‘Oh yeah,’ he uttered, stunned. ‘I’m tripping all right.’
The sexy rock goddess on the stage was Aurora, and she was singing seductive lyrics at him — her eyes locked on him alone.
Aurora’s heart was thumping so hard that she felt sure everyone in the room could see it jumping right out of her chest. Fortunately, she’d done so many gigs lately that she could have played the set in a coma.
She strummed the last note of the song and the crowd broke into a round of whistles and applause. ‘Thank you!’ she said, unable to wipe the smile from her face, as she left the microphone and walked over to Zanthie, who was changing guitars. ‘You know that ghost we were discussing earlier?’
‘Yeah.’ Zanthie plugged in.
‘He’s over by the bar,’ Aurora told her, never taking her eyes off her dream boy.
Zanthie gasped on the information and immediately turned about. She followed Aurora’s line of sight to spy a young dark-haired guy, who was very good looking and very much to Aurora’s taste. ‘Are you sure that’s him?
‘Positive.’
‘Now I see what all the fuss was about,’ Zanthie said. ‘He’s way cute.’
‘I know!’
The stocky young fellow, upon seeing he had their attention, disappeared into the crowd.
‘Shit!’ Aurora had never wanted to be part of the crowd before now, but she still had an hour to play. ‘What if he leaves before we get off stage?’
‘Better make this gig too rockin’ to leave.’ Zanthie winked as she launched into the intro for the next song.
When Zeven returned to the table where he’d left Mythric on the balcony, his partner had been joined by several women — he was a good-looking old bastard who did carry his age well. ‘Here he is,’ Mythric announced as Zeven approached, and all the ladies turned to greet him.
Zeven forced a smile to return their warm welcome. ‘We need to leave,’ he announced, realising Mythric was not going to want to go anywhere.
Mythric laughed. ‘You can’t be serious.’
‘I am very serious!’ he stressed. ‘My ex is here, and I’m pretty sure she recognised me.’ Zeven attempted to explain his woes, but in his trippy state it was difficult.
‘So what?’ Mythric waved off the concern.
‘So what?’ Zeven echoed, realising his case for leaving sounded weak; he’d have to disclose more than he’d like. ‘She and I haven’t met yet.’
All the women at the table appeared confused, and Mythric suddenly appeared to have a headache. ‘Did I mention he is a little nuts,’ he told the ladies, as he rose and excused himself. ‘I’d best get him home and medicated.’
There was a round of ‘oh’s and farewells, before Mythric grabbed hold of Zeven around the back of the neck and dragged him into the bar where no one would hear their conversation over the band.
‘Have you lost your mind?’ Mythric was furious and then calmed — he was partially to blame for feeding Zeven mescaline all night. ‘No need to answer that.’
‘I’m not imagining things,’ Zeven assured him. ‘I don’t know why she’d recognise me, when we haven’t met.’
‘Well, if I were you, I wouldn’t be running away,’ Mythric advised. ‘Let’s just go ask her how she recognises you?’
‘I can’t ask her now, she’s on stage,’ Zeven retorted.
‘Really?’ Mythric looked to the band. ‘Which one is she?’
‘The singer.’
Mythric whistled. ‘Wow … I certainly wouldn’t be leaving.’
‘Even if you knew it all ended badly, over and over again?’ Zeven posed and Mythric was intrigued.
‘You screwed it up? Or is she not as savoury as she looks?’
‘Oh she’s savoury, all right, but she has issues with thrill-seeking types like me,’ Zeven explained.
As Mythric watched her flaunting her stuff on stage and wrapping the audience around her little finger, he found that hard to believe. ‘Are you sure you have the right girl?’
‘She wasn’t like this when I knew her!’ Zeven was frustrated by the fact that she was ultra attractive to him right now. The Juju stone in the armband he wore was radiating with an excited energy that made him want to stay and speak with her. ‘She doesn’t like psychics, I can tell you that.’
‘Who does?’ Mythric reasoned on her behalf. ‘Hey, don’t look now but I think she’s headed this way.’
Zeven was frozen to the spot as Aurora — who had abandoned her guitar on stage — strutted through the audience toward him, belting out a raunchy song. Her head-mic left both her hands free, and she proceeded to seduce him in front of everyone with her vivacious dance moves. Oh yes, she could dance, that he did remember; her curvaceous body only emphasised the fact. He allowed her to touch him as she circled him, urged on by every man in the room; this was not the shy Aurora he remembered. She didn’t waver from making eye contact with him, and her gaze felt like a dare as she slid her arms around his waist and onto his arse. Zeven was stunned by just how bold she was when she withdrew from him holding the key card to his new car, which she promptly tucked inside the bra of her leather dress. She blew him a kiss and returned to the stage.
Mythric was laughing when he rejoined his young colleague. ‘I don’t think she wants you to leave.’
Zeven was annoyed in the wake of the seduction. ‘I can’t believe I let her do that.’
‘I can.’ Mythric laughed again, but Zeven was clearly ill at ease. ‘Man you need to chill,’ he quoted Zeven’s words back at him. ‘Any guy in this room would swap places with you in a second, me included.’
‘I never even knew she could sing,’ he mumbled, and not in his wildest dreams had he ever imagined that she had this dominatrix side to her.
‘Maybe this time it’ll be different?’ Mythric gave him a chug on the shoulder for encouragement and headed for the bar for another drink.
‘It’s always different,’ he mumbled to himself. ‘That’s why I keep getting sucked in!’ But it always ends the same — I’m disappointed and she is in tears.
The room cleared fairly quickly after the band finished, and Mythric and Zeven were sitting at the bar awaiting the return of Zeven’s key card.
Aurora, having changed into her street clothes, was truly a sight for sore eyes. Her beaming smile held Zeven’s attention as she approached, holding out his key card in offering. ‘Sorry about that.’ She shrugged, placing it back in his possession. ‘I was afraid you might leave before the gig ended.’
‘And why would that have been a concern for you?’ Zeven accepted his key card graciously.
‘Because I’ve been worried about you, Airman Gudrun,’ she said winningly, as both men’s jaws near hit the floor.
‘She knows your name?’ Mythric murmured, nervously — not even he knew his partner’s real name!
‘How?’ Zeven asked her in all seriousness, and his concern made her concerned.
‘I … I read in the news that you’d gone missing —’ She began and Zeven breathed a sigh of relief.
‘That explains it.’
‘You were in the news?’ his partner wheezed.
‘Are you guys in some kind of trouble?’ Aurora was not wary, more intrigued. ‘I haven’t told anyone besides my flatmate, and she’s totally cool, I assure you.’
‘That’s good,’ Zeven reassured her, ‘please don’t.’
‘I won’t,’ she agreed.
‘We should go.’ Mythric prised himself off the stool and helped Zeven to stand.
‘I hope you’re not going to drive like that?’ Aurora cautioned.
Clearly, they both looked as inebriated as they felt. ‘We’re good,’ Zeven assured, figuring he’d get one of the bouncers to drive, but the next thing he knew his key card had been whipped from his hands again.
‘I’ll drive.’ Aurora took the lead, and the bouncers opened the doors for her as she approached.
‘Miss DeCadie,’ the larger of the pair greeted her. ‘I can’t be
lieve you stole our ride.’
‘Your ride?’ she queried playfully, whereupon the two men directed her to the ultra-modern car right out front.
‘He was gonna let us drive him home, but ah,’ the big man looked Aurora up and down, ‘you appear a better offer, I fear.’
Her jaw dropped. ‘You’re shitting me?’ She turned back to Zeven and Mythric, who could only grin at her delight.
‘Wicked!’ She did a little happy dance, much to the amusement of the crowd out front.
‘Thanks, fellas.’ Zeven handed them both some cash, which they accepted without argument.
‘Have a good evening.’ The large bouncer winked.
Clearly, Zeven was the envy of every man present and, as he watched Aurora snuggle into the driver’s seat of his new convertible, he had to admit it was a very pretty picture.
‘Where to?’ Aurora asked, as Zeven jumped in the front seat and Mythric fell into the back without bothering to open the doors.
‘The government sector,’ Zeven directed, pointing in the general direction.
‘But won’t I need a pass to get in there?’ Aurora pointed out.
‘Oh shit, she does.’ Mythric was annoyed that their ‘get home safely’ plan had gone awry.
‘Not to worry, I have a spare.’ Zeven reached into his jacket and pulled out a security pass, not only resembling the one Anselm’s private secretary wore but displaying her details on it.
‘Where did you get that?’ Mythric leant forward from the back seat to pluck the pass from his partner’s hand. He knew Zeven had manifested it from thin air, and he served him a scornful look.
‘I know Rory looks nothing like her, but …’ Zeven pulled out his communicator. She smiled for the camera and it spat out a small photo.
‘How did you know my friends called me Rory?’ Aurora queried Zeven curiously.
‘Do they?’ He reclaimed the spare pass from Mythric, who was appearing pained by Zeven’s errors. ‘You’re so vivacious, I just thought Rory suited you better than Aurora.’
‘But I haven’t even told you my name, have I?’ Aurora frowned as she recalled their conversation so far.
‘Like everyone at this gig doesn’t know your name?’ Zeven said and Aurora seemed content with his answer. Zeven opened the laminate, stuck Aurora’s photo inside and closed it again. ‘There you go.’ He handed Aurora the pass.
‘Don’t you think the guards in the government sector will recognise Anselm’s secretary on sight?’ Mythric leant in between Aurora and Zeven to suggest. ‘Or not, as the case will be in this instance.’
Aurora clipped the pass onto her low-cut singlet, right beside her breasts. ‘It won’t be the details of my pass they’re checking closely.’ She winked, and upon slotting the key card into the ignition, a powerful whoosh was heard.
‘Whoa,’ everyone present sighed in reverence as the dashboard lit up and the Borealis floated up to hover.
Aurora smiled broadly as she noted the car’s name light up on the dash.
‘Aurora, meet the Hunzo Borealis.’ Zeven introduced her to his new ride.
‘Made for each other.’ She kissed the steering wheel, before stepping on the accelerator to do a speedy U-turn across several lanes of traffic.
Zeven let loose a hooning howl of approval.
Mythric peeled himself off the back seat where he’d been thrown during the departure. ‘Is it just the booze, or is she a bigger rev-head than you?’
Zeven could only laugh in response. He didn’t know what had happened to Aurora between now and her time on AMIE, but he loved Aurora this way.
‘So, you boys work for the government, and judging from this car I’d say you’re involved in testing new hardware?’ she probed, light-heartedly.
Zeven grinned, disclosing nothing. ‘I’ll have you know I own this car … this is not a test drive, so don’t smash it.’
‘The newspaper pulled the story about you going missing,’ Aurora advised, in all seriousness. ‘They denied that you or the article ever existed.’
‘They were probably just embarrassed to discover I hadn’t gone missing, just moved to another planet.’ Zeven shrugged.
‘Straight from flight school and into the government sector of Sermetica.’ Aurora whistled at his impressive move.
Zeven accepted the praise with a grin. ‘Is the band a full-time thing for you?’ He wondered what had happened to her business degree.
‘I’m thinking about it,’ she replied. ‘I started the band to pay for my business degree, but the singing career is panning out well, so —’
‘Don’t give up the study!’ His stern response took Aurora by surprise and the car swerved as a result.
Aurora avoided colliding with anyone and steadied the vehicle in the wake of the death wobble. ‘Shit!’ She whacked Zeven and then giggled in the wake of the scare.
‘Seriously,’ he said with a grin, as even he was surprised by how much he was looking forward to seeing her on AMIE. ‘You have to keep at that business degree, or you’ll miss your chance to truly be among the stars.’
Mythric growled from the back seat, disapproving of where the conversation was headed. Aurora laughed, nervous and excited. ‘Are you a psychic … or something?’
Zeven’s smile broadened and he watched Aurora closely to see if the suggestion unnerved her. ‘What if I was?’
Aurora, discomfited a moment, resolved to smile. ‘Then I would surely take your advice.’
When they reached the government island, unfortunately, it was late and the checkpoint was quiet and devoid of traffic.
‘Hey guys,’ the official called to his workmates, ‘you have to check out this car! Is that okay?’ He sought Zeven’s permission to waylay them, and when Zeven looked to Aurora, she didn’t seem worried.
As the guards ran toward them, there were many who whistled in approval, but Zeven wasn’t sure if it was the car or Aurora that was more popular.
‘Hello, what’s your name then?’ asked one of the younger officials, approaching to read Aurora’s pass.
Zeven felt a pang of panic, which he accredited to the mescaline playing tricks with his mind and causing paranoia.
‘Doltrice.’ She held out her hand to greet him, as if she were royalty. ‘But my friends call me “Doll”.’
Zeven smothered a laugh as the guard kissed her hand. Mythric was starting to lose his composure as well.
‘I need to get these boys home.’ Aurora retrieved her hand and motioned to the boom gate. ‘If you please.’
The official closest to the controls immediately obliged and she sped into the government island to a round of applause.
‘Applause wherever you go,’ Mythric commented, impressed by how Aurora had handled the situation.
‘That’s my curse,’ she said with a smile. ‘Where to now?’
‘Now that’s a good question.’ Zeven pulled out his new apartment key and tried to read the address, but his eyes were a little blurry.
‘That’s a key code.’ Aurora grabbed the card and plugged the apartment key into the car’s navigation system, whereupon a route to their destination was mapped out for her. ‘You don’t know where you live? Are you guys seriously that gone?’
‘No,’ Zeven defended. ‘We’ve been out on assign … ment —’ He stopped himself from saying more, and Mythric whacked the back of his head, just in case he’d not figured out that he was walking on dangerous ground.
Aurora smiled at their antics, as the vehicle turned onto an off ramp and into a car park. As the auto-drive engaged, Aurora turned to face them both. ‘I think this whole government thing is a put on and you’re really a visiting comedy act on a weekend pass.’
‘That’s exactly it,’ Mythric agreed.
‘She must be psychic.’ Zeven raised a brow, and Aurora looked a little pale.
‘Don’t scare the girl.’ Mythric nudged Zeven.
He’d assumed her reaction was repulsion; Zeven had not considered that it was fear. ‘We’
re not hunting psychics,’ he told her, but she still looked ill at ease. ‘It was a joke,’ he explained, slightly perturbed. ‘I meant no offence by it.’
‘I’m not offended by the implication, but by the possible consequences of such an implication should it fall upon the wrong ears,’ she admitted quietly.
Mythric whacked Zeven across the head once again. ‘See!’
Zeven grabbed Mythric’s wrist tightly. ‘Hit me again and I’ll rearrange your face. You know I can do that.’
Clearly, Mythric didn’t like that mental picture and sat back to admire the private garage their car was being deposited in. There was room alongside this for another vehicle, although the space was currently empty.
‘Thank the heavens I don’t have to leave my baby in a public car park,’ Zeven sighed, as the garage door closed behind them.
Two doors led from the lock-up — one had Zeven’s apartment number on it, and the other led to Mythric’s accommodation.
‘We should order Miss DeCadie a cab,’ Mythric suggested, obviously afraid of how much information she would wrangle out of Zeven once left alone with him.
‘I’m really not in any hurry,’ she assured them winningly.
Zeven looked back to Mythric with a big grin on his face, as he swiped his key card and his apartment door opened. ‘See you end of the week, old man.’
Mythric was not inclined to trust him, but Zeven was not his responsibility beyond work hours. ‘Whatever you say, boss,’ he replied flatly as he unlocked his place, entered, and closed the door behind him.
‘You’re the boss?’ Aurora queried, as she entered the apartment and ascended a narrow set of stairs behind the pilot, who was a little unsteady on his feet.
‘We’re partners, but as I tend to do what I — Whoa!’ He stopped at the top of the stairs to admire his huge bedroom with sweeping views of the starlit desert sky.
‘It feels like we’re in space!’ Aurora came to a stop beside her host to marvel at the view also.