by Kim Cormack
Lexy sat up. Her eyes widened as she interrupted her moment, “What do you have there?”
Kayn grinned. She’d heard Lexy’s voice and noticed that her fellow Dragon was awake but it seemed inconsequential and it sounded like it was coming from far away. Kayn continued to mold the hypnotizing orb between her fingertips. Where another one of her clan members would have attempted to subdue her, Lexy did not.
She heard Lexy speak from the somewhere else again, “Show me what you can do with that light before our wardens wake up.”
This time Kayn focused on her. Lexy understood because she was a Dragon too. She had no intention of stopping her. Kayn scaled the stairs and paused at the beginning of the hallway. The lines of red doors on either side of it appeared to go on forever. The ceiling from about half way down was thick with writhing madness. Throw it. With fear no longer an issue, Kayn strode towards the writhing mass of demonic entities. Lexy took cover as Kayn tossed the glowing orb into the center of the wicked things and they disintegrated. All that remained was dust on the burgundy carpet where each entity had been. Kayn felt everything become normal. Her pulse slowed and her sanity returned.
Lexy stepped out of one of the rooms and chuckled, “That was frigging amazing!”
Kayn knew what she was supposed to do with her light. She was supposed to rid the world of the dark things.
Melody was standing on the stairs as they turned to go back down. She asked them if they knew where the others were and of course they didn’t. They’d been doing things only a Dragon could appreciate. The three of them began to search the hotel, ironically finding the others almost drained of life in the freezer. Above them was a whirling mass of dark things. This time, Kayn knew what to do.
Lexy grabbed Mel’s arm and towed her out of the room saying, “Trust me. Kayn’s got this.”
The dark mass whirled above her as she raised her hands up to the twisted abominations and enquired, “Are you guys hungry?” The demonic infestations began to drink from her essence, levitating her body in the air as they devoured her spirit. The others dragged the bodies of the Ankh out of the freezer while Kayn kept the darkness occupied. She allowed them to feed from her until her inner voice whispered, Now. She pulled some of the energy back into her and dropped to the cement floor with a thud. Then she touched her fingers together and began to mold a new yellow orb of energy.
When Melody saw what Kayn was doing, she panicked and stammered, “Crap!”
She slammed the freezer door just as Kayn hurled the orb into the mass of demonic entities. They turned to ash and became nothing but piles of dust on the floor. Kayn’s grasp on reality instantly returned as she comically knocked on the freezer door.
Lexy opened it and said, “Are we back to normal now?”
“Yes, we are,” Kayn replied as she strolled out of the freezer to curious eyes.
Finally
With everyone healed. They raided the vending machines and retired early to the rooms they’d chosen for a well-deserved demon free slumber. Just as Kayn was about to close her eyes, the emotionally taxing events of the last couple of days began to swim through her mind. What she needed was a break. A whole week where she could just sit back and take the time to absorb the messed-up events of the last forty-eight hours. Matty was alive. He’d been reborn. He remembered her and this time around, he was second tier. How had that happened? She’d been actively trying to shut that little tidbit of information down inside of her head. She knew any enquiries she made into his whereabouts could also lead Abaddon straight to him. He’d need to be hidden away for at least fourteen years to have a shot at survival. She wanted to see the pictures Zach took of him. After spending a few minutes scouring the dusty room for Zach’s cell phone, she knew he must have taken it into the bathroom with him. He’d been in there for a good hour. He was probably sitting on the toilet playing video games. Kayn climbed back onto the bed, stretched out on top of the covers and sighed. She could either stare at this white stucco ceiling until he was finished, or go look for something else to do. There was no way she was going to be able to shut her mind down. She was far too amped up to sleep. Kayn sat up, slid off of the bed and thought about knocking on the bathroom door to ask Zach if he wanted to come and explore the motel with her. In the end, she opted to go alone. Kayn opened the door and wandered down the hall. The patterned burgundy flowered wallpaper oddly matched with the red doors to each room. Everything seemed to blend together giving it a creepy feel. It resembled a scene from an old horror movie. Kayn almost expected to see ghostly twins riding tricycles at the end of the hall. She peered in each direction, hearing nothing but complete and total silence. Everyone was probably sound asleep. She should be exhausted but for some reason she had energy to burn. Kayn padded barefoot down the hall, descended the stairs and glanced to her right. There were swinging doors leading to the kitchen and to her left was a hallway she’d yet to explore. Kayn strolled down the hall, past a conference room into what she assumed had been a restaurant because there was a large sign listing the specials of the day. It was a neat little diner with high wooden tables, chairs and a bar with stools. Perhaps it had been more of a pub? She could picture it with the hum of people’s voices and country music blaring from the jukebox beside the pool tables. It had probably been a cool place before the demon infestation. Kayn’s stomach growled. This time, she knew the complaints were hunger induced and not a sign of trouble. She made her way to the vending machine by the washrooms. She needed real food with nutritional value but this would have to do. Kayn scoured the contents of the machine for something besides the potato chips and Twizzlers she’d eaten earlier from the machine upstairs. There were Snickers bars. Score! At least they contained peanuts. Instead of smashing the glass she decided to try a creative approach at obtaining the contents of the machine. She focused on the Snickers bars, motioned her hand towards her and some packets of Skittles that were beside the Snickers bars dropped into the metal tray below. She tried again and all of them dropped into the bottom. Yes! She did a little victory dance before she bent down to retrieve the spoils of her small victory. She attempted to shove them in a pocket but she had none. For a second she’d forgotten she was only wearing underwear and a tank top. Kayn placed the candy on the dusty wooden bar, opting to come back for them after she’d done more snooping around. She wandered down the hall to the washrooms and there was an unlabeled door. She looked inside and there was a flight of stairs descending into darkness. Feeling like nothing could harm her now, she went down them. Once she’d reached the bottom, she felt around for a light switch. It was a rustic dusty wine cellar. She searched the shelves and most of the bottles were empty but she managed to find a few dusty bottles of bourbon. Zach liked bourbon. She’d never tried it so she brought one with her. She scaled the stairs, bottle in hand and wandered over to check out the jukebox. There was a lot of country music, mostly Rascal Flatts. That group had always meant a lot to her but this wasn’t the day to be listening to country songs that reminded her of everything she’d lost along the way. Kayn sat on one of the high bar stools and peeled open the wrapper of a Snickers bar. She devoured the whole thing in five seconds flat, then twisted the lid off the bourbon. She grimaced as she smelled it but took a swig from the bottle anyway. It was seriously nasty tasting stuff but Zach would love it. Kayn gathered up the spoils of her exploration and made her way back up the flight of stairs to her room with her arms full. She strolled down the hallway of identical red doors, opened the door to her room and wandered inside. Kayn grinned. He was still in the damn bathroom. Good thing she hadn’t waited for him. She placed the bottle on the dresser and was staring at her reflection in the mirror as the bathroom door opened. She was in the wrong room.
A half-naked Frost teased, “Were you feeling like our earlier conversation wasn’t finished?”
Her pulse raced at the shirtless sight of him. Instead of darting out of the room, embarrassed. She coolly handed him the bottle of bourbon and acted like
she’d meant to come to his room. His fingers grazed hers as he took the bottle from her hand. For some reason, she continued to hold onto it, instead of letting go and as he moved the bottle towards his chest, he brought her along.
His face was dangerously close to hers as he whispered, “Aren’t you going to let go?”
She released her grasp on the bottle feeling like an idiot.
He grinned as he strolled over to the sink and grabbed a couple of cups. He poured them each a glass and handed one to her. Frost took a sample taste from his glass and remarked, “This stuff is damn strong.” He took another sip before adding, “I heard about what you did today. Those skills of yours will definitely come in handy down the road.” He raised his glass in the air and saluted her, “To slaying demons like they’re nothing.”
They clinked plastic glasses and drank. Kayn hadn’t really wanted more of the vile tasting liquid but the need to push her limits when it came to him was overwhelming. She grimaced, looked at the liquid that remained in her classy plastic cup and stated, “This stuff is truly horrible.”
Frost winked and chuckled, “It’s definitely not my favorite deviance.” There was an extended moment of silence before he teased, “You came into my room by accident, didn’t you?”
Kayn cracked a giant grin as she replied, “I expected to find Zach wandering around shirtless, not you.”
He pretended to be stabbed in the chest. He stared into her eyes as he confessed, “I’m glad you ended up in the wrong room.”
She peered into her almost empty plastic glass. Frost snatched it out of her hand and refilled it. Kayn hesitated but took it from him. She admitted, “I shouldn’t have any more.”
“Why shouldn’t you?” Frost probed as he gazed back at her with unflinching amusement.
She didn’t answer him. There was no reason why she shouldn’t…not anymore. Kayn apologized, “I’m sorry about earlier.”
Frost chuckled as he took another drink and provoked, “You mean when you accused me of only wanting you when there was a convenient time limit to our relationship? I’m lost… you’ve had a busy day. Maybe you’re referring to that kiss from Kevin?”
A part of her wanted to drop kick Frost in the groin and watch him squirm around on the seventies brown shag carpet. Another part of her wanted to keep stretching her personal boundaries. Kayn met his eyes and said, “Shut up.”
Frost locked eyes with her and sparred, “Make me.”
He was daring her to do it. She wanted him to see her as an equal, not a scared little girl, so she took a couple of seductively calculated steps towards him. Kayn could tell by his expression that he didn’t believe she was going to do it. She never could resist a dare. Kayn leaned in, parted her lips and paused a breath from his, teasing him. She seductively raked her fingers through his hair and aggressively pulled him closer. The second his lips touched hers, every nerve ending in her body lit up. She was done fighting this. She shivered as he darted his tongue against hers. Her breasts became aching peaks straining against the thin material of her shirt. In one swift movement, he lifted her, clutching her behind in the palms of his hands as he carried her across the room and pinned her against the wall. His tongue darted between her parted lips as he playfully caressed her with only a thin layer of material separating his hands from her until she was shivering uncontrollably. He put her down for an agonizing second before his hands slipped under her tank top. He nipped at the tender flesh of her earlobe as he groaned, “Say you want this.”
Every inch of her was aching for him. Was it not obvious? Her hands were pressed against his taunt ab muscles and she found the courage to slide one into his pants, letting him know what she wanted without playing his game by having to say the words aloud.
Zach opened the door and announced, “Hey Frost. Have you seen …”
They’d been caught.
Frost took a step back. He grinned and remarked, “She’s right here.”
Kayn was absolutely mortified. She maneuvered out of Frost’s reach, grabbed the bottle, a few snickers bars and slinked out of the open doorway past her grinning Handler.
As Zach closed the door behind her, he teased, “If you were having fun, it wasn’t necessary to leave on my account.”
She passed the bottle to him and gave him a curt response, “We’re not going to discuss this.”
Zach grinned and said, “Alright, it didn’t happen. I saw nothing.” He ushered her into their room. It was next door. She’d miscounted by one door. Kayn excused herself and disappeared into the bathroom, stopping to look at her refection in the mirror. It was worse than she thought. Her lips were swollen and there was a mark on her neck. She touched the slight discoloration on her throat and smiled. She’d never had one of those before. Every inch of her was still pulsating with the need for him. She was going to have some hot dreams tonight. Kayn turned on the water in the shower, stripped off her clothes and stepped under the spray. Her skin was still all tingly from his touch. Kayn heard the shower next door start up. She touched the wall that separated them. Yes, he drove her crazy but she wanted to be with him so badly she couldn’t even think straight. Frost was undeniably hot but that wasn’t why she wanted him. It was the way he looked at her when he thought she couldn’t see him. It was how he’d cared for her from a distance and allowed her to figure out what it was that she wanted. It was the expression on his face when she did something goofy. It was that ring from the bubble gum machine and the fact that he let her go, so she could have the time to say good bye to Kevin without feeling guilty. It was because she’d always found solace in the knowledge that he was close by. There were easily a million other little things. Why had she left? She knew it was a Dragon’s instinct to run from anything that required emotions. It was also a Dragon’s instinct to run towards danger and he was certainly that. If she could have found a way through the wall without Zach seeing her, she would have. Kayn touched her lips. She’d be replaying that kiss in her dreams all night. She rinsed herself off. Then, turned on the freezing cold water and allowed it to pummel her face. That helped a bit. Stepping out, she dried herself off and then put her underwear and tank top back on. Her tank top was disgustingly dirty. Zach was out cold lying on top of the sheets. Good idea, this place had been deserted for a while. She was too tired to worry about it. She fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow.
Kayn awoke to the light streaming through the sheer curtains. She rolled over, groaned and buried her face in the pillow. After that night of seriously steamy dreams, she’d have to get her game face on before she ran into him. She heard Zach stirring and peeked in his direction.
He stretched and teased, “Sleep well last night?”
“I slept just fine,” she sighed. He glanced at her. They both leapt out of bed and raced for the bathroom door. He beat her. He was giggling as he locked the door. Kayn left the room and wandered down the hall. She’d figure out which room Lily was in, if there were any toiletries in this hotel, she was the one that would have done the search to find them last night. A door opened and she held her breathe, knowing it was him.
A glorious bare chested Frost teased, “Had you stuck around last night this would have been your walk of shame.”
She was glad he’d said something funny. She could retaliate without feeling awkward and inexperienced. Kayn rolled her eyes at him and sparred, “Good thing I left.” She kept walking, more determined than ever to find Lily’s room.
Frost followed her down the hallway and groggily teased, “Don’t knock it until you try it.”
Don’t knock it till you try it…seriously? She knew she shouldn’t turn around but she couldn’t help it. Kayn stopped walking as she glanced back at Frost and they bumped into each other. He grasped both of her arms to keep her from going anywhere and she bit her bottom lip.
He gazed into her eyes and whispered, “All lame jokes aside, you know I don’t want to just hook up with you. I want more than that.”
Even though she wa
s lost in the intensity of his gaze, she still managed to find the words, “I’ve made it more than clear that I want more from you but I don’t want to keep playing these games with you Frost. We can’t keep starting over from scratch.”
He moved his hands seductively down the length of her arms as he whispered, “We’re almost done playing games.” Frost kissed her sweetly on the forehead and backed away from her.
What in the hell did he mean by that?
Another door opened, down the hallway. It was Lily. She held out toothpaste and a bar of soap as she said, “You’ll have to share it, that’s all there is.”
Frost got to Lily first. He took them from her and teased, “Guess you’re going to have to come with me if you want some.”