Page 13 of The Mastermind

Amy and Amanda, who came with Gisele, strode by the kitchen on their way out to the deck and turned to me. “Want to join us?” At a glance, they looked like twins. They both had blonde hair and wore white dresses that revealed attractive cleavages.

“Maybe later,” I said.

They had invited me to their place earlier, promising an unforgettable night, which I cordially declined. I wouldn’t mess around with Grayson’s girlfriend’s friends. I didn’t need that complication. Besides, I wasn’t even turned on . . . not one bit.

Not the way I was when Audri touched my car.

“Gisele, this is my sister, Audri. I’m going to show her around first, then I’ll come find you, okay?”

“So nice to meet you!” Gisele embraced Audri. “You’re as beautiful as he said.”

Audri flicked an amused look at her brother. “He said that? That’s hard to believe. How much did he pay you, Gisele?”

Grayson snorted. “There’s no need to pay for the truth. It just makes sense.” He swept a hand down his body. “I’m gorgeous, and you’re related to me. So by default, you’re gorgeous too.”

Audri narrowed her eyes at him, then turned to Gisele. “You need to watch out for that mouth of his.”

“Oh, Ilovethat mouth of his. He has a very skilled mouth.” She kissed him.

“I don’t want to know how skilled my brother is withanything.” Audri closed her lips into a tight line as pink blossomed onto her cheeks. “Let’s get this tour over with, okay, big brother of mine?”

While Grayson gave Audri a tour of his home, I replayed my encounter with Slash and his invitation to meet for lunch, which I neither declined nor accepted. I had told him I’d think about it. I had several questions for him but wasn’t sure if this was a good time to start that kind of conversation. A part of me resented him for the threat, but I knew he’d done it for our safety. My anger was mostly toward the people—the hooded person—who had killed that unknown man. If there had been no murder, I wouldn’t have seen it, and the faceless man wouldn’t haunt my dreams.

To this day, no one spoke about the murder. After the incident, I’d checked the news, but nothing was mentioned, and had wondered what had happened to his body. Did they bury it somewhere? Did they burn it?

Despite my hesitation to meet Slash again, he had given my friends and me a second chance that day. I’d never forget it.

I didn’t want Grayson’s housewarming party to be about murder and threats, so I never mentioned anything about seeing Slash. Instead, I focused on our video game discussion.

I showed Royce and Arrow the blueprint of our video game. Forrest couldn’t make it tonight. My buddies all lived within an hour of Providence. I was the only one who decided New York was the place for me.

“This is what I have so far.” I unveiled the map on the large dining table. “I’ve revised it several times. Level One sets up a firm foundation for our WaterFyre world.”

“That’s outstanding, man.” Royce crossed his arms, studying the map. His short blond hair that looked almost white, a unique trait from his Icelandic heritage. As a volcanologist, he assisted in the geological aspects of the game. “I’ve been drafting a few stories for Level Two. It’s still ongoing.”

At first, I self-taught myself, then took online courses to create the first demo for WaterFyre Rising. In the role-playing game setting, my friends and I could be anything. Our imagination had gone wild with ideas, and in that game world, we were free, but after that unforgettable day, everything changed for us. I didn’t know how my friends dealt with the murder they had witnessed. I had retreated into myself, tucked away my dream of the video game, and attended college.

I’d needed time to let that incident—and the threat—fade from my mind. I hadn’t known if anyone was watching my every move. At that age, I believed I was being watched. While getting my master’s at Yale, I met some guys with connections to the gaming industry. I took classes with the masters and attended a few seminars that reignited that fire in me and soon regained what I had lost. It angered me I had allowed something outside of me to stop my dreams. I had shoved it away because of fear.

No one had the right to dim my fire. It wasn’t just my dream. It was the collaborative vision between the guys and me. I didn’t realize how powerful that was until later. Each of us played an important role in making WaterFyre Rising a reality. It was no longer a secretive meeting between teens who needed an escape from their life. This was now an actual game that the world would soon know, want, and love.

“We’ve gone a long way from those days playingThe Seven Realms.” Arrow flipped through the binder of images, simulations, and illustrations from various artists I’d been reviewing.

When we were kids, we used to playThe Seven Realms, an RPG game, which sucked us in for hours and hours. That was how I met Royce, Forrest, and Arrow.

Royce smacked my back. “Seems right that you have these ready for us. You were the most organized, the Mastermind for WaterFyre Rising.”

“And you, the Explorer, a.k.a. the Daredevil. We needed your expertise to survive that world.” I pulled out a flash drive for each of them. “All my info is on here for your reference. You can use it to build your levels.”

“Thanks, man.” Royce tucked the flash drive into his jean pocket. “I’ll upload the data onto the encrypted website Arrow set up. You guys can upload anything you want to share on there.”

A burst of laughter rang out, sending a strange jolt through me. I turned my attention toward a smiling Audri, coming down the spiral staircase with Grayson.

Grayson walked up to the table and glanced at the map. “I have a few building designs to show you guys. Level Three is going to befantastic.”

“Upload it to the website Arrow sent over earlier,” Royce said.

Audri squeezed between Grayson and me, leaned in, and reviewed the map. “Looks interesting . . . and complicated.”

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