MoonLife (7 page)

“Not a pleasant thought. Glad you’re older. Think though you are going to look 21 forever.” Wendy looked down. “Now if we could find a way for me to be immortal that would be good. I hate the idea of getting old without you.”

“Me too
,
Wendy. I always saw us growing old and raising our kids near each other. Our kids would be friends and they would grow up together
,
too. I’m sorry that’s not going to happen. I truly did want kids.”

“Your Mom had you, there’s no reason why you can’t have kids.”

“My Mom wasn’t a Mandurago. I don’t think they can have children
. I
f they could
,
wouldn’t you think there would be some around here?”

“Since we haven’t seen anyone hardly at all in this big place, there might be some hiding out.  Have you talked to Sebastian about this?”

“No
,
I haven’t. We ended up here so quick with the whole Lars threat that we haven’t even talked about kids. It really doesn’t matter though. I love Sebastian and if he couldn’t have a child that isn’t going to stop me from marrying him.”

Wendy hugged me and told me that sometimes the universe has different designs on us than what we had planned. That I needed to hang in there and see what the universe has in store because usually it’s much better than we could ever dream. Wendy always knows just the right thing to say and I love her for that. She is such a Wiccan earth mother.

Finally set to go
,
we grabbed our bags and opened the door. On the other side we found Bram, Dante and Dario patiently waiting for us. Sebastian must have said something to them because no one would look me directly in the eyes. I hated that, it’s definitely part of being the Kali Princess that I didn’t like. They, lesser beings, are not allowed to look you directly in the eyes, and that was going to stop now.

“Guys
,
we appreciate you all three escorting us out tonight. I just have one rule; don’t treat me like a
p
rincess.” That got their attention. All three men looked up at
Wendy. S
he just shrugged her shoulders as I continued
,
“I need you to treat me like you would a sister or a friend and for
god sakes
, stop avoiding looking in my eyes. It drives me crazy that you won’t look at me.” With that, I bent down and got into
Bram’s
eye
line. He smiled at me and raised his eyes to mine.

“If that’s what you would like
,
Princess, I mean Sadie, then that’s what we’ll do.” Bram motioned to the other guys to answer and they all chimed in. Hopefully that should handle that for the evening.

“So tell us guys, where is the best place to get a drink here?”

“And maybe some dancing?” Wendy asked.

“We have a couple of places in the compound for that.  I would recommend
Azula
. It’s got a sizeable dance floor and is usually crowded
,
” said Bram
,
still pondering other places.

“I like
Sinclair’s
. It’s not as big as
Azula
, but there is dancing and good drinks
,
”
s
aid Dante
.

“Yes
,
Sinclair’s
is a fun place to hang out and drink. Not many women there though, rather have
them
at places where they won’t stand out so much
,
” Bram stated.

“Bram
,
these two look gorgeous and everyone knows Sadie is the Kali Princess. There is nowhere they are going to go tonight that they won’t stand out
,
” said Dario
,
who is now my new favorite.

“How about we try
Azula
first and end the night at
Sinclair’s?
That way we see them both?” said Wendy.

“That sounds good. Let’s head to
Azula
, if that works for you guys?” I asked
,
hoping it would.

With that Wendy and our three protectors headed down the hallway to the elevator.  Removing my mental metal ski cap, I shot Sebastian a message.

I love you, we’re leaving. What are you doing tonight?

Well
,
it has come to my attention that this is my last night as an unattached man. So I thought I might have a bachelor party.

Okay….this is not going the way I was hoping. Him at a bachelor party? What do vampires do at bachelor parties? Do they have vampire strippers or something? Take turns sucking blood? I tried to block that mental image out of my mind and focus on my conversation with Sebastian.

Are you serious? You’ve had several lifetimes to be a bachelor. Are you having second thoughts?

There was a long pause.

Are you jealous yet?

You butthead! That’s it
.
I am going to get these guys to take me to you.

They can’t, the
progression
of time has begun. As with tradition, we are not allowed to see each other again until the binding ceremony. That is why I snuck in and saw you while I could.

Oh
,
you should have told me. I would rather spend the whole evening alone with you, then get ready for some dumb bachelorette party. I assumed you were staying in the room with me when I got back?

I wish we could. Tradition makes us separate from midnight on the night before the binding until midnight of the ceremony. I will miss not having you in my arms tonight as I sleep.

I’ll miss you too. I never sleep well when you’re not next to me.

At least I’ll rest easy knowing you have three Manduragos to protect you during the day tomorrow. Just know that I am thinking of you and exceedingly anxious for our
b
inding
c
eremony. Tomorrow night is the beginning of our life together.

I’m looking forward to it too. I wish we could just do it now, get
the Turn
over with and start with our lives already. I hate waiting….

Me too
,
my
l
ove, me too.

I am going to put my mental ski cap back on, but I want you to know I love you.

I love you too. Be good, you look too damn hot tonight to be ou
t
running around without me.

Well
,
thank you
,
sir. You liked the outfit then?

I would like it better if I got to rip it off you.

Sebastian! Someone might hear us.

So let them. I love you, I want you and
d
ammit
I need you!

Tomorrow
,
my darling.

Yes tomorrow…

I closed my mind and put my mental metal ski cap back on. As I did that I noticed a little glitter of light down the dark hall. I looked closer and could just make
out
the shape of Ludwik sneaking around behind us. He was invisible and following us. I was surprised by this
. N
ot the following
,
but the invisible. I thought all Manduragos could see him, but maybe it was just Sebastian and certain Magicals. It had to be because as we walked I watched the three Manduragos and they had no clue he was there. It was funny actually, because Wendy didn’t know he was there either. We made it to the elevator and they hit the button, before the doors could close Ludwik bolted in. On to the club we go.

Chapter Seven

“Who knew there would be a club this rocking at the compound?” Wendy screamed at me over the loud
dubstep
music.

Outside the door of the club it was quiet and unassuming, walking in was a whole other world. The place was enormous, like the size of a large department store. It was unusually dark and all the walls and seams of the place were outlined in neon. There were tables all along the edges with a massive dance floor in the center of the room with the bar in the middle of that. It was crazy, there were people dancing on the tables, on the bar, in the aisles. It was like News Year’s Eve at a dance club on steroids. On the dance floor were rectangular riser areas where people could dance. They even had go-go cages with girls covered in neon paint dancing in them. It was crazy!

“Should we get a table?” asked Dante
.

“Definitely!” both Wendy and I said in unison
.

“Look at the guys here
,
Sadie. It’s like a gorgeous guy explosion. Are all Manduragos hot or something? I’ve never seen so many
good-looking
guys in one place. They all look like models or something, giant warrior
-
type models at that. Can you imagine what our friends back home would say about this place? We would never get them out of here
,
” said Wendy as her eyes continued to scan the
room
. I wondered if I should tell her or not that the Ludwik was here guarding us. He was walking around near us, watching the people as they moved past. I was worried if I told her, she would temper her actions. I wanted her to have fun tonight with me and not worry about her boyfriend watching.

Dante motioned to us and we followed. The crowd parted as we walked through to the table. Several of the guys we passed nodded at us or smiled.  One man bowed to me as I came in contact with him and his party. I certainly got the feeling that most people there had no idea who we were, while others clearly did. I wasn’t used to being bowed too as I walked through a club. Who am I kidding
?!
I’m not
used to being noticed other than for standing out
,
when
I walk through a club. Mental note
to
thank
Bram
for suggesting this place.

The table he found us was off to the side of the main dance floor. It was close enough to have fun but far enough away to be able hear what everyone at the table was saying. We sat down and
a scantily clad
waitress came over immediately to take our drink order. She smiled and asked what we wanted. We all ordered, and then she stood there as if she wanted to ask us something else.

Bram took the initiative, “Did you need something else
?
”
h
e asked the waitress.

She turned to me and said, “I was wondering if you are truly the Kali Princess we have been hearing about?”

Bram jumped in before I could say anything.”What concern is it of yours?”

“No concern, just wondering. They are taking bets at the bar that you are
,
”
s
he said and walked away.

“Bets huh
?
This should be fun
,
” I said in a snarky way. I really didn’t care about having a bachelorette party in the first place let alone one in a Mand
u
rago compound. It’s also sort of hard to go incognito when you find out the bar is placing bets on who you are. 

“Come on
,
Sadie
,
let’s dance while the drinks come
,
” Wendy said as she pulled at my hand. Bram and Dante immediately got up, but Wendy motioned for them to stay put. She took my hand and led me to the floor. The music was
pumping;
I could feel the vibrations down to my feet as we crossed the dance floor. We found a spot between a few couples dancing and started moving. I was feeling a little apprehensive about drawing attention to myself dancing. Wendy had always been a terrific dancer, part of the Wiccan moon goddess in her. I, on the other hand, was not so graceful. I never know what to do when we are dancing like this. With a guy I get it, I just hang on
to him and move around, but when it’s a friend that’s a different story.

I moved a bit, trying to find the grove. The not
-
so
-
graceful me was also trying not to step on anyone’s toes in my spiky heels. I was also checking out the people around us. I had noticed the men were all remarkable
,
but so were the women. They must have been
Manduragos as
well
. I had just assumed that Manduragos were all men, but it would make sense that chosen souls could be male or female. You could tell who were Manduragos and who weren’t just
by
looking at them. The females were perfect. They were taller, looked stronger and were stunning. There were lots of women in the bar that probably weren’t Manduragos, like the ones with the bite marks on their necks in the cages. They looked tragic, like junkies. The
m
en kept pulling them out of the cages and then a different girl would show up and take the last one
’
s place in the cage.