Page 83 of A Taste of Bliss

I turn quickly, heading back the way I came. I can hear him set the guitar back into its case, closing it hastily. “Bliss, wait!”

I don’t.

“What do you want?” I ask, as he falls easily into step with me.

“In that big of a hurry to find Simon?” he asks. I look up and see his eyes narrowed at me.

“Well, yeah, that is the point of the game,” I snap, slowing to turn and face him down. “You don’t seem to understand how the game works.” I motion to where he was sitting, obviously not playing despite wearing one of the wristbands.

“I figure I’ll let others find him first, then it’ll be easier to find everyone.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “You’re suppose to try finding himfirst,” I explain. “Is this your first time playing?”

He shakes his head. “No, but I don’t really feel like playing today.”

Why am I even talking to him? I turn and keep walking. Where else would Simon be? I stop again when I hear Pisces following me. “What are you doing?”

He cocks his head at me. “I’m going to try to find Simon, since you’ve explained this super complicated game to me. I get it now,” he says dryly.

I roll my eyes at him again. “Asshole,” I mutter, continuing on and trying to ignore that he’s definitely following me.

When I head in the direction of the next stage, Pisces speaks again. “Simon wouldn’t hide out in the open like this,” he drawls. “He’s really good at this game.”

Taser runs past us just then, following after Reese, who is squealing as they run around the backstage area. It seems Pisces isn’t the only one who has lost sight of the game’s objective.

“Are you trying to help me find him?” I ask, continuing my search of the backstage. I head out onto one of the stages. It’s empty except for a couple of miscellaneous wires taped down to the floor.

“Yeah, cause that’s what I want, for you to find my cousin so you can flirt with him.”

“So why tell me where he wouldn’t hide?”

“Maybe I’m lying,” he says, a wicked grin on his face.

Ignore him,I tell myself as I leave the second stage and head back the way I came. Maybe Simon is hiding in one of the buildings closer to where we started.

Pisces lets out a sigh. “He wouldn’t pick agoodhiding place. He’d pick a funny one.”

I stop and look at him. “Why are you telling me this?”

He shrugs.

It’s not possible for my eyes to roll any harder.

He could still be lying, but at this point my approach to this game is likely moot. “Why don’t you lead, then?” I snap.

“Okay,” he says simply. He turns to the left, headed to the grassy picnic area where I made my deal with the wraith.

He comes to a stop in the middle of the grassy area and spins around slowly in a circle, scanning for Simon. He laughs. “Figures,” he mutters and heads off. I hurry after him, not able to match his long strides.

He pokes his head into the overly long high slide in the playground. The festival hasn’t opened yet so the playground is pretty empty. Pisces comes back up and looks over at me, an annoyed expression on his face. He waves to the slide and I poke my head in to see. Towards the bottom the slide straightens out a bit, enough for Simon to lounge there comfortably, hiding. He sees me and smiles. “Bliss! Come on in!”

“You hid in a slide?” I ask, a bemused smile lifting the corners of my mouth.

“I figured it’d be funny to see how many people could hide in here before people start to see us.”

“Or until the slide breaks,” Pisces says with a soft chuckle. I glance at him and quickly avert my gaze.

“Well, guess we should get in. Watch your head, mate,” Pisces tells Simon, as he heads up to the top of the slide. I follow him.