He used his lips to maneuver the potato into his mouth. It disappeared centimeter by centimeter until it was gone. “Seriously though, what are you gonna do?”
“I have no idea.”
“Well, what’s he said to you?”
“I can’t recall. They’re creepy dreams, Kaiden.”
“I wouldn’t be worried about it then.”
My mouth dropped open, and I leaned over the table whispering, “Of courseyouwouldn’t be. You didn’t make a deal with the devil. How would you react if he came calling your name?”
“I’d ask what the fuck he wants.” Kaiden brushed crumbs off the table with a nonchalant swipe and propped his elbow up. “I’m too old to play those crazy-ass games.”
“You’re barely older than a high schooler. I’d love to see you stand up against him now. As if he couldn’t snap his fingers and turn you into one of those freakish little ghouls.”
“Goblins.”
“Po-tay-to, Po-tot-o.”
Kaiden rolled his eyes, shot back the last of his whiskey, and set it at the edge of the table before reaching for his fresh one.
“You don’t think he can?”
“I don’t doubt his metaphysical mojo.”
I raised my brows. My brother, the new age Jim Morrison. The Goblin King didn’t sound any better than the Lizard King. “But?”
“I talked to some experts of other realms, and they claim his word has no power in ours.”
I laughed. “What experts are you referring to? I haven’t seen one advertisement for a labyrinth lawyer anywhere.”
Kaiden’s chin dropped to his chest as he rubbed his thumb against his glass. He mumbled, “A D&D forum.”
“Ha!” I took a drink. “I could swear you said a Dungeons and Dragons website.”
He looked at me through his lashes and remained silent.
“You’re joking. A bunch of nerds who play a fictional role-playing game told you this, and you believe them?”
“They say truth is stranger than fiction. It’s obvious our worlds have crossed over. How else do you explain what we experienced?”
Unable to argue, my shoulder rose and fell.
“Knowledge gets lost over the passage of time. What if what they know are fragments of truths passed down over generations, only they use it to create worlds, and the rest of us have forgotten it?”
I tried to keep a straight face and failed miserably. “You’re quoting them.” Kaiden’s head fell back on a huff. “No way you’d come up with that shit on your own.”
“Who cares who said it if it’s the truth.”
The waitress dropped off our food and another round of drinks. As I ate my meal, I wondered if he was right. Had we not lived it, I wouldn’t believe another world containing monsters and an ever-changing labyrinth existed. That meant others had been there too. We couldn’t be the only ones who escaped it. Long ago, people didn’t fear electroshock therapy, though. Either they were believed, or they weren’t. With the legends and fairy tales from hundreds of years ago that were still told today, some hearsay had to be accurate. Maybe the myths used to play modern games held a hint of truth. Maybe the Goblin King held no power here on earth.
I could only hope.
