M&L03 - SS (22 page)

~ Renee ~

I came through the portal in
my bedroom closet and tossed my sword on a chair. It needed to be cleaned but I
smelled pizza downstairs and I was starving. I walked to the railing around the
sitting area and peered over the edge. Solomon was lounging on my couch with a
bottle of beer in one hand and the remote in the other.

Sensing my presence, he
clicked the TV off and smiled up at me. “Why don’t you come down and join me?”

There was something about his
smile that had me wondering what he was up to. Deciding I’d probably enjoy
whatever it was, I hopped over the railing and strolled over to the couch. The
coffee table was taller than usual and I noticed that he’d put cinder blocks
under the legs to give it the added height. Eyeing him curiously, I sat down
beside him when he patted the seat cushion.

“What are you up to Solomon?”

“I thought you might like to
watch a movie while we share a pizza.” He was the picture of innocence.

“Don’t you want to see how
Chen is going to transform the club?”

“We can go out later if you’d
like, but I already know he’s planning a luau. While I’m sure you would look
fabulous in a grass skirt, and it would most likely be more exciting than your
average luau, I’d rather spend a few hours alone with you and get to bed early.
Tomorrow is going to be very draining for both of us.”

I still didn’t trust him but
I agreed to stay in. I was exhausted after spending the day fighting battle
after battle, both internal and external. The sword fights had been grueling
enough, but struggling with the fox and the mounting sexual frustration had
nearly pushed me over the edge. The need for sex seemed to be growing
exponentially. If I hadn’t worked off so much energy in the chambers, I would
have been pouncing on Solomon the second I came through the door. As it was, I
could only hope that we both fell fast asleep before my body had time to fully
recover.

Solomon asked me to close my
eyes while he fetched the pizza. When he said I could open them again, my
living room had been transformed into Jack Rabbit Slim’s, the restaurant where
Mia Wallace (played by Uma Thurman) and Vincent Vega (played by John Travolta)
went on their night out in the movie
Pulp Fiction
.
Pulp Fiction
was my all-time favorite movie written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.

“Oh, thank you Solomon, this
is wonderful,” I gushed looking around at the neon signs and the wait staff
dressed up as old movie stars. It was all a bit out of focus but the classic
car booth we were sitting in couldn’t have been clearer.

He slid a plate holding two
slices of cheese pizza towards me. “There’s one more surprise before we start
the movie.” He waved his hand and a tall glass appeared beside my plate. “I
thought you might like a five dollar milkshake to wash the pizza down.”

Mia ordered a five-dollar
milkshake in the movie and Vincent had to taste it to see if it was really
worth five dollars. It was one of the best parts of the entire movie.

“This is the best surprise
ever. Way better than some lame luau.” I couldn’t stop smiling.

“I’m glad you like it,” he
told me, his eyes shining bright as he leaned in to kiss me. It was short and
sweet, but the love I felt was anything but.

“How did I get so lucky?” I
asked, not realizing at first that I’d said it out loud.

“You’ve got it all wrong
Renee,” he whispered, pressing his lips to my forehead. “I’m the lucky one,
because I get to love you for the rest of my life.”

He hit play and the opening
scene of
Pulp Fiction
came on the screen. It was my favorite movie, and
even though I’d probably seen it a thousand times, I could still watch it a
thousand more. Tonight though, I only had eyes for Solomon.

I ate my pizza at his
insistence, and even finished the milkshake because it was really, very good.
After that, I curled up close to Solomon and just enjoyed being with him. This
was how it had always been with us until the mating frenzy made everything
crazy. Was that why he planned this whole thing? To show me we were still the
same people we’d always been? Whatever his motives were I knew that I would
always treasure the memory of this night for as long as I lived.

I awoke alone in my bed
wondering how I got there. I’d fallen asleep on the couch with Solomon so he
must have carried me upstairs. Why hadn’t he stayed?

A noise caught my attention
and I turned towards it. Solomon was sitting in a chair lacing up his boots. His
hair was damp and his clothes were clean.

“Were you going to leave
without saying goodbye?”

“No, I was just about to wake
you.” He came over and gave me a quick kiss. “You’re not scheduled to fight
until later tonight but I have a maze to build in about thirty minutes, then
I’m in the first round of sword fights. We can meet up for lunch during the
marksmanship competition.”

He opened a portal and left
before I could get a word in.

“Chicken!” I shouted after
him, but he was already gone.

He was running scared because
the pull of the mating frenzy was getting stronger by the minute. I wasn’t sure
how these things worked, but if I had to guess, I’d say the spell had been
blocking more than just our emotions. The need I felt yesterday was nothing
compared to what I felt now that my body was well rested. Katerina’s comment
about a ticking time bomb suddenly seemed a lot more accurate, and if I was
about to explode, then Solomon likely was too.

Maybe it was time to light a
match and enjoy the fireworks.

~ Solomon ~

At one end of the stadium
there were two small booths. One was for the announcer and the other was
reserved for whichever sorcerer was actively casting spells over the arena.
From that vantage point, we had an unobstructed view of the entire stadium,
which allowed us to monitor our spells and make adjustments as needed. To keep
things fair we weren’t allowed to cast any spells aimed at the competitors.
They could only be taken out by traps already embedded in the mazes. Otherwise,
the sorcerers could pick and choose who to trap and who to help. The prey was
another story. We could blast them with anything and everything imaginable to
make sure they didn’t escape the mazes alive.

Sergio was currently inside
the booth and I was waiting for my turn in the narrow corridor just outside the
door. The crowd in the stadium was cheering for the hand-to-hand contestants as
they made their way through Sergio’s maze.

Leaning back against the
stone wall, I closed my eyes and thought about Renee. Leaving her lying in that
bed this morning was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. Somehow, the
desire I felt for her had multiplied over the last twenty-four hours until it
was nearly unbearable. I’d thought my fox was going easy on me for her sake,
but now I realized it was probably the spell dulling the effects of the mating
frenzy all along. We’d only made it to second base so far, but it wouldn’t take
much tempting for me to forget all about our agreement. Thankfully, there
wouldn’t be many opportunities for her to temp me with the tournament in full
swing.

Outside in the stadium, the
crowd went wild and I opened my eyes just in time to see Sergio emerge from the
booth. His gaze swept over me like he was taking my measure, then he walked
right past me without saying a word. Deciding it wasn’t the time or place to
clear the air between us; I pushed off from the wall and stepped towards the
open door. Before I reached the entrance, I heard Sergio behind me.

“Have you ever considered how
different our lives would have been if Ephraim hadn’t exiled me from the
clans?”

I turned to face him and saw
that he was leaning back against the wall as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
I told myself I should tell him to fuck off, but something compelled me to
answer him honestly.

“Of course I have. If my
father hadn’t cast you out, you most likely wouldn’t have helped Travali during
the war. But considering the depth of your betrayal, and the reasons you were exiled
to begin with, I believe you would have poisoned the clans with your evil had
you not been cast out when you were.”

He cocked his head to the
side, studying me like a bug. “What if the reasons for my exile were not nearly
as heinous as you were led to believe? What if Ephraim was simply too human to
accept our ways? You must know how stubborn he could be. Is it not possible
that he cast me out because I refused to bend to his will? Not because I had
actually done anything wrong?”

“It matters not Sergio. Your
actions during the war and since have erased any goodwill you might have
garnered from the clans, or from me.”

“I’ve often wondered whose
son you would turn out to be - Ephraim’s or Gwendolyn’s. I suppose I have my
answer now.” He opened his mouth, then closed it and considered his next words
before asking, “Did she ever tell you what happened to your brother Ezekiel?”

I crossed my arms over my
chest. “My father told me Ezekiel was killed when he challenged another clan
member over a female and lost.”

“I’m sure he did, but did you
ever hear that story from your mother’s lips?” Sergio asked, watching me
intently.

When I didn’t answer right
away, Sergio smirked. “That’s what I thought. Gwendolyn was honest to a fault.
She’d let Ephraim make up whatever lies he wanted to tell, but she would never
repeat them herself.”

Hearing him talk about my
mother as if they were old friends was too much for me to take. “You don’t know
the first thing about my mother.”

“I know a lot more than you
think,” he countered.

Outside in the stadium Kasper
announced, “The next round in the hand-to-hand competition will begin
momentarily.”

He was probably wondering why
I wasn’t already in the booth setting up my spells.

“I understand that you have
to go now, but if you want to continue this conversation some time, I’m sure
your security people will know where to find me. The tracking spell you made
for them is quite good; almost completely undetectable.”

He turned and walked away
before I could respond.

I shook my head and entered
the booth, shutting the door firmly behind me. I’d worry about Sergio and his
questions later. In the meantime, I sent Rook a quick text letting him know
Sergio was already aware of the tracking spell.

A few minutes later my maze
was up and ready to go. The elaborate system of corridors and tunnels was
constructed mostly of thick dirt walls, but I used shrubbery here and there to
temp the contestants or the prey into wandering off the path. Anyone who
thought pushing through the hedges would be easier than winding through the
labyrinth would soon discover the pitfalls of taking shortcuts.

The prey for this round was a
fire demon that was imprisoned almost two centuries ago after kidnaping Doyle’s
sister. She was rescued unharmed before he could auction her off to the highest
bidder, and then the fire demon was thrown in the dungeons where he has been
enjoying our hospitality ever since. Now he could be free to live his life as
he pleased. All he had to do was get past the four contestants and all of my
magical traps.

Too bad for the fire demon
Doyle was one of the contestants competing in this maze. The other contestants
were Noah, Danarius, and Kaleb.

When Kasper called for the
round to begin, I thought about the worst hurricane I’d ever witnessed, and
then I unleashed its torrential rain and devastating winds on the maze below.
That would take away any advantage the fire demon had over the competitors. Of
course, it would also make the entire maze a slippery mess as the dirt turned
to mud and the water flowed like rivers through the passageways.

The competitors started at
the four corners and worked their way towards the middle while the prey tried
to find his way out from the center. Usually supernaturals relied heavily on
their noses to warn them of danger, but with all the rain and wind, they likely
couldn’t smell much of anything. As a result, everyone down below moved slower
than they otherwise would have, but I knew their caution wouldn’t be enough to
avoid my traps.

Noah was the first to fall
prey to my magic. He was right around the corner from the fire demon when he
stepped into a portal and found himself back at his starting gate. He roared
like the bear he was and attempted to barrel through the nearest line of
hedges. The shrubs took offense and immediately pinned him to the ground with
their thorny branches and thick roots.

I chuckled to myself and
focused on Danarius who was about to spring another one of my traps. If he
wasn’t careful, a steel cage was going to come down over his head and he’d have
to spend precious time breaking out of it.

“You seem to be really
enjoying yourself.”

I spun around to find Renee
smiling behind me. She was wearing the requisite black leather pants but today
she had on a halter-top that would show off the fox eye on her back. She’d also
worn her auburn curls long and loose so that they hung around her face and over
her shoulders. She was a stunning mix of danger and beauty that never failed to
make my heart beat faster. I hadn’t felt her coming though, and it made me
wonder when our emotions would start flowing continuously through the bond.