jaxx said wrapping his arm around her. “Ready?”
She nodded, and the group stepped through the Vorc'ara to the destination Gem had imagined.
~ 20 ~
“Time for a little R & R! It’s always good for the soul; bad for the old bank account!” ~ Stacy
“This is perfect, Gem! Why did you choose here?” Taylor asked curiously, l
ooking around at all the pigeons fluttering in the massive square.
Gem shrugged. She really didn't know why she had picked this particular city, but still, it was perfect!
“I don't know. It popped into my mind, and I opened the 'Vorc',” she explained to Taylor.
Everyone's heads shot to Gem.
“What?” Stan asked. “What the hell is a 'Vork'?”
All four agreed with him, as they frowned.
“Huh?” Gem said in surprise, then giggled as it dawned on her that they would be confused by her nickname for it. She giggled a bit, before she told them what she meant. “Oh! Well, you see? I think Vorc'ara is a bit of a mouthful, and kinda old-fashioned. And, hell, it’s way too much of a mouthful. And, quite frankly, it is a vortex, after all, so I decided it was time for a change in wording. So, Vorc is what I decree it should be!”
“You decree?” Jaxx repeated, but she knew he was teasing her, because his words were accompanied by his normal, sexy smirk.
“Are you serious?” Stan muttered.
Taylor nodded, then broke into a delighted laugh.
“Well, it’s really not a bad idea!” Then, she had another thought. “You know...it could come in handy later on if we need to open one in front of our enemies! It’s close enough to Vorc’ara, but the shortened version just might give us a slight edge, because they wouldn't understand what we are talking about, immediately!”
With that Earth shaking decision made, they wandered to a local sidewalk café surrounding the square in the city where Gem had taken them. OK. She had always wanted to visit this city! Venezia, Italia! Then she sighed in happiness.
After they had given their order, they sat back, relaxed, and discussed all kinds of subjects that were about anything without mentioning the current circumstances. They did not notice how difficult it was for those passing by not to stare at the three gorgeous couples sitting at the café. Most people had never seen that many gorgeous people in one place at the same time, so naturally, anyone passing by would have no other option but to look. They wouldn't be able to help themselves. The problem was that the group didn't really care about what others were thinking about them, because they were too busy talking to each other. Finally, Stan broke the taboo subject.
“So, what are we going to do? We need a place to hole up until we can figure out what to do,” Stan leaned back in his chair.
“Thanks so much for that buzzkill, mate!” Stacy grouched.
Everyone ignored her, and sipped their drinks, while considering options.
“Is there even a place that Eloran and Delinear won't find us?” Stacy asked the billion dollar question. The sixty-four thousand dollar question was long gone due to inflation, of course.
“Well, at least we don't have to worry about the kids!” Rick mentioned, getting a kick from under the table by Taylor. “OW! What the hell was that for?”
“You idiot!” she hissed, shooting her thumb at a stunned Gem. And, that was enough.
“OK. I've let you all get away without telling me some things, but this one you need to answer. Where are the kids going?”
No one answered. A waiter approached, asking if they wanted another round of drinks. Stacy answered for all of them.
“Yes. I think so. Thank you,” she told him.
He left to get their drinks, and Gem slammed her fist lightly on the table, making the dishes clink a bit.
“Come on! Is there anywhere that they cannot find us?” she demanded.
Jaxx looked at Taylor who looked at Rick who looked at Stan who looked at Stacy who looked back to Jaxx.
“Will you please stop doing that!” Gem voice was frustrated. “Why can't you just tell me the truth?”
Taylor looked at Jaxx who looked at Stacy who looked at Stan who looked at Rick who looked back at Taylor.
“Gaaahhhhh!” squealed Gem, and standing, she marched in the opposite direction of the others. She threw up her hands in exasperation. “That's it! If you won't respect me enough to tell me what's going on, I'll, by damn, go back home, and find out myself!”
Gem headed for the closest road off the square to open her Vorc. Jaxx jumped up, and intercepted her before she made it. Grabbing her arm, she stopped, but refused to look at him.
“Gem, please?” he coaxed her, trying to get her to calm down.
She said absolutely nothing to him, light tears running down her cheeks. She was sick and tired of being left out of the loop! All of this shit was happening to her. If she didn't know what the hell was going on – all of it – then, how the hell could she protect herself or others if she didn't know the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
“Gem?” Jaxx begged. “Please?”
Gem realized that jumping up, and storming off was simply overreacting. But, she wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of acknowledging it, no matter how embarrassed she was! She knew these people hadn't told her everything, because they thought that she just wasn't ready. Telling her might have made them believe that they would push her over the edge. But, she had been alone since she was seventeen years old, and had done just fine taking care of herself right along with Lola. That thought had her pull up short, and she froze where she was.
Lola? Lola wasn't what she appeared to be! Gem knew this without being told. Perhaps she had always known it. If the rest of her friends who had surrounded her all her life were from a supernatural world, and she was from a supernatural world, even if she had just found out about it, then would it also follow that Lola may be from some other world as well? Keeping her voice low, but knowing that Jaxx could hear her.
“Lola isn't a pug, is she?” she almost hesitated, but glad she didn’t. Waiting for the boom to be lowered was never a good idea.
Pulling her tightly into his body, Jaxx whispered into her ear.
“No, my love. She isn't.”
Gem darted her eyes to his in surprise. Why she should have been surprised, she didn’t really know. But, it was one thing, thinking that in the first place; another thing asking the question; yet, hearing it answered in the affirmative was a shock.
“W-what is she?” Gem stuttered.
“Well, she's a...,” Jaxx stopped, then shook his head. “No. Let's go back home. I think it's better if you heard it from her.”
“Is she not like you?” Gem said with her eyes wide. “I-I mean us?”
A shake of his head told her everything.
“But, she's still supernatural?”
A nod followed without speaking.
“Look, Gem. We've all finished dinner, so let's go home so she can tell you, OK?” he placated her.
Gem nodded, and the two headed back to their companions.
“Ready to leave?” Jaxx said, then was stunned to see both Stacy and Taylor leap to their feet.
“Leave?” Stacy squeaked.
“Leave?” Taylor followed with her own squeal.
“Uh...yeah?” Jaxx said tentatively.
“Oh, hell, no!” Taylor answered him.
“Why not?” Gem just had to ask.
“Yeah. What she said,” Rick pointed at Gem.
“You don't seriously believe that we would come all this way – to Venice, no less – and not go shopping?” Stacy answered him as if he was a total moron.
“Shopping.” Jaxx couldn't believe this! “Shopping? With all that's surrounding us, and you want to go shopping?”
Taylor, Stacy, and Gem looked at each other, then turned, hands on hips, as one to face the guys.
“Yes!” all three said together with mischievous grins.
“We have enough time to go check out the leather shops for shoes and bags!” Taylor said, as she walked away with the other two girls, leaving the three men staring at their backsides in stunned silence.
Rick cocked his head to the right.
“Did they, or did they not, just walk away from us?” he asked the other two.
Jaxx nodded along with Stan.
“Yep. That's exactly what they did!
” Stan said with amusement in his voice, then coughed when he saw Stacy turn to glare at him. “Uh...I mean...why, uh, no! Of course they didn’t!”
Jaxx and Rick glared at him, and he cleared his throat. Time for this to be in safer territory!
“So...anyone ready for another round of drinks?”
Looking at each other, the three men sat back down at the table, and ordered another round of booze.
“Well, we may as well get comfortable! When women go on their shopping rants, it's best if we just curl up, and drink ourselves silly!” Rick said, seeing the other two men nod.
Four shopping hours later, and by that definition meaning six hours later, the three girls returned with several bags in hand to find three men as drunk as they could be! And, worse? Music was playing, and Stan was dancing – on one of the tables to the applause and cheers of the other two along with everyone else in the restaurant!
Both Gem and Taylor whipped out their cells, and began to record the whole shebang!
“Oh, shit!” Stacy said, while a wave of red ran up her neck to her face in embarrassment.
Taylor and Gem just laughed at her, continuing to film them. Gem put her arm around her friend's shoulder.
“Hey! Don't worry!” she told Stacy
“Oh, crap! I'll never live down this embarrassment!” Stacy moaned shaking her head with her hands over her face, and head bowed.
“Gem is right, Stacy. You'll never see these people, again, so no worries! So, we definitely have to grab blackmail pics whenever we can!”
“Ahhhh,” Stacy said, finally getting the point.
And, then, Gem and Taylor started laughing so hard, that Stacy had no defense against the laughter, so she joined in with the festivities by whipping her own phone out, and with the other girls, videoed the guys – and the excitement went well into the night.
Jaxx awoke to the smell of coffee, and stretched. Yum, that smelled so good! Then, wafts of bacon, sausage, and eggs made it to his nostrils. Yes! So good! He sat up quickly, and his head began to pound while his stomach began to roil. He barely made it to the bathroom, before everything he had eaten the day before came up in great quantities.