Hunted Sorcery (Jon Oklar Book 2), B.T. Narro [digital book reader txt] 📗

lively tune. There were even a few of the older people who were dancing.

I felt like I was walking into a dining hall in another castle until Michael approached me.

“You’re already behind!” he said as he handed me a mug of ale. “I’ve had two. Catch up.”

“Two?” They were large mugs.

He stared at me until I brought the drink to my lips, then he put his fingers underneath the bottom and tilted upward.

I groaned in complaint. I couldn’t step away without spilling it, gulping instead.

“Almost there.”

I groaned louder.

“Fine.” He let go.

I coughed a few times, a cold pain in my throat. “You made me drink half the goddamn mug!”

“Now you’re only one and a half behind me.”

“I promised myself I wasn’t going to overdo it.”

“Where’s my promise that you are going to overdo it?” he complained.

“Let me set my own pace,” I told him seriously. “I have a lot of things to let go of tonight.”

“Don’t we all?”

*****

I didn’t know how exactly it happened, but it didn’t feel like much time had passed before I was quite out of my mind drunk. It hit me when I was watching Kataleya dance with a tall man who was elegantly dressed and I murmured to Michael without thinking, “I would like to walk over, introduce myself, and then punch that man in the nose.”

Michael’s laughter was what made me realize how absurd the comment was, especially when I was serious.

“I’ve never heard you speak like that. So you do fancy Kataleya after all? I had a feeling.”

I wanted to share everything with him. I knew I wasn’t supposed to, but I didn’t see why. He was my friend.

“I think something’s wrong with me,” I said, referring to my feelings for Kataleya but also this strange drunkenness that was far too potent.

“I don’t want to talk about that right now,” Michael said. “I love you, Jon, but I want to see if I can make something happen with Eden.”

“You love me?” It was a little shocking to hear.

“Like a friend, of course!”

“Oh, I think I knew that, but I wanted to be sure. I also love you like a friend.”

“Good! I’m walking away now.”

“I honestly don’t know what you see in Eden!” I called after him. “She is crude and not in a very funny way like you are.”

“I don’t want to hear that right now. I do like her. I hope one day you will like her too.”

“All right, I don’t want to say anything bad about her.”

Michael left me there in the middle of the dining hall, where I started talking to myself.

“This is not normal drunkenness. I feel like I want to share everything with anyone who will listen.” I looked around, hoping someone had heard.

But then I became distracted as I noticed Remi dancing on the table with incredible agility. Charlie was watching nearby, clapping his hands out of rhythm to the music.

“Stop!” Remi said with a huge grin. “You’re so off, Charlie! I can’t perform my dance!”

“What do you mean? You are dancing so well!”

“I’m going to start again. No clapping. Watch.”

Remi took a moment to listen to the upbeat music, then she broke into dance. It was a rhythmic sway, with lots of swinging kicks and popping knees, often involving touching her feet to her hands.

Suddenly I was at the table without remembering walking over. “You’re an incredible dancer!” I told her.

“I want to learn it!” Charlie said as he climbed onto the table beside Remi.

She faced him and continued her dance as if giving instruction. I was sure I’d never seen Remi smile this wide.

Charlie was a complete mess, barely staying on his feet as he gyrated and wiggled, not a dexterous bone in his body.

Remi slapped her hands against her legs as she let out a loud guffaw.

“What, I’m not doing it?” Charlie asked.

He tried harder, only to fall off the table.

“Charlie!” Remi screamed.

I rushed around to the other side, but fortunately Charlie was laughing as he held his rear end.

“Jon, where is Jon?”

“I’m right here.”

“It’s my ass, Jon, my ass.” To my shock, he pulled his pants and undershorts all the way down below the curve of his rump.

“Charlie what the hell?” I exclaimed, as Remi laughed even harder.

“I need a heal.”

Remi whistled. “That’s a nice smooth hide, Charlie Spayker. Eden!” she screamed. “Come look at Charlie’s ass! Where are you?”

He didn’t seem to hear Remi as he was making awkward eye contact with me from over his shoulder. “Heal it, Jon. Make it better.”

“Don’t forget to kiss it first,” Remi added, then kissed the air a few times. She laughed so hard she was gasping for breath. “Fucking hell, where is Eden. Eden!”

“Pull your pants up, Charlie. I don’t want to look at your strangely smooth ass. I can heal it just fine through fabric.”

“Oh yeah!” He laughed as he pulled his pants up.

I knew what to do to heal, but I just couldn’t get my mind in the right place as I tried to focus on my mana.

It didn’t seem to matter. Soon Remi was pulling Charlie up, and he seemed to think I had done a fine job as he thanked me with an enthusiastic handshake.

“I like you, Jon,” he then told me.

“Thank you. Did you know, Charlie, that there’s something different about you?”

“I do know that.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. Do you?”

“I don’t, but I think it’s what makes you so lovable. I love you like a friend, Charlie. Did you know that?”

“No! I think I like hearing that, but I’m not sure I understand what it means. Maybe I love you too, but it’s different from the way I love Remi.”

I suddenly noticed Remi was leaning really close to both of us with a gaping mouth, clearly listening intently.

Suddenly she snapped out of it. “Charlie, you love me?”

“I think I do, but not the way I love Jon.”

“How do you love Jon?” she asked.

“I don’t want to kiss Jon.”

“You want to kiss me?”

“Yes, can I?”

“Yes,” Remi said. “I’d like