Chapter 20 Chapter Nine Part Two - Orenda
As I’m busy giggling and swishing my hips, Aya lets himself into my room and freezes in the doorway his eyes frozen wide and his mouth agape. I turn and smile at him, looking over his attire. His long hair is up in a half pony and his rainbow eyes are popping even more thanks to the black eyeshadow he smeared on his lids going for that grunge look. He’s wearing a sheer, black, long-sleeved top with black crescent moons sewn into the fabric, high-waisted black latex pants that bunch up and crease – I guess to give the illusion they’re flexible – along with thick, black, platform combat boots.
“Someone looks like a walking thirst trap,” I tease.
“Me?” he sputters. “Look at you! What happened to the woman who was sulking in her pyjamas a little while ago?” he accuses dramatically.
“You told me to get ready,” I shrug.
“I know, but I wasn’t expecting to come out looking like a bombshell,” he retorts in disbelief.
“Since you’re dragging me off to the club, I assume you’re paying,” I say with a charming smile, walking past him and making my way downstairs.
Aya quickly follows me. “Seem like you’ve left me with no choice. That outfit doesn’t look like it comes with a place to put a wallet.”
We step outside and walk to the front of the deck. I look over at my brother, my body suddenly bursting with excitement. “So, which club are we going to?”
“I was thinking Superno in Seattle. I know you prefer supernatural-based clubs.”
“Doesn’t get more supernatural than Superno.”
I let the electric surge of my magic burst through me as I take to my bird form, unfurling my wings and taking off into the air with Aya following suit.
“Why the sudden change in attitude?” he queries through our link.
“You made good points. I can’t make Azadou care about me or give me the time of day, but I can choose how to react to it, and I don’t want to keep sitting around being frustrated. I miss having fun, so I’m glad you’re making me do this,” I explain appreciatively.
“What are supernatural brothers for?” he teases, making me giggle.
With our impeccable speed we arrive at Superno in record time, landing in a parking lot behind the building so we don’t attract too much attention on the side street. We shift back to our human forms and walk to the front of the building. As soon as the bouncer at the door takes a good look at his, his eyes zeroing in on ours, he immediately lifts the blue velvet rope and lets us pass, bowing his head respectfully as we enter. I admit I’ve kind of missed that.
We enter to the sounds of music pumping, to the point I can feel it in my chest. We push through the throngs of people – supernaturals from every walk of life – and make our way over to the bar, the icy blue and red neon lights of the club contrasting making me unsure whether I should feel warm or cold.
Aya leans across the bar to get the attention of one of the bartenders and I just know the first thing he’ll do is order a lemon drop. He goes crazy for them.
The bartender walks over, freezes for a second staring at us in surprise before composing himself. “What’ll it be?” he asks over the music.
“I’ll have a lemon drop,” Aya orders, making me snort at his predictability as he turns his attention to me. “What are you having?”
“Electric lemonade,” I request, smiling at the bartender.
Aya rolls his eyes. “A little on the nose don’t you think?” he mocks.
“Said by the man ordering the same drink whenever he goes out,” I clap back.
“Not my fault they’re delicious.”
We take our seats at the bar, and I watch enthusiastically as the bartender mixes our drinks. I’ve always admired bartenders. I could never remember all those recipes, plus I love how they make everything look like fun.
The bartender places our drinks in front of us. Aya goes to retrieve his wallet from his pocket, but the bartender waves him off shaking his head.
“On the house. Raitruum’s drink free,” he declares, smiling at us.
We both look at him in surprise, look at each other and shrug choosing not to question it. Aya puts his wallet back in his pants as I reach out and slide my drink towards myself.
“Thank you very much,” I graciously tell the bartender, taking a sip of my drink and relishing the cocktail’s delicious sweetness. I’ve definitely missed that.
Aya grabs his drink and takes a sip. “I was actually coming to your room to say something else earlier, but your little tantrum distracted me.”
I roll my eyes. “I was not having a tantrum. What were you coming to tell me?”
“I now know what you were talking about the other week; about the eyti surge you sensed. I came across one on my patrol earlier today.”
“What happened?” I question curiously.
“I was flying over Cambodia when I detected a strong eyti convergence. I flew right towards it but when I landed there was nothing there. Not a trace of an eyti anywhere and that surge just disappeared. I did feel something else, but I couldn’t quite explain it. I’ve never felt it before and when I tried to follow it, it also disappeared,” he says perplexed, his brows knitting together in consternation.
“What was the feeling?” I press.
“It was…I don’t know, like a strange tugging sensation deep in my gut,” he answers warily, his demeanour coming off agitated as he replays the event in his mind.
“Well, I definitely didn’t experience that part. But now we’ve both sensed a convergence only to follow it and find nothing there. This doesn’t make any sense,” I grumble in frustration.
“I’m still not convinced Azadou isn’t behind it,” he remarks offhandedly, taking another sip of his drink.
My spine prickles and I find myself stiffening in offence at his words. “It’s not him,” I state inexorably.
“He controls the eyti, Orenda,” he reminds me.
“And yet neither of us have seen any eyti when this has happened,” I counter. “We can’t be sure this has anything to do with the eyti at all,” I argue.
“You felt eyti and I felt eyti. That sounds like eyti to me,” he disagrees.
“So? When magic is at play anything is possible. We’re sensing eyti but not finding eyti, so that has to mean something else is going on. Either way, it has nothing to do with Azadou,” I say firmly. “He had no awareness when I mentioned it to him, and I believe him when he said he had no idea what was going on. It’s fine if you don’t believe him, but you should believe me.”
He sighs, reaches over and squeezes my hand. “Alright, if you say it has nothing to do with him then I believe you. So what are the remaining options?”
“I haven’t a clue. I think we should call Jartre and give him an update on the situation and go from there, maybe even reach out to the Delegation and let them know what’s going on. See if they have any leads and have them keep an eye on the situation,” I suggest.
Aya nods in agreement. “That sounds reasonable to me. We can do that first thing tomorrow.”
I smile brightly, pleased by our plan and take another sip of my drink. I suddenly become frozen in place, the sip of my drink lingering in my mouth as I forget how to swallow. I feel a cold blanket settle over the room that sends an excited shiver through my body. My entire body begins to sing out and on instinct I begin to peer through the crowd, searching for the source of that familiar black hole once again sucking me into its depths.
I look over Aya’s shoulder and feel my heart break into a sprint as I lock eyes with the God who has turned my nights into restless torture and turned my mind into an ongoing porno. Remembering how to swallow, I finally gulp down the sip of my cocktail, my eyes still locked on Azadou’s intensely electric purple eyes as they hold me captive, as if trying to put me in some kind of trance.
As the crowd begins to thin, I see him standing on the other side of the room, his eyes fixed on me and my mouth beginning to salivate when I see he’s in nothing but a pair of black denim jeans. No shoes, no shirt, just jeans. I suddenly take note of the fact that no one seems aware of him. Everyone here is a supernatural being, so they would feel his presence, understand what it meant and flee at breakneck speed…but they’re not. They’re completely oblivious which can only mean…he’s shielding himself from everyone but me.
That means he came here to see me. He’s here for me and only me. He doesn’t want anyone’s eyes on him but mine and that fact has my heart nearly bursting out of my chest and excitement flooding my system. I find myself leering at his bulging bronze muscles, a sudden urge coming over me to walk over and lick them and find out if he tastes as good as he smells. I quickly force myself to look away and break the spell his eyes are casting on me. I take slow, deep breaths and down the rest of my drink in one gulp, but curiosity gets the better of me.
I glance once more across the room, my breath getting caught in my throat as Azadou’s eyes begin to glow with a bright intensity. My eyes drink in every minute detail of his appearance, unashamedly eye-fucking him mercilessly until they zero in on the very thing not even my dreams could conjure up. I forget how to breathe when I see the enormous erection Azadou is sporting in his jeans. A long, thick and enticing bulge against through his pants, the top button already undone, allowing tufts of hair to peak above the zipper, urging me to see where the hair leads. I’ve heard the Gods are unnaturally endowed but…there is endowed and then there are lethal weapons.
I clench my thighs together, already feeling my wetness threaten to release like Niagara Falls at the slightest movement, and here I am, the woman who stupidly chose tonight of all nights to go commando.
“Are you okay?” Aya suddenly asks, grabbing my attention.
“Huh?” I croak and quickly clear my throat. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You’re all flushed,” he comments suspiciously. “Out having a drink and you’re still having dirty thoughts huh,” he chuckles, only making my cheeks burn in embarrassment.
Something across the bar makes Aya perk up and put his drink down. “Would you be offended if I asked someone to dance?” he tentatively asks.
I wave a dismissive hand, my mind elsewhere. “Knock yourself out.”
“You’re the best!” he gushes, jumping out of his seat, planting a sloppy kiss on my cheek and rushing off into the crowd to snatch up whoever has piqued his interest.