The First Touch (46 page)

He smiled then
, “
You
would
have to be good looking.”

Flanagan
looked as if he
was
going to jump up and Helen hissed
, “
Later.” Then Flanagan sat back looking like a punished school boy. Once Helen turned back Flanagan bit his thumb at her. Serena shot him a look and he shrugged. Helen continued to watch Mirth, while Galen smiled and shook his head. Ser
ena returned her attention
to Mirth.
“
She sounds like she knows her scents, Mirth?”

He stood absolutely still
and then
answered
, “
I have had relations but it was not with a new female, I have been with her for some time.”

Autumn
interjected, “If by some time you mean three months then yes that would still be the missing vessel.” He did not seem phased by the turn of events but raised hi
s eyebrow at her tone. Grayton i
nstantly moved
in front
of
Autumn
blocking her from Mirth.

M
irth smiled at that, “Good man
.”

Autumn
hissed looking at the female who had returned, “I am not scared o
f you Mirth, y
ou or your little pixy.” The female was standing back at the spot where he had been sitting before, glaring at
Autumn
.
She
saw the look in his
eyes;
a glazed guard and she smiled. Then she turned toward the female, “That is strange that he smells so strongly of passion and yet you follow him around like a dog.” Then she turned back towards Mirth p
ushing Grayton out of the way, e
ven shrugging off Serena’s hand that reached out to pull her back. Then she added, looking at Mirth sliding her hand over his cold cheek. He finally looked at her with surprise now, “And you Mirth I would have guessed a man of your stature your handsome looks, well you could have just about your pick of the litter. Why would you pick such a scraggly looking one?”

Grayton and Serena were looking at her with a look of
incredulity
. While
Drake
smirked at
Autumn
, and
stopped turning his stone
for the first time,
muttering
, “Good
girl.” Ivan sat still gripping his chair tightly.
Autumn
did not look at him but let a laugh escape her lips as she turned towards Grayton’s bulging eyes.

It was a grating harsh sound
mingled
with her restraint, “Ha did
you hear
that? I made a funny, t
he pick of the litter.” She continued to snicker and then as she turned her head back towards the crowd her entire body went flying backwards landing on the deck.

The slashes came
quick,
t
he female was an efficient little killer.
Autumn
smiled
, “
W
hoa
girl calm
down, I just wanted them to see that I wasn’t
lying
.” She didn’t stop though and
Autumn
hissed
,
gripping the woman,
“
Bring me some paint.” Galen flew from the room, and two other guards ran off as well. Then Utvic walked over
ceremoniously
and poured the two pitchers that he was
carrying
on to the
flailing woman. Then he said, “S
orry I wasn’t able to get to the bed
. S
he had already set it on fire.”

Autumn
nodded
, “
Thanks anyways.
I figured she would probably get there first, she’s fast this one.”

The woman tried to pull away but
Autumn
held her wrists tightly as she stood. With a series of twists and turns
Autumn
held her
in front
of Serena and Grayton, arms now crossed behind her and said
, “
I would like you to meet the missing vessel.”

The
naked
female hissed and
Autumn
sung a little tune before asking
, “
What is your name?”

The female hissed
, “
Lyla
.”

Autumn
smiled,
“N
ice to meet you
Lyla
. I want you to understand that we are not angry with you, Grayton huffed, and
Autumn
continued giving him a dirty look
, “
Well I am not angry, but Mirth really should not have lied about your
existence
, it really does n
ot instill faith in his trustworthiness
.
”

Grayton added
, “
Assuming there is a future for him.”

Autumn
smiled, “He was simply protecting his mate,
”
then she frowned
, “
You are his mate right
Lyla
?
” She let her head drop and
shrugged,
then
Autumn
looked up at Mirth and raised her eyebrow.

Mirth answered truthfully as far as she could tell
, “
She has not heard the call yet.”

Autumn
watched
Lyla
’s face and sa
w the confusion
, “So then she is
young and
naïve,
so you
thought
you would take advantage?”

He did not answer but
Lyla
added in his
defense
, “
He did not force me.”

Autumn
nodded again, “You still want
her now that she is no longer
useful to you?”

Mirth replied curtly
, “
No.”

Autumn
replied looking at
Lyla
, “I am sorry.”

Serena pointed to the guard, “Get her cleaned up, we will deal with her later.”

Utvic
whispered
in her ear
,
“
I will make sure that she does not escape.”

“
Thank you Utvic. I would like to s
peak with her more later.” He
nodded and followed behind the woman leaving a blood trail.

Mirth watched closely
, “
I see you and I think alike.”

Autumn
smiled sweetly
, “
I have no sexual
interest
in my friend though, and I believe in treating others with the re
s
pect that they deserve.”

Mirth scowled at her and growled
, “
You have not shown me the proper respect since we me
t
.”

Autumn
snapped back
, “
You have not shown me any reason to give you
respect
Mirth.”

Then she thought
,
you
should be wiped from the face of the earth.
Drake
should have just finished you off when he had the chance. Alas though I am not in charge yet, but when that days come... should you ever step out of line, I will cut you so quickly that my entire clan will feel your pain.

Then a smile snuck up on
Autumn
’s
face and she turned back toward the council, “Can I do the last challenge now?”

Henry stood and smiled, “Yes.” Mirth turned without being dismissed and walked back to his seat. Serena and Grayton both gave him a dirty look and then Serena walked over and took her seat again. Then Grayton pushed up his
sleeves
and said
, “
Are you ready?”

She
nodded
, “
Just give it your hardest.”

He nodded and then began with an air blast, which managed to rip her
shredded
clothes from her body
, leaving nothing but her undergarments.
Many of the males sat up to get a better look including Flanagan and Galen. Even
Drake
stopped twirling and watched seeming slightly more
interested
in the events playing out in front of him. Ivan remained
eyes to the ground though.
Grayton smiled and she took her slippers off, completely unaware of her
image
. Then she gestured for more. Grayton flicked his wrist and
minutes
later the entire stage was cleared save the council chairs, which were bolted to the ground.

Autumn
continued to dodge i
tems for nearly twenty minutes w
hen she finally said
, “
What happens when you run out of things to throw?”

Grayton replied
, “
Then we will move on to the building.”

“Brick by brick,
”
She yelled, as a candelabra came crashing into the wall behind her head.

He
nodded
,
grunting
, “
Yes brick by brick.”

Autumn
replied
,
over the roaring wind
,
“This could become quiet
tedious
?”

“
Or I could crush you with the wall.”

Autumn
nodded
, “
Let’s
try that.”

Then she landed next to the wall and Grayton grunted and folded it in half on top of her.
Autumn
pushed the wall back off of her and look
ed
down and saw that nothing had happened to her body. She smiled and threw the wall at Grayton without looking at him and replied
, “
It’s like I am
rubber.”

She hit him and cut his body in half and he sp
r
ayed blood out of his mouth as he said
, “
Autumn
.
”

As she
approached
him her smile fell away and she looked
distraught
. “Sorry love, I didn’t realize that you were not paying attention.”

As she approached he lifted his hand and dropped a large portion on to her head. She dropped to the
ground
and rolled on her back, her body icing over quickly. Then she closed her eyes and waited for
the pain, but again nothing ca
me. Her hands caught it and tossed it as if it were a piece of
Styrofoam
. It cashed
through
the wall in front of her, causing the audience to flee, skittering down the
aisles
and over nei
gh
boring rows.

Autumn
walked toward Grayton
shaking her finger at him,
“
You tricked me.” Grayton was struggling to push the chunk of wall from his stomach now.
Autumn
slid her hand down and pulled it back easily putting her hand on her hip.

Grayton saw her look and shrugged
, “
You said try my hardest.”

Autumn
smiled
, “
Yes I did.”
S
he rubbed her hands together and blew into them to get them to warm up. Then she slid her hands down and his mid section began to glow, just as the others had. It took even longer and then she pulled him to his feet.

As she turned back towards the council her stomach growled and she gripped her stomach. Then she heard a
familiar
shuffling sound along with Mirth’s near silent step coming up the stairs.
Autumn
turned and confirmed her
suspicions
, the rage that burned inside her was near impossible to contain. She turned to the council then
, “
So are we finished?”

Henry nodded
solemnly
, “
Yes.”

“
Good, I need to eat. I will be back later.”
She announced.

Hisses and growls rose up from the audience, and
Autumn
paused looking to
the council for instructions.