by Mia Archer
Nothing was going to beat the night I was partying at a sorority and discovered that a couple of the pledges and their pledge leader were interested in a little walk on the wild side.
I blinked in the sunlight and rolled over to check my phone. I still had a good hour before we were expected to be out in the field. Plenty of time to hit one of the shower buildings ARealms had set up and get ready for the day. Maybe even enough time to have some more fun with Erin if she was willing to help me conserve some of ARealms’s water before we headed out into the field.
Erin. ARealms. Sunlight streaming into the tent.
I was hit with a sudden sense of panic that settled into my stomach like a block of ice just as thoroughly as fire had been raging there the night before when Erin did that little thing with her tongue that made me gasp loud enough I was sure everyone around us heard it. Keeping quiet with her had been hard, but it had also been part of the naughty fun of the moment.
And now she’d gotten around my attempt to keep her occupied all night long by getting up earlier than me. She could be in the middle of her friends in the Royal Faction right now telling them exactly where the Thieves’ Faction camp was. Damn it, damn it!
A shadow at the tent entrance. A couple of steaming cups of something, followed by Erin’s smiling face looking in at me. I wanted to smile right back at her, but I couldn’t help but regard her with just a bit of suspicion.
“Where did you disappear to?” I asked.
Erin placed a cup down next to me. I gave it a sniff. Coffee. I took a sip, thinking that if this were a real situation where I’d taken her captive instead of a silly video game scenario I might have to worry about what was in the coffee.
“Just went over to the closest breakfast stand to get some coffee. I figured you’d want a little wake up before we headed over for breakfast,” she said. Still with that happy smile. Was she happy to see me, or was she happy because she’d somehow managed to get word to her friends?
“Is that all you were up to?” I asked.
She opened her mouth but another shadow fell across the tent. Jessica leaned in with a smile of her own. Also a cup of coffee of her own. She looked like she’d already been to the showers and she was back in her costume and ready to face the day.
“No worries on that count boss,” Jessica said. “We posted a guard through the night in case your plan for keeping queeny here preoccupied didn’t work. I went with her to the breakfast tent and made sure she didn’t talk to anyone or look at them funny.”
I blushed as I realized the subtle but fucking obvious implication.
“You had someone stationed outside my tent all night long?” I asked.
Jessica shrugged, but if anything her grin grew wiser only confirming my embarrassed suspicions. “I can assure you everyone who was on guard duty was chosen for their discretion and ability to forget anything they heard.”
I felt short of breath. This was it. This was the big one. I was going to die from embarrassment. I mean I was glad they thought to post a guard to keep Erin from pulling any funny business, but to think someone had been out there all night and could’ve heard what we were up to even though I was trying to keep quiet!
“Oh and don’t worry too much,” Jessica said. “What you were doing was pretty obvious even out at the bonfire. It’s not like the people on guard duty heard any more than what everyone else did.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, though from the way Erin giggled she seemed to enjoy the idea of having an audience. I wanted to sink into the floor. Damn it!
When I opened my eyes Jessica was gone but Erin was still standing there grinning at me.
“What’s so funny?”
“For someone so confident you sure have an aversion to being in the public eye. That’s gonna be a problem if you keep on drawing attention to yourself like you have been,” she said.
I moved closer to her. Wrapped my arms around her waist and fixed her with what I hoped was my most fetching smile.
“Oh yeah? What would you say to drawing a little attention in the showers before we head out into the field for day two of my complete domination of this game?”
Erin frowned. Damn. A frown didn’t seem good. Why was she frowning?
“What’s wrong?”
Erin locked eyes with me. Her own darted back and forth as though she was looking for something.
“Last night was fun, and I like where this is going…”
“Seems like there’s a pretty big “but” in there somewhere,” I said.
She grinned. “Big enough to get Sir Mix-A-Lot’s attention. I just want you to know what what happened here and what happens out there aren’t the same. Once we’re out there in the field I’m the queen, and I’m going to do my best to escape you. Maybe even make you my captive.”
I leaned in and kissed her. It was supposed to be a quick brush of the lips, but it quickly turned to more than that. A few minutes later I came up for air.
“I totally understand. I like where this is going too, but once we’re out there I don’t expect you to pull any punches. We have to see who’s the best, after all.”
“I’m glad to hear you feel that way.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less than your best! Now how about we head over to the showers and conserve some water?”
Erin giggled and followed me out into the sunlight. Several members of the Thieves’ Faction were waiting out there. It didn’t help that they all burst into applause when they saw the two of us coming out together. It really didn’t help that beyond them were more people snapping pictures.
It was going to be a different game today than it had been yesterday. No more anonymous attacks. But as I looked at Erin and knew that she was all mine, even if it was only for this moment, I didn’t really care. Like she said, I liked where this was going.
But first we had to face each other and determine who was the best player. I didn’t see this relationship, if a relationship is truly what it was, working for very long otherwise!
I took Erin’s hand and walked off to the shower, pointedly ignoring the camera phones clicking around us.
14: Morning Betrayal
I dried my hair and looked at Anna in the mirror. Smiled. Damn she was beautiful. I’d be content staring at her all day long and I’d never get bored exploring every curve of her body. She was the perfect combination of sexy and geeky. A rarity in this world despite the explosion of geek chic in recent years.
“Y’know for a minute there I didn’t think we were going to be able to squeeze into that shower stall,” I said.
Anna winked at me. “Well your solution was pretty novel.”
Yeah. Novel and a hell of a lot of fun. I opened my mouth to say something more but movement in the mirror stopped me. A girl walked out from the shower stalls in her clothes but with her hair still wet. She gave the two of us a dirty look, then her eyes went wide as she obviously recognized us. Recognized both of us. Not just me.
Word was traveling fast.
The girl turned and practically sprinted out of the room. I looked at Anna who had that cute blush on her face. Hell, I was blushing just a little myself. I hadn’t realized we weren’t alone when we squeezed into that shower stall. Oh the things that poor girl probably heard.
Too late to take it back now though. Anna was the first to smile. I was the first to giggle. In the space of a breath we were both laughing hysterically.
Oops.
Twenty minutes later we were back in our dresses and walking arm in arm towards the gates. Putting on the same dress as yesterday wasn’t ideal, but it was pretty common at these things. At least I had a chance to shower and change my undergarments. Not having a chance to do that was when things got really gross at these Gatherings.
I looked down at Anna’s hand in mind. Looked up to her looking around at the crowds pointing at her. Even being here with her was something that was way different from previous Gatherings. Usually when I had my fun with a girl I wasn’t stil
l with her the next morning. It just wasn’t how I rolled. That this girl had intrigued me enough to keep my attention the day after said a lot!
“So are you looking forward to getting your butt kicked?” Anna asked.
I blinked. I’d been so lost in thought that I hadn’t even realized she was looking at me. I looked around us and saw that we were at the factions entrance, though there was none of the pomp and circumstance of yesterday. No, there was just a crowd of people gathered snapping pictures and looking very interested in what was going on.
I fixed her with my best half smile. A move I’d adopted from my favorite smuggler from a long time a go in a… well you know where I’m going with this.
“We’ll see who’s kicking whose butt by the end of the day,” I said.
“Oh yeah? How are you planning on doing that while you’re in my power?” Anna asked.
I suppose I could play it close to the chest, but there was something about the challenge in her voice that made me want to rise to it. So I decided to go with complete honesty.
“I’m going to have my people rescue me, take you captive, and then probably permanently kill everyone in your faction so they can’t come back to haunt me for the rest of the Gathering,” I said.
It was pretty close to the truth, though Anna didn’t seem to take it that way. She threw her head back and laughed. Meanwhile I looked past her and saw Trevor standing in the crowd. He didn’t say anything, but he did nod sending a thrill running through me that was very different from the thrills Anna had been giving me last night and today.
The meaning was clear enough. They got the message. What I just said to Anna wasn’t just a boast. Assuming everything went to plan.
“That’s really your plan,” Anna said when she stopped laughing. She wiped a tear from her eye and an idea occurred to me. Something that might keep the peace and mean we could spend the Gathering enjoying each other’s company in the game as well as out.
“Well it doesn’t have to be like that,” I said. I stopped. Anna took a few more steps before realizing I wasn’t moving with her. She turned and arched a curious eyebrow at me.
“Sure it doesn’t. Because I’m going to keep you captive and ransom you for the crown today,” she said.
“Or you could be my second in command,” I said.
Well now. That was something that was hard to say, but it made sense. I’d been looking for someone who was my equal in the game for a long time, after all, and Anna was all that and so much more.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know. Join me and together we can rule Alternate Realms as queen and consort! All that good stuff?”
“So you’re just going to give up half your power like that? Is there even a way to have co-queens in the game?”
“I don’t know if there is, but I’m sure the ARealms people could figure it out if I asked them nice enough.”
Anna moved in close. Put an arm around me and pulled me in close. Looked at me with a rakish grin that had more than a little of that aforementioned smuggler from long ago and far far away in it. “But then I wouldn’t have the fun of overthrowing you fair and square!”
“But we would have the fun of getting to hang around in the castle all day. The castle where they’re usually nice enough to put a cot for some privacy.”
Anna tapped her lip. It seemed she was really thinking about it, and for a surprise I found myself actually hoping she’d go for this rather than spending the day sniping at each other. I’d understand if she went that way, I could identify with her competitive streak after all, but I found myself wanting to enjoy my time with her more than I wanted to enjoy my time in the game.
Now there was one hell of a change.
“Tempting, but I’ve been doing pretty well for myself so far,” Anna said. “I’d like to keep going and see how far I can take this coup.”
I sighed. “Fair enough. I expected no less.”
So we stepped into the playing area just as the half hour countdown started. I noticed Anna took us into the woods pretty far from where the actual camp was.
“Worried about people following you back to your camp?” I asked.
She looked at me with a piercing glance. “My momma didn’t raise no fools. Last night taught me there are plenty of people watching us.”
“You have no idea,” I said. I glanced down at my screen but it was still grayed out. I could hope she’d forget to cast the spell that cut me off from my magic, but something told me she wasn’t going to miss that detail. I hadn’t even expected it yesterday. It was so high level that I never used it because it felt like cheating.
The detour meant the countdown timer was almost spent by the time we reached the clearing that served as home base for the Thieves’ Faction. My phone beeped as we stepped into a crowd of people who were staring at me with huge smiles on their faces. People who’d been taken out by my magic yesterday and might not be happy to see me.
“Looks like we’re live,” Anna said. “Time to turn off your magic. Wouldn’t want you causing any trouble while…”
A horn sounded nearby. I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a couple of choice curse words. They were supposed to be rescuing me. Sure a horn was all dramatic and everything, but it wasn’t exactly keeping a low profile which is exactly what Trevor and Danielle should be doing with someone as dangerous as Anna!
Yelling echoed through the forest. Anna turned to look at me and her expression was a mixture of betrayal and anger, though she shouldn’t have expected any less. I’d warned her that I was going to do exactly this. Apparently her overconfidence had gotten the best of her.
I just hoped this wasn’t going to affect our budding relationship.
Members of the Royal Faction burst into the clearing and all around us thieves’ phones started beeping. Though none of them were beeping with the death ditty. No, it seemed that most of them were being taken captive.
Anna watched the scene playing out with disbelief plain on her face. Trevor and Danielle burst into the clearing and that disbelief turned to annoyance. She held up her phone and her hands danced as she prepared to unleash something nasty on my rescuers.
The only problem with that plan? By focusing on Trevor and Danielle she’d forgotten about me for a moment. Knowing her it would probably only be for a moment, but that was all I needed.
My own fingers danced on my tablet. I pulled up the very same spell she’d used against me the day before. Lashed out with it just as she got ready to unleash her spell. Her finger pressed down on the launch button, a big satisfyingly red thing, and it turned gray just before she unleashed her digital magical fury on my friends.
Anna turned, astonishment written plain on her face as all around us members of the Royal Guard finished taking the thieves captive. I held my breath, worried that she was going to be very pissed off at me for pulling off this successful double cross. The astonishment turned to a grudging smile and she shook her head. I let that breath out as she moved over to me and pecked me on the lips.
“You win this round, my queen,” she said.
“I suppose I do,” I said, pulling her to me and doing a reversal of the kiss we’d shared on the battlefield, with me being the conquering hero this time around. It felt good. Combining this incredible girl with the most fun I’d had in the game in a good long while?
Fuck yeah!
I pulled away from the kiss and we both had to take a moment to catch our breath. If this is what the game was going to turn into with Anna in it then I could start enjoying these Gatherings more and more!
“So what do we do now?”
“I already told you,” I said. “I’m going to take you back to the palace, but you’ll be going there as my captive rather than my protege.”
“Please have mercy on me oh mighty queen!” Anna said, trying her best to look terrified and not doing a very good job of it. Ah well. She could work on her acting later. All I could think about was the back room ARealms usually
set up at these gatherings and how much I needed another fix.
Danielle and Trevor came up. More surprising was that Anna’s friend Colin was also with them. Trevor held up the key and grinned. Had her friend gone turncoat?
“Genius idea hiding the GPS coordinates on this key,” he said.
Colin’s face went white. Okay, so he hadn’t gone turncoat. Maybe he was a captive like everyone else, though that didn’t explain why he had his arm around Danielle in a very familiar way. Curiouser and curiouser, as they say.
“You cheat!” Anna said as Trevor tossed my key and I snatched it midair.
“Not a cheat. Just resourceful,” I said. I looked at her and got serious for a moment. “I hope this isn’t going to affect anything between us? Stuff like this isn’t against the rules, you know.”
Anna smiled. A thin and dangerous smile. The sort of smile that promised nothing good for me.
“You warned me, so I’m going to do the same for you. You should just kill my character now. Otherwise you’re going to regret it.”
Well then. It seemed overconfidence was still the name of the game with Anna even when she was clearly beaten. Oh well. I could have fun proving to her just how thoroughly she’d lost the game before I offered to let her be my second in command again. She just had to know who was on top first. Wink and a nudge.
I leaned in to give her a quick kiss just to make sure it was clear there were no grudges being held here. It was all business.
I turned to Trevor and Danielle. “Okay. Round everyone up and let’s get going to the castle. I’m going to keep a personal guard on this one, because she’s dangerous.” I pulled Anna close. Of course I had other reasons for wanting to keep her close. Reasons at least a few of the thieves could guess at judging by their grins. They were really taking this whole being defeated thing really well.
It was a pity I was going to have to take them all out permanently when we got to the palace. Sure I might want people to attack me because it would make the game more interesting, but not making an example of those people who dared to attack the queen would be bad for business in the long term.