by Kim Cormack
He chuckled as he deviously suggested, “Let me get that for you.” Frost took one of his fingers and touched Kayn’s face. He showed her the cream on his finger and asked her if she wanted to lick it off.
Alright, she’d better stop this before it went too far in public. Lexy rolled her eyes and piped in from the other side of her, “Lick that cream off your own finger, Romeo.”
Music began, and from the wall on the far side of the room something that resembled a rock climbing surface slid up from the inside of the floor. It kept going until it was flush with the ceiling. Then instead of smooth rocks on it, out slid pointed cones. The whole set up was white and it appeared to be made of sculptured ice. A young man had come to stand on a circular platform about ten feet away from the sculpture. It rose into the air. This promised to be messed up. The platform hovered forty feet in the air. Six young people appeared and they walked slowly to the base of the structure. They began to climb to different positions. If they slipped they’d either fall to their death or become impaled on the frozen spikes. They extended themselves with athletic majesty from the structure and began a slow climbing dance routine. This went on for the remainder of the meal. The muscle tone that it would take to move lengthwise was nothing short of miraculous. They all watched in awe as the climbing dancers began to lose hold of the rigid surface and dropped to the ground. Here we go. The dancer was bleeding to death to the sound of a raucous applause. A giant pool of blood formed beneath him on the marble floor. A man in a red gown with and intricate pattern of gold threading around his neck and at his waist strolled over, clicked something that appeared to be a flashlight on him. The wounded man turned gray in color and solidified. The man with the red and golden threaded gown kicked his form with one foot and the gray form of the man turned to dust. Then the man in the gown just walked away. A woman in white swept up the dust with an enormous golden broom and walked the pile of what had once been a second tier under the elaborate archways and out of the large double doors. When they swung closed behind her everybody applauded once again.
Kayn whispered, “What in the hell was that? Why are we applauding?”
Frost whispered back, “They are prisoners. Don’t worry they’re all second tier they can’t really die. I’d imagine they were offered a chance at freedom if they were willing to play along and be a part of this evening’s festivities. The ones that survive will be released. We are applauding, because we don’t have a choice. Play along Brighton.”
Kayn asked, “How many of them usually survive?”
Frost started to laugh as he replied, “Nobody, they have to keep going until the King says dinner is finished. Nobody has the endurance to continue doing that bullshit for hours. One by one they’ll all die.”
Kayn questioned, “So, in this realm you have to win the Summit to be treated with respect and other than that the only second tiers that remain here are being held captive?”
Lexy smiled as she took a drink out of her now full goblet of wine. She hadn’t noticed any Grande gestures of respect. Her goblet had been topped up again and she hadn’t even seen it happen. She’d been too busy watching, the Frost and Kayn show. I guess she could be watching Grey flirt up a storm with everyone that draws breath across the table but that would be silly. She should be thinking about her own options. Orin popped into her head as she glanced down the table at Jenna. A thousand years. Now that was a long term relationship. Melody spoke and Lexy remembered why they weren’t together. He did deserve a high five in the vengeance and revenge on your ex category. She grinned as she drank from her goblet. Orin impregnated his ex-girlfriend’s mortal look alike. That should be on the very first page of every epic ex revenge handbook.
Lexy tuned back into the conversation going on beside her just as Frost started to give Kayn the, we have no rights while we’re here speech. This would be her cue to go to the ladies’ room. This whole speech just pissed her off. Lexy smiled politely as she rose to stand and excused herself from the table. Grey glanced up at her and gave her a look that he’d given her on countless occasions. It didn’t need to be spoken aloud. He wanted her to behave. Lexy winked at him, turned around and continued to shimmy her way past the rest of her clan behind their table. She had no firm plans to misbehave. It was more of an avoidance strategy. Stay away from Tiberius, don’t react to Grey’s shenanigans and behave until her friend Amadeus summoned her to join him. At least the naughty dynamics between Frost and Kayn had kept her mind occupied for a while.
The room gasped. Lexy paused to watch as another acrobat slipped and impaled themselves on the spikes. The man with the strange flashlight gadget strolled over, turned it on the girl, and she turned to dust and disintegrated into another small pile on the floor. The lady with the broom swept what was left of her up and walked her out of the large intricately sculptured archway and past the doors. She winced. This whole ridiculous public display was either meant to impress the victorious clans or cause them to fear the royal family. She was pretty sure she could take this whole room if she wanted too. Lexy felt someone’s eyes on her. Her Handler was staring at her slowly shaking his head from side to side. She could read his expression from here and in her mind she could hear him say, ‘Don’t even think about it.’ She smiled in his direction and blew him a kiss. Frost was wrong. Grey was the party pooper.
Her attention was diverted back to the performance as the final three exhausted acrobats plummeted to the marble floor with a splat. The man in red with the light swooped in and turned them into three piles of dust. This time more than one lady in white swept up what was left of them and walked their remains through the majestic archway and out of the double doors. There was the blaring sound of trumpets as the spiked wall slid down into the floor with no evidence that it had ever been there. With rather odd timing music began to play. Good music, easily comparable to what would be playing on the radio back home. Everyone stood up, paired up and made their way towards the dance floor. With her escape plans foiled Lexy knew she’d have no choice but to dance. The head table would be watching. She had no partner. This was awkward. She’d need to find someone before it was noticed. Lexy spun around and there he was, as always, ready to bail her out of an awkward situation on a moment’s notice.
Grey scooped her up in his arms and chuckled in her ear, “What are you up too?”
“I was just trying to escape the crowd,” Lexy innocently replied. Crowds had never been her thing.
Her Handler dipped her without any warning and sparred, “Are you telling me the truth?”
As she dangled there in her comically precarious position, Lexy laughed, “Yes. Yes, of course.”
Grey kept her there, teetering on one foot with her body leaning all of the way backwards for a second as he replied, “I’ll dance you towards your escape route but then you’re on your own.” He righted her position and skillfully danced and spun her towards the double doors. He released her and in the next movement he’d stolen Kayn from Frost. Lexy grinned as she snuck out of the hall and walked right into Silas.
He stopped her and flirtatiously scolded, “Where do you think you’re going?”
It occurred to her that she’d never used the washroom while she was here and didn’t even know where it was and that’s where one would usually go to escape a crowd. Lexy smiled and replied, “To the bathroom, if I can figure out where it is?”
The partially clothed Adonis responded to her question with a grin as he teased, “You my dear are not allowed out here. There are washrooms right behind the table you were seated at the end of the hallway.”
She hadn’t noticed a hallway or seen any bathroom signs.
Silas responded to her confused look with, “They don’t mark the bathroom doors here. They aren’t marked because they’re all unisex.”
“How come you’re out here and not in there enjoying the party?” She sparred.
He smiled and teased, “I’m here to make sure the partially immortal riff raff, aren’t out here roaming the halls and getting
themselves into trouble.”
She smiled and stated, “Theoretically, you’re partially immortal riff raff too.”
He grinned and sighed, “I’m housebroken well-trained riff raff.” Silas glanced at the other guard and said, “If you’ve got this for a couple of minutes I’ll escort this gorgeous trouble maker to the bathroom.”
The other guard chuckled, “Take your time.”
Silas opened the doors and led her through the dancing slightly inebriated crowd towards the back of the room and directed her to a long hallway, then he ushered her down it. When they reached the end there was one doorway that led to what appeared to be another hall.
Silas grabbed her arm to stop her for a second, pausing her escape and said, “I wish we had more time to get to know each other.”
Lexy allowed him to detain her for a second, flattered by his interest. She replied, “Staying here is voluntary, isn’t it? You could always choose to come back with us and live out your warped little life of servitude without all of the luxury and flower petal baths.”
“I’m afraid, it’s a little bit more complicated than that, gorgeous.” Silas sparred as he released her arm and set her free.
She could tell he wanted her to stick around and ask him why he couldn’t leave but decided against it. Attachments always came with complications and this guy had, ‘it’s complicated’ written on his forehead. Lexy was curious but not curious enough to add his drama to her pile. The last week of her life had been filled with an unusually large amount of drama. “Well, it was nice to meet you. I’m sure our paths will cross again someday,” she replied. Lexy gave Silas one final smile, turned and walked away. Maybe, she’d ask Markus about Silas once she was back in her world.
Chapter 11
Otherworldly Bathrooms and Other Shit.
The doors at the end of the hall slid into either side of the door frame before she even had the opportunity to reach out her hand. They really did choose the strangest things to automate in this world. Lexy strolled through the open doors, and into the largest bathroom she’d ever seen. There were dozens of stalls down each row at least half a dozen rows deep. Everything was white and black toned marble and appeared to be spotlessly clean. The stalls had no space underneath of them like back home. Lexy had the urge to count the stalls and then started to laugh. She was pretty drunk if she had the urge to count damn bathroom stalls. She pushed open one of the doors, unsure of what she’d find behind it. The bathroom appeared to be identical to any random one on earth. This place was so weird. She closed the door, heard the door lock behind her and the hum of the music was instantly silenced. A sound proof, unisex bathroom with automated stalls; that was a brilliant idea. At least she wouldn’t have to spend ten minutes diving from stall to stall trying to find a bathroom door that locked. Lexy smiled as she thought of any random public bathroom on earth and how she always seemed to choose the one stall that had a lock that wasn’t close to level. Lexy sat on the toilet, and noticed that there was no toilet paper dispenser. Oh crap. She was trapped on the toilet in a unisex bathroom. Normally, she’d just ask the person in the stall next to her if they had any toilet paper and they’d pass it under the stall. If nobody was in the bathroom with her you’d have to do the dash from stall to stall with your pants around your ankles. She looked behind her for something to use and there was nothing. Shit! What was she supposed to do now? She looked up and noticed that she was in a fully sealed box. That made sense it was sound proof. Well, she had to be missing something here? It definitely would have been nice if Silas had filled her in on the complicated bathroom situation. There were four handprints on the back of the door. She’d assumed they were some kind of art. Problem solving skills, this had to be easier than it appeared to be. The hand prints were red, green, blue and yellow in color. So, stop, go and caution? Was she supposed to put her hand on one of the prints? Why did it feel like this could go horribly wrong? Were the instructions written on something?
Lexy leaned over and noticed what appeared to be a button on the rim of the toilet and winced as she took a chance and pressed it. A bubble like substance pressed against her, the door slid closer and it stopped moving uncomfortably close to her knees.
A deep voice said, “Choose your desired temperature and place your hand on the wall.”
Alright, now we’re talking. There are instructions. Red would probably be hot, blue would probably be cold? What in the hell did yellow and green mean? The voice kept repeating the command. Quit pressuring me, damn it! Yellow or green. Yellow or green. She winced and placed her hand on green.
The voice announced, “You cannot choose the option for go until you have chosen your desired temperature.”
Well, Shit! If green meant go, did red mean stop? What if it meant hot? She could definitely do without a hot water doused Yoo-Hoo. So, blue or yellow? Lexy pressed yellow for no other reason but she liked that color. Nothing happened… Then she remembered she had to press go. There was a spray of warmth down below followed by a warm breeze. This might very well be the most awkward moment of her life.
She’d been sitting there for a while wondering what she was supposed to do when the booth spoke to her again, “Press stop when you are finished.” Lexy took a chance and pressed red. The booth spoke to her again and in a monotone voice it said, “Repeat.”
Lexy hissed, “Shit, no! Don’t repeat! Stop, I want to stop!”
The air stopped blowing and a voice spoke to her again and said, “Do you want to use the voice control as an option?”
“Yes?” she stated.
The voice stated, “What is your command?”
Lexy exhaled to calm herself down and firmly stated, “Stop!”
A gust of air sucked the bubble film into the toilet and politely said, “Have a productive evening.”
She leapt off of the toilet seat and shoved the door open, escaping just as the chamber filled with a lovely scented mist. Lexy closed the door quickly so she wasn’t doused with air freshener and muttered, “What in the hell was that shit?” She heard the sound of laughter coming from behind her and realized she wasn’t alone. Lexy spun around and Tiberius was standing there grinning from ear to ear.
He chuckled, “You just used that bathroom for the first time, didn’t you?”
She couldn’t help herself as her face cracked into an enormous grin as she answered, “What in the hell was that madness?”
Tiberius kept his distance, remaining where he was as he answered, “It is madness, isn’t it? It doesn’t need to be that complicated.”
Lexy smiled as she replied, “It definitely doesn’t.” They gazed into each other’s eyes for a second and then she smiled at him and said, “I should get back before someone comes looking for me.”
Her undeniably sexy nemesis blocked her escape and asserted, “That’s why I’m standing here. I came looking for you.”
“Tiberius,” she whispered his name as he took a step closer.
He grinned as he seductively replied, “Tell me there isn’t a part of you that wants me as much as I want you and I swear I won’t bother you for the rest of the evening.”
She grinned because he’d said, for the rest of the evening. That was the fine print in his little verbal contract. Lexy grinned as she maneuvered her way past him.
Tiberius hollered after her, “I knew you couldn’t say it.”
She strolled out of the sliding doors, into the hallway and directly into Grey.
He slowly shook his head, grinned at her and light heartedly teased, “You’re such a naughty fibber. You promised you’d behave.”
She’d promised no such thing. Lexy wasn’t in the habit of making promises she had no intention of keeping. She smiled at her Handler and clarified, “I got stuck in the bathroom and it had nothing to do with him.”
Greydon winked, placed his arm around her in a brotherly fashion and said, “I was going to say something about that. Last time we were here, I ran in there, tossed my cookies in the toilet and
tried to flush it with that little button. Well, you can guess what happened next.”
Lexy had a hilariously clear mental picture of how that went down. She started to giggle and then in a moment they were both howling at the thought of the slap stick comedy of drunken suffocation that must have followed that unknowing flush.
Much to her surprise Grey didn’t harp on the subject of Tiberius, he dropped the subject completely. They strolled hand in hand into the banquet hall; he towed her onto the dance floor where they danced together until she was breathless. The repetitive words were easy to pick up and the song had a dance music vibe. The whole group of Ankh began to sing along. Every once in a while she found herself looking at Kayn. Maybe, she’d been seeing danger that wasn’t there? She appeared to be having a good time but every once in a while Lexy caught her sneaking a quick glance at Kevin. That was going to be a difficult habit to break. Frost appeared to be doing his best to keep her occupied but she understood the feeling. It was difficult to let go of the fantasy of how things might have been. Her eyes locked with her dance partner as he grabbed her hand, spun her around and tugged her back towards him while comically singing any goofy words he wanted to the tune of the music in her ear. She laughed as the song changed and a slow one came on. Grey kept her there, captive in his arms with his body pressed against hers as they slowly swayed to the music. The seductive combination of his breath in her ear and the scent of his skin had always aroused her. Lexy closed her eyes and allowed her heart to envision the incredible night they could have together if she pushed him just a touch farther. He’d begun to caress her back as they moved together and her eyes met with Frost’s and she snapped out of it. The wine induced euphoria was beginning to mess with her that’s all this was. With perfect timing the song ended and a fast one started.
Grey pulled away, cupped her cheeks, planted a kiss on the tip of her nose and said, “One second.” He left her standing there.
Lexy was about to leave the dance floor when Kayn danced her way over to her and asked, “Have you seen that Patrick kid?”