She entered Cassie’s room much as she had in the years that they’d lived in the house, with a rapid knock followed by immediate entrance. Her sister was seated cross-legged atop her bed, a pillow at her back, and the book of spells before her.
As soon as she saw her, Cassie smiled and quipped, “So, it’s one of two things. Either I’m not crazy at all, and that eco-friendly padded cell is just going to have to wait, or we have a history of madness in our family, and we’ll be upping that order by at least two.”
Vivienne grinned and took a seat at the edge of the bed. Cassie looked tired, with faint circles under her eyes, but she was no longer pasty and wild-eyed. She’d changed into comfortable clothing—a plain blue T-shirt and pajama bottoms, and her hair, like Vivienne’s, was pulled into a messy bun.
“You swear you didn’t know anything about this before now?” Cassie asked, staring intensely into Vivienne’s eyes.
“No clue.”
“Interesting,” Cassie murmured and then her eyes narrowed in the way that alerted Vivienne that her twin had something to say and was contemplating whether or not to say it.
“What?”
“I think I have a vague memory of Mom teaching us to pray when we younger. Except Mom’s not that religious and she wasn’t praying in English. It’s really fuzzy anyway and I always thought it was a strange dream I’d had. After everything I just learned, it probably did happen. I mean, I just found out that I’m a druid, you’re a druid, Mom’s a witch, and our house is being patrolled by werewolves. I mean, this is like a crazy cross-over episode of Wolf Lake and Charmed.” She broke off and then fingered the book of spells once more. A little smile touched her lips. “I think I always knew something was off with us—well me, anyway. You weren’t as peculiar.” When Vivienne lifted a brow, Cassie continued in an exasperated voice, “It makes sense, Viv. I’m a certified freak of nature. No, don’t say anything, I’ve accepted it so it doesn’t offend me anymore. Plus, it’s got a certain ring to it. I love everything about the outdoors. Druids are earthy creatures, right? At least, that’s what my college professor told me.” She smirked and rolled her eyes.
Vivienne chuckled and shook her head. “Your professor might have gotten some of his facts wrong, Cass.”
Cassie smiled and added, “Knowing Khan, the facts were all made up. I still think he bought that Harvard degree on eBay.” They both laughed and Cassie reached for Vivienne’s hand.
“So, who’s the hunk, where’d you meet him, and where’d he go?” Cassandre asked with a lifted brow.
Because Evelyn had commandeered Cassie’s time for most of the day, she hadn’t seen much of Conall or anyone else. Vivienne thought hard of how to explain Conall to Cassie and decided to say what she knew and felt. If anyone would understand, it would be her twin.
“Conall’s a werewolf….” She paused, expecting a gasp of shock or a lifted brow or a question but Cassie just sat there with her eyes trained expectantly on her twin. Vivienne had forgotten Cassie wasn’t one for hysterics. Last night had been an anomaly. “…and he says that he’s my mate. I don’t know what that really means. I feel like I’ve known him for much longer than I actually have. I met him when we went camping. Do you remember? When I disappeared after being chased by that wolf. That was his nephew. They were there with…his pack I guess. Anyway, he brought me back.” Cassie’s eyes widened slightly. “Cass, I don’t know. It’s like he’s inside me.” Vivienne blushed and lowered her eyes as she thought of the double meaning of that phrase. “I can’t explain it better. I feel like I need him, and it confuses me, but at the same time, I understand it. It’s complicated.”
When she looked up at her sister, Cassie was staring at her with that curious, I-intend-to-figure-it-out expression she usually wore. She inched closer to Vivienne and asked, “So, he’s a werewolf, and you’re a druid, but you’re his mate?”
She nodded slowly. She really had to sit down with Conall and have him explain to her what it meant to be a mate. He’d given her the whole ‘I belong to you, you belong to me’ speech, but what did that mean?
Cassie stared long and hard, before a large grin split her lips and she tilted her head to the side. “Do all werewolves look like him, and does he have a twin?”
Vivienne rolled her eyes, laughed and shook her head. “Cass!”