by Kim Cormack
Tiberius, of all people, caught her. He chuckled and taunted, “Why do you Ankh girls keep throwing yourselves at me?”
Kayn scowled as she retaliated, “I’d never throw myself at you.” He let go of her. She dropped to the floor with a thud.
Tiberius towered above her and teased, “You were saying?”
He’d actually dropped her on the floor! What a jerk! Kayn racked her mind for a witty comeback but in her pheromone incapacitated state she didn’t have any coherent thoughts left inside of her brain. She decided to call upon one of her own personal rules, when in doubt just say something confusing. She accused, “That wasn’t nice.”
Tiberius openly gawked at her and enquired, “Who told you I was nice? You were quite obviously misinformed.”
Kayn scrambled to her feet and scolded, “Everybody can make a choice to be nice. Bad manners are just bad manners.”
She’d dropped her heels when she fell. He bent over, picked them up and said. “I’m assuming these are yours.”
She took them from him and said, “Thank you.” With both of her hands busy clutching her shoes, Triad’s annoying leader released her hair from its restraints. It cascaded as a mess of wild curls down her shoulders but she didn’t care this time. It was the end of the night. She was going to have to pluck them all out eventually.
Tiberius tucked the pins into one of her shoes, dangling from her hands and said, “Don’t forget those are in there. A bobby pin under a toenail would hurt like hell.”
She shook her head at him and baited, “I’m sure you’ve already figured out which side my birthmark’s on.”
He sparred, “You’re still alive. If it was on the wrong side, your own clan would have already disposed of you.” Kayn attempted to move past him and Tiberius blocked her escape by teasing, “Now who’s being rude?”
Kayn couldn’t help but flash him a genuine grin. She asked, “Is there something you need from me?”
Tiberius answered, “Keep your hair down and quit being so restrained. Allow yourself a little bit of pleasure. It will even out the pain.”
She blushed as she glanced back at the tables. Frost was keeping an eye on his brother as she fended off his unwanted advances.
“I wouldn’t think one of Frost’s girls would blush that easily. Aren’t you my brother’s flavour of the week?” Tiberius deviously provoked while standing close enough to make his proximity uncomfortable.
The lights turned on as Kayn defended herself, “Frost hasn’t touched me. I loved Kevin. You know your grandson. The one you gave a lobotomy to.”
“Frost must really like you if he hasn’t forced the issue and Kevin hasn’t exactly been waiting for you.” Tiberius gauged her reaction before continuing, “I know exactly what you need.”
Kayn allowed nothing to be read in her unwaveringly calm gaze. She hissed, “Please don’t pretend to know who I am or what I need.”
“That’s where you have it wrong.” Tiberius asserted, “I know exactly what you need. I have his memories. They’re all stored in my mind. I know about every naughty moment you had together. I know how soft your lips felt when he kissed you. I know everything about you. Your favorite color is yellow and you snort sometimes when you laugh. I know that you have a strange fascination with bumble bees. I know the agony he felt while you were lying there in a coma for months. I know how much he adored you. You’re a unique individual Miss Brighton.”
Tiberius had her best friend’s feelings. He had their memories. He remembered every second Kevin had forgotten.
Tiberius enquired, “It’s always the same scenario, isn’t it? They both loved your sister first. I bet you feel like the consolation prize.”
That stung. Kayn questioned, “If you have Kevin’s feelings, why are you trying to hurt me?”
The immortal’s eyes softened as he replied, “We have more in common than you think. Someday, I’ll tell you about it. Perhaps, you won’t find me as contemptible then?”
Frost had Melody over his shoulder as he arrived at her side. “Tiberius,” he acknowledged his brother’s presence.
She could see Tiberius’ excitement as her insecurities registered even though she’d tried to conceal them.
Tiberius explained, “I was just catching up with Miss Brighton.” The leader of Triad gallantly kissed her hand and strolled away.
He’d hit the target he was aiming for.
Frost announced, “I think it’s time for us to call it a night. I personally have an excruciatingly long day tomorrow.” He placed his hand on the small of Kayn’s back as he led her away from the dance floor with Melody as limp as a rag doll dangling over his shoulder.
Tiberius had known just what to say to submerge her heart in ice water. It was true... she was the consolation prize.
Frost whispered, “Ignore my brother. He loves to stir the shit pot. Don’t give him the spoon.”
She found it ironic that Frost was trying to explain his brother’s mind games away. Tiberius had offered validity to the tiny whispers of doubt, playing on repeat in her subconscious mind. The tiny whispers that she’d managed to stifle. They walked out into the darkness. While deep in thought, she held out her hand. Was that dew or rain? Her palm became lightly speckled with warm moisture. It was rain and it was fitting for this moment. It felt like a goodbye. She slowed her pace, knowing that once this night ended, everything was going to change. He was leaving to go to the Summit.
Frost stopped cold, turned around with a limp Melody on his shoulder and asserted, “We need to move faster. I need to put sleeping beauty to bed. She’s dead weight and honestly, she’s getting damn heavy.” He started walking briskly again.
He was denying himself rest and the opportunity to recharge his ability, to make sure they made it back to the motorhome safely. He was going to the Summit tomorrow. Letting Frost know that she was concerned, was the least she could do. Kayn caught up with him and blurted, “Can I ask you a question?” She touched his arm and he stopped walking.
Frost gently placed Melody in the grass. He gazed into Kayn’s eyes as he took her hand and whispered, “Whatever my brother said was meant to hurt you or me. You have to just let it go.”
He threw her off with his observation and she chickened out. “I was just going to ask you about the Froggy nickname,” Kayn asked. She grabbed a question out of thin air and he’d already basically told her. He just hadn’t given her any details.
Frost gave her the I’m exhausted, uncensored version, “I met you before I met Chloe. You were a little girl looking through a chain link fence. You had no front teeth and a frog sticker on your cheek. I thought about you over the years. I swear it wasn’t a weird creepy thing. I just really wanted to find a way to protect you. I wanted to save you from all of this. When I saw you again, you were all grown up and already in love with someone else.”
Kayn smiled. Now the nickname was cute.
He grasped her arm gently as he whispered, “I know what Tiberius said to you. Your thought process is not exactly a quiet one. You were never a consolation prize for me. You were never one for Kevin either.”
The nagging insecurity in her mind was immediately silenced. She didn’t have time to reply as Melody began to stir. Frost quickly picked her up so she wouldn’t wake up in the damp grass and cradled her in his arms. “Shhh...I have you,” he whispered.
Melody abruptly came to and murmured, “What happened?”
“You got drunk and passed out at the table.” Frost answered.
“Thanks for the lift,” Melody replied. “I can walk now. I’m all good.” Frost placed her upright and she wobbled but got her land legs quickly. She whispered, “Thorne didn’t see me pass out, did he?”
“No, he was already gone. What happened between the two of you?” Kayn questioned. She watched Melody’s expression as she attempted to remember.
The light bulb sparked up above her head as she answered, “We had the chance to say a few things left unsaid…that’s all.”
He smiled at her and suggested, “You two should just stay in my cabin tonight. You’ll be staying there for the next week. I’ll feel responsible if Melody stumbles back through the woods in those heels and breaks a limb. Not that it would slow her down for long, but I also have a hangover remedy in the fridge. I’ll share it with you.”
Kayn watched as Frost anxiously looked at the trails again. What was that about?
“Sounds good,” Melody mumbled with her heels already off and in her hands.
Visibly exhausted they both followed Frost down the path.
They reached the cabin and climbed the last few creaking steps to the front door. Frost fumbled with the lock for a second before swinging the door open and holding it for them. Melody went directly inside, flopped down on the king size bed and passed out cold. She was dead to the world almost immediately leaving Kayn and Frost sort of alone. Frost grabbed a case of Gatorade and a couple bags of bread from the fridge.
“Ah... you’re such a brilliant man,” Kayn chuckled as he tossed her one. She was amazed she’d caught it as it sailed through the air without taking a plastic bottle to the forehead.
“I’m just old enough to know better,” Frost laughed and added, “Melody on the other hand, will have to pay for her sins tomorrow.”
Kayn grinned at her slumbering friend. She met his gaze and teased, “Thank you, oh mighty drinking master.” Frost chucked an entire bag of bread on her lap and she looked at him confused. Did he want her to try to eat an entire loaf of bread?
Frost took a slice out of the bag, ripped the crust off, crushed it into a ball and popped the whole piece in his mouth. After swallowing it, he added casually, “I’ll probably be gone before you two get up tomorrow morning.”
“I suspected as much,” Kayn answered, taking another gulp from the rehydrating drink. She rolled a piece of bread up the same way and ate it. She had learned something new tonight. He had just taught her a super-fast way to eat a whole loaf of bread in one sitting. Proof you do learn something new every day. Kayn closed her eyes while absorbing the soothing sounds of the forest.
“It’ll be easier for you to deal with your unresolved feelings, with me gone,” Frost noted while staring off into the darkness.
She didn’t say anything. He was right. It would be much easier without him there.
With understanding in his eyes, he sincerely added, “I hope you find some closure this next week.”
“The last thing I thought I would ever have to find with Kevin was closure.” Kayn confessed as unwanted tears formed in her eyes.
He countered, “Trust me, loving someone you can never be with is an excruciatingly painful endeavor.”
“He was my best friend. We have a history. I miss him,” Kayn explained. She glanced at Frost through her veil of mascara-clumped eyelashes. Unable to ignore the irritation any longer, even for the sake of deep conversation, she attempted to pick the clumps out of her lashes.
Frost leaned over to help rid her lashes of what ailed her and smiled when he got it on his finger. He held it up and showed her as he whispered, “You’ll only miss the man you wanted him to be.” He blew the eyelash clumped with mascara off his finger.
Kayn chuckled, even though her eyes glistened with tears as she replied, “That might have been the cheesiest thing I’ve ever seen and yes, I’m aware that’s the title of a country song.”
He teased, “Do you remember the lyrics? Those lyrics in particular, are incredible words of wisdom if you choose to listen.”
She rolled up another piece of bread between her fingertips and said, “I’m sure someone’s played it in your honor.”
Frost beamed as he added, “I’m certain of it.” He opened a Gatorade for himself, then twisted the lid off another and passed it to her.
Kayn took it, grateful for the opportunity to avoid the hangover everyone else was sure to have. How was he being this good about sending her off to sort out her feelings for another guy?
He answered her thought, “Haven’t you ever heard that quote about friendship? It’s for a reason, a season, or a life time.”
Her cheeks were bulging out like a chipmunk because she’d tried to eat three rolled up balls of bread at once. He was looking at her like she was the most magical thing in the world. She had to swallow it all and take a drink to respond, “Cut to the chase and say what you really want to say. You’ve been spouting out fortune cookie readings for over half an hour.”
His eyes glinted with affection as he admitted, “I’m not allowed to say anything but having a conversation while intoxicated without telling you everything is surprisingly difficult.”
“What can you tell me?” She probed while holding his gaze.
Frost stared into her eyes as he replied, “You have what it takes to make it through anything.” He stood up and offered her his hand.
She took it and he helped her to her feet. They stared into each other’s eyes without letting go as Kayn admitted, “Tomorrow, once you’re gone, I know I’ll think of a million things I wish I’d said to you. All I can think of right now is...Thank you.”
“Thank you?” He questioned.
She wanted to kiss his cheek but didn’t as she clarified, “For helping both of us get here safely.”
Frost grinned at her, touched her face and picked a tiny rolled up piece of toilet paper off her cheek. He held up his finger and questioned, “Is this toilet paper?”
Kayn sighed, “Yes…yes it is.” Is one cool moment, really too much to ask for?
He was grinning at her as they went inside the cabin. Kayn climbed into bed on one side of Melody and Frost on the other while still wearing their clothes. They lay staring at each other in silence until they fell asleep.
The Land of the Awakened
As Kayn awoke, she heard the muffled chirping of birds and she remained there with her eyes closed, cherishing the moment. This was always a beautiful way to awaken. In the bed next to her, someone let out a long dramatic groan. She opened her eyes and grinned while squinting in the sunlight streaming through the sheer curtains. She heard numerous footsteps walking through the gravel outside along with the steady hum of voices. How many people were out there? Melody was splayed out on the bed beside her and Frost was gone, just as he said he’d be. Where had Zach ended up last night? Kayn nudged her hung over companion and whispered, “Come on Mel. I’m starving and I can’t go out there alone. Get up. Have a shower and get dressed. I promise you’ll feel better.”
Mel moaned, “Please… Shhh. Do not speak. Too painful.”
Frost had her back last night. She felt fine this morning. Kayn glanced at the nightstand closest to her and smiled. She passed her incoherent friend the bottle of Gatorade Frost had left there and said, “Here, this will help you.”
After downing the entire bottle of Gatorade, Mel grumbled, “Okay. I’m getting up.” She looked around and mumbled, “How did I get here?”
Kayn stretched while replying, “Frost was a great guy, at the end of the night. You passed out and he carried you, most of the way.”
“I did notice you said, at the end of the night,” Melody teased as she sat up in bed looking like a scraggly haired cartoon character.
Kayn felt surprisingly spry as she stared at her hideous reflection in the bathroom mirror. Had she looked like this at the end of the night? After having a soothing hot shower, she still had to scrub to remove the blotchy makeup from her face when she got out. Feeling like she was wasting time, Kayn pulled her hair back into a slick wet ponytail instead of blow drying it. There was a yellow sticky note on the mirror. It read... Don’t worry about behaving yourself. I won’t be. There was a happy face at the end of the sentence. This was Frost making sure she understood that he was okay with her doing whatever she had to do
to put her past with Kevin to rest. Honestly... she wasn’t at all sure of how this next week would play out for her, but she knew Frost wasn’t likely to behave himself. It wasn’t in his nature.
Melody peered over her shoulder at the note and laughed, “He’s so charming. Why haven’t you married this one already?”
They both howled. Frost definitely wasn’t the marrying kind. Kayn felt a tinge of guilt. That was how he portrayed himself but not who he’d intended to be. She suspected, it was who he’d become due to circumstance.
Melody placed her backpack on the floor beside her and announced, “Our bags were sitting by the front door.”
He’d gone back to the motorhome, grabbed their bags and dropped them off at the cabin before he left. Kayn read the note he’d left on the mirror again. He was a seriously confusing guy. She removed his note, crumpled it up and tossed it in the garbage. If she planned to sort out her feelings she couldn’t exactly leave it there as a daily reminder. After putting on her shorts, a tank top and some makeup she was ready to go. Melody was ready shortly after her and the two girls left the dimly lit cabin and stepped out into the glaring sunlight.
Mel gasped, while shielding her eyes and hissing at the rays as though she were a vampire.
Kayn giggled and teased, “I don’t think the sunlight is going to be your friend today... not for a few more hours at least.” She flung her arm over Melody’s shoulder as they strolled away from the cabin that was their home for the next week. They arrived at the dining hall to find only a few seriously hung over people eating breakfast. Either everyone had already eaten or they were all equally hurting this morning. Even though Kayn had followed every step of Frost’s hangover cure the night before, her stomach staged a revolt as she lifted the smorgasbord’s silver lid and the scent of fried eggs wafted towards her.
