***
Jessondra slipped out of the classroom. History was easily her least favorite class, and the only way to get through the horrid inconsistencies was to remind herself that it was a necessary evil.
Fortunately, now she had time to grab lunch off campus before her art appreciation class.
"Jess, wait up!"
Jessondra groaned and turned to see a short, perky brunette bouncing towards her. "Hey, Amber."
Amber smiled. "I'm sorry I couldn't stay and talk last week, but I was in a hurry."
"So I noticed. You're forgiven, see ya."
"Wait!" Amber cried. Jessondra stopped again and waited for the unwanted question. "Do you want to have lunch together?"
Jessondra bit her lip. By all that's holy this girl was annoying. She was so energetic it made Jessondra sick, especially in the morning. It had earned her the nickname 'Morning Demon'.
And if she wasn't perky, she was depressed over her latest boyfriend.
"Sure." Jessondra slapped on a false smile. "But, I don't have an extra helmet."
Amber looked nervously at the motorcycle. "Umm, why don't we take my car?"
***
Jessondra pulled her keys out of her pocket as she left Abate's English class. She sighed in relief that her classes were over for the week. She had the entire weekend to herself. All she wanted was to slip into a warm bubble bath and feign amnesia.
She rode home in silence, her cargo locked up in the side compartments.
As she slipped the key into the door lock she heard howling in the distance. She smiled as she pushed the door open. Blake was really enjoying his gift.
Jessondra only got past the front rug when she heard arguing. Only four people lived in this house, Blake was out, and it sure wasn't her yelling, so that left…
"How could you even think about doing this?" a female voice shouted.
"It's my choice," a male voice quietly replied.
"It's the wrong choice! We have not survived this long by making foolish decisions."
"It's not foolish. I've given this a lot of thought, Mia, this is not impulsive."
Jessondra sighed. Ah, sibling rivalry. She wondered what they were arguing about this time as she stepped into the kitchen. Mia glared at her, then shoved her way past Jessondra. Skye just stood over the sink.
"I picked up your drinks," Jessondra said, holding up the two six-packs of opaque glass bottles.
"Thanks, I just had the last bottle this morning."
Jessondra slid into one the chairs. "Somehow, I don't think that's what you two were arguing about."
Skye put his hand in his pocket and grabbed hold of something, though he didn't pull it out. "You know Mia, the slightest little thing sets her off. I've had a lot of time to get used to it."
"So what is it?"
Skye turned. He was hiding something, she could tell by the look in his eyes.
"I'll tell you later, I promise."
Jessondra's smile faded. "Skye, you know I hate it when you keep secrets from me."
Skye kissed her. "You'll like this one, trust me. Clue number one, we're going on a picnic."
Jessondra's eyes lit up. "Oh, that would be wonderful. What else?"
"You'll have to wait for that one." He gently caressed her cheek and pulled her up into his arms.
"Oh, get a room you two." Blake pushed the sliding glass door open and walked in. He shook his head and scratched behind his ears.
Jessondra chuckled. "Have a nice day?"
"Yeah, but I scared the shit out of our history teacher."
Skye hissed. "I thought you said you'd stay out of sight."
"I did! But you see, there was this cat…"
"Oh, Goddess!" Jessondra exclaimed. "You didn't go after it did you?"
"No! I'm a dignified canine." That statement made Jessondra and Skye break out in giggles as Blake continued. "It just startled me, and it hissed and ran, which brought out our teacher and well…But you should have seen the look on his face!"
Jessondra buried her giggles in Skye's chest, and Skye just glanced up at the ceiling. She laughed. "I'm starting to regret giving you that necklace, wolf-boy."
***
Jessondra stood at the water's edge. Her shoes had been left on the blanket, and the waves splashed her toes. Her jeans were rolled up over her caves but the hems still got wet as she did cart wheels through the surf.
Skye sat back on the blanket. His jacket had been discarded, but her continued to stare at it, his green eyes full of nervousness. He finally reached into the pocket and pulled out a small box.
"What 'cha got there?"
He looked up to see Jessondra standing over him. Her eyes were dark and her face was flushed from all the fun she was having. The bottom six inches of her hair was wet from the salt water and sand was stuck to her feet. She had never looked so beautiful to him.
He got on his knees and took her hands.
"This is the secret. There's something I've been waiting a long time to ask you."
He showed her the small black box and she gasped. He opened the box and she felt her knees go weak. Inside was a delicate silver band with a lapis lazuli in the center.
"Will you spend eternity with me?"
Jessondra could only stand there as he slipped the ring onto her finger.
"Marry you?"
Skye laughed. "More than that. I want you with me forever. I've never suggested this to anyone before."
Jessondra slowly lowered herself to the blanket. "Forever? Are you serious?"
"Dead serious, no pun intended. I love you, Jessondra. You are so different from any of the other women I have known. I want to spend eternity with you."
Jessondra laughed and cried at the same time. She flung her arms around his neck. "Yes, yes. I want to share your eternity." She kissed him passionately, trying to convey what she couldn't put into words.
They parted and she placed her head under his chin. "This is what you and Mia were arguing about."
"Yes. She doesn't like you much."
"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed."
Skye laughed and petted her hair. "She may be my sister, but you are the woman I love. I've waited centuries for a woman like you, and I'll be damned if I let her slip away."
***
Jessondra sat on the small balcony outside her bedroom window. From the third story she could see all the way to the mountains. She could also see Blake's dark form running through the woods.
Skye and Mia had gone out for the night, so she was left alone with her thoughts. She glanced down at the silver band on her finger and smiled. She'd been doing that a lot lately.
She started to whistle. Not a specific tune, but it carried in the wind. The wind suddenly picked up from the East, pushing her hair in front of her face. She smiled again.
"From the East, huh, that's a good sign." Suddenly, the wind grew cold, sending a chill down her spine. She pulled her jacket around herself, but the cold didn't go away.
She went inside to get away. The phone rang just as she closed the door.
"Hello."
"Everything's ready, boss. The shipment's gonna be driving through tomorrow, about two o'clock."
"Thank you. I'll make sure your work is not in vain."
"Yes, ma'am." The man on the other end of the line hung up.
Jessondra hit the button and dialed a new number. It rang a few times before the person picked up.
"Hello?" A tired voice said into the phone.
"Hi, Amber, can you do me a favor?"
"Now? It's three in the morning," Amber whined.
"It's just that I won't be able to make it to our class tomorrow, could you take notes for me? Better yet, do you still have my recorder?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'll tape the lecture and drop it off after school. Are you sick?"
"No. Some business came up."
"Geez, school, and you run your own business. How do you do it all?"
Jessondra dropped the level of her voice to just above a whisper. "With magick."
There was silence. "Why am I the one who always has to deal with your insane sense of humor?"
"Just lucky, I guess. Thanks again."
"Yeah, whatever."
Jessondra hung up the phone and headed for her closet. She had a lot to do before tomorrow.
***
Jessondra stopped in her usual parking spot. She made a mental note to put her license plate back on her bike before tomorrow's classes.
Blake pulled up in his green sports car as she walked up to the door.
"You got it!"
"Of course," Jessondra responded. "By tonight, I'll have moved it and we won't have to worry for quite some time."
"Good. I was worried about this one. Xanatos Enterprises is suppose to have extremely high security."
Jessondra pulled a box out of her backpack and set it on the living room table. She sat down and opened it for Blake to see. "Oh, please, this was child's play. They never knew I was there and won't know it's gone until Xanatos opens an empty box."
There was a flash of light and they both covered their eyes. Inside was an anhk pendent on a delicate silver chain. Anhk, the symbol of life.
Blake whistled. "Now that's a pretty bauble."
"Pretty powerful," Jessondra replied. She shut the box and locked it. "I was going to keep it, but I don't need it anymore, so up it goes."
***