Briannas Prophecy (8 page)

Brianna looked on with disgust. How many of those stupid things was she going to eat anyway? “Maybe, but we deplete the ozone with the use of extra deodorant,” she said, giggling.

Amber’s eyes narrowed. “Do you feel strange, Bri?” She swallowed her snack and looked around.

Brianna shook her head. “Uh, uh. Should I?” She turned around and looked behind them. She didn’t see or feel anything out of the ordinary at all, but then again, she wasn’t as sensitive or as attuned to things as Amber was. She watched as her friend snatched two more cheese-covered crackers from a waitress and took a bite. Brianna sighed with disgust. Apparently, she wasn’t as hungry, either.

“I have a weird feeling, like someone is watching us.” Amber kept spinning around, her eyes searching the corners of the room. “Are you sure you don’t feel anything?” She stuffed the last of the crackers into her mouth and chewed.

Brianna shook her head, on alert. Amber’s feelings were never wrong. If she felt that someone was watching them, then someone
was
watching them. She scanned the huge room, knowing her abilities were nowhere near the level of Amber’s. Still, she should feel something.

Amber placed her hand on her arm. “Don’t feel bad if you don’t sense it, hon. You’re still a neophyte. I’ve been practicing the craft for years now.”

Lifting her shoulder in a halfhearted shrug, Brianna sighed. “I guess you’re right, but I still would like to be able to feel like I’m making
some
progress.”

Amber stiffened, her grip tightening on Brianna’s arm. “Don’t look now, but there is a really tall, dark haired guy in the corner wearing a red cape. He hasn’t taken his eyes off of you for the last couple of minutes.”

Brianna started to turn around.

Amber grabbed her arm, “Didn’t I just say, don’t look now? We don’t want him to know that
we
know he’s watching you,” she whispered. “I don’t know what he wants, but whatever it is, it can’t be good. His aura is very dark.” She shivered, rubbing her arms with her hands. “Let’s try to lose him.”

Brianna fought the urge to look over her shoulder as they weaved in and out through the dense crowd. She found herself wishing she could read auras as well as Amber. So far, she’d only been able to see the white ring of energy close to the body.

Who was the man Amber saw? Could she be mistaken and it wasn’t a creep but their new neighbor, Niklas? Fear kept her from turning around to look. Fear that it
was
her new neighbor and he meant her harm.

Amber turned to look behind them and heaved a relieved sigh, her hand poised over her heart. “I may have been mistaken. I don’t see him anymore.”

“Good, can we enjoy the party now?” Brianna asked relieved.

Amber grinned, “Sure thing. We’re going to have a great time.” She grabbed Brianna by the arm and dragged her through the crowd.

They mingled, talking with others they knew from other events. It didn’t take long before Brianna noticed the strange man, too. She was relieved that it wasn’t Niklas. “You know, I normally have a blast at these things. But this year, I can’t enjoy it.” She rotated her shoulders. It was almost as if she could feel the man’s gaze drilling holes through her back. Shifting uncomfortably, she ignored the insane urge to stomp over and ask the guy just what the hell it was he wanted. She looked over her shoulder. “I’m constantly on the lookout for that strange man. He’s been following us around most of the night. Is it just me, or does it seem like he’s stalking us?”

“I think I made you paranoid. I’m sorry, didn’t mean to scare you and make it so you couldn’t enjoy the evening.” Amber scanned the room. “The man I saw is nowhere in sight.” She patted Brianna on the arm. “Come on. I think the Limbo contest is going to start any minute.” She grabbed Brianna’s hand and pulled her along behind her. “I thought you wanted to enter it this year.” They moved through the throng of people, heading for the line to sign the release for the limbo.

“I did,” Brianna shrugged. “But now I don’t think that it’s a good idea to draw attention to myself.” She cast a nervous glance over her shoulder before giving herself a mental shake. Why in the world was she letting some weirdo spoil her night out? She’d paid damn good money to come here and was bound and determined to enjoy herself! She locked gazes with Amber, the determination written on her face. “Oh, I’m here to have fun. Lead on,” she said, following her friend through the crowd to join the limbo contestants.

“This line sure is long.” Amber leaned out into the aisle, trying to see past the horde of people in front of them.

“Yeah, it is. We’ll have gray hair by the time it’s our turn.” Brianna tried to relax, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder.

“Why can’t the waiters come in here carrying trays? It’s not like you have to have a plate and sit down to eat what they carry.”

Brianna rolled her eyes at her friend’s complaint. “You can’t possibly still be hungry, Amber. You’ve eaten more since we got here than I have in the last two days.”

The line didn’t take as long as they thought it would. Before they knew it, they had arrived at the admissions table and signed the release form to enter the contest. They were walking away from the table to join the game players when Brianna’s face turned a bright red. “Oh, my goodness,” she exclaimed, “Amber, you’re not going to believe this, but look at that guy over there.” She put her hands to her cheeks, trying to cool the heat of her blush, then pointed to a man in the corner standing in front of a huge potted palm.

Amber’s eyes followed the direction Brianna was pointing. “What the…” Amber burst into fits of giggles. “Is he doing what I think he’s doing?” She shook her head and covered her mouth in disbelief.

The man, who was dressed as an elemental spirit, swayed back and forth, his jewel-encrusted crown haphazardly hanging from the side of his head as he swayed in front of a potted palm his head tilted back and his eyes closed.

Brianna clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle when he let out a loud satisfied groan.

Amber leaned closer and whispered, “I wonder how much he’s had to drink tonight?” She punctuated her remark with another giggle when the man in question reached back and scratched his rear.

“Judging by the amount he’s expelling, I’d say quite a bit.” Brianna looked away, her cheeks still pink.

“I don’t think I could ever get drunk enough to pee in a potted plant,” Amber whispered. “At least I hope I never get
that
drunk.”

The man straightened and zipped up his pants. He shivered visibly and his crown dropped even lower on his head, leaving it hanging drunkenly from his right ear as he staggered off. The crown, finally giving up its battle, slipped from his ear and rolled to the floor. The man never noticed the metallic chink as he wandered out of sight, blissfully unaware that he’d given the impromptu performance.

“That was too funny, Bri. How do you spot those things?” Amber laughed. It had been Brianna, who’d brought
Pan
to Amber’s attention last year.

She shrugged. “Just lucky, I guess. If you can even call it luck.” She made a face. Before long, her attention was captured by the beginning of the contest, and it was a long while before she thought of anything but how much fun she was having.

Brianna knew she wouldn’t get far in the contest. She never did. When she was younger, she would lose the pole when it was still high enough that all she had to do was tilt her head back. This time at least, she’d gotten to the point that she had to do a back bend, and wouldn’t you know it, her breasts had caught on the bar. After they were eliminated, they stayed to watch the others.

It was when the finalists had to start taking a shot of rum before each pass under the bar that the contest got really interesting.

“Look at
him
, Bri, I didn’t think he’d make it this far, with
that
costume.” Amber pointed at a man dressed as a medieval vampire. He still wore his flowing, purple velvet cape. His muscular legs were really something to see in the tights he wore under his gold jewel covered tunic. “How much do you want to bet that obviously anatomically incorrect codpiece is going to give him troubles?” she leaned over and whispered. They watched as the man tried to bend backward and kneel, while still moving forward under the low set pole. The giant jewel encrusted codpiece hung up on the limbo pole and pulled it from its resting-place. Amber laughed hysterically and pointed. “Do you see that, Bri, the pole is stuck to the codpiece. How is that for a sorcerer’s staff?” she whooped with laughter.

The man staggered around and waggled his brows at the women suggestively as he held the long pole under the codpiece. The limbo judges chased him down trying to get their game prop back. After that, the rest of the contest passed quickly. The winner was Pan, which wasn’t surprising, since he won almost every year. The man was a contortionist.

Soon, the two women became aware of the man in the red cape again. He seemed to be everywhere they looked.

“What do you think he wants with us anyway?” Brianna shivered.

Amber thinned her lips and looked at him through narrowed eyes. “I’ve been afraid to wander too far from you because of him. I don’t think it’s
us
he’s after, hon. I think he’s after you for some reason. But we shouldn’t let him spoil our fun.” Amber pouted. “Let’s see if we can ditch him.” She grabbed Brianna’s hand and pulled her through the crowd.

“I really don’t think this is going to do much good.” Brianna cast a quick glance over her shoulder. He was out of sight for now, but how long would it take for him to catch up with them again?

A huge swarm of people entered the room and they broke up to visit the vendor stands. Brianna lost her grip on Amber when a large group pushed her ahead of the crowd to the other side of the room. Brianna twirled around. Should she try to find Amber? Deciding to let her friend find her, she wandered over to the nearest vendor and began to look at the items for sale. The table was covered with jewelry made up mostly of turquoise and jet.

An amber and jet necklace caught her eye and she picked it up to get a better look at it. Brianna was admiring the way it looked on her when she began to feel unsettled again. Turning slightly to the left, she held another necklace up and looked casually into the mirror and stiffened. He was behind her again.

Brianna set the necklaces down and chose a similar, but less expensive, amber and jet bracelet to add to her magical jewelry. She waited for the colorfully dressed gypsy witch behind the table to wrap it and place it in a small bag, all the while surreptitiously watching the strange man.

Leaving the table, Brianna moved to another, casually making a slow circuit of the room. She was afraid that if she tried to make a run for it, she wouldn’t get far. As long as she was in a crowd of people, she was safe. At least she hoped so.

She turned furtively, hoping to see that the stranger had disappeared again. With any luck, he’d had to make a trip to the men’s room, but as usual, he was right behind her. The bizarre man would get close when she was by herself. But when she joined Amber or another of her friends here, he would back off. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this man meant to do her harm. What was it about him that made her so afraid?

Brianna wished for her earlier bliss when she’d been ignorant of the man’s dark brooding presence. He never seemed to get real close, but he was never far from her, either. She tried to act normal, completely oblivious to his scrutiny, walking slowly from one vendor to the next, eyeing the exquisite jewelry, the wonderful colored robes, and the decorations. The hair on the back of her neck prickled with unease. She could feel him watching her.

“Go away, go away, go away,” she chanted under her breath.
Why is he following me?
She closed her eyes and said a quick spell for protection, then surveyed the room, looking for a big crowd of people where she could manage to lose herself. Amber strode up behind Brianna and leaned close to whisper in her ear as she looked at some necklaces. “Are we renting a room this year?”

Brianna jumped, then scowled. She turned and swatted the other woman on the arm.

Amber leapt back laughing.

“It’s no wonder my nerves are on edge. You nearly scared me to death,” Brianna hissed, holding her hand to her chest as her heart pounded against her ribs. She cast her gaze around. “I wonder how much a taxi would cost.” She turned to Amber, and worried her lower lip.

Amber gave her a wry smile. “Probably about as much as a room.”

“I don’t know if we should stay here.” Brianna leaned back and forth, trying to get a good look around Amber. The strange man was gone again. He was most likely hiding somewhere where he could see her, but she couldn’t see him. “I wish I didn’t have to worry so much about money.”

Amber nodded. “Yeah, I even feel guilty for splurging once in a while when I buy things at gatherings like this.”

“I know what you mean. I keep asking myself if I shouldn’t resist the urge and pay a bill or buy a new tire for my car.”

“If you put new tires on that rickety, old rust bucket of yours, the tires would be worth more than the car.” Amber swallowed the small square ice cube she’d fished out of her drink. “So, do you want to stay or not? Staying here may be expensive, but it’s not as costly as getting charged with drunk driving. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a few already.” She gave Brianna a lopsided grin, popped another ice cube in her mouth and bit down.