I know Megan well, and so
does
David.
I give him a look that I know he
’
ll recognize. I take a drink of whatever David brought.
Believe it or not
Dawson
takes a breather long enou
gh to say,
“
Hey Marc, I
’
m going
take a guess that you have never been falling down drunk before.
”
“
Uh,
yeah
, I guess I have a high tolerance or something, I can drink what I want and it doesn
’
t do anything, why?
”
Dawson
answers
by
giving a quick glance
over at me
and answers,
“Because
you
’
re
a witch, bro, and witches can
’
t get drunk on mundane drinks. Tonight though,
you
’
re
at a witch party and David was kind enough to bring you one of the strongest drinks we make.
It
’
s
called
“
Little Death
”
LD
for short and it will put you on your ass, so I
’
m just sayin’
...
.
”
Marc slides
the drink away from him and leers over at David
’
s glass,
“
What are you drinking?
”
Marc
questions.
“
Oh, I’m
hav
ing
a
drink called
“
Zeus
’
s
lighting
,
”
David
plausibly
responds as he observes two girls walk by.
Before anyone takes notice, Marc discreetly switches drinks with David. I take a sip of my own drink, amazed at how fast he truly is.
Trying to change the subject I sit my glass down eyeing the pool
,
“
So, is anyone
going for a swim? Perhaps we—
”
A male
witch suddenly appears out of thin air and stands in front of me. His posture is gracious while he extends
a well-kept hand out to introduce himself.
It
’
s
quite obvious he is taller than
me
, being an elfin-like size I
’
m pretty comfortable with everyone towering me. Jet black strands of scarlet tipped hair fall around the frame of his distinct face. Unique dark ink marks line down his neck.
As I observe this fellow witch, I begin to admire the pale blue gaze he holds, like someone just took a piece of the ever-blue sky and created such awe
-
inspiring beauty in his eyes.
He
’
s immaculate
, wearing a
sable dress shirt, and slacks, finishing it off with Versace shoes. He reaches down a
nd helps me stand. When I begin to remove my hand from his
, he doesn
’
t let go. Marc
’
s assertive presence radiates beside me as this stranger leans down to gently
place a
kiss
on
my hand, unfazed by Marc
’s aggressive stance
as my protector.
The stranger bows royall
y as he tilts his head up
ward
and says
,
“
I
’
m honored to have, Alyssa Worthington, heir to the
Worthington
coven as an honored guest in my home tonight.
”
Marc stares
at me as confusion overflows
his gaze and I return his expression
with my own puzzlement
.
We
hav
e
no clue
who
our host is, but I do like his style and apparently he knows enough to be
aware of me. I smile politely and remark,
“
Thank you for allowing us to crash your party tonig
ht, you have quite an impressive
home.
”
His manner with me is very noble and gentlemanly. One hand rests on his back as the other continues to grasp my own. Marc
’
s discomfort level increases again as he leans slightly closer
, so I decide to acquaint him with everyone
.
“
Please let me introduce my friends. This is Marcus Dela Dante, Dawson Stoughton, Lisa Morerati, and David Van Buren, all of the
Worthington
coven.
He graciously acknowledges everyone in turn and finishes with
,
“
Forgive me, for not
introducing myself
first, my lady, I
’
m Zaylen, Zaylen Ryash.
”
He holds my hand up and walks me over to another chair and sits down with me.
“
I
’
m sorry
, but
you spea
k as if I know you and I do not,
”
I say to him as the corner of his lip curves to a half-smile
.
“
If you don
’
t know then clearly I am without
a clue,
”
he jests
letting the last bit roll off his tongue as he finally drops my hand.
I
’
m thinking
Okay, maybe someone is dabbling a little too deep into the witches brew and is showing signs of intoxication
.
I have only had my one glass and to his credit things are not boring. Zaylen shifts away and is back a second later with a
full
glass.
“
Here Alyssa, it appears you have an empty glass and we can not have any of that.
”
He takes the empty glass and replaces it with a fresh
one;
he simply tosses absently the empty glass which vanishes almost instantly.
“
Now, please come with me I have something I would like to show you.
”
Zaylen turns over his shoulder a
nd looks directly at me and declares
,
“
We certainly don
’
t want things to get boring now
,
Alyssa?
”
Ok
ay
, now I
’
m officially blown away, I know immediately that my new little friend is a mind reader.
We all trail
behind
Zaylen as he leads us down a small walkway to the side of his house. You can still hear the beat of the music as it seems to float along with us.
The path winds through a thick wooded area as Marc leans over,
and whispers in my ear,
“
Who is this guy, do you know him?
”
I squeeze Marc
’
s hand and shake my head. David strolls along with us and then out of nowhere Megan appears with a deflated expressio
n on her face,
“
Hey, where the hell are you guys going? The party is the other way.
”
Megan points up to the house.
I motion my hand in the direction of Zaylen,
“
Ask him, he knows.
”
Megan eyes brighten and instantly shifts next to Zaylen, unshyly
drap
ing her arms around him whispering a provocative proposition in his ear. He laughs,
and then
kisses her endorsing her offer.
I stop in my tracks, looking at Megan unexpectantly,
“
Megan, you know him?
”
Megan looks back coyly,
“
You know girl,
that I
know everyone, Alyssa.
”
David grunts at her comment and replies,
“
Ah
,
yeah
… well we all figure that out, Megan, but you know at least some of us aren
’
t so easily seduced by you.
”
Megan laughs richly and smiles,
“
David you
’
re an exception, but I haven
’
t given up hope on you. Remember dear, I have a whip. I just hope it
’
s not fear holding you back, baby.
”
David chuckles
nervously.
“
I have been trying to put t
hat whip thing out of my mind.
Hey, Alyssa, if
you
’
re
not busy later
,
will
you
m
ind sweep
th
is
out of my memory?
”
Megan winks his way and mouths,
“
Hand cuffs too, baby.
”
We approach a wide open clearing with the full-moon beaming down allowing us to see the five small structures lining the edge of the field. Walking over to one I realize they are shooting stations forming an arch. Each one holds a skeet machine.
“
A s
hooting range?
”
I ask
Zaylen in bewilderment
.
“
Ah, yes Alyssa
.
”
H
e strolls over in front of m
e, bows and takes my hand courteously and inquires
,
“
Would you join me?
”
I glance over to Marc and shrug my shoulders. I vaguely remember doing this a long time ago. I think it was with my father, but I
’
m not sure.
I turn back to Zaylen and say with uncertainty,
“
Okay...?
”
Slowly I walk over and stand in station number one and wait for him. Zaylen has this huge
Cheshire
grin as he passes by me with an unreal brightness in his eyes.
“
Ace my dear, I certainly would hate for you and I to have a blue over this.
”
I lower my voice and whisper,
“
Larrikin.
”
I didn
’
t think anyone would
hear me, but then
Zaylen chuckles,
“
Indeed I
’
am Love, indeed.
”
Who is this guy?
He
isn
’
t that much older than I am
, if
he was an acquaintance at some point I just can
’
t remember him for the life of me. Apparently, he knows plenty about me, such as I
’
m originally from
Australia
, or perhaps my accent is a bit stronger than I think.
As we both stand there waiting, Zaylen begins to
say
,
“
There are twenty-five solid steel discs that will come flying out randomly. We
’
ll do one round first and see how you handle it.
”
I nod and steady myself and start raising my hand up, when Zay
len looks over at me grinning,
“
Alyssa? I hear a rather interesting rumor
buzzing about
you;
they say you are no longer a fire elemental.
”
I just look over at him and retort back
,
“
Yeah
, so?
”
He looks down, pondering for a moment and then his eyes meet mine,
“
So, what are you?
”
he questions boldly.
I
’
m getting a little tire
d of his inquiries so I just state,
“
Shoot and I
’
ll show you.
”