The gravity of that proposition settled over her like a weight. “I’m just an elf,” she whispered.
Lyric treated her to his most disarming grin. “Not anymore.”
“Tell me how you brought me here and how to get back to March 17th, demon.”
“Lyric,” he corrected. “I will, Shivaun. For a kiss.”
She looked incredulous for the space of a single second then laughed in his face. He loved the sound of her laugh almost as much as he would have loved the feel of her lips on his.
“That is blackmail, demon.”
“Lyric,” he corrected then shrugged as if to say there was no misunderstanding on that score.
“So.” She lowered her chin, but her eyes were playful. “You abducted me for the ransom of a kiss?”
The demon smiled in a way that would have elicited a ‘yes’ no matter what was being suggested. “Let’s not be overly concerned with labels.”
Cocking her head, she said, “Did you kiss my sister?”
Lyric put his hand to his heart. “I did not kiss your sister, Shivaun. Honestly. After I heard your name, I didn’t want to.”
“Why no’?”
“I knew I had the wrong twin.”
That answer seemed to pacify, perhaps even please, the young demon.
“I will kiss you so long as you understand that I would’ve done so with or without the threat of leaving me here in… On… In April 1st.” She shook her head. “Wait. If I said no kiss and just waited for fourteen days, then time would catch up to me. Wouldn’t it?”
“Yes. That works if you’ve travelled to the near future. What if you’ve traveled to the distant future? What if you’ve traveled to the past?”
She thought that over as the band assembled a drum kit, placed mics, amps, and stands where they wanted them, then performed a sound check over jukebox music.
As darkness settled over the evening, the lights in the trees made the night seem magical for Loti Dimension. The parking lot filled as customers began to arrive and the scent of cedar was replaced with that of burgers on the grill, slices of Idaho potatoes in the fryer.
Shivaun turned to Lyric. “Very well then. Come and get your kiss.”
Her acquiescence was straightforward. No frills. No suggestive tone. But to Lyric, it was the sweetest five words he’d ever heard spoken. The words made it sound like she considered it a chore; a task to be done and dispensed with. But he could sense the underlying excitement.
After slowly moving closer on the bench he straddled, he leaned in and lightly brushed her lips with his. He thought he heard a tiny gasp followed by a tiny moan, but with a sound check in progress, it would be hard to be sure, even with demon-sensitive ears.
When he deepened the kiss, she opened her mouth wider and pressed for more, which made his entire essence thrum with a strange and seemingly conflicting mixture of contentment and aggression.
Shivaun pulled back when the jukebox switched off and the band struck up a rousing cover of “You Shook Me All Night Long”. She smiled at Lyric shyly and diverted her gaze to the unlikely-looking lead vocalist. When the song ended the man encouraged Wet Willie’s customers to enjoy the food, drink, and incomparable covers rendered by the Undercover Brothers.
Movement in his peripheral vision caught Lyric’s attention. A young guy was strolling through the far bay door, hands in the pockets of tan jeans, wearing rough out boots with a soft guitar case strapped to his back. He was six feet, which was no longer considered tall for his generation. Medium build. But anybody with eyes could see he was a looker. Sandy brown hair that was longish for the time. Sharp cheekbones and a well-defined jaw line. Blue eyes that were arresting across a room.
Lyric watched as the kid pulled the guitar free and sat down at a table off to the side of the band platform. When the band wrapped up “Texas Flood”, the front man said, “We’re lucky to have Gray Darby here tonight.” There was a round of enthusiastic applause and a few whistles. “He’s gonna do a couple’a songs.”
The kid stepped onto the platform and was handed an amp plug to thread through his guitar strap. When he was set, he stepped to the mic with confidence and said, “What do y’all want to hear?” After several songs were called out, including the mandatory “Free Bird”, he said, “Yeah. That’s too bad