by Fiona Roarke
It was time to go. Now!
Riker darted into the dressing room entryway, calling out, “Elise! We need to leave!”
He spotted Corette with an armful of the dress Elise had just worn. “She’s not quite dressed yet,” Corette said.
“Hurry and get dressed, Elise!”
By the time he got to the small room she was in, he saw not only her bare, beautiful arms, but all of her well-shaped legs. He didn’t have time to express his sincere pleasure at seeing her so scantily clad. She wore only black exercise shorts, a purple sleeveless undershirt and her shoes. Her military-style jacket and pants were draped on a nearby chair next to her backpack.
He grabbed her hand as the bell pealed from the front door. “I know you’re in here,” Anya called out in an eerie, loud voice. “You are mine, thrall. Not hers! Come out and meet your destined fate.”
“Oh no.” Elise grabbed her backpack and stuffed the rest of her clothing inside. “I’m sorry, Corette, but we need to leave. Is there a back door out of here?”
“What’s going on?” Corette’s concern was obvious.
“It’s kind of a long story,” Elise said, as she traded an ominous look with Riker.
“Is she your ex or something, Riker? It’s so unfortunate when people can’t let go, don’t you think so?”
“Yes,” Elise said. “She hasn’t gotten over Riker. And I understand that—I mean, look at him—but she needs to take no for an answer and move on.”
Corette nodded. “I’ll save the dress you selected, Elise. And I’ll do my best to stall your ex, too, Riker.” She pointed to a door further down the hall. “That door leads out to an alley. Take a left and after a block or so you’ll end up on Main Street near the fountain with the gargoyle.”
“Thanks, Corette. I’ll be back, I promise.”
Corette smiled, then turned toward the main salon and marched, big poufy dress and all, down the hall. Anya was shouting, “Come out and face the prophecy, thrall, as it was foreseen!” The echoing chant of other voices responded, “As it was foreseen!”
Riker and Elise made their escape to the alley just as a small black cat trotted by, making a purring, happy noise. Riker heard loud voices on Main Street to his left, but he could have sworn the little cat was chanting in its little cat voice as it traipsed by. It sounded like, “Spider want food. Spider want food.”
Riker shook his head at the folly of a talking kitten and grabbed Elise’s hand, expecting Anya to burst through the door they’d just come through at any second.
They ran toward Main Street as a mass of tourists strolled by and did their best to blend in with the exuberant crowd. Elise squeezed his hand and pointed at the fountain in a park up ahead. They made their way to the fountain with a huge statue of what he assumed was a gargoyle. The creature looked intimidating, and not what he supposed would be displayed as public art. He shouldn’t be surprised by now, but Nocturne Falls was certainly an interesting place filled with more fascinating creatures every moment they stayed.
Chapter Thirteen
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Elise, heart in her throat, racing through town in basically her underwear, didn’t stop until they’d crossed the wide Main Street of Nocturne Falls filled with masses of people and paused by the fountain.
The gargoyle statue was an awesome feature and it looked so real. Like it could spring to life and carry on its gargoyle business. Like it merely rested at the fountain, taking a breather from whatever gargoyles did on a day-to-day basis.
“Do you see Anya or her chanty followers?” Elise asked, heading for an empty bench in front of the lifelike gargoyle.
“No. Do you?”
“I think we’re okay for a few minutes.” They sat down to regroup. “I’d head for the crash site, but it’s still a couple hours until dusk.”
“Did you bring camouflage tarps? Perhaps we could hide underneath them at the spacecraft until the retrieval team arrives.”
“The team won’t come near the crash site if Anya and her followers are scouting around trying to find us in the woods.” Elise scanned their immediate area, taking in the ferocious expression on the gargoyle’s face. So lifelike. There was no one around them and no other tourists lingering by the fountain.
“Right.”
“Our best bet is to find another store to wait in.”
“Is that a hint?”
“A hint of what?” she asked with a smile. She fixed her gaze on his eyes and got lost as she always did when he put his focus solely on her.
He picked up her hand and toyed with her fingers. “Maybe you’d like to find a jewelry store where they sell finger rings?”
Elise laughed. “You seem very anxious to get married for a man who isn’t quite free from his last engagement.”
“I’m free enough for my purposes, unless you’re talking about Anya. I’ve decided I’m free from her regardless of her feelings on prophecies involving me being a thrall.”
“No. I meant Lexa and your arranged marriage to the perfect woman.”
“Lexa is a good soul. You’d like her. But you’re right about arranged marriages and how they should be banned on our planet. They are far more trouble than they’re worth. And I don’t know any couple who has lived—what’s the Earther term?—happy afterward?”
“Happily ever after, you mean. Like in a fairy tale.”
“Yes. That’s right. No one on Alpha-Prime ever seems to live happily ever after when an arranged marriage is involved. Maybe grouchily until death parts them from their grumpy world together would be the more accurate phrase.”
Elise laughed out loud. “I agree. And so we are completely clear, I want to marry you, Riker. My only hesitation is that I’m not certain my limited social standing will be accepted by your family.”
He shook his head. “They don’t care about that. Seriously, they have repeatedly told both Draeken and me that they just want the two of us to be happy. And with their youngest son on his way to the worst gulag in three systems, I guarantee they will be delighted with any woman I choose. As long as I resolve my agreement with Lexa.”
“You mean publicly?”
He nodded. “And I will, I promise.”
“Are you sure Lexa will let you go?”
“She’s the one who brought up the subject of breaking our arrangement. I met with her to do it. She was afraid I was about to propose, so she started by saying she cared for me, but not the way a husband and wife should for each other.”
“And you were relieved?”
“Oh, yes, very much so.”
Elise pushed out a breath. “I almost had an arranged marriage.”
“You did?”
“Yes. His name is Mahler Grant.”
Riker made what sounded like a disapproving humph.
“You know him?”
“I’ve heard of him. My understanding is he’s very much a proponent of the old ways. He likely would have stifled you, kept you at home and would have disallowed anything more than volunteer work for your future career as his wife.”
“I picked up on that fairly quickly. That’s why I refused to marry him.”
“I never heard any public declaration from him or his family.”
“He didn’t want me, either. But my parents thought he’d keep me in line after I decided to become a bodyguard instead of joining the RMG like they wanted.”
She pushed out a sigh, adding, “I confided in my sister the name of the only man I’d ever agree to marry. She tattled to my parents. They thought I was aiming too far above my social realm.”
“Who was it?” he asked sounding like he planned to tear this imaginary suitor apart with his bare hands.
“I told her I was in love with The Calderian and no one else would do. When your arranged marriage was announced soon after, I finalized my plan to come to Earth.”
His frown was quickly replaced with a ferocious grin. “You told your family you’d only marry me?”
She nodded. “The
y laughed. Told me you were too far above my apparently greedy social reach.”
“That’s not true. You are perfect for me. I love you, Elise. I’m grateful we found each other. My only concern is taking you away from Earth. But if you want to remain here, I’ll give up being The Calderian.”
“No. Absolutely not. I don’t want you to give up your career. Mind you, I also don’t want to stay at home and only volunteer to give tea parties and coordinate charity work. My skillset is in a completely different arena.”
“You, my sweet future wife, can do whatever you wish. I promise to support you in whatever career you choose.”
He moved to put his arm around her shoulders. “Are you cold in so few clothes?” he asked, wrapping her in his embrace.
“No. I’m fine. Do you disapprove of my attire?”
“Believe me, I like it.”
“I’m certainly not soft like other women.” She put a palm on her thigh, feeling the muscle there.
“You are perfect.”
“Am I?” Elise stared into his intense blue-eyed gaze.
“You are perfect for me. I don’t want anyone else.”
Before he could kiss her again—and she wanted that more than anything in this quiet moment—someone approached at high speed. Elise looked up in time to see a teenager on a skateboard approaching at a very fast clip.
It was a scrawny girl with short, messy dark hair wearing homemade clothes possibly from a large variety of leftover fabric scraps. As she passed by their seated position on the bench, the girl lifted a hand and threw something at them. A cloud of pink, purple and blue dust sprayed up in the air. A teabag-size clump hit Riker on the chin in a flourish of multi-toned sparkle and color.
The shameless little teeny-bopper brat!
“Hey! That was uncalled for,” Elise yelled, standing up to chase the hooligan down. Then she froze. The multi-colored dust reminded her of the pink sparkly dust Anya had blown in Riker’s face to subdue him. She suddenly remembered uselessly that she’d never gotten a sample of that pink dust.
When Elise turned back, it was as she feared. Riker wasn’t moving. He wasn’t talking. He wasn’t even blinking. Oh no. A more colorful swear word—one she’d never used out loud before, ever—sprang from her lips.
“Riker! Are you okay?” She laid a hand on his shoulder. He felt cold to the touch. Oh no.
Behind her, she heard Anya call out, “I challenge this redheaded witch to a winner-take-all fight for this man.”
Elise turned as Anya, blue-streaked white-blonde hair and all, stepped into the area in front of the gargoyle perched on the stone rim of the fountain.
Two of her gray-robed followers bent to apply hot pink chalk to the sidewalk, and a square quickly formed. Elise could swear the gargoyle’s expression had changed. She shook off that crazy thought as Anya chanted. “A prophecy shall be fulfilled. But a challenge for my fallen man’s soul needs to be carried out.”
Elise wanted to growl her frustration, but in a quietly authoritative voice she said, “No. He’s mine. I don’t need to fight to keep him. He doesn’t want you. Leave us alone and think up a new prophecy.”
Anya continued as if Elise hadn’t spoken. “Two will enter the square, but only one shall exit it.”
“Melodramatic, much?” Elise crossed her arms.
“The stone guard shall bear witness to our battle. This fight will be to the bitter end.”
“You can’t make me fight.” She bent at the waist and looked into Riker’s eyes. He blinked once and then once more. “Can you hear me, Riker? Blink twice for yes.”
He blinked twice.
“Are you in pain?” He blinked once.
She put a hand on his shoulder again, but one of the gray-robed figures ripped her fingers away from him. “No touching the merchandise.”
“He’s a person, not merchandise.” Elise tried to put her hand on his shoulder again but before she touched him another hooded figure tried to smack away her hand. This time Elise was prepared. She grabbed the threatening hand before it touched her, twisted it into an odd position meant to inflict pain until the person attached to it squealed and let go.
“Whatever,” Anya said. “Step into the square and prepare to do battle. Or do you already concede him to me?”
Elise straightened to her full height and mentally prepared to fight. “No. I’ll never concede him to you, ever.”
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Riker blinking like mad. He likely didn’t want her to fight. But what else could she do? If he couldn’t move, they couldn’t run…anywhere.
Anya was in full-throttle crazy mode, chanting for all she was worth. “I, Anya, the Druid high priestess of the Georgia Woods, will fight the witch who has cast a spell on my man.”
“He’s my man.” Elise put a hand on her waist where she kept her Defender, ready to back up her statement with force, but it wasn’t there. She’d stowed it deep inside her backpack while wedding dress shopping at Corette’s boutique.
“Looking for this?” the teenager who’d thrown the dust ball into Riker’s face snagged her backpack off the bench and held it behind her back.
“Yes, you little troublemaker. Now give it back.” She reached for it, touching only the barest part of her bag before the girl snatched it well out of her grasp.
“No. First you have to do battle with our high priestess or give him up.” The teen ran several steps back and away from the bench. She didn’t want to get too far from Riker so she didn’t chase her.
The more Anya chanted, the more tourists and folks from town started moving toward them. She heard someone from the crowd shout, “When does the show start?”
Great. They all thought this was some sort of Nocturne Falls fight demonstration. No one would help. Would the leaders of this town come and break this up? She couldn’t count on that at all. If she had Ivy’s phone number, she’d call and ask her to send her sheriff husband over to shut this all down.
In the meantime, it looked like a throw down with Anya was unavoidable.
Elise mentally called up every one of her battle, tactical, and combat classes from RMG prep. She’d done well enough, but her primary focus hadn’t been any of these classes after she left, and certainly not in the two years since coming to Earth.
She hoped Anya wasn’t some ninja stealth fighter about to take her out with one move.
Chapter Fourteen
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Riker felt a distinct flash of dread as the clump of sparkly dust made contact with his chin. Before he had another thought, he was paralyzed. He recognized the girl on the skateboard one second too late to give any warning.
Elise put her hand on his shoulder and warmth spread from her touch through his body. Then Anya issued her ultimatum. A fight in the square until what? Hopefully this wasn’t a battle to the death. Elise put her hand on him once more. The warmth came again. His eyelids tingled and he was suddenly able to blink, to communicate, but not for long.
“Hands off the merchandise,” someone from behind him said. He suspected one of Anya’s robed minions.
The two with chalk had apparently finished drawing the battle ring. Although he only saw part of it, the shape was more like a square. His worry for Elise grew with each second he was incapacitated. Unless she bent down to look him in the eye, he had a very narrow field of view.
He saw part of the pink chalk-line square of battle, part of the fountain, including the large gargoyle statue and an ever-growing number of townspeople crowding in to see what was going on.
He heard an exuberant voice say, “I love visiting this town. There is always something cool going on.”
Riker closed his eyes and focused his attention on his shoulder where Elise had briefly rested her hand. He did his best to thaw himself from memory. Flashes of their time together since she’d rescued him from the log cabin in the woods and the Druid high priestess lined up in his brain like a row of soldiers about to be inspected. The motorbike ride through
the woods, watching Elise as he talked to Charlie, their time in the questionable motel where their kisses had nearly set the room on fire and the trip to the wedding dress boutique served to intensify his feelings of love. His recent memories made the warmth on his shoulder seep even deeper into his body, thawing him out ever so slowly. He still couldn’t move, but felt his muscles loosening. He just needed to focus.
But would he be able to free himself in time to help Elise defeat Anya? Or was his fate already decided with this final treachery from the Druids bent on making him part of their world?
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Elise gave Riker one final look. His eyes were closed. Perhaps he was conserving his strength. There was no telling what that clump of Druid-style fairy dust to the face had done to him.
She began to stretch, moving around to the side of the pink chalked arena where the gargoyle crouched, claiming that as her corner for this coming duel. Perhaps the gargoyle would give her strength.
On the other side of the square, Anya removed her violet flowing robe. Beneath it she wore a sleek blue catsuit in the same shade of violet. She looked taller without the robe, fiercer, and her expression was filled with resolve.
Elise had news for her. She was also filled with determination. “I wonder what weakness you possess that I can exploit during this battle?” she quietly asked the air around her.
A rumbling voice behind her said, “Overconfidence is her weakness, but it’s also a big mistake to apply any kind of logic to a crazy person.”
Elise spun toward the voice and stared at the gargoyle. A thousand questions vied for attention in her brain, but the only one she cared about was the one she asked. “How can I beat her and win this match?”
“Don’t let the Druid knock you out. Don’t step out of the pink ring.”
She pushed out a sigh, wishing for some grand secret, not obvious information she already had. “Great. Thanks. But I got that already.”
The gargoyle shrugged and a smile formed on his stony lips. “Also, you fight for love. She fights for pride.” He paused and they both looked at Anya, readying herself for battle, putting her long blue-streaked blonde locks into a ponytail atop her head. “The Druid high priestess wants to prove to her followers that she’s right and that their loyalty to her is about to be somehow rewarded.”
