For the second day in a row, I woke up to screaming. My body was in motion before all the separate parts of my brain had caught up to being awake, let alone moving. I charged into Cassie’s room as Edward snapped in. Cassie was in bed, still out cold but screaming and whimpering at a night terror. I grabbed Edward’s wrist before he managed to touch her.
“Don’t. Waking her up suddenly makes it worse.” I whispered, pushing past him. I crawled up into the bed and held my twin, which made her screaming stop but she continued to whimper. After a few minutes of rocking her gently and making soothing noises, she slipped out of the night terror and into a restful dream. I heaved a sigh of relief and settled her back into bed. Good thing my twin could sleep through the apocalypse, I crawled out of the bed and followed Edward down stairs to the kitchen.
“What was that all about?” he asked me, voice soft. I could feel his eyes follow me as I walked past him to the fridge. The weight of his gaze gave me goose bumps as my magic gave an uncomfortable twist but I ignored it to grab orange juice and answer his question.
“Night terrors. Cassie started getting them last summer. See, as a Healer she feels it when someone is hurt, and she feels it when they die. She doesn’t remember having night terrors but if you wake her up during one, she’s freaked out for the rest of the night, and probably all day too.” I explained. He worked a lot of nights but this was the first time I’d ever realized that he’d missed all the other night terrors. It made me feel guilty for blocking our guardian out so much lately, so I turned to the fridge and fished out everything I’d need to make a meal for four people. When I don’t know what to do, I feed people, and since I could hear Barry snoring merrily away on the couch I was determined to feed him too.
I was chopping green peppers up when I felt Edward touch my back. I whirled, heart in throat to stare at him. He jerked back. “Sorry. When did you get a tattoo?” he demanded, voice stern. My nerves were on fire from his touch but as always, I ignored it. Luckily for me, Barry laughed from the doorway.
“She got the phoenix on her back after her 18th birthday and the Rune for fearless on wrist during first year University. Oh, and trying to agitate the cook is a bad idea. Callie’s jumpy and she has a sharp knife, tread softly.” Barry teased. I flashed him a rude gesture.
“You have two tattoos?” Edward demanded.
“Well, only the two that I’ve seen, but there could be more.” Barry added helpfully; I groaned.
“Bear, stop helping me. Yes I have two tattoos, no I don’t have any hidden. And I don’t need a lecture from you Edward. Now sit down, shut up and eat your breakfast. That goes for you too Barry.” I ordered them. Edward looked startled at my tone, but Barry grinned.
“Told you she gets agitated.” He said conversationally. I poured them both coffees once it was hot and continued cooking. Cassie came down stairs once all the food was ready. She had taken the time to shower and looked like a child in the giant fluffy bathrobe she wore over her hospital scrubs.
“Mmmm bacon.” Was all she said in way of greeting. I fed my silent twin, my guardian, my best friend and then finally managed to snag some food for myself. I smashed my scrambled eggs in between bread and turned it into a sandwich. I pretty much turned all food into sandwiches if I could. “I’ll get the dishes.” Cassie said after her coffee kicked in. I nodded and kept chewing as I headed upstairs to shower.
After my shower I dressed in a pair of loose sweats and a t-shirt, perfect for the self-defense and self discipline I was going to be teaching. I ran down the stairs lightly, humming under my breath. Cassie gave me an amused look so I leaned against the breakfast bar and tried to look menacing, which despite my muscle bulk is harder than it sounds because I'm so damn cute.
“Well children, if you’re both almost done, I have to get going. I’m sure Edward has had quite enough of the three of us for today.” I said in my most authoritative voice. Cassie gave a very ungraceful snort, which made me grin.
“Yeah, yeah, let’s go. See you later Edward, have fun at work.” Cassie said, sliding off her bar seat. She was in hospital scrubs. Barry was in last night’s jeans and he had his shirt off. I gave him the once over and shuddered.
“You look like a rug.” I complained. He shrugged at me.
“Not my fault. Besides, it keeps me warm in winter. I gotta swing by my place and grab a change of clothes. Meet you at the center Callie. Cassie, I’ll walk you to your bus stop.” He said, holding an arm out in a gentlemanly fashion.
“My hero.” Cassie said in a falsely simpering voice and linked arms with him. I followed behind them and waved bye to Edward.
The mixed youth center was near Mooney’s Bay and as such, I held as many classes outside as possible. There’s a fitness park, running and biking paths, a huge hill and the beach, all perfect to make the poor souls who come to me work out on. For self discipline we work on a series of kata to train their muscles on how to handle and balance their bodies while they try to concentrate on their various talents. Eventually we pair students off and have them work on sparring. Slowly at first until we feel they’re ready for full tilt. Barry loves fighting with me because I cheat and he doesn’t have to hold back. And together we teach those brats how to fight to survive, or fight to defend without killing. Although I’m tough and strong; in a fight, a guy like Barry would kill me. The thing is, Casters that shape shift like he does have to learn how to defend themselves without going into animal mode so I teach disabling and how to fight dirty so they can get away. Barry teaches how to overpower and pin an opponent to those students who have the physicality and control to do so. The other teachers cover how to fight hand to hand and other specialized skills as needed.
Today I had the entire class running suicides up the hill and down, to get their endurance up. Barry walked over to me and smiled. “He who fights and runs away, lives to run away again.” He quoted to me. I nodded absently, more focused on seeing if the students were pushing themselves.
“I think tomorrow should be a game day.” I said out of the blue. “Tennis balls and nerf guns for instructors and the students need to hit check points in order, do exercises and dodge us. Punishment is hill laps.” I recommended. Barry thought it over.
“At each checkpoint they’ll have to show us the skills we’ve been teaching them, probably best if we pair them up for the day. By general skill level then.” He added in. We talked it over and agreed on a final plan. Then we called the students in and told them about it. Saying that they were less than happy with the prospect would be an understatement. Though that’d a bit of a lie, some of them love the opportunity to try and impress us.
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.
I got Cass going and then went to my room and got dressed. Sundays were the day where I got to chase my sister up and down stairs, literally. She wasn’t allowed to learn classical self defense techniques so that her image remained as innocent and non hostile as possible, however, I could teach her how to survive an attack. The only option she had would be to run away, so I spent once a week chasing her around various obstacles. We’d done flat ground all summer, and had switched to stairs a month ago. It was still surprisingly warm for mid October but Cassie was hoping it’d stay warm because once it snows I’m going to be chasing her through the best that a Canadian winter can offer, and she knows it. She’s just lucky our birthday landed on a Friday this year. If Halloween had been a Sunday, I would have busted out my entire bag of tricks and you could bet on that to win.
Now, I wasn’t exactly chasing Cassie right now. Instead I was making her climb the equivalent of the CN Tower stairs. I’d done those infamous stairs twice now; they suck. So I had Cassie working on running 100 steps, then walking 100, and I’d slowly build it up to have her run the entire length. Since I never fear of someone chasing Cassie up the CN Tower it seems excessive, but I’d rather have her able to do it and not need to than need to do it and not be able to.
We re-entered the condo to the smell of frying bacon and grilled cheese sandwiches. I zoned in on the glorious smells and almost floated to the kitchen. Edward handed us both hot grilled cheese, tomato and bacon sandwiches. I bit into it and melted Canadian cheddar burned my mouth.
“Oh I could kiss you. Thank you.” I mumbled around a mouthful of hot food that I didn’t have to cook. Cassie raised an eyebrow and shot me an amused look. I just shrugged. Sometimes my mouth does the speaking thing without my brain doing the thinking thing first.
Thankfully Edward just shrugged. “You’re welcome. It’s only fair, you made the food yesterday.” He replied, watching the bread brown. I snagged another piece of bacon and then wandered over to the couch and collapsed down onto it. Cassie followed me, handing me a napkin for crumbs. I’m not always the neatest eater. I finished my sandwiches with a satisfied sign and slouched back, closing my eyes. I could feel a warm body standing near my left leg and lazily opened my eyes. Edward was standing facing towards the window, so I shamelessly used the chance to once again try and read him with my Sensate ability.
I can’t pinpoint when exactly I’d realized that my guardian wasn't as normal as I'd always assumed, but for a long while now he's been tripping off my Sensate skills with something I've never felt from anyone else. It’s one of the reasons I’m so eager to move out. Cassie doesn't have the same reaction to him, but then again as he's never been seriously hurt she's never had to use her gifts on him. That and I tend to be just a lot more suspicious than my twin is. My pride kicked in and I tried to push a little harder to see what it was that he could be hiding. I was not going to let some stupid ineptitude of my gift leave me blind to someone I live with. That helped me stiffen my spine and ignore the strange buzzing that was growing in my head. But then Edward turned to frown at me and I had to back off, he was likely feeling something. I really didn’t want Edward to find out about all this; just the thought of that sends chills down my spine because then I'd get some answers. Either he was hiding something and trouble would come, or I would offend my guardian with my suspicions. I don't want to lose him either way, being abandoned by my loved ones is definitely one of my biggest fears.
Thankfully my twin is very good at reading my moods and offering a distraction. “Why don't we go through the closets and see if there is anything we need to get rid of.” Let me tell you, going through your closet after a Power Flood can be a surprisingly therapeutic pastime. It felt weird after six years of not really thinking about it at all, but it was turning out to be entirely necessary. I had a lot of clothes that can go to charity because they simply didn't fit now that I'd put on more muscles. And since Cass' fashion tastes can actually differ than mine, she didn't want the vast majority of it either. It was calming for me and helped me resettle into my skin again from the pervading sense of something not right. I think Cassie understood that because she talked the entire time but never required me to respond.
The beginning of my week had been uneventful but like all good things my streak of simple, uncomplicated life came crashing to a halt on Thursday. In Ottawa, Thursday is generally known as Ladies’ Night. This is the night that many dance clubs have reduced drink prices for women. It’s a clever plan to get ladies in, and with large crowds of the female identified, you start attracting the mens.
Amanda gave me a call and filled me in on my duties of the night. This Ladies Night had a theme: Sins. Nice, simple, and the line up had already started Wednesday. I was requested to play the role of Wrath, and she described what kind of outfit she wanted. I do love playing dress up. It might not be the most mature thing ever but I'm not actually ashamed of that.
Barry and Zeke were waiting for us in the club at eight pm, and I guess their attire had intrigued Edward enough to join in the festivities. Barry was going as Vanity and he looked like a furry Chippendale dancer; I giggled at the bow tie, I couldn’t help it. Ezekiel was lust and Cassie was smitten with him all over again. He went classic vampire: tuxedo and everything and he did look fine, but I was a little distracted when I saw Edward. He was just going to dance but some part of me felt paranoid that he was here to keep an eye on us, some kind of behaviour chaperone. If that was the case, then he was in for a nasty shock tonight. There was a collective swallowing of tongues when Cassie and I walked into the club. Amanda laughed and applauded.
Cassie was Sloth and that meant she got to wear lounge style clothes. She was wearing a soft pink satin dress that was close enough to lingerie to make it sexy without being smutty. And somehow she looked good next to Zeke, despite the extremely different styles. My outfit deserved a good, long look if I say so myself. My tightest leather pants that were so low rise that I had added a belt to the top to add some extra cover, black motorcycle boots and black leather gloves. My very brief top was tight, white, and shredded, showing the black leather bra underneath. It was basically short cap sleeves, a collar and threads; reaching to just under the bust line. Hell, even the mole under my right breast was visible. I couldn’t resist the role.
“So, who’s drawing on me?” I asked, looking at Amanda. She came out from around the bar. Of course she was gluttony, being the bartender and all; it was perfect.
“Let me see, let me see.” She demanded, indicating that I should twirl. I did so and for once felt all the eyes on me. It’s amazing what a pair of tight leather pants and a solid core can do. “Perfect! Oh Callie, you don’t disappoint do you? Up on the bar and lie down, I’ll get Dominic to do your tummy tat.” She instructed, helping me up onto the bar top.
Dominic is her husband, and surprisingly, he’s a human. He was dressed for Greed, and I couldn’t help an amused laugh; he looked like one of those Race Track vendor types. I lay up on the bar, perfectly still while Dom drew a tattoo on my skin with latex paint. Following the line of my ribcage he wrote MURDER in block letters. It looked kind of hot on me too.
Cassie let out a whistle when it was done. “Hot damn Cal, I forgot about those pants. You should wear them more, though don’t expect intelligent conversation from the men folk when you do.” She complimented, grinning wickedly. I mimicked her expression and gave a low bow.
“We’re crowd work tonight folks. Ladies, make the girls feel comfortable and like they belong. Gentlemen help these girls feel desired and in control. And have fun!” Amanda commanded, I wondered briefly if she’d ever been in the military. When the crowds poured in, we all broke up and drifted in. It was quite fun actually. At first it was mostly women and I got some funny ass looks. But as the genders balanced out, the ladies seemed to take my outrageous attitude and attire as permission to be a little bit naughty. It should have occurred to me that something was going to throw a wrench in my plans.
I felt a cool hand slide across my bare back and I froze like a mouse near a rattlesnake. A second cool hand ran languorously down my left arm and suddenly my entire body felt hot and feverish, and I was panting slightly. When the man who was touching me slid around in front of me, I didn’t have to be a Sensate to tell what he was. Only one being could ensnare a woman like that; Incubus. And I was too saturated with sensuality to be afraid. An Incubus is one of those entities that are required by treaty to have an identifying mark. That was so they couldn’t prey on the unwilling. His face was unmarked, which made him an illegal. He was able to ensnare me by skin to skin touch, not terribly hard considering what I was wearing. With a simple touch, an Incubus can read your desires, and he can use them to get you to lower your defenses so he can feed on your life force. And despite all of me, I wanted him to keep touching me. It was hard to just hold still, to not reach out and embrace him. Despite rather intense Sensate training and mental conditioning, I was losing the will to fight. So I did the only thing I could do, I called to Cassie for help. But there was a crowd of people between us and at any time this illegal Incubus could decide to go for easier prey. Some women were drawn to them and I had to protect those poor fools from a fate that is so tempting. See, an Incubus will give you all your sexual desires and as you lay there enraptured by them, he feeds until your heart stops.
Worst of all I couldn’t run, I couldn’t even call out a warning. I had about an inch left of my own self and that was all my will to resist. Some of it was his hold on me but some of it was my own doing; if the media found out that an illegal had gotten into Faerie Tales, Amanda would lose her sanctioning. That sanctioning made the bar neutral ground and gave it protections, so the last thing I wanted to do was announce that the security had let an illegal full-fledged Incubus in. Lacking that recourse to safety, I started to play
a deadly game and crossed every mental finger I had.
I held my leather gloved hand out to the Incubus and the creature could not resist that kind of gesture. He gripped my had and the layer between us protected me a little, but suddenly my body wasn’t just hot, it was aroused. I gritted my teeth and pulled the Incubus up onto the stage. Up here where others could see him, I was hoping that Zeke would look over and see the Incubus for what it was. One demon blood can always tell another. Of course there were those in the crowds that would recognize the Incubus as well, but I was hoping they would think this was all a part of the show.
It didn't take long at all for the crowd to turn and watch us, which perversely only increased the Incubus' excitement to ruin me. I sank to my knees to keep from stepping towards him, and closed my eyes; retreating into myself to try and salvage my defenses. I just needed to endure a little longer without losing myself completely but my skin ached to be caressed. The Incubus stalked around me, intrigued by my resistance, liking that I was a challenge. He also cherished the idea of breaking me in front of so many witnesses. I could feel his anticipation because he let me taste it on my tongue like thick liquor. He called to me again and my control slipped a little more; my eyes were open, drinking him in. In my peripheral vision I could see my friends coming towards me, but now it was too late. I was crawling gracefully towards him. I could only anticipate the release of this terrible tension inside, this hot burn that needed to drink in the cool flesh he presented to me. Distantly part of my brain rebelled at the flowery language that was spewing out of my subconscious mind.
The Incubus smiled down at me and I found one last shred of resistance in me. “I don’t need to kill you to defeat you.” I said, and even though no one else could hear me I knew the Incubus would.
A ripple shuddered through me as he laughed at my puny threat, the sound like fur rubbing an open wound, and my final control slipped away. Strangely enough that was exactly what I had anticipated would happen, in fact I had planned it this way. See, I was redirecting his efforts to call me, using his power over me to call out my elements. When I concentrate I can call the elements into manifestations, most often they are my loyal hounds. However, I was using the Call of the Incubus to pull them forward and all I had to do was supply a little Power. I think it surprised him to no end to suddenly be confronted with my hound of liquid fire. I do know he backed away from me and my fire hound real quick but the damage was already done. I gracefully crawled towards him on hands and knees, followed by air, water and earth. Fire stayed right in front of the demon.
“What’s the matter? Don’t want to play anymore?” I demanded. I actually had no control over the manifestations at this point, a realization that terrified me to no end. There was one other time in my life where I had purposefully called the elements without trying to focus on their manifestations and that had ended with more than one death. Though it was done in defence not to attack; these ones were simply responding to my focus and I’m just really lucky that all my attention was riveted on the Incubus. Earlier I could feel his lust and now I could feel his fear; the more he tried to call to me, the more he called my hounds to him. And I’m pretty sure that they could hurt him. An Incubus might be a creature of impulse but he wasn't stupid and realized the danger of confronting my pure elements, so he released my mind and I came back to myself. And I was exhausted, though I couldn’t let it show, now I had to hold my hounds in place and steady while focusing on him as well. “I’m bored now.” I said in a petulant voice and turned my body away from the demon. I sat on the edge of the stage and was able to see my friends all there, watching me in shock and a little awe. “Mac, come take it away and put it back in the toy box.” I called.
Mac was an ogre and the club’s inside bouncer, a massive brute who loves his job. He dragged the demon off stage to thunderous applause from the oblivious audience. They had honestly thought that that was all a show. Oh thank the Dancer that had actually worked.
Zeke was looking at me intently. “We need to get her supported and to the bar, quick. Cassie, you can’t carry her, you’ll make it worse. She’s not safe near men so we’ll need men she’s not attracted to, to carry her.” I blinked at them and smiled a slow, sensuous smile. I suddenly felt very good. Barry stepped up to my left side to support me and Edward started towards me to help on the right hand side. And that would be…good. I wanted to touch him. But Cassie stopped him.
“No Edward, I need you to go get Amanda to pour two dragon’s breaths for her. OK?” she hastened to say. Edward frowned at her for a moment but then stepped off into the crowd. I slid down off of the stage to follow after him. It was bad that he was going away and really bad that I was reacting to him this way. Suddenly Barry was holding my left arm and Dom was holding my right while Zeke led the way through the crowd with Cassie right behind me. They propped me up on a bar stool, Barry acting as a chair back for me to lean against and two very large glasses were set in front of me. The drinks smelled delicious and I chugged them greedily; which was the point.
When the magic of the Dragon's Breath was released in my stomach, it chased the last of the demon magic away and allowed me to come completely back to myself. And I felt like boiled, peeled hell. “Oh man…” I groaned, leaning my head on my hands against the bar top. I heard Amanda chuckle and Zeke exhale sharply.
“How the hell did the demon ensnare you Cal?” Amanda demanded in a low voice. I didn’t have to answer.
“Skin to skin contact.” Zeke replied for me. “That was an Incubus. Though that raises another question entirely. How were you able to escape its control?”
“Wait, I thought that Incubi hunted…” Barry started, then looked at me in shock. “Well hell Callie, I never would have pegged you for a virgin!” he exclaimed. I could feel the blush creep onto my dusky face and that did not help me feel any better.
“Thank you so much Barry for announcing that. Luckily I still feel nice and fuzzy from the demon’s touch so I’m not going to kill you. I'm torn between cavorting around and passing out cold. Either way, I’m not safe.” I mumbled just loud enough to be heard by my friends.
“Surely you’re not going to molest Zeke with Cassie right here?” Amanda asked, causing me to focus on her. I could still feel traces of the demon magic muddling my thoughts.
“Weirdly enough he’s not the one I’m worried about.” I replied carelessly, then felt Cassie suddenly pull me towards the stage. Thankfully the crowd parted, expecting another fascinating show from me. They were going to be rather disappointed when the best I can currently manage is to not throw up on anyone. Or molest someone inappropriately.
Dominic helped pull me up onto the stage while Barry pushed from behind. I could feel Edward off to the side, and a part of me wanted to throw caution to the wind and reach out and touch him, see if whatever weirdness that Incubus has caused in me could break through Edward's shields. Luckily I didn’t get to make a complete ass of myself as Cassie intervened.
“No Edward, she’s not safe around people yet. I need you to help make sure no one else gets close to her.” She explained. Part of my brain realized that she wasn't aware of all of my issues just right now, and maybe it would be best if she were.
Before I could even mention the problems and potentially expose my secrets, Zeke decided it was his turn in the spotlight. I wonder if he thought he was doing me a favour. He grabbed Cassie’s arm and pulled her onstage with me. “Ladies and gentlemen, if you please, I’d like some quiet for a moment please.” And he got silence.
I suddenly knew what he was doing and a huge grin burst across my face. It was about damn time and I applauded prematurely like an excited seal. Zeke grinned back at me and then turned a tender smile to Cassie. “I’ve been putting up with your assorted insanities for four years Cassandra Orenda.” He announced. “And I’ve decided that you’re too good to let go,” and he dropped to his knees. The crowd figured things out real quick and started cheering. Once they quieted down enough that he could be heard, he slipped a ring out of his pocket and held it up to her. “So what do you say my Cassandra, will you marry me?”
And my twin just stood there looking like a pole-axed ox. I snorted and rolled my eyes, then I jabbed her in the ribs. “Well go on Cass. You already know he’ll look good in a tux for the wedding photos.” I stated blandly. Chuckles from all around seemed to revitalize her and she threw herself at Zeke with a shouted YES!
With such exciting shows and they'd witnessed tonight, the crowd went wild. I stayed away from Edward for the rest of the night, not understanding what was wrong with my Sense of him, and made all the harder because I swear he was hunting me down. Sweet Goddess help me. Since Amanda gave our close circle of friends drinks for free in celebration, most of us were sober enough to get home on our own volition by the end of the night, although I avoided more brain fuzziness I was still not up to trotting around on my own yet.