A Touch of Madness (A Recipe for Disaster Novel 1)

Wakes up with a grumble

 

My day started at six am and after a stint working as a bar tender at Faerie Tales, ended at midnight. I slumped in the front door of the condo as quietly as I could after being on my feet for eighteen hours. Apparently I failed the ninja stealth test because I felt the air move a second before a body slammed into me.

 

Though I was tired, I had been spending the last nine years of my life training my body on defense techniques. I simply let the weight of the attacker push me over and as I fell back, I grabbed an arm and rolled my attacker over so he flipped onto his back. I rolled into a crouch and put a knee on my attacker’s neck to shut the blood flow down and pin him. At the same time a light turned on and I saw that my attacker was none other than Zeke. Cassie had been the one to turn on a light, and Edward was coming down the stairs behind her, amusement on his face.

 

“Callie, what the hell are you doing to my boyfriend?” my twin demanded, coming down the stairs to scold me. I got off of Zeke’s neck and helped him to his feet.

 

“It’s not her fault. I was leaving and saw a shape come in but who didn’t turn on the lights. I didn’t know it was Callie, so I attacked. She was defending herself. Good job too.” He said, voice a little hoarse. I hadn’t been gentle to his larynx.

 

“Sorry Zeke.” I managed to mumble. I slumped down onto the couch as everyone came downstairs. Warm hands started to massage the hard knots out of my shoulders and I groaned. It hurt but felt good at the same time.

 

“Rough day?” Cassie asked sitting down next to me. She knew me well enough to know that I don’t bust out the violent moves unless it’s an automatic response. I can very easily hurt people, so I try to be careful. I mumbled an affirmative to her query, relaxing under the gentle ministrations of the warm, strong hands.

 

Zeke walked over to Cassie and gave her a quick kiss. “I think I’ll just see myself out. Sorry for the mix up Callie. Next time I’m over, I’ll do my best to not get my ass kicked by you.” He smiled at me and left out the door I had just recently snuck in through.

 

“You should think about doing those televised martial arts programs, you'd be a huge hit.” Cassie suggested, only half jokingly as she patted my hand. I was falling asleep a little, after a long, hard day and not much sleep. I’m guessing that’s why it took me this long to realize who exactly was standing behind me, giving me a most excellent neck and shoulder massage. At least my magic wasn’t going all twisty with his touch right now, but the longer he was close the more likely it would go off again.

 

“I’m going to bed.” I said quickly, heading for the stairs. My heart was hammering in my mouth when I closed my bedroom door. My skin tingled with the phantom touch of Edward’s hands as my magic gave another strange shudder. “Stop it.” I whispered to myself. To distract my mind and my body, I changed and did some simple stretches, finally leading to the Moon Salutation of yoga. Then I slipped into bed with every intention of sleeping in Sunday morning. Of course my version of sleeping in may differ from other peoples.

 

Seven am rolled around and I was suddenly wide awake. Hey, no screaming, there’s a novel way to start the day. A silly smile pasted to my face, I padded downstairs and started the coffee. You may or may not have noticed that I make a lot of coffee. I don’t ever actually drink any though. Nope, I drink OJ, apple juice, water, etc… but I can’t stand the taste of coffee. Unless of course I’m stealing a sip from someone else, usually just to annoy them. Fresh cup of steaming Joe in my hand, I padded back up stairs to wake my slumbering twin. I’ve tried this trick many times in the past and it never fails. Enter bedroom with full mug of hot coffee, place near slumbering sibling, nudge with long stick so as to avoid being smacked, then sit back and watch the coffee zombie devour its prey. Coffee in her digestive system, Cassie blinked bleary eyes open to glare balefully at me. Since I know it annoys her so much, I was as cheery as possible. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a morning person. Actually, I’m a night owl and mornings are the bane of my existence. Unfortunately, I have to wake up early an awful lot so I’ve made peace with O early 30.