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“Thanks.” I smiled my Miss America smile. He dropped his eyes, a flush creeping around his neck.
“This is Romero, our groundskeeper. If you require anything, he can help you out.”
“Anything like what…plants in our room?” Vivica snorted. A look of embarrassment flashed over Romero’s face.
“I said anything. I meant it.” His mirthless voice was abrasive. Combined with his blank facial expression it was hard to tell whether he was being serious or sarcastic.
“He’s serious.” Did I speak out loud? How did this guy know what I was thinking?
“So, you’re a jack of all trades, huh?”
A sweet smile crossed his face. His eyes crinkled pleasantly at the corners. “You could say that. I fix things.”
“Let’s go. We need to catch up.” Sync was such a buzz kill.
“I’m going to stay here and get the fire going for later.”
Sync began walking deeper into the woods.
I waved at Romero and winked. You never know what you might need from a man.
“See you later.” Vivica waved and power walked after Sync. I followed, looking back to catch another glimpse at Romero, but when I looked back into the clearing, he was gone. Handyman, my ass. We walked in pitch black for several minutes. Vivica’s breathing and Sync’s heavy stomps were my only guidance in the darkness. The previously quiet forest hummed with life. My ears filled with the chirping of crickets, the buzzing of some anonymous insect, and the howl of something far away that I hoped didn’t get closer. I spotted a warm light in the distance. Another clearing. That must be where we were headed. As we approached, the light expanded and danced. It must be another fire. I exhaled. At least now, I knew where I was going. Sync wasn’t the keeper of our fates. Relinquishing control didn’t exactly come naturally to me. I really hoped that not all shapeshifters liked their women docile and submissive. Didn’t anyone get the memo that you couldn’t tame a witch? Voices echoed in the night. It sounded like laughter. After ten minutes of walking, the clearing doubled in size. It was bigger than I thought. After another fifteen minutes, we reached the edge of the clearing. Rows of wooden cabins lined the far edge. A gigantic fire blazed in a pit. Surrounding it was a crowd. Sync motioned to the fire. Vivica linked my arm in hers and we took off towards the group. When we approached, a man seated on a wooden bench stood. His eyes were warm and kind. Black hair speckled with grey fell in waves to his shoulders. A white scar slashed his forehead above his right eye. “Welcome, welcome.” He waved us closer. “Are you ready to begin?”
We both nodded vigorously. He pointed towards the furthest cabin on the right.
“You can freshen up in there. When you’re done, we’ll begin.”
His comment made me suddenly self-conscious. I ran my fingers through my sweaty and matted hair. My shirt was glued to my back with sweat. Peeking at Vivica, I noticed that she looked as fresh as when I’d first seen her. Why was I the only one that looked like I had been dragged through the forest? “Thanks, that would be great!” I shouted a bit too enthusiastically. Sync rolled his eyes. I guess I was going to have to do some work to get back on his good side. If he had one that is. We both turned and headed for the cabin. It might be nice to take a hot shower. The stairs of the cabin creaked and groaned underneath our weight. The doors were heavy, I could barely open one. I let Vivica pass through and followed her inside. A petite blond sat at a long low desk in front of us. The inside of the cabin looked modern, clean and enormous. From the outside, it appeared quaint and rustic. The lobby resembled a spa without Enya playing over the stereo.
“Welcome. You all are pretty late, so I’m not sure if we have anyone available to complete your orientation tonight. I’ll do my best to look while you’re showering.”
“Oh, that’s okay. We can just go to bed early and start fresh in the morning.”
“Tomorrow is the official beginning of try outs. Everyone has to go through orientation first. If I can’t find one of the leaders, I’ll do it myself.”
Mandatory orientation? Where were we, at camp? I wanted to present myself to the sexy young warriors looking to fertilize us. Not spend my night doing paperwork in a locker room. This was turning out to be less of an adventure and more of an annoyance by the minute.
“Here’s four fresh towels. The small ones are for your hair, if you hadn’t already figured that out. It can get quite chilly here at night, you’re not going to want to go to bed with wet hair. I’ve also included robes, slippers, shampoo, conditioner, a toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as some other… essentials.”
“And tomorrow after breakfast will be the first visit to our physician for your check up.”
Doctor’s visit? Why didn’t I think about that? When was the last time I went to the doctor? “Where are we going to sleep?”
The receptionist smiled. “Each potential recruit has an assigned room. After your orientation, we’ll show you to your room so you can get lots of rest for tomorrow. During breakfast, you can meet the other candidates and get settled. Did you bring anything with you from the outside?”
“We were told to leave everything.” Worry crossed Vivica’s face.
“Yeah, they told us to leave everything. I thought it was weird, but we really wanted to get off on the right foot.”
The receptionist looked up. “You can call me Kara. That’s great you followed instructions. Anything brought from the outside would be destroyed anyway. We don’t want anyone to have an unfair advantage. Sometimes women try to smuggle in makeup, perfume, even love potions, but we always catch them.”
As far as they know at least. I patted my sheer maxi dress. “Nothing but what I was born with in here.” Luc
kily, witches don’t need magic potions to have the advantage.
“Well then, you all are good to go. Enjoy your shower! I’ll be right here when you’re done.”
We both muttered, “Thank you,” and pushed open the swinging door to the bathroom. Wow. Okay. This was swag. The largest bathroom I’d ever seen sprawled out in front of me. Dazzling marble stretched as far as I could see. In the far-left corner, there were four sinks set midway up the wall. Above them stretched a mirror high enough for me to see myself from the door. In the middle of the room sat several wooden lounge chairs with small tables next to them. Why would there be lounge chairs in the bathroom?
