Book Antiqua"'>Chapter Fifteen
It was January when the two boys were let out of the hospital. The others had gone back to the apartment and cleaned up, then got back to work. There was nothing in the news about �the cult� anymore, and there had not even been news of Portia�s death. There had been reports of a �disturbance� in the neighborhood, but that was it. Raven had moved back in, and life was normal.
Raven was sitting on one of the huge beanbag chairs reading a book when Laurel and the others girls came by whispering and giggling. Raven looked up curiously. Suzan was doing most of the talking, and Raven assumed that she was doing her usual gossiping when she noticed something. Deborah was with them,
wearing a secretive and mischievous grin.
�What are you guys planning now?� she asked.
�Cassie and Adam�s next date,� Melanie answered, and lowered her head back into the group.
Raven had never really paid much attention to how dating was supposed to be done, but she was pretty sure that the guy asked the girl out and that they made their night�s plans together. Maybe Adam was just being set up on a date with Cassie again. Raven was starting to get a little uncomfortable when Cassie and Adam kissed and hugged openly. Suzan and Laurel would just giggle. This would set the Henderson brothers into their valley-girl impressions and soon everyone in the room would be snickering quietly. Cassie and Adam would be
oblivious the whole time, of course. Nick usually ducked out of the room.
�Hey, are we going out or what?� Doug demanded, leaping over the back of the couch with a bag of potato chips in one hand.
Chris tried to follow and only succeeded in landing on the carpet on his head. He picked himself up, shook himself out and picked up the six-pack of sodas.
�Going out for what?� Deborah asked.
Doug waved a pack of cards.
�Hello! Jeez, Deb, you�re acting more and more like a girl,� he muttered.
�The last time I checked, she was born a girl,� Adam quipped from the couch, and Cassie giggled.
Raven groaned. Everyone was giggling tonight. She put down her book, stood up and stretched.
�Yeah, let�s go, cavemen!� She and the Henderson brothers started out the back door, calling to Nick as they went.
�He�s already down there,� Suzan said, so they headed down.
Sure enough, there was a fire blazing at a grill pit, and as they get closer the shadow beside it became Nick.
�Hey man, it�s game time!� Chris sang out. They sat down and Doug began to deal.
Chris popped open the bag of chips, as was the tradition, and Raven opened a soda.
�Where�s Deb?� Nick asked, sounding as though he didn�t really care.
�Inside with the rest of the girls,� Doug sneered. �Raven�s the only fun one anymore.�
Raven rolled her eyes. �Deal, man!�
They antied up and the game began. Nick was always the best player because he had a perfect poker face, while the twins grinned the whole time and you didn�t know if they were grinning because they would win or they were bluffing or they just grinned. Raven was good at keeping a poker face, but for some reason she wasn�t getting any good hands that night.
�You�re dealing from the bottom again!� Chris cried. �No counting cards!�
"He�s not smart enough to count cards,� Nick said.
Chris dove at his brother and they began to wrestle. Raven threw down her cards and groaned. When would those two ever grow up?
�I�m going inside,� Nick said. Raven nodded and stood up as well. The two of them trudged back to the house in silence, buried in their own thoughts.
When Raven stepped into the kitchen, the first thing she noticed was that all was silent. She peeked into the den and saw that the TV was off. While Nick got a drink she went into the den to check out the yellow piece of paper lying on the coffee table.
Gone out to the movies
-Deborah-
Raven stared. Why hadn�t one of them come down to tell them? She groaned for about the hundredth time that night.
�Where is everyone?� Nick asked.
Raven held up the piece of paper. �Gone to see a movie. I guess they really wanted to see that new James Bond flick.�
Nick frowned. �Why didn�t one of them come to tell us?�
�They probably asked Sean to do it,� Raven muttered. She turned and headed for her room. �The twins can come in on their own.�
Nick snickered. �If they can manage that without their mother holding their hands.� Then he added, less sarcastically, �I bet they miss their parents.�
�Do you remember your parents?� Raven asked curiously.
�Only what my aunt and uncle told me,� he replied. �My aunt would always go on and on about how much I was growing up to be as reckless as my dad. And how much I was looking like him. I always thought it was because my dad was some loser that she hated, but then Cassie�s grandma told us why. Deb�s mom was originally going to marry my dad, but then Black John came along and rearranged the pairs. I guessed she loved him more that she�d ever admit.� He looked away. Then he turned to look at Raven. �Do you remember your parents?�
Raven whirled around, caught off guard by the question. Ever since �that night�, no one had ever asked her about her past. She just assumed that they�d got it out of AJ or maybe Doug.
�Nothing that I want to remember,� she murmured, turning away.
�Do you miss them?� Nick asked.
�No. I�m tired of hearing them scream.� The words just spilled from her lips. She didn�t even know why she was saying them, to Nick in the least.
�Bad dreams?� Nick was close behind her; she could feel his cool breath on the back of her neck.
�You don�t even know,� Raven whispered.
Nick put a hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him.
�You should tell someone.�
If I want to tell someone I�ll hire a shrink,� Raven muttered, but for some reason she didn�t pull away.
Nick reached out and placed cool fingers under her chin, lifting her face so that he could look into her eyes.
�I�m here for you, you know,� he said.
Raven reached up and pulled his head down to hers. She could feel his surprise as his lips met hers, but then he began to kiss her back. She kissed not to think, to just be and not have to think. His arms around her were strong. She could feel his heart beating even through the wool of his thick Irish sweater.
He reached up and loosed her hair, his hands getting tangled in it as it spilled down her back. She pulled back slightly for air, then brushed her lips against his again. He was breathing hard, out of breath and shocked. But then he was leaning down and kissing her again. Raven gave in as
he reached up and untied the leather around her neck. She felt the crystal as it fell, and kicked it aside as she pulled Nick closer. The silver cord blazed between them. Raven shivered as light flooded through her. Nick was trembling in her arms. It was total bliss, as if they were the only two people in the world and they were the only people that mattered to each other. The light was all around them, flooding through them, and suddenly a blazing path opened between her mind and his... She gave a cry as she suddenly fell backwards onto the couch. Nick pulled back and helped her to her feet. Looking around, she noticed that the lights were out.
She groaned softly.
�I think we lost power,� Nick whispered. He reached out and groped for the light switch. There was no response. Nick brushed his lips against hers again and said softly, near her ear,
�We should get some candles and wait for the brothers to come in.�
Raven disentangled herself from his arms and went to the cupboards to get some candles. All it took was a flick of her mind to set them alight. She placed them around the room so there was light even though there were still shadows in the corners. She looked at her watch.
�When do you think the brothers will be in?� she asked.
Nick didn�t answer, just pulled her into his arms and began kissing her again. Raven was in bliss, but there was part of her mind that was objecting...
She knew the danger of softness. He could spin a web of shadows around you, with touches like the brush of moth�s wings and kisses as soft as twilight. He could turn your own senses against you until the kisses left you dizzy and breathless and the moths�-wing touches put you on slow burn. By the time you realized what was under the softness, you were shivering and melting and lost...
�Do you think it worked?� Doug whispered as the rest of the Circle gathered in the den. The brothers had come back into the house after switching the power back on. The others were back from AJ�s place.
�Let�s look,� Deborah urged. They crept along the hallway to the room Nick shared with Adam. The door was shut. The door for Raven, Deborah and Suzan�s room was shut, too. Cassie and Diana exchanged worried looks. Melanie was the boldest. She reached out and turned the door handle carefully. She slid the door open silently and they all peered into the dark recesses of the room. Raven was curled beneath the covers, Nick lying on the covers beside her, his arms around her, both sleeping peacefully. Melanie shut the door quickly and they all ran back into the den.
�We did it!� Sean crowed. Suzan clamped a hand over his mouth.
Laurel rolled her eyes. �Do you want them to wake up and find out that we�ve been planning this? They�ll both get so mad.�
�Where am I going to sleep?� Adam wondered with a yawn.
�I�ll sleep on the couch,� Diana offered.
Chris and Doug slanted her looks. Melanie slapped Chris upside the head and gave him a warning look. He just accepted his punishment without a word.
�Let�s go to bed,� Cassie urged. She grabbed Adam�s hand and led him to her room.
�I love matchmaking,� Suzan declared.
�Only when it works out,� Laurel added, and they both giggled.
�Did you cheat again?� Deborah asked Doug as the three of them headed into the kitchen to brush their teeth at the sink there. She was asking about the cave meeting she had missed.
�He didn�t really, but I knew if we started fighting about it again the other two would leave,� Chris said.
Doug rubbed his arm. �You�ve got to stop doing that. You hurt me.�
Chris just shrugged and brushed his teeth.
Raven awoke slowly. She stretched, feeling happy and glorious. She was warm, felt safe. Opening her eyes she saw that she was lying in Nick�s arms and that he was still asleep. Alarm flashed through her, and her hand went to her throat. The crystal was gone. Then she remembered that she�d pulled it off herself and leaned over to kiss Nick on the cheek.
His eyelashes fluttered and then he opened his eyes. He saw her and smiled.
�Hi,� he said, sounding shy. Then he looked around and noticed where they were. He sat up, a look of panic crossing his face. �Why are we in here? Did anything happen last night?� He looked to Raven, fear in his eyes. Then he looked down at himself and realized that he was still dressed and was even wearing his shoes and he relaxed a little.
�It�s all right,� Raven said softly. She smiled gently. �You were a perfect gentleman.�
Nick gave her a strange look. Suddenly the door flew open. They both turned to see who it was.
�Rise and shine!� Laurel bustled into the room bearing a tray of food. She saw them and beamed. �Nice to see you two awake. Have a nice night?�
Nick looked at Raven in alarm � he still wasn�t sure whether anything had happened.
Laurel saw his look and laughed. �Nothing like that, silly. But we peeked in and saw you two looking so peaceful...� She pretended to wipe away a tear. �It was really true love.�
Raven shook her hair out of her face. �True love is in fairytales.�
Nick�s mouth dropped open in shock. She was going to deny him again...? Raven leaned over and kissed him on the mouth, making it lingering and sweet.
�Real life has passion,� she whispered, pulling away. Laurel set down the tray, making a face.
�I�ll leave you two to your breakfast.� She backed out of the room, making a face again. �I just hope I can eat mine.�
Nick laughed and tossed a pillow after her.
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