Forty-five minutes later I stepped out of the cab outside Aiden’s apartment. He lived in a loft downtown, right above the charming boutiques on the main street. When I approached the door he shared with the jewelry shop owner below his flat, my hands were shaking. With a deep breath, I pressed the buzzer next to his apartment number. After a moment, his voice came through the speaker.
“Who is it?”
“Hi, Aiden, it’s me,” I answered into the box.
“Aspen! Come on up!”
The door buzzed and I pulled it open, stepping inside the entryway. Aiden had told me in his message that his apartment was just up the stairs in front of the entry, the only door on the second floor. My heart was racing before I even set foot on a stair. Aiden was already leaning against the doorway waiting for me when I got to the top of the staircase. As soon as he saw me, a big smile spread across his face and he straightened to greet me. He was wearing fitted jeans and a black button-up shirt. His sleeves were rolled to his elbows, barely displaying the “III” etched beneath his concealed red Pyromancer’s tattoo. His dark wavy hair was combed back, though a few stray curls fell over his forehead. As I approached, he raised his eyebrows.
“Aspen, you look… absolutely beautiful,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. I blushed, unsure how to answer. He glanced at my empty hands. “Where’s your helmet? Did you ride here? In heels?”
I shook my head. “I took a cab.”
His eyebrows arched even farther. “What? No getaway vehicle?”
“Not this time,” I said. “I hope I won’t have to make my getaway on foot.”
“Well… I suppose it’s only fair to warn you that I’ve made lasagna, a caprese salad, and chocolate cupcakes, since tomorrow is your fake birthday. I had to sneak in some sort of celebration since I wasn’t sure if you still wanted to celebrate tomorrow night, given your actual birthday isn’t for a couple months.”
I could feel my throat tighten at the reminder.
“If any of that sounds appalling, there’s a good chance your taxi might still be outside.” His eyes twinkled as he finished.
“You did all of that for me?” I asked in disbelief.
“I did,” he replied seriously. “And now I’m being a deplorable host by having you stand outside in this unsightly hallway. Would you like to come in?”
“Yes, thank you.” I smiled shyly as I stepped inside his apartment. I was immediately greeted by the warm, delicious smells of dinner, reminding my stomach how hungry I was. I leaned over to peel off my heels; I had stuffed $25 in my right shoe for the cab ride home, so I tucked the bills carefully back into the toe of the shoe before I rose again. Aiden saw and was chuckling.
His apartment was beautiful, with polished hardwood floors and high ceilings. It had an open floor plan, with the living room to my right, and the dining room and kitchen situated directly in front of the entryway. A baby grand piano was tucked into the back corner of the spacious living room. The gas fireplace was on, casting a comforting orange glow against his white couch. I approached a tall bookshelf next to the fireplace, tracing my fingers over the many spines.
“A Brief History of Time? I love this book,” I said, taking it off the shelf.
“You do?” Aiden asked, surprised. I was thumbing through the pages, stopping when I found the passage I was looking for.
“‘Ever since the dawn of civilization, people have not been content to see events as unconnected and inexplicable. They have craved an understanding of the underlying order in the world. Today we still yearn to know why we are here and where we came from. Humanity's deepest desire for knowledge is justification enough for our continuing quest.’”
When I looked up from the book, Aiden had an odd expression on his face. “I can see why Professor Hawking’s book would resonate with you,” he said softly.
“That and, sometimes, when I’m feeling overwhelmed or discouraged, it helps to remember how vast the universe is, and how small we are in comparison. A bit of forced perspective,” I murmured the last words, carefully returning the book to its place on the shelf.
Aiden nodded thoughtfully.
“Would you care to share the events of the day over dinner? I’ve been anxious to hear,” he said a moment later, heading into the open kitchen. From behind the counter, he took out a bottle of wine and two glasses from a maple cabinet above. After wiping the glasses with a cloth, he walked around the counter and set the open bottle and glasses down on the small dining room table, which was illuminated by two lit candles. He had already plated the lasagna and salad for us, meticulously setting the plates in front of two of the four chairs.
A small lump formed in my throat. No one had ever done anything like this for me before.
“Dinner looks… amazing,” I said, stepping into the dining room. “Do you, uh… do you do much entertaining here?” I stuttered slightly as he motioned me to my seat at the table.
Aiden gave me a wan smile as he uncorked the wine. “I’ve lived here for almost four years and have done almost no entertaining,” he replied seriously. “In fact, Robert was just chiding me a few weeks ago about how boring I’ve become, with my head always stuck in some textbook or bent over a paper. I tried to offer some sort of retort, but the best I could do in my defense is counter by saying I’d been on three hikes in the last week. It didn’t sound as impressive as I had hoped it would.” He took the bottle of wine and poured the dark red liquid into the glasses, handing me one.
I took an appreciative sip. It had been a long time since I’d enjoyed a glass of wine.
“Do you know he invited Evelyn – the woman who came with me that first day I came into your lecture – to his conference in Belgium?”
Aiden raised his eyebrows as he took a seat across from me with his glass of wine. “He told me in one of his emails that he’s become “completely besotted” – his words, not mine – with the grandmother of a student. So, he was referencing the woman who was there with you? –Wait, you have a grandmother?” As he spoke, his expression quickly changed from amused to amazed to confused.
I shook my head. “Evelyn is my closest neighbor and we’ve sort of unofficially adopted each other over the years, since I have no family and neither does she. I was over there earlier today as she was packing to leave. She’s totally over the moon, I’ve never seen her so happy – This lasagna is incredible, by the way. I only ever have fresh-cooked meals at Evelyn’s and the restaurant…” my voice trailed off as my stomach abruptly knotted up.
“What’s wrong?” Aiden asked. “Is there something wrong with the food?” He took a worried bite of his lasagna.
“No, no, the dinner is amazing,” I stammered, my eyes tearing up. I blinked them away hastily, embarrassed.
“Aspen – what is it?” he asked, alarmed.
“They – uh, Savannah, and Jeanette – they notified my boss, without my consent, that I would no longer be working at the restaurant.”
Aiden set his fork on the plate with a clack.
“They did what?” he demanded.
“I didn’t mean to – I honestly didn’t think I was trying very hard – but, the assessment…” I averted his eyes. “I scored higher than we might have hoped, and so… they insisted I quit my job to devote more time to training.”
“How high is ‘high’?” his eyes narrowed at me slightly, briefly reminding me of Evelyn.
“Level Three…in all three categories.”
“Oh, Aspen.”
I glanced up anxiously. But he didn’t look annoyed or miffed. He looked worried.
“I honestly wasn’t trying to show off,” I said, taking another gulp of wine. “An instructor named Eileen offered me some assistance in the Terramantic portion, and I was so fascinated by what she was saying, I just listened to her advice, and before I realized what I had done, the rocks were partially-molten.”
Aiden’s eyes grew rather wide when I said that, so I hurriedly continued. Sip. “And during the Electromantic portion… it’s just, Savannah had made me so angry. Right before the assessment, she was talking about creating some bogus task force to find my parents, ‘whoever they might be’… And I tried to ignore her, like you told me to, but…” I sighed with resignation. “I just felt so furious. When they asked me to create an electrical arc, I went a little overboard, and uh, I may have hurled Lightning into their stupid fancy ceiling lights.”
“You… did… what?” Aiden exclaimed in disbelief. “How did you even manage that? I thought your gift with Lightning was limited to blowing out fluorescent lights!”
“It was, until this morning…”
“I can’t even fathom how you managed to do that, let alone how they let you get away with it… Didn’t they have an Electromancer standing by to contain things in case your test got out of hand?”
“They did,” I answered quickly, taking a quick bite of caprese. It had some sort of thick, acidic sauce drizzled on top and it was so damn good. “But I guess he had some trouble and it took him a minute to take control of the lightning from me.”
Aiden’s face blanched.
“I’ve never heard of anyone progressing as quickly as you have. Aspen, please, please tell me that you didn’t disclose yourself to them as a Pentamancer.”
I shook my head vigorously, then immediately regretted it. That wine was working its magic fast. “Savannah half-joked about testing me in Fire and Water afterwards, but I very convincingly told her that I was a complete dud with those Elements.”
Now it was Aiden who was taking a big swig of wine. He rubbed his forehead with his fingertips.
“If Savannah ever found out, Aspen… she’d be on you like a hungry lion on an injured rabbit.”
I tried not to look miffed. After all, this ‘injured rabbit’ had achieved a higher rank in both Elements shared with said hungry lion. I suppressed a self-satisfied smirk at that, then frowned as I finally took in his words.
“But… why? What exactly is it to her?”
“She’s an Aggregator, Aspen. Every time she brings in a new recruit, she’s rewarded financially. She’s also granted higher status in the Order. The stronger the recruit, the better she’s recompensed.”
“How do you know so much about Savannah’s position?” I asked, taking another bite of lasagna. Aiden looked uncomfortable. I raised an eyebrow expectantly.
Finally, he sighed and said, “When I left the D.C. chapter and moved to Denver, she had recently been promoted to Head Aggregator and immediately reached out to me. As a Level-Three Pyromancer, she begged me, even bribed me to re-join the Order. Gifts, favors, money…”
I shifted in my chair uncomfortably.
“…Anything she could think of to try to convince me to join.” He was quiet for a moment, as though he was trying to decide whether or not to say more. “She even… well, she tried to seduce me.”
I nearly dropped my fork on the table.
“She… what?” His face had a rather-pained expression.
“She took me out for drinks one night, paid for everything. I must have had half a dozen shots by the end of night – she just kept putting more in front of me. At the end of the evening, she insisted on driving me home. One thing led to another, and, well…” his voice trailed off. Well… they had sex?
I suddenly imagined Savannah, with her severe haircut, heavy make-up, and tight outfits, her considerable bosom always appearing as though it might pop through the top three buttons on her ever-strained blouses.
Is that the type of woman Aiden goes for? I wondered bleakly. How could I possibly think he would ever be attracted to me?
My face must have betrayed my emotions because Aiden quickly reached across the table for my hand. Reflexively, I pulled away.
“You know, I just remembered – Savannah said I have to be at the training arena really early tomorrow morning, and uh, it’s getting late,” I said, rising.
“Aspen, please don’t—”
“Thank you so much for dinner, it was really delicious,” I dropped my napkin on the table. “I’m sorry I can’t stay longer.”
I strode to the front door and quickly put on my shoes.
“Aspen, please let me explain, it’s not what you—”
“You don’t owe me any explanation, Aiden, your personal life is your own to live,” I interrupted brusquely.
“Can I at least take you home?” he asked, almost pleadingly.
“Thanks, I’ll just call a cab,” I said, opening the door. “Maybe I’ll catch you tomorrow night at class. Thanks again.”
I quickly left then, nearly bolting down the stairs. I felt humiliated. When the lights above the stairs flickered violently as I passed them, I only felt more embarrassed.
I felt Aiden’s eyes from his doorway as I burst through the building’s front door, letting it slam loudly behind me.
I can’t believe he slept with her, I thought disgustedly, shaking my head to clear the disturbing image as I walked briskly down the sidewalk. That awful woman who collects innocent people to use like playthings.
I walked aimlessly down the main street in the cold, my bare arms covered in goosebumps. Most of the shops were closing, and there were only a few pedestrians out. Several stared at me as I walked by, my short dress and lack of jacket making me stick out like a sore thumb on such a cold night. My phone was buzzing in my dress pocket but I ignored it. Eventually, I gave in to the cold and called a cab, paying no attention to the unread text messages that were piling up on the phone’s home screen.
“Rough night, sweetheart?” the cab driver asked as I got in.
“516 Evergreen Drive, please,” I replied curtly. He glanced at me in the mirror but thankfully said nothing more.
When I got home, I immediately washed my face and crawled into bed, not bothering to change my clothes or light a lantern. More than slightly drunk from the stupid half-glass of wine, I drifted into a heavy, dream-addled sleep.
***
I awoke to Aiden knocking loudly on the bay window in my bedroom. Before I could realize what was happening, he opened the window and was deftly climbing over the seat.
“What are you doing here?” I asked frantically, hastily trying to gather the bedsheets around my legs as he walked towards me. He didn’t answer. Instead, he silently unbuttoned his shirt as he approached me in my bed. My protests caught roughly in my throat. Stopping just at the edge of the bed, Aiden stripped away his shirt, revealing his firm, muscular chest, then dropped the thin material on the floor. The Pyromancer’s tattoo on his forearm caught in the moonlight, glowing crimson.
Self-consciously, I realized I was still wearing my short blue dress, which had hiked itself above my waist as I slept. I quickly tried to pull it down over my exposed panties and thighs, but he crawled into my bed then, throwing the covers aside. He climbed on top of me, his face stopping just inches from mine. My hands shot up reflexively to push against his bare chest. His skin felt warm and firm under my fingertips. My heart was thudding loudly against my ribcage.
Wordlessly, he reached down to hike my dress even further up my waist, then slipped his hand beneath my bare back. I tried to speak, to protest, but the words wouldn’t come. His hand felt cool under my hot, flushed skin. His deep brown eyes were only centimeters away, pouring into mine with desire, watching, waiting to see if I would give myself to him.
I realized then that I didn’t want him to stop. I needed him to keep going. Yieldingly, greedily, I slid my open palms across his chest and over his shoulders, then cradled the back of his head in my hands, intertwining my fingers in his thick, wavy hair. I pulled his face close, bringing his parted lips to mine. When I opened my mouth to kiss him, I felt Aiden’s hot, sweet breath mingle with my own. He kissed me, deeply, hungrily; his left hand went behind his head to take my right wrist, then firmly pressed it against the pillow above my head as he pushed me down and kissed me with an almost feral intensity – as though he had no intention of letting me go. His other hand rubbed the inside of my thigh, slowly moving higher as he went. I let out a soft moan of pleasure.
Suddenly, my bedroom door burst open and Savannah strode into the room. Horrified, I stared at her over Aiden’s bare shoulder. She was smirking, wearing an impossibly-tight red leather dress that showed off her ample hips and breasts. Aiden pulled away from me to look at her.
Wordlessly, she beckoned him from the doorway to come; he immediately pulled away from me to do so. When he approached her, she put her hands behind his head, pulling him tightly against her red leather-clad body, then greedily pressed her scarlet painted lips to his. He didn’t fight back.
“Stop!” I yelled, struggling to break free from the tangled bed sheets.
Savannah pulled away from Aiden, grinning at me with pointed, feral teeth. She waved her hand effortlessly and a deep chasm opened in the floor at her feet. Before I could yell out a warning, she shoved Aiden into the deep hole. He took one last pleading look at me as he fell into the endless pit.
“Rowan!” he cried out, his fingers outstretched.
I leapt out of the bed, falling to the floor in front of the black chasm. Broken planks of splintered hardwood surrounded the gaping hole. I anxiously peered over the edge, straining to see where Aiden had fallen, but there was only inky blackness below. Furious, I stood to face Savannah, but she wasn’t Savannah anymore. She had transformed into a monstrous, black spider that towered over me, her eight green eyes glinting dangerously in the moonlight. Her red dress was now a crimson hourglass tattooed across her shiny black underside. Stumbling, I took a horrified step back and tried to cry out, but my scream caught in my throat as I slipped into the abyss, tumbling helplessly into the never-ending blackness below.