Earth(26)

Blurry, dark forms dotted the edges of the circle of light. As their outlines came into focus, I realized I was looking at lean muscle. And very few clothes.

Arms rose, pointing to the center of the circle simultaneously. A small pinpoint of light emanated from each of their fingertips. Before my lips could form the word 'wait', their light joined and shot toward me. I was blasted back. My eyes flung open. I sat up, catching Susan's arm mid-slap, and gasped for air.

"Kaitlyn! Are you okay?" she sounded frantic.

I nodded my head swallowing.

"What did you see?"

"Men. Lots of men."





Chapter 16





Ladies' Night





"It makes sense," Alex said. We sat at the bar at one end of the large, open ballroom below deck. Bee was at our feet, playing with clay poker chips.

"What makes sense?" I asked, taking a swig of my pint of Tang.

"The men would be less excitable. Possibly more organized," said Alex.

"How would you know?" Susan and I squeaked at the same time.

"Haven't you ever been to a strip club?"

"No," Susan looked offended, her eyes shooting darts. "Have you?"

"Of course."

She punched him in the arm.

"What?" Alex rubbed his arm. "I was in the military!"

"Our tax dollars hard at work?" Susan glared.

He narrowed his eyes right back. "You never paid taxes."

"Touché," she mumbled. She buried her nose in her own pint.

"Men at a strip club are relaxed, calm, and very businesslike. Ladies' night, on the other hand, is completely out of control."

I almost choked on my Tang. "You've been there on ladies night?"

"Well, yeah." His cheeks turned red. "I worked on stage; the military doesn't pay very much."

Susan punched him again. This time, her hand lingered near his bicep. "I think he does have the body for it." Her eyes flickered to me. "Don't you?"

"Oh, please." I rolled my eyes. "As if you didn't know. I've shared the same campfire with you two for a loooong time."

Now her cheeks turned red.

I looked at Bee. "But why would they just…push me away like that?" Many of the female Shades in the Athame befriended me; trained me, even. Granted, I had to bargain away control over my body, but they never tried to oust me – not as a coordinated group, anyway.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to ward off sleep and the inevitable nightmares. After my brief fling with the land o' plenty men, I worked off my adrenaline rush by charting the rest of course with the captain, and comparing its timeline to an estimate of how long our supplies would last. Once Bee woke, I spent the rest of the morning tending to her and trying to avoid First Mate Arnold's persistent arguments that nuclear was the way to go.

"Not enough sleep?" Alex asked.

"Not in months."

I caught Alex and Susan exchanging a glance. "What—?"

Bee spilled her drink, cutting my question short. The already dirty carpet was now tinted a bright orange.

"Dang it!" I stooped to grab the cup. "This is how we get ants."

"Is that even possible in the middle of a river?" Susan asked, searching the bar's cabinets. "Where would they keep the towels?"

"Why do you need them anyway?" Alex asked, refilling a cup for Bee.

What we needed was sipper cups.

"Why do we need towels?" I was on the floor on my hands and knees, doing what I could to clean up Bee's mess.

"I mean the men – in the Chalice."

"Oh – ow." I bumped my head underneath one of the chairs. "Because it matches Shawn's advantage with the Athame."

Alex handed Bee the new cup. We all straightened at the same time. Susan eyed the forming bump on my forehead, sighed, filled the towel she found with ice and handed it to me.

"Thanks," I mumbled. "Wait – we have ice?"

"The fridge and freezers are powered when the boilers produce excess steam," Alex said, chomping on something hard. I looked at his glass, failing to realize until now their pints of Tang contained refreshing, cold, cubes of goodness.

I immediately dumped the contents of the towel into my glass and took a sip. "Mmm, that's the stuff. By the way – no Tang for Bee tomorrow. We have just enough for one glass a day for everyone on the ship. No going over."

Susan frowned into her empty glass. "I think we need to put someone else in charge of food storage."

"Fine by me; it'd give me more time to figure out this Chalice." I looked at the cup in question, sitting on the bar.

"So, with the Chalice and Athame pair, the two location pairs, and the Book of Shadows…" Alex was counting out on his fingers. "That makes six points of power that balance each other out," said Alex.