Page 86 of Sweet Dominion

What the fuck?

I blinked and moved my view to the back of the house. While I could not see the orchestra, I sure could hear them. The music swelled and filled the air, each instrument blending together to create a symphony of breathtaking sound.

The strings sang sweetly.

The brass blared triumphantly and the percussion added a lively beat.

“I’m sorry, Moni.” Lei rubbed his forehead. “I forgot that my aunts would go too far, so much was going on when we left.”

“Oh no.” I shook my head. “It’s. . .nice.”

“They are ruining the cookout.”

“Well. . .they’re not ruining it. . .exactly.” I walked off toward the back to get a good look at the orchestra.

Please say the musicians have regular clothes on and aren’t dressed as mermaids too.

Lei followed. “I should put them back in the dungeon.”

“No. No. Leave them alone—”

“Why the hell are there mermaids all over the place—”

“Maybe, they thought my sisters liked them.”

“Do they?”

“Well. . .they don’thatemermaids.” I continued forward. “It’s more like. . .when they see all of this, they will just be. . .slightly confused.”

“I’m sure that’s an understatement.”

We left the view of the swimming mermaids and got to the back.

The sound of hammering began to rise over the orchestra music.

What is going on back here?

We rounded the corner and the source of the noise became clear.

At least twenty workers in blue assembled a large stage in the back garden. The framework was nearly complete with spotlights.

A stage for a cookout? Is someone performing?

On the right side of the stage, two magnificent trophies gleamed in the sunlight. One was nearly as tall as me and had a hand shooting up in the air, holding a gem studded spatula.

The second trophy was half the size and this hand only gave a thumbs up.

“O-kay.” I continued to take everything in. “So. . .the stage must be for the grilling competition.”

Adjacent to the stage were two extravagant food stations. Kitchen staff hurried around, placing down all sorts of culinary equipment and fresh ingredients.

A sigh of relief left me when I spotted the orchestra.

Good. They have regular clothes on.

Each musician wore blue tuxedos, including the women. And it was clearly Lei’s special orchestra because they had those blindfolds over their eyes.

Next to them, Aunt Min and Aunt Suzi stood, dressed in these flowing blue ball gowns.

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