“Gee, I’ll have to send him a thank you.”
I laughed. “Umm, please don’t.” We moved to the beat, just like old times. “Whoohoo, it’s still there. I was afraid you might have either lost your love for our private disco revival moments or did your best to forget them.”
The faint sound of a screen door opening filled the air. It made the idea of being in a real neighborhood all that much more exciting. There wasn’t, as of yet, any demon shouting out how I was the Dark Angel sent to destroy them all. No. There was the sound of a screen door. As mundane as that may be to anyone else, to me, it was heaven.
The feeling of being watched came over me then passed quickly. I didn’t obsess about it. In fact, having an audience for my theatrics was always kind of fun. At the moment, Amber laughing and smiling was the most important thing to me.
“How could I ever forget those revivals?” she asked, spinning into my arms and then back out again. “You worked your magik over me and left me a closest fan of music that people run from. Sorry but that includes the ‘80’s.”
“Hey, I say we start a petition to get leg warmers, ripped up sweatshirts and spandex back on the market. Think jumpsuits and front men of bands. Though, unless they’re a lycan or shifter of some sort, they aren’t allowed to have chest hair.”
“Oh, we’re making exceptions now?” Amber mused, as we danced in close to one another shaking our upper bodies and laughing. “Are you now dating blondes too?”
I gasped. “Bite your tongue. That’s blasphemy! Blondes--ugg. My hair is blonde enough. I don’t want to be staring at another head of it. Besides, doesn’t every little girl dream of growing up to find that tall, dark and deadly man of her fantasies?”
“You mean tall, dark and handsome.”
I shrugged. “That too, but really what’s the fun of a pretty face? If the guy is that worried about what he looks like, he’d hate me. There have been days when I have to think about whether or not I brushed my teeth. It’s gross. I know. But I don’t care.” I shook my hips a bit to the music and laughed. “And if he can’t hold his own, that leaves me protecting two people. No thanks.”
Amber laughed. “Oh, right. I always forget about the demons that want your head on a stick.” She winked at me, clearly still not believing any of it. “Are any of them cute?”
“The sad thing is yes, most of them are cute. If it wasn’t for that pesky wanting-to-wipe-humans-off-the-face-of-the-earth thing they’ve got going, they’d be the perfect catches.” I winked. “When you’re ready, I’ll let some of my men shift for you. I will have to have a video recorder there, though, to see your face and catch your apology on film. I’ve earned it, sugar.”
She snorted. “I will never get used to hearing you say that. Your men? You sound like you own an escort service. But if those guys who helped you move,” she motioned toward the house, “are any indication of what the rest look like, then I won’t complain a bit if you are.”
“At times, it feels like I do run one. I go on more fake dates than anyone I know. And yes, the men who helped move me are like the rest.”
Amber changed positions and stood next to me. We did one of our famous at-the-bar, giving-into-not-caring, personalized line dances. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. The sweet sound of Amber giggling was music to my ears. Turning to face the opposite direction, I spotted a little girl with long, dark brown pigtails staring up at up with big green eyes. She looked so familiar to me but I was positive I didn’t know her. I smiled.
“Hi Amber,” she said, showing off her missing front teeth.
Amber kept dancing. “Hilary,” she said, sounding very happy to see the child. “How was shopping?” Hilary put her hand on her hip. “Next time I want you to take me. Daddy and Uncle Riston argued the whole time. They didn’t know what size I wear. Uncle Riston told daddy to look at my tag. Daddy said that the reason we were there was to get the next size up. It was too big.” She put her hands in the air and sighed, appearing so much older than her age. “Men.”
I snorted. “A girl after my own heart.”
Amber laughed. “Uncle Riston was right. I got you that dress last week so it’s the right size. Do you want me to take you this weekend?” Amber bumped my hip. “We can take Karri with us. She’s very, umm, interesting to take shopping. She once made me try on every dress in the store.”
“Every one of them?”
I nodded. “Yes, every one. Amber said that she’d never find a dress that looked good on her. I then made her find one that didn’t. I even got a group of people to sit and eat popcorn with me while we waited for her to show us every last one.”
Hilary giggled. “They must have been nice ladies to sit there that long.”
Amber gave me a droll look. “Yeah, they were real nice guys that had really nice scorecards that Karri made out of napkins.”
“You didn’t get below an eight on any of the outfits. Told ya you looked great in anything you put on.” I blew her a kiss and kept dancing. “You did get quite a few numbers after that if I remember right.”
Amber ignored me and focused on Hilary. “Would you like to join us?”
“Really?” Her eyes widened.
I moved quickly to the porch and pulled the fairy princess dress, that had been intended to be the flower girl’s dress at my “didn’t happen” wedding, out of the costume box. “Would you like to wear this one?”
“I get to wear a dress too?” she asked, in a sweet little singsong voice.
Nodding, I brought it out and eased it over her head. Her pigtails bounced wildly about before settling back into place. “There. You look beautiful.”
“I do?”
“Drop dead sexy,” I said. Amber nudged me hard. I cleared my throat. “Umm, you look very, very pretty.”
Hilary’s brows rose. “I can’t be drop dead sexy?”
I laughed. Amber nudged me again.
“I won’t get it dirty,” Hilary said, glancing nervously at the ground.
“Pfft, roll in the mud. It’s fine by me,” I said, touching the tip of her button nose.
Hilary gave me a cautious look. “Really? You won’t be mad and go away.”
I didn’t really understand where she was going with this but I shook my head all the same. “Nope. You can do whatever you want in it. Want me to spray paint peace signs on it? You could draw on mine too.”
“Are you sure I can get it dirty?”
“Yep.” I dropped down on the slightly damp grass before her and grinned. “You can have the dress, Hilary. I’ll even have it cleaned for you when you’re done playing if you want. I promise that I can get any stain out of it. So, let’s start by making ourselves unbeautiful brides.”
Her tiny brow furrowed. “Hmm?”
Pushing my hands through the grass, I felt the slightly moist dirt beneath it. I took a handful of it and rubbed it on my dress, leaving a big mud streak. Hilary gasped and took a tiny step back. I picked up some more dirt and took her hand in mine. The minute our hands touched, I felt a spark of her power leap up and recognize mine. She gasped.
“Oh,” she said, staring into my eyes. “You’re special.”
Amber choked on air as she touched my shoulder. “Aww, even children are staring to think you’re crazy. Normally, they’re your biggest fans.”
I winked at Hilary, knowing that we shared a secret that Amber didn’t understand. “You’re special too.”
“She is not crazy,” Amber said defensively. I chanced a glance at her, wondering why it was okay for her to refer to me like so many others had over the years but me being truthful to Hilary was not acceptable.
Hurt, I pushed a smile onto my face. “Relax, Amber. I meant it in the special-person kind of way. Not the me kind of way.”
She exhaled deeply. “Oh, good.”
I stiffened and instantly felt another energy in the air around me. It was soothing yet probing me, getting a sense of my intentions. Unsure of where it was coming from, I stood eerily still u
ntil it passed. “Okay, that was odd. Any one else feel like they just had little green men examining them from the inside out?”
Hilary raised her hand and giggled. “Me.”
“Stop encouraging her,” Amber said, glaring at me. “I don’t need her stuck in some fantasy land her entire life, too. It’s enough dealing with you.”
I forced another smile onto my face and nodded. “Well, good thing for you that I gave you a seven-year reprieve. And if I should become a bother, oh mighty sane one, please write it backwards so that when I’m searching for life on Mars in my review mirror then I can decode it.” I didn’t bother to hide the hurt I felt.
Amber dropped down fast, touching my shoulder and licking her lower lip. The worry on her face told me that she cared about hurting me. That meant something to me. “I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t think you’re crazy for real, sweets. I just tend to ... grr ... I don’t know. I’m shutting up now.”
Hilary grabbed my face and pulled it close to hers. “My mommy told me once that crazy is sometimes beautiful, especially when it comes bearing sunshine.” She lifted a stray strand of my blonde hair and smiled. “See, sunshine. I think she was right.”
Tipping my head, I smiled. “Why do you think she was right?”
“Because I think you’re beautiful and if you’re crazy too, then she was right.”
The feeling of being watched suddenly took on a new feel. Not a bad thing--just so much as more intense. I would have looked behind me but my gut told me Hilary would sense my unease. I held back.
“Why thank you, Ms. Hilary.” I winked at her again. “I think you’re beautiful too. In fact, you remind me a lot of someone I was very close to once. In my eyes, she was an angel.”
“I remind you of an angel?” she asked, her mouth opening wide.
“Yes, you do.” I stood slowly and put my hand out to her. “Want to dance with us?”
Amber touched my arm lightly. “Karri, I didn’t mean all that the way it came out. I just ... umm ... gawd, I didn’t mean it. I should think before I speak. It’s not like I haven’t had to explain to others that you’re sane and here I go hitting below the belt.”
Leaning over towards her, I wagged my brows. “I prefer eccentric but I think the state may agree with you.” I kissed her cheek quickly. “I could use the down time. Do you think if I begged extra that they’d sedate me? Numb me from myself? I could go for that.”
“Don’t even talk like that, Karri.”
“Amber doesn’t like it when I talk about some things,” Hilary said, softly. “I guess she doesn’t like it when you talk about some stuff too.”
“Really? What doesn’t she like you to talk about?” I put my finger on my lips and pretended to be thinking extra hard. “Let me guess. Amber doesn’t like it when you talk about the temper redheads have?”
Hilary giggled. “No, she doesn’t like it when my daddy talks about that.”
Really? That was interesting. I glanced at Amber.
She shot me a panicked look. “Karri, don’t add fuel to the fire. We’re having enough issues.”
I gave her a puzzled look. “We?”
Hilary yanked on my skirt. “I heard you say lycans and vampires before. Do believe in them?”
“Of course, Karri doesn’t, honey. She’s silly like that sometimes. She pretend plays a lot.”
I cleared my throat. “And she’s standing right here.” I smiled at Amber before looking down at Hilary. “Please know that Amber’s going to pinch me for this, but do you believe in them?”
“Karri!” True to my guess, Amber pinched my arm.
Hilary smiled wide and nodded. “I do. I told Amber that there are nice ones, too. She doesn’t believe in them and said so. ”
“Oh, there are. I know. And just between you and me, most of them are very handsome.”
She giggled and nodded her head madly. “Have you ever kissed one?”
“Hilary!”
I looked at Amber with wide eyes and tipped to the side. She arched a brow. “Why are you leaning like that, Karri?”
“Well, when your head explodes, I don’t want to wear it. Brain tissue wouldn’t go well with my dress.” Had I not actually had the displeasure of wearing brain matter several times in my line of work, I’d have only meant it as a joke. It did tend to stain. I didn’t point that out though.
“Ha, ha. Now tell Hilary you’re joking and be very clear that you have never kissed one.”
“Nope.” Glancing down at Hilary, I nodded. “I have kissed a few in my time. The first one was my daddy.” I pointed at her cheek. “I kissed him right there every night before I went to bed.”
Her eyes lit. “I kiss my daddy there too. And I kiss my uncle there too.”
“Please don’t call your uncle a werewolf again.”
Hilary and I sighed and spoke at the same time. “Lycan.”
Amber stared at us and took a step back, covering her eyes and laughing so hard I thought she’d fall over. “Of course. I should have known the two of you would get along perfectly.”
“Mrs. Karri, can you change into a wolf?”
Amber laughed even harder, snorting as she went.
Ignoring her, I shook my head. “No, Hilary. I can’t. My dad didn’t pass that on to me. I don’t think many little girls get that from their daddies. I think it’s more of a boy thing. But,” I put my hand up, “I did get the same color eyes as him.”
“Me too.”
“And, Hillary. Just call me Karri. No Mrs. anything. I’m not married nor do I like being reminded that I’m technically a grown up. I’m only an adult when I’m working. Any other time I’m anything I want to be. Now, I feel like being a bride covered in mud, who spent the morning cleaning and who wants to dance instead of unpacking one more box. Sound good?”
She nodded and moved in quick, shaking her hips to the music. It was so cute that Amber and I stopped what we were doing and followed her lead for a minute. She giggled and laid it on even thicker. We mimicked her. “You two are silly.”
“No, sweetie,” Amber said. “I’m silly. Karri’s crazy in the best way possible. She’s crazy beautiful.”
Hilary glanced at me. “Neat.”
Amber huffed. “You get a cult following wherever you go.”
Putting my arms out, I looked up to the sky and laughed. “It’s good to be me. Oh, come my adoring fans. Gather around me. I want cabana boys with loinclothes on.”
“Watch what you say,” Amber said, shaking her head, spilling various curls of red from her hair tie.
“What? Is it so wrong to want minions? I’ll happily take them if they come about six-five, with dark hair and blue eyes. I’ll even accept green eyes. I’m a very giving person. Ooo, and they have got to have a bigger butt than me.”
Hilary giggled.
Amber snorted. “That shouldn’t be hard since you’re built like a supermodel.”
“Right,” I laughed hard, “I looked like a bean pole until I was sixteen. I woke up one day with a suddenly filled out body. It scared the heck out of me.”
“You mean you got hellos,” Hilary said, shaking her upper body.
“Hellos?” I asked, not following.
She pointed at my chest and giggled. “You know, chunga-chungas.”
I thought Amber might actually pass out. “Hilary, who taught you that?”
“Well, Uncle Riston and Thatch and Seaton always point at women with them and call ‘em chunga-chungas. Uncle Riston goes to yell at them, sees the lady and says ‘hello.”
“Does he now?” I did my best to fill the awkward silence while Amber began to hyperventilate. “Does your daddy have a name for them?”
She nodded. “I asked him what they were really called and he said something that he hopes I never get.”
I bent down and put my arms out. “Oh, honey. They’re called breasts and someday, a long time from now, you will get them.”
Her eyes widened. “Will it hurt?”
“No.”
She wiped her forehead. “Whew. Those look like they’d hurt. Amber’s especially look like they’d hurt coming in.”
I did my best not to laugh. “Oh, yeah, hers just finally stopped growing.”
Amber pinched me again.
“Could you pick a new spot? I’m going to have a bruise there.”
Hilary touched my cheek. “My friend Mindy has a big sister who told us that we’ll start to bleed once a month and won’t ever stop soon. Is that true? I asked daddy and he got sick to his stomach. I tried to ask my uncle but he put his hand up and told me that he didn’t want to talk about it.”
“Amber?” I asked, suddenly needing a little back-up. The very idea of discussing menstruation with a child that I barely knew who came just below my hip level didn’t appeal to me. Come to think of it, the idea of discussing it with a child of any age made my stomach turn. I was not a ‘get to know your body functions’ professor by far.
“Oh, no. You got yourself into it. You get yourself out of it.”
I panicked and did the only thing I could think of doing--I tried to distract her. I snapped my fingers and the CD player stopped playing the CD I’d made and started playing the first song that popped into my head, Like a Virgin.
“Oh my God, Karri, I can’t believe you....”Amber stopped yelling at me and covered Hilary’s ears. “Go advance this. You should have warned me that you had this sort of stuff on there.”
I shrugged. “I panicked. This was the first song that came to my head.”
“Oh, like I’m supposed to believe you just made it come on out of thin air.” She shook her head. “Get rid of it. Now!”
I grinned. “Party pooper.”
She growled.
“You suck the fun out of everything.” I jogged over to the CD player and thought about something that would be Hilary appropriate. I drew a blank. “Any suggestions?” I turned down Madonna and waited. Getting no help from Amber, I closed my eyes and relied on instinct. When Wishin’ and Hopin’ began to play, I sighed and turned it up.
Hilary’s face lit. “My mommy used to sing this.” She began to sing along and stopped. “You two need to sing too.” A defiant little look passed over her face and the song instantly started over. I knew that Hilary had used her own power to cause that to happen. Amber didn’t. Her brows arched.
Wicked Lucidity Page 2