by S. E. Smith
*.*.*
“What should we do next?” Arilla asked, watching the men below her.
“Oh, they have to see how creative the younglings have been,” Arosa insisted, flicking a hand at the doors leading to the hidden corridors and locking them. “What fun would it be if they couldn’t do that?”
“You don’t think Aikaterina would consider this interfering, do you?” Arilla asked, gazing at her sister.
“No, we aren’t changing the course of their existence. We are helping the little ones have some fun and giving the men a little push in the right direction. There is no harm in that,” Arosa assured her. “Besides, I can’t wait to see what happens. The little ones have been so creative.”
“I do love watching how their minds work,” Arilla agreed. “Oh! They are getting on the ride. Let’s follow.”
*.*.*
“I can’t believe I waited so long for this,” Riley groaned, sitting back in the chair at the café and picking up her drink. “Tina, we are going to have to plan a weekly girl’s day out.”
“I can’t believe all the great bargains we got and the fact that we don’t have to carry it all,” Tina replied with a sigh. “Am I the only one with aching feet?”
“No,” a chorus of feminine voices echoed.
“I think the only one still going is Cara,” Abby murmured in an exhausted voice. “I don’t know how she does it.”
“Personally, I think it should be against the law for anyone to have that much energy and not share their secret,” Ariel groaned, kicking her shoes off and wiggling her toes.
“I really like the outfit you picked out, Tina,” Melina said with a shy smile. “You look really good in red.”
“Thank you, Melina,” Tina replied with a grin. “I’ll let you know how Viper feels about it, especially after he gets the bill.”
“He lost the bet,” Riley replied with a wave of her hand. “No whining about paying up.”
“Hey, the chef has a new appetizer platter that I told him we’d love to try out,” Cara said, sliding into the only vacant chair left.
Riley’s head rolled on her shoulders and she glanced at Cara. “Does it have chocolate as part of the ingredients?” She asked in a slow drawl.
“Yep. That’s what I went to check on to make sure he got the supply I had ordered for him,” Cara laughed.
“Chocolate, the elixir of the Gods,” Trisha moaned.
“I thought that was wine,” Melina said with a frown.
“Honey, if you put wine and chocolate together, then you get a mind blowing orgasm that not even the Goddess could stop you from achieving,” Riley replied dryly.
“Really?” Melina asked in surprise. “I didn’t think anything could beat the twins,” she murmured before blushing madly when the women burst into laughter.
“Do you think we should check on the kids?” Ariel finally asked with a breathless sigh.
“No,” Morian replied in a firm voice. All the women turned to look at her in surprise. She was leaning back in her seat, swirling the wine in her glass. She gave them all a serene smile. “Trust me, the men can handle this,” she added with a mysterious smile.
“Sounds good to me,” Trisha said with a shrug. “Oh, my goodness! This looks fabulous!” She exclaimed when the chef came out to place his newest creation in front of them. “Oh, yes, the guys are definitely on their own,” she groaned as she picked up one of the tasty morsels and bit into it.
“Yes, they are,” Morian murmured with a smile.
*.*.*
“Get in,” Zoran ordered.
Ha’ven and Vox both shook their heads. “No way,” they both said with a stubborn expression.
“I remember what happened the last time we got on one of these things,” Vox growled.
“Yes, and you ended up loving it,” Zoran reminded him.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Zoran,” Ha’ven muttered.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Trelon assured them. “You sit in the seats and it takes you through the castle. Once we find the kids, I’ll hit the emergency stop button and we can get out.”
Zoran grimaced. “Maybe we should just follow the tracks,” he muttered.
“Well, I’ve been wanting to test it out one last time before the festival starts tomorrow so I’m riding it. Plus, it will make it easier to focus on finding the kids,” Trelon retorted.
Zoran watched as his younger brother strode over to the beginning of the ride and climbed into one of the chairs. He released the breath he held and muttered a not-so-silent curse under his breath before he followed Trelon.
“You’d better hope this goes smoothly, Trelon, or I swear Cara isn’t going to be the only one you’re going to have to deal with,” Zoran said under his breath.
“It will be fine,” Trelon retorted, glancing over his shoulder as the other men climbed onto the ride. “I mean, what could go wrong? The programming is just holograms. It isn’t like anything is actually going to attack us or anything.”
“Holograms,” Zoran repeated, staring warily at the chair. “What is this for?”
“It’s called a steering wheel. It doesn’t really do anything, just makes you feel like you can guide the chairs. While it looks like all the chairs are connected, they are actually independent of each other. There will be times when you can go one way and I’ll go the other before we meet back up,” he explained.
“How many times have you been on this thing?” Kelon asked, sitting forward to talk to Trelon.
“Once – with the completed program, but Cara and the guys have been on it hundreds of times before that. I just programmed the Queen and her minions. Cara, Dulce and the other engineers designed everything else,” Trelon admitted. “She’s had the twins on here. That’s why the chairs and safety harness are designed the way they are.”
“The….,” Kelan started to say when he was forced back into his seat when a set of straps came out and connected over his shoulders and across his lap. “This is not making me feel safer, Trelon,” Kelan gritted out.
“It is a safety feature. There’s nothing to worry about,” Trelon called out to the men behind him. “It’s just like the other rides.”
“How much damage can I inflict before Cara gets mad, Zoran?” Ha’ven asked from the back of the ride.
“He’s already got Amber and Jade. I don’t think you could inflict any more damage than that,” Mandra joked before he cleared his throat. “Sorry, Trelon.”
“So much for brothers sticking together,” Trelon retorted good-naturedly. “Might I remind you that Christmas is coming? I can think of at least a dozen different new pets that would be perfect for Jabir as a present.”
“Don’t you dare,” Mandra groaned as the other men laughed.
“It’s moving,” Vox muttered. “Why is my cat suddenly trying to crawl out of my skin and run?”
“Hang on, everyone,” Trelon said when he saw the tracks drop off and an empty space up ahead.
“Great,” Zoran said just before his stomach dropped.
“Where are we heading?” Creon yelled from several seats back.
“The Dungeons,” Trelon replied, gripping the steering wheel.
18
Paul drew in a deep breath as the chair he was in suddenly dropped before twisting in a dizzying spiral. If he thought the foyer of the castle was fascinating with its floating ghosts, this was downright exciting. A burst of deep laughter escaped him. He knew Morah and the other babies were safe and sound. Morian had asked him if he and the other men had misplaced something important when he and the other men had rushed to the castle.
The conversation flashed through his mind at the same time as the colors along the walls flickered around him making everything appear to move in slow motion. He had known the minute his comlink buzzed that it was Morian and why she was calling. His grimace had turned to relief when he heard the amusement in her voice.
*.*.*
“Did you lose something?” S
he had asked in a husky voice.
“Maybe,” he admitted sheepishly. “How did you know?”
“As the Priestess of the Symbiots, I am very attuned to what they are doing,” she chuckled.
“Alice took Morah, Leo, and Hope,” Paul admitted. “The kids are up to something. Zoran said something about a Queen of the castle.”
“Don’t worry about the babies,” Morian assured him. “The nanny is with them in the nursery. Alice and Bálint, along with their symbiots have returned to the throne room.”
“Are you upset?” Paul asked, slowing down so that he wouldn’t be overheard by the other men. “This was completely unexpected. Ha’ven had no idea that Alice could do this.”
There was a slight pause and he could hear the other women in the background excitedly talking. Morian answered one of the women before she replied to him. He had the feeling that she didn’t want them to know that she was talking to him.
“No, I could never be upset with you. I know you would do everything in your power to protect Morah. Ha’ven and Emma will have their hands full with Alice. I have a feeling she is much more powerful than either one of them realizes. So far, I don’t believe any of the other women know what is going on. Go get the kids, have fun, and I’ll try to keep the women out as long as I can,” Morian whispered. “I love you, Paul.”
“Remind me to show you how much I love you tonight,” Paul replied.
“If you survive being with the big kids, I will,” she promised. “Have fun.”
Morian’s soft laughter sent a shiver of need through him before she disconnected the call. He would never get enough of her wonderful sense of humor or the amazing love that filled the void inside him. He stopped and stared up at the castle. Slowly, he pocketed the comlink and stepped forward to join the other men.
Have fun, he thought with a shake of his head. This was right up there with surviving first day training with a bunch of greenhorns in the wilds of Wyoming during a blizzard.
“Have fun, she says,” he muttered under his breath when he turned his gaze to the group of men staring apprehensively at the front doors to the Symbiot Queen’s castle. ‘Big kids’ was right.
*.*.*
“If anyone finds my stomach, please return it to me,” Mandra called out when the chairs slowed as they reached the bottom corridor that led to the dungeon.
“Trelon, you may need to replace the turning wheel on this chair,” Cree muttered.
“You better not break Cara’s ride! She is excited about tomorrow’s festival and will be upset if you ruin the grand opening ride,” Trelon yelled back.
“You do realize that there is a wall there, don’t you?” Calo warned. “Trelon… wall… end of tracks…. I can’t get these straps off.”
“Sit back, we’ll pass right through it,” Trelon promised with a laugh.
“This isn’t funny,” Viper snapped. “I’ve got to find out what Ha’ven’s daughter did with my son before Tina does!”
“The babies are fine,” Paul said. “They are in the nursery upstairs with the nanny.”
“How do you know?” Viper demanded, leaning far enough forward to glare at Paul who was sitting in the chair next to him.
“Morian told me,” he admitted.
“Goddess!” The wave of male groans echoed as they drew closer to the wall.
“Tina is going to get Pearl to shoot me again. I just know it,” Viper muttered in defeat.
“The other women don’t know what is going on,” Paul assured the group as the other men echoed what their mates would do to them when they returned. “Morian is keeping the other women distracted while we get the kids back.”
“Are you sure?” Zoran asked. “What did Dola say?”
Paul chuckled at the hopeful sound in Zoran’s voice. “She said to have fun,” he replied.
“Fun? Then, why is my cat still clawing to get out of here?” Vox asked when the ride paused and the wall began to move and talk.
Once you enter, you may never leave. Welcome to the dungeon of the Symbiot Queen.
“Why do you celebrate this holiday again?” Cree asked in a skeptical voice.
“Because it is fun,” Paul responded.
“Because you get candy,” Kelan said with a grin.
“Because Riley is sexy as a ghost,” Vox purred, remembering Riley’s costume from the year before.
“Because it makes our mates happy,” Ha’ven added. “For that reason alone, I would celebrate this or any other Earth holiday every day.”
“Do you think Melina is having fun?” Calo asked his brother.
Cree was silent for a moment before he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “She was very excited to come. It is good for her to be around others of her kind. She has spent far too many years away from other women.”
“Are you sure that Hope is safe, Paul?” Calo called out.
“Positive,” Paul promised.
“Then, I want to know more about this Halloween,” Calo replied with a grin, sitting back in his chair and twirling the steering wheel. “This might be fun.”
19
“That’s it! I don’t like this holiday, after all!” Calo growled, trying to remove the white, sticky strands covering his upper body.
“Duck! There’s another batch of it,” Zoran warned.
“What is this stuff?” Kelan complained, trying to pull off the sticky strands.
“Dirty Worm silk,” Creon replied, rubbing his hands on his face.
“This isn’t supposed to be on the ride,” Trelon stated, trying to pull his hand off of his face only to end up slapping himself. “Ouch! My hand is stuck to my face.”
“Mine… is… stuck… to… my… lips,” Mandra’s muffled voice said.
“Don’t try to pull it off. You have to rub it gently,” Creon instructed.
“How do you know?” Cree asked, gently rubbing his hands together and watching in fascination as the strands vanished in a light fog. “This is incredible!”
“Spring loves this stuff,” Creon admitted. “She is always bringing it home. It took forever for Carmen and me to figure out how to get it off of her. We tried water, but it took hours to dissolve. Finally, Spring had to show us.”
As soon as the ride passed through the wall, the men were coated in the white web of sticky material that had been carefully strung head-high across the tracks. The more they tried to pull it off, the stickier it became until they were practically glued to their seats, and in the case of Mandra and Trelon, to their own bodies.
“This stuff is worse than tree sap in Trisha’s hair,” Paul muttered before he released a sigh of relief when he gently rolled his fingers over the white threads. “But, definitely easier to clean up.”
“Where did it come from?” Zoran asked, spitting out a strand.
Creon looked around the dungeon. In the corner, he could barely make out a small, but familiar pail. The bright pumpkin shaped pail was one of Spring’s favorite buckets. It was her first Trick or Treat pail from Halloween last year.
“I think Spring is behind this,” Creon finally replied.
“But… why?” Ha’ven asked, combing his fingers through his hair.
Creon studied the design of the strands. They had been very strategically constructed and placed to hit the rider in the head and chest. A slow grin curved his lips. A few months back, he had taken the girls out with Paul to play tag. Spring had created a grid just like this to slow them down.
“Spring created this trap,” Creon murmured, suddenly seeing the dungeon in a different light. “It’s a trap,” he said louder.
“A trap?! What in the Goddess’ name for?” Zoran asked.
Creon thought for a moment before he replied. “I think to capture the Queen of the Symbiots and her minions. You said it yourself, Zoran. Zohar wanted to protect the babies. The kids believe the Queen is coming. They are trying to protect the babies.”
“I guess I must be slow,” Ha’ven muttered. “What do they need to protect the
babies from?”
“It was in the story Carmen told the kids,” Creon explained.
“That’s the same story that Abby and Cara used to create this castle!” Trelon interjected excitedly. “Remember the book that Abby showed us the other night with all her illustrations? One of the pages was missing.”
“Are you telling me that the younglings have placed traps throughout the castle?” Calo asked in a wary tone.
“We’re about to find out,” Paul chuckled. “Hold on, we’re going up.”
“Up I can handle,” Mandra muttered. “It’s coming back down that kills me.”
With a growing sense of excitement, the men gripped the steering wheel in front of them as they passed through the exit of the dungeon. Every once in a while, they would reach up and gently touch a wayward strand of Dirty Worm silk to get rid of it. Now that they had an idea of what was to come, they were all excited to see how creative the kids had been with trying to protect the babies.
*.*.*
“Where does it go now?” Vox asked, shaking his head to loosen any remaining strands of the sticky web.
“The Huntress’ Forest,” Trelon said vaguely. “The chairs will divide and each side will go along a separate path. You can steer them and turn them.”
“That sounds like fun,” Viper replied.
Vox shook his head. “Not if there are wolves in it like there are in the other one,” he warned. “My cat is hissing again.”
Viper frowned. “Mine just wants to explore,” he said, looking up at the huge, lifelike trees and plants. “This looks almost like home.”
Viper jerked when he felt his chair turn to the left. Staring around him in fascination, he couldn’t believe that the forest wasn’t real. There was a dampness in the air from the mist that was rising up from the ground and he could hear the sounds of the night creatures.
