Shaded Vision: An Otherworld Novel Read Free Page A

to reveal the stage and a karaoke machine. I snickered.
    “You just wait. I’ll get you for this.” Camille shook her head, leaping lightly up on the stage.
    “Hey, Menolly’s not complaining.”
    “
She
can
sing
! You and I are pathetic…well…mostly.”
    We clambered up on the stage and Menolly swung around in front of us, striking a pose with legs spread and both hands around the microphone. Camille and I took up our stations as her backup singers. The music swept in, and, with a deep breath, we dove into our rendition of “We Are Family.”
    We turned on the glamour, dropping our masks so our charm shone through, and the crowd went wild, laughing with us and clapping along. We spun and twisted to the music, throwing our hearts into it. Even though Camille and I weren’t that great in the vocal department, we warbled away while Menolly carried the song. We’d been practicing in secret for over a week now, and though we weren’t polished, we were doing a pretty good job keeping a beat to the music.
    Menolly leaped off the stage, carrying the microphonewith her, and danced her way over to Iris. Gently lifting the sprite onto her shoulder, with another leap she made her way back onto the stage, where she set Iris down and we surrounded her, singing as she clapped and swayed to the music.
    People started throwing dollars on the stage, “for the bride,” and by the time we finished, jazz hands and all, we’d collected seventy-five bucks and a couple rounds of free drinks, which put an end to Camille’s and my being able to sing anything.
    “You guys are great,” Iris said as we headed back to the table. “And thank you. Presents now?”
    I laughed, a little too loud, and burped. How many drinks had I managed to put away? I counted—there were only four glasses in front of me, but the Demented Zombie was one hell of a drink and packed a punch. I wasn’t sure what was in it, but it was better than catnip.
    I glanced around. I’d arranged for some special entertainment for the evening and—and…
there he was
. The guy was fine, gorgeous, with dark hair to his shoulders. Even beneath his policeman’s outfit, it was obvious that he was ripped. I motioned to him and he sidled over to the table. The music dimmed and everyone around us turned to watch.
    “Are you Iris Kuusi?” His voice was smooth—so smooth it made me want to slide up against him.
    She blushed bright red and her eyes glistened. “Yes…?”
    “Iris Kuusi, you have the right to
scream as loud as you want
. You have the right to
let me arouse you
—” And with that, he motioned to someone at the counter, and Amanda Blank blared out from the speakers as his hips began to move.
    He was a great dancer, keeping up to the beat in perfect rhythm with the rapper even as he—
woo-hoo
! There went the jacket, tossed on the ground near him. As he slid his hands to the cuffs of his shirt, he jerked and the shirt landed in Iris’s lap. Gleaming muscles flexed as he clasped his hands behind his head and swiveled his hips in a move that put Elvis the Pelvis to shame.
    “Wow,” Sharah said, breathing softly. “Just…Wow…”
    “Wow is right.” I felt a little glassy-eyed myself. He looked far better than I thought he would and his dance was just…well…the way he moved his hips had me thinking about a different kind of bump and grind. Oh yeah.
    Camille was looking at him suspiciously, and Menolly looked bored, staring at the crowd, but Nerissa, Sharah, and Iris were all fixated on the dancer. He slid his hips from side to side and caught my attention once again, as he grabbed hold of the waistband and—just like that—the pants flew off and over to the side.
    Now in a tight G-string leaving nothing to the imagination, with fringe shimmering down the sides and in front, he began to gyrate toward Iris, whose eyes had gone immensely wide as she stared at what was coming toward her.
    I was staring, too, but suddenly realized that my attention