THE BOND OF MAGIC (writing now)

CHAPTER XXXI

When I saw you in that dress, 

looking so beautiful

I don't deserve this, darling,

 you look perfect tonight

SAPPHIRE

I had never felt so self-conscious in my whole life. Never about my looks. Most of the time, I just don't care what I look like. I have been told that confidence usually radiates off me. I tend to dominate any room I step into. Today though, I seemed to have forgotten how to walk or talk. I walked down the staircase in some kind of trance. My head was spinning... what the hell is a date? By this point, I was pretty sure I was going to have a panic attack within minutes.

"You're gonna do fine," Juliette whispered into my ear and gave my hand a quick squeeze. I was grateful for the vote of confidence.

"And I want details." she added. So this is what this was all about. I gave her a look. She shrugged her shoulders innocently and winked at me. Well, that just gave me another thing to worry about. Juliette gave me another sly smile, and then she was gone.

And there he was. He was wearing a simple button-up black shirt and jeans... nothing fancy, but still sexy. (wait, did he purposely match me, or was this a coincidence, or more probably Rosa?) Somehow, seeing him gave me the confidence I needed, and I was my usual smug self.

"You gonna stop staring today?" I snapped my fingers in front of his face.

"You look beautiful..." he breathed out. I definitely did not blush at the compliment.

"Not bad yourself. Now, you got an explanation on how you miraculously forgot to tell me, this was happening?"

"Well, first of all... as much as I want to credit, it wasn't my idea. Rosa suggested it just this afternoon-"

"We have been set up, haven't we?" I groaned. "She told me, you wanted to take me out."

"Well, of course, I want to take you out, it just wasn't my idea." he said, "And I'll have to thank her for your outfit, which you clearly didn't select. " he stated clearly checking me out. No, it definitely did not give me chills.

"And tell me, Lionel, did she perhaps, also select your attire?" I questioned, brushing off his last comment.

"Not exactly. I asked Michael to help me out-"

"This is a fucking conspiracy..." I sighed pinching the bridge of my nose.

"A welcome one, nevertheless." he winked, "Now, you gonna come? I got it all planned out."

****

Five minutes later I found myself riding shotgun in Lionel's black SUV. I had no idea which model it was. I didn't really keep myself updated with machines or whatever humans call them. All I knew was, why did everything have to be black today? It was the new moon, even the sky was black. We drove mostly in silence. 

For some reason, Lionel kept throwing sideways glances at me. Maybe I should thank Rosa for the makeover too. Our vehicle moved smoothly along the winding mountainous path. I wondered where he was taking me... I was pretty sure, the mountain top didn't have a restaurant or anything. I couldn't wait anymore.

"Where are we going?" I grilled.

"Wait and watch, princess." he smirked and kept driving.

"Don't call me princess." 

"Whatever, princess." 

I huffed but didn't say anything. It wasn't like he was gonna listen to me. The car slipped into silence once again. I peered out of the window... we were gaining altitude. I just hoped I wasn't gonna end being pitched off a mountainside. Call me paranoid, but I don't rule out any possibility.

Slowly, the path started to plain out... which meant we had probably reached the mountain top. Lionel slowed down the car to a stop. I was about to unlock the door and step out when he stopped me by gripping my wrist.

"Stay here. I gotta check something first." he said.

"Check what?" I inquired.

"Suspense doesn't suit you well, does it?" he chuckled. I didn't know what was funny. I raised an eyebrow at him. He just shook his head and stepped out of the car, leaving me in the dark. 

I pondered what he had planned for us. One thing I was sure of: It included a lot of stupid pick-up lines from his side. I tried to see what he was doing through the window, but he had parked the car in such a way I couldn't really see him.

After what seemed like an hour... Lionel came around. He opened my door for me and held out his hand for me to climb out of the car like the gentleman he was. I rolled my eyes at his gesture, nevertheless, I took his hand and stepped out of the car. My hand tingled with his touch. I wondered if he felt it too... I could never be sure.

Lionel grinned at me like crazy. That provoked another eye roll from me, even though I couldn't help returning his smile. Over the little time that I had known this man... his smile had become contagious for me.

"Come on." he lead me to a raised part of the otherwise flat mountain. I gasped as soon as we reached the flattened peak of the hill. The scene that unraveled before me was so breathtaking, I actually lost my breath. We were high above the clouds. And below me sprawled the whole expanse of the Eclipse Night pack. For once, I was glad for the darkness of the night. The little lights of the settlement outshone the scene like little stars sprinkled across the sky. The biggest construction... the packhouse was located centrally in the heart of the pack. All the other houses spread out like magnetic field lines from it.

"Remind you of something?" Lionel interrupted my chain of thoughts. I realized he was talking about that time I had taken him to the temple of Trivia, back at the cult. The place we had truly kissed for the first time. I realized this might just be his way of making me feel at home

"You know exactly what this reminds me of." I smiled up at him. His eyes twinkled under the moon as he smiled back at me. And I guess he deserved it just this once, so I went to my tiptoes and places a little kiss on his lips. 

"Okay then. What else you got in store for me?" I prompted him.

"Oh, there is a lot in store. But I think you'd like to eat first." he winked at me and my heart very irritatingly went ka-bump.

"When will you get rid of all those dirty pick-up lines?" I rolled my eyes. He shrugged his shoulders and silently led the way. I was glad I didn't wear the stilettoes... mountain terrain was not for walking in heels. My hand was still entangled in Lionel's as he took me wherever we were needed to be. He finally came to a stop in front of a cave-like structure. I wondered what we were to do in there.

"Come on." he pulled me in behind himself.

The inside was not what I expected. Lionel really had planned this well. The whole inside of the cavern was lit up with little electric lamps. A table was arranged in the center. I must say, I was awed.

"You did all this?" I asked.

"Well, Juliette helped." 

"Wow." 

"I'm glad you like it." he gave me his infamous sideways smile.

Oh, this was gonna be fun.

****

A/N

Hey Lovies,

Lol, I'm just going to skip this coz I'm out of ideas.

But I hope you liked the chapter, and thanks for reading :P

Do consider pressing the star button and voting for this story, it motivates me to keep writing :)

QOTD

What should be the 'QOTD' for the next chapter? (LOL) I'm just messing around.

CYA in next update