“Mistress—” Gaze began, reaching for her at the same time Bound said,
“Angel—”
“No, no—just give me a minute,” Lexi told them. She stumbled away from them and bumped into someone, a gasp leaving her lips. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to,” she exclaimed, turning to the person she had bumped.
It was an old lady—at least, Lexi thought she was old—though the skin of her face was stretched tightly over fragile cheekbones and her mouth was frozen in a perfect pout. She had a tower of lemon-yellow hair rising three feet off her head and she was wearing a bright purple gown that swished and swirled with every move she made.
“That’s all right, my dear,” she said to Lexi. “Sucked in a bubble of love gas and made out with your bodyslaves, did you? Well, it happens to us all.”
“It does?” Lexi looked at her more closely and then realized that she was talking to exactly the woman she’d been trying to find—Mistress Pricklethorn!
“Oh yes, so don’t be ashamed,” the older woman told her. “At least you had the good sense to avoid the lust gas,” she added, nodding to the section of the floor where the Mistresses were allowing their bodyslaves to penetrate them. Mistress Pricklethorn shook her head. “They’re going to have some problems down the line if they conceive and the child isn’t a daughter,” she remarked disapprovingly.”
“I…I guess they will,” Lexi murmured. “Er, you’re Mistress Pricklethorn, aren’t you?” she asked, trying to change gears a bit.
“Why yes I am—I’m surprised anyone knows me at a place like this.” The other woman smiled—or would have, if her lips hadn’t been frozen in a pout. As it was, the corners of her frozen mouth drew up a little and the corners of her eyes creased very slightly. “And who might you be, dear?” she asked Lexi.
“I’m Alexa of Trindall Tower,” Lexi told her. “I inherited it from my Great Aunt Granipants.”
“Ah, yes—Ja’nelda Granipants was a good friend of mine!” Mistress Pricklethorn nodded, her tower of lemon-yellow hair waving with the motion. She sighed. “I was so sorry to see her pass. In fact, she’s one of the ones I came to remember tonight.”
“You came to remember?” Lexi asked, perplexed.
“Oh yes—there’s a tiny little purple Dream Gas fountain that helps you remember your past in better detail,” Mistress Pricklethorn told her. “It’s over by the sorrow fountain, so you have to be careful because of course, not all memories are happy in the first place. So if you suck in a memory bubble and then suck in a sorrow bubble at the same time, well…” She shook her head. “You could find yourself crying for hours!”
“I see,” Lexi murmured. She was still trying to think how to bring up her request to meet with the Sacred Seven but suddenly she had an idea. “Would you show me the memory fountain?” she asked Mistress Pricklethorn. “I’d like to remember my Great Aunt, if I could. I only got to meet her once when I was a child, and she left me so much.”
“I think that’s a lovely gesture.” Mistress Pricklethorn nodded approvingly. “Come, it’s this way,” she said and tucked her arm through Lexi’s to lead her in the right direction.
Lexi threw a glance over her shoulder at Gaze and Bound and the two big Kindred nodded back. They followed at a distance as Mistress Pricklethorn led her slowly through the crowd.
Lexi just hoped that her plan worked and the other woman would grant her an audience with the Sacred Seven. But as to what she was going to say to Gaze and Bound when the three of them were alone again together and she had to face the things she’d done after sucking in the love gas bubble, she had no idea…
TWENTY-FOUR
“What do you think she’s up to?” Gaze murmured to his brother, as they followed Alexa and the brightly dressed Mistress Pricklethorn through the crowd to the other side of the room.
“Dunno—I’m still wonderin’ what she was up to when she kissed us,” Bound growled back.
Gaze frowned at his twin.
“I wouldn’t get too excited about that if I were you, Brother. She was clearly under the influence of the Dream Gas when she did that.”
“But what about all that stuff she said?” Bound demanded. “About finding the male form attractive and fallin’ in love with both of us?”
“I don’t know,” Gaze admitted. “But if I had to guess, I’d say that even if she meant all of that, she’s probably embarrassed now that she admitted it. So I don’t think we should bring it up again.”
“How are we ever gonna bond her to us if we don’t bring it up, though?” Bound exclaimed. “You think she’s gonna just slip on a puddle and fall pussy first onto both our dicks by accident? You have to talk about these kinda things, Brother!”