Once Upon a Steamy Night
Chapter Thirty

Claire woke up to the bleating of a goat. She stood up with a start and headed out of the tent where she saw every other person staring at an injured white goat. "What's a goat doing here?" She asked, stifling a yawn. Her limbs felt so stiff.

"I don't know but we have to help it," Aiobel cooed.

"I say we kill it and have it as breakfast!" Ryan exclaimed.

Anede nodded. "Not a bad idea."

The goat continued bleating and began limping away, blood dripping on the ground.

"Shut up, guys! You scared it away," Aiobel snapped.

"Let's rescue it," Scot suggested.

"But we have a place to be!" Adam exclaimed.

"It's going towards our direction, dad," Claire said pointing at the trail of blood.

Grumbling under his breath, Adam packed up while Claire thanked the branches that helped her out and returned them.

Finally, they were ready to leave, and they followed the bloody trail of the goat. They realized the goat had passed through the same trail they were going to.

"How is it that we're hearing only the bleating of the goat, seeing blood trail and not the goat?" Scot asked suddenly.

Claire shrugged. "Doesn't matter. We're going on our mission and the goat just happens to be around there."

They all kept quiet and kept walking in comfortable silence till they were out of New Orleans and heading into the woodlands.

That's when they heard it.

A mighty roar shook the earth and Scot noticed the blood trail had stopped.

"Is this our first test because I'm about to pass out!" He exclaimed.

Claire gasped as she stared at the humanoid creature with a goat head, sharp razor teeth, and long claws.

"What is that thing?"

"That is the goat you all wanted to rescue!" Ryan scoffed.

"It's a Grunch!" Scot exclaimed suddenly.

"Really, nerd. What else?" Anede asked.

"It lures its victim with an injured goat," Scot continued.

"I told you we should have killed that goat!" Ryan exclaimed.

"No time to blame us, he's headed towards us," Liam said.

"Nerd, how do we kill this thing?" Adam asked sharply.

"Any means necessary!" Scot exclaimed ducking behind a huge boulder.

"Aren't you gonna run, Liam?" Ryan taunted.

"Shut up, Ryan!" Claire exclaimed sending a ball of fire towards the Grunch.

The fire didn't leave a dent on it as it kept approaching roaring viciously.

Aiobel spelled it and nothing happened. Claire held it down with some trees and it broke free.

"Okay, this Grunch can't be killed by magic!" Scot exclaimed from his hiding spot.

"How do we kill this thing?" Aiobel asked.

"Leave it to me!" Anede smirked approaching it with his sword. He swung at the Grunch and the sword broke into two.

The Grunch knocked him down as he rolled down the bush.

"I'm okay, guys!" he yelled.

Claire saw the silent communication between Liam and her father.

"No!" She shook her head firmly.

"That's the only thing that can kill it," Adam whispered.

"Anede will kill him," she sighed.

"I'll do a quick blinding spell and Liam can strike while you take the victory," Adam suggested.

Reluctantly, Claire nodded as her father whispered some words, and everywhere turned white.

"What's going on, I can't see a thing?" Scot yelled.

Claire guided Liam and his sword easily killed the Grunch. By the time the spell ended, Claire was standing on the remains of the Grunch doing a victory dance.

***

The rest of the journey for Claire was boring. After killing the Grunch, nothing exciting happened on the way and Adam refused them to stop and camp somewhere saying they needed to get to the portal before nightfall.

So, the journey was horrible because she couldn't spend time with Liam, and she had a feeling something was off even though she didn't know what.

After walking for a while, they came upon a small town that wasn't on the map Adam had drawn.

"Maybe you made a mistake," Scot suggested.

Adam shook his head. "I wouldn't forget to draw a town on the map."

"Or John skipped it on purpose," Claire suggested.

"That's true," Adam nodded.

"Or this could be another test," Liam warned.

"Whatever it is, I'm going to dive into that hot jacuzzi and escape from this cold!" Claire exclaimed running towards the inn.

There was a bed and breakfast inn and she had caught sight of the jacuzzi from a little magical spying.

After a while, Claire saw the others following her and she chuckled. There was no way she was leaving this place without having a jacuzzi bath.

After they had all gotten checked in by very amazing, friendly, and warm people she headed to the jacuzzi after her father's strict warning.

"Avoid all contact with the locals!"

Claire had wished Liam had agreed to come with her, but he was too busy investigating the place trying to find any loopholes or sketchy things going on in the town.

Claire stripped to her panties and dived into the jacuzzi, relaxing as the hot water soothed her muscles and her skin pores.

She closed her eyes and got lost in the moment for just a split second, but she heard the approaching footsteps, and her eyes flew open as she saw Ryan coming towards her with a smile. "What are you doing here? I asked the receptionist not to let another person in here."

Ryan shrugged. "I'm special plus a little persuasion."

Claire opened her mouth for a comeback, but the words stuck to her mouth when Ryan took off his clothes.

"What are you doing?" She managed to ask.

He shrugged. "Joining you in the jacuzzi."

"No, you aren't. Wait your turn!"

Ryan regarded her coolly. "Are you scared of me?"

Claire wrinkled her brows at him. "Never."

"Perfect." He said and dived into the jacuzzi.

Claire screamed. "Are you insane? Get out of here. If my boyfriend should see you then he will..."

"Oh please," Ryan interrupted her sharply as she felt his arms encircle her waist.

"What are you doing, Ryan?" Claire asked backing away from him, but his firm grim hold held her in place.

"I wonder what you see in that mortal," Ryan mused.

"He's in love with me and I love him too," she snapped.

"Bah!" He waved her off, "Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like being with a powerful faerie?"

Claire shook her head, gulping slightly. "No."

Ryan's chuckle rumbled in her ears as he dipped her neck back nibbling at the hollow.

"Ryan, stop," she whimpered.

"You have been a naughty girl, Claire. I know all about your deepest desire. You imagine what it would be like to have sex with a magical being like yourself."

"Liam is magical!" She protested.

"But not like you. You want to be..."

"Shut up!" Claire snapped but still, her traitorous body betrayed her by staying in his arms.

Maybe she had imagined or fantasized about what it would be like having sex with a faerie because they are the master of seduction but that doesn't mean Ryan was included in that fantasy.

So why was she still in his arms? Why wasn't she using magic to push him away? Why did she lean in now and allow him to kiss her and more importantly, why was she kissing him? "What the hell?!"

Just like that, the wave of passion and desire coursing through her veins disappeared and she was left staring into Liam's accusing green eyes.

Ryan pulled away immediately. "Dude, I'm sorry I would never come onto your girlfriend like that I don't know what came over me." Too late.

Liam yanked him out of the water as his eyes changed to smoldering dark orbs.

"I'm sorry, Liam!"

Punch!

Whack!

Kick!

Claire stared wide-eyed as Liam vented his anger on the faerie whose magic was useless where Liam was, so they exchanged blows. Immediately, she put up a protective shield around Ryan and stepped out of the water, drying her body and tying her towel.

"So, now you're protecting him?" Liam growled.

"Liam, relax. You're going to kill him," Claire sighed.

"He was kissing you!" Liam spat, fore in his eyes.

"No offense dude but she kissed me back and also I have no idea why I kissed your girlfriend," Ryan said.

"Shut up, Ryan!" Claire exclaimed.

"Fuck this!" Liam growled and stalked off.

Claire sighed as she let down the protective shield before she headed inside. She had to find her father and tell him something was messing with her head.

Yes, she had thought of those things once upon a time but not anymore especially not with Liam around and she never told anyone so how did Ryan know about those things?

She found her dad immersed in a conversation with two women?!

"Dad?"

"You have a daughter?" One of the women asked.

Adam chuckled nervously. "Hilarious! What do you need, Claire? Go to the Jacuzzi. I'm busy."

Claire blinked. "You're asking me to leave?"

Adam ignored her and carried on with the women. Claire stood for a while and got angry. She muttered a few words, but nothing happened. She had cast a fire spell and their hair wasn't on fire. Strange.

Claire headed out to find Aiobel and Anede quarreling about her making out with another guy. They didn't listen to her either, so she headed to find Scot.

She found him seated at the edge of the river as he stared into the horizon.

"Something weird is going on here, Scot," she said.

Scot snapped his head up. "You finally realized this town seemed a little off."

Claire nodded. "Everyone is fighting, and I kissed Ryan. I don't even know why I did that!"

Scot blinked in surprise. "You kissed Ryan?"

"Focus on the weird part," Claire sighed, "Aiobel kissed some random guy, my dad is on the verge of making out with two women whose hair won't catch fire!" "Whoa! You sure went through an ordeal today," Scot chuckled.

"Focus, Scot!"

Scot nodded sharply. "Aye. So, magic doesn't work on them because?"

"It's a ghost town, guys. That's why it wasn't included in the map."

Claire whirled around to see Liam walking towards them. "Liam, I'm so sorry, I had no idea what..."

"Hush, princess. I know you would never do that," he smiled at her.

"So, how did you come up with your theory?"

"I left town. Ran as fast as I could, and I realized no one knew her or the people existing here. Then I saw this picture and I got back here so it won't be midnight." "Midnight? What are you saying, Liam? This is still very early," Scot chuckled.

"My point exactly!" Liam exclaimed, producing the picture and the newspaper.

Claire gasped. "That's the woman who owns this place."

"She died in a car accident forty years ago? How is that possible?" Scot asked, shocked.

"She's not a vampire, guys. She's a ghost and she's looking for a body to possess," Liam explained.

"This doesn't make any sense," Claire said.

"This rift has made a lot of weird things happen. Ghost town will be the least of our problems when one of them manages to possess anyone," Liam said. "What do you mean?" Claire asked.

"These people were possessed and resurrected by sprites and now there's a faerie in their midst," Liam replied.

Claire gasped. "I think in one of my training sessions with Anede he mentioned that Queen Morgana had sent all the sprites to the underworld."

"What? Why those cute creatures?" Scot asked.

"They were small like wood nymphs and fairies and they were causing havoc by poisoning the mind of humans. They were causing havoc on earth," Claire explained. "So, you're saying they're here for revenge?" Scot asked.

"Against the faeries, yes," Liam replied.

"What's the worst that can happen anyways? They're just small harmless creatures," Scot cooed.

Scot's lips parted slightly in shock when he saw the people coming towards them.

"Okay, I take it back! Let's kill this thing!"