Transformed Chapter Ten

A Chapter by Tabitha M.

“You’re awfully happy this morning,” Sheena said, apparently eyeballing Larissa behind thick sunglasses.

“You’re awfully hung over this morning,” Larissa retorted, sticking her tongue out at her.

Sheena threw a pepper at her.

Larissa laughed, and picked it up, putting it in her own basket. Sheena was right though, Larissa was happier than she could ever remember being. After their amazing make out session in the pool, Tyko walked her up to her room, kissed her goodnight, promising to see her tomorrow. That had been the best feeling of all. She had gone to sleep with a smile on her face.

“It was worth it,” Sheena said with a smile of her own.

“Oh yeah?” Larissa prodded. “What happened?”

Sheena put her index finger to her lips, saying , “It’s a secret.”

Larissa laughed, “As long as you’re happy.”

“Couldn’t be happier, even with my busting headache.”

“I hate to interrupt the pepper picking party,” Olivia said, “but it’s payday for you guys.”

Sheena shrieked excitedly, and put her basket on the ground, rushing for the house. Larissa put her basket down as well, and fell in step beside Olivia.

“Where do you work?” Larissa asked as they made their way to the house with much less enthusiasm than Sheena.

“I’m a waitress at a bar in town,” Olivia said. “Why, tired of the farm work?”

“No,” Larissa chuckled. “I might get tired of it one day, but not there yet. Sheena is nice company.”

Once they entered the house, they walked up to the dining room, where a short black woman with even shorter hair was handing a grateful Sheena a white envelope.

“We started harvesting peppers today,” Sheena said to the woman. “I should be out at the market tomorrow. I’ll just drop off what we make in the house account on the way home.”

“Sounds good,” the woman said with a friendly smile.

“Oh, this is Larissa,” Sheena said making a quick introduction. “She’s been my help in the garden. Larissa, this is Keema, the one that owns the house. And that’s Luther.”

Larissa hadn’t even noticed the older man standing behind Keema. Which was surprising because he was so tall.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Keema said with a brilliant, welcoming smile. “I’m glad you found sanctuary here, stay as long as you want. You’re more than welcome.”

Her words touched Larissa’s heart. “Thank you so much, that means a lot. There’s no way I could thank you enough for making this place. I’ll help in any way I can.”

“You’re helping by being here, and being safe,” Keema replied warmly. She fished in the giant bag that was sitting on the table and handed Larissa an envelope like Sheena’s.

“Thank you,” Larissa said hoping her gratuity showed her in words.

“You are very welcome. Keep up the good work.” She took a deep breath, and went over to the window. “You guys are doing great work. I might have to expand if you keep finding new shifters. I do believe Larissa took the last free bedroom. Am I correct?”

“Yes, but-” Olivia started to say, but Sheena interrupted her almost shyly, saying, “Actually, my room might be up for grabs soon.”

Larissa would have laughed at Olivia’s bug-eyed expression of shock if she hadn’t been so surprised herself.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Olivia quipped.

“Calm down,” Sheena laughed nervously. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m just changing rooms.”

Olivia sighed deeply in relief, then her expression turned to one of excitement. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

Sheena nodded excitedly. “Yes. I was going to wait until it was already done, but if Keema’s going to start a new building project because of one lost bedroom, figured I should say something.”

“I’m so confused,” Larissa said looking between Sheena and Olivia.

“Sheena and Ant are moving in together!” Tears of happiness shone in her eyes.

“That’s wonderful news!” Keema said clapping her hands together excitedly. “I’m very happy for you both!”

“Don’t you already live together?” Larissa questioned, eyebrows still raised in confusion. “Don’t we all live together?”

“Well, yes,” Olivia said exasperatedly. “But they’re moving in together. Into the same room, taking the next step, so to speak. It’s more of a commitment thing.”

“Oh!” Larissa said finally understanding. “Congratulations!”

Sheena laughed. “Thank you.”

“I should still think about extending, though,” Keema went on. “You never know when another shifter in need will pop up. It’s almost sad to think that in a decade, there will be no new shifters to find.”

“Those scientists did amazing things,” Luther said speaking for the first time. “Who knows? They hid from the government for years. For all we know, there could be new shifters born everyday.”

“You’re right,” Keema said with a smile. “Best not to give up hope.”

“Sometimes hope is all you have,” Sheena said with a hint of sadness, taking away from her joy. “But it can make all the difference.”

~*~

“I don’t even have any pictures,” Larissa protested, putting the picture frame back on the shelf.

Olivia sighed, and pulled out her phone, moving closer to Larissa. She hit a button, then held the phone out in front of them.

“Smile!”

Larissa rolled her eyes with a chuckle, and smiled. Olivia hit a button and a shutter sound emitted from the phone.

“There,” Olivia said happily, putting the picture frame back in the cart.

“I still don’t physically have it to put in the frame,” Larissa said protesting again.

“They have a fancy printing station up front,” Olivia said smugly. “Won’t take a minute.”

Larissa gave in, admitting to herself that it was a pretty frame. It was a wavy square shape with silver hearts on the top left corner, and the bottom right corner.

“That should about do it for today,” Olivia said steering the cart up to the front. She had insisted they do a little decorative shopping for Larissa’s room before they went to eat. Aside from the frame, they had picked out a new blanket, which was black with gray and white flowers, a tea light candle holder in the shape of a tree, a small white cube shelf, a small bonsai tree, which Larissa had no idea how to take care of, and large painting of a sunset landscape. The painting was all black and white except for the sun, which was a brilliant mixture of reds and oranges.

Larissa paid for the items while Olivia went to print out the picture. It was nice being able to pay for her own things again, even if they were things she had never planned on buying in the first place. Decorating hadn’t been her top priority, but when she thought about, she couldn’t really think of anything she needed. She still have plenty of toiletries left from their first shopping trip, and Cressida kept them all fed. She didn’t really need a phone, there was a land line she could use. Her life was pretty perfect.

Larissa met Olivia at the front, who immediately showed her the freshly printed picture.

“It’s perfect,” Larissa said, smiling genuinely.

“It is!” Olivia said happily. “I got myself a copy of it, too.”

They put everything in the car, and Olivia drove them down the road a ways. They pulled into a parking lot in front of a building called Roman’s. They walked inside and were led to a booth with red and white cushions and a red wood back. There were fake vines hanging from several different places in the restaurant, along with murals of Italian looking landscapes. Their waitress came up, and greeted them with a cheery smile. She left menus, took drink orders, and disappeared.

Larissa scanned the menu. “What do you normally get?”

Olivia sipped on her lemonade. “I get something different every time.”

“Well, that’s not helpful,” Larissa said turning the menu over.

“The mushroom ravioli is good,” Olivia smiled.

Larissa wrinkled her nose. “Not a fan of mushrooms.”

The waitress returned and took their orders. Larissa decided on the tortellini, and Olivia got stuffed mushrooms with a side of calamari. Just the word calamari made Larissa’s skin crawl.

“You don’t like mushrooms, or shopping,” Olivia said. “What do you like?”

“I like plenty of things,” Larissa said evasively. Talking about herself wasn’t easy for her. Partly because she wasn’t entirely sure who she was anymore. Her life had entirely changed the night of her attack, and she was still figuring things out. Figuring herself out.

“Well, what do you like on pizza?” Olivia questioned.

Larissa mulled that over. When was the last time she had eaten pizza? “Chicken and green peppers is pretty good.”

“Okay, what about sports?”

Larissa wrinkled her nose. “Playing or watching?”

“Both.”

“I don’t like playing any, but I did enjoy volleyball in gym class,” Larissa answered. “And watching... Hockey isn’t bad. Nice and violent.”

Olivia laughed. “Violence is the determining factor, huh?”

Larissa shrugged, and chuckled. “It’s not fun unless there’s bloodshed.”

“Kinky,” Olivia said raising her eyebrow in a teasing fashion.

“What about you?” Larissa said sipping on tea.

“Oh, I never was big on sports,” Olivia replied. “But I always had a thing for football players. Probably the cheerleader in me.”

The waitress returned with plates of steaming food. She set them down with the precaution that they were extremely hot. She disappeared again when they assured her they needed nothing else.

“So you were a cheerleader?” Larissa said picking up the conversation.

“All through high school,” Olivia said proudly, crunching on her calamari. Larissa managed not to cringe with each crunch,and started to work on her pasta. Olivia had not underplayed the food, it was great.

“You went to school around here?”

Olivia shook her head. “No, me and Oliver are from Utah.”

Larissa raised her eyebrows in surprise. “That’s a long ways away.”

“Yup, those scientists had a station in almost every state, but not every state has a safe house like ours,” Olivia explained. “So you graduated from the school around here?”

“No. Well, I went to school here, but I didn’t graduate,” Larissa said. “I ran away on my birthday.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Olivia said. “Why did you leave anyway?”

Larissa shrugged. “I’d always planned on leaving. I just wanted to live my own life instead of staying with people who only took me in for the money that came with me. I never had a real plan. Guess I was going to figure it out a long the way. Maybe it’s a good thing Doctor Evil took me. I might be sleeping under a bridge right now if he hadn’t.”

“You never know,” Olivia said. “You could have been a billionaire.”

Larissa laughed. “I highly doubt that. Besides, I doubt I’d be any happier with all that money than I am now. I’ve got friends, a new family.” She had learned over the years that you get to pick your real family. The ones you were born with weren’t always the ones you were meant to spend the rest of your life chained to.

“We are pretty great, huh?”

Larissa smiled. “You really are.”

Olivia beamed with joy.

They finished their meal with more idle chit chat, and got up to leave. Olivia paid the bill, and Larissa tipped generously. They promised to reverse rolls on the next outing. As they pulled into the drive way back home, Olivia’s brow furrowed.

“What’s wrong?” Larissa asked.

Olivia shifted the car into park, and pointed to the silver Kia parked off to the side. “Deidre is here.”

Larissa’s breath caught in her throat. “Oh,” was all she could manage.

“That doesn’t mean anything happened,” Olivia said, though Larissa thought she didn’t sound very convincing.

“Right,” Larissa said nervously. The fear that gripped her mind made it feel like it took her ten years to get out of the car. Her hands were shaky, muscles stiff.

They left the stuff in the car. Olivia held Larissa’s hand, squeezing it tightly as they walked into the house together. They found Deidre and Tyko on the first floor, standing outside of Tyko’s room. Their expressions didn’t convey good news.

Deidre didn’t even bother with a greeting. “The cure stopped working.”

Tears immediately stung the back of her eyes.

“What does that mean?” Olivia said, brave enough to ask the question Larissa didn’t want to know the answer to.

“Larissa is safe,” Deidre said, squelching that concern immediately. “He’s not going to come looking for her.”

A weight lifted off Larissa’s shoulders, and she let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.

“He’s got two more injections,” Tyko said. “Which I’m sure he’ll use to help capture some other new shifter.” His expression turned to one of deep frustration. “I wish I knew where he was getting his intel from. There’s no way he’s just guessing who is a shifter.”

“You and me both,” Deidre said. “But as far as I know, he hasn’t told anyone where he’s getting that information.”

“But, you’re safe, Mange,” Tyko said, giving her a reassuring smile. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“He’s right,” Deidre said. “You wouldn’t be of any use to him. It absolutely has to be a shifter that’s never changed.”

“I just wish there was something we could do to stop him,” Larissa said, her relief having turned into frustration. She didn’t have to worry about him coming after her, but she never wanted anyone to have to go through what she had.

Olivia squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll figure something out. It’s just going to take some time.”

Larissa sighed deeply in response.

“Wish I could see you guys outside of all this Doctor Evil stuff,” Deidre said with a sad smile.

“It’ll all be over one day,” Tyko promised. “And you girls can have cocktail parties and shopping sprees every weekend.”

Deidre raised an eyebrow at him. “Cocktail parties?”

“I’m always down for shopping,” Olivia said.

“Parties are cool,” Larissa added.

“One day,” Tyko said.

“Well, I should head back,” Deidre said drawing out her words with a sigh. She hugged Tyko, and waved at Olivia and Larissa, promising to report back as soon as she caught wind of anything.

“You think she’s telling us everything?” Olivia asked once Deidre was gone.

Tyko gave her a funny look. “Of course, she is. Why would you ask that?”

Olivia shrugged. “People change.”

He shook his head. “Not her.” He shook his head again, and walked off. Larissa looked after him with sad eyes.

“Why did he storm off like that?” Larissa asked, following Olivia back out to the car to get her things.

“Deidre is a touchy subject with him,” Olivia shrugged. “I don’t know the whole story.”

“Hmm.”

“I probably shouldn’t have said anything,” Olivia said, lugging her two bags up the stairs. “I have no reason not trust her. But, this is a tough situation. It’s not like we get daily reports. We don’t know what she’s out doing everyday. She could have been the one that attacked you for all we know.”

Vague images flashed in the back of Larissa’s mind of the attack. She flinched.

Olivia looked over her shoulder and smiled at Larissa. “Don’t listen to me, I have trust issues.”

Larissa didn’t know if she was joking of not, so she just returned Olivia’s smile timidly. Thoughts buzzed around her head.

“Well, I have to get ready for work,” Olivia said checking the time on her phone after putting her bags in the room. “I expect to come in here tomorrow and be blown away by how awesome it looks. If you need any tacks, nails, glue, whatever, there’s plenty in my room.”

“Alright,” Larissa laughed halfheartedly.

Olivia disappeared, and Larissa just stared at the bags for a few minutes before actually unpacking everything. Her food sat heavily in her anxiety-ridden stomach.

“You have nothing to be anxious about,” she chastised herself. Except for the fate of that next poor, unsuspecting shifter. Larissa shook her head and shoved the thoughts away. Nothing to worry about yet, she told herself again and again.

Decorating didn’t take long. She changed her blanket, stashing the old one in the bottom drawer of her dresser. She sat the cube shelf beside her bed, putting the bonsai tree on it. She really hoped she didn’t kill it. The candle holder was put on the dresser, and she put the candles they had bought to go with it in the top drawer of her dresser. She put the picture in the frame, and sat it next to the bonsai tree. Last thing was the painting, which she needed a tack for. She put it aside, deciding to wait until tomorrow for Olivia’s help. She changed into her pajamas, fleece pants with constellations, and gray tank top, and climbed into bed.

She didn’t know how late it was, but after several restless minutes of laying under her new blanket she got up. She peaked out a window in the living room at the end of her hall. The moon shone brightly against the dark sky. She had no idea what time it was, but she was guessing it was around ten or eleven. With nothing else to do, she decided to go up to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. She didn’t expect to see Tyko sitting at the table with papers scattered over it’s surface. He didn’t see her. She thought about trying to sneak around him, or just turning around and going back to her room. She did neither of those things.

“Hey,” she said softly, almost awkwardly.

He looked up from the papers and smiled at her. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach, and her face felt warmer.

“Hey, Mange. You’re a sight for sore eyes. What are you doing up?”

He didn’t seem to be upset anymore and that calmed her nerves some. She shrugged. “Can’t sleep. I decorated my room. Kind of.”

He patted the chair next to him inviting her to sit. “Oh yeah?”

“Nothing fancy,” she said. “What are you doing?”

He sighed deeply. “I’m not sure, honestly. Trying to be a superhero.”

“You already have knight status,” she reminded him.

He smiled bleakly. “Yeah, but there are other people to keep safe. And, I’m not sure how to do it.”

Her eyes flitted across the papers. Newspaper articles, medical records, and something that looked like a research paper.

“I look at these every once in a while,” he said. “I guess I’m hoping there’s something hidden in them that will give me answers; or an epiphany about how to go about stopping him.”

“Sue him for malpractice,” she smiled.

Tyko chuckled. “I’ve thought about that. But, no proof. He destroyed any record of you being at that hospital.”

“Oh,” she said. “I was mostly kidding.”

“I know,” Tyko said with a sad smile. “But that doesn’t mean it never crossed my mind.”

“Are you mad at Olivia?” Larissa asked after a moment of silence.

Tyko took a deep breath and shook his head. “No. She means well.”

“She said she has trust issues.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, that she does. She can’t help it though. But if she doesn’t trust Deidre, I wish she would trust my judgment.”

“She said you guys have history.” Larissa looked at the newspaper article closest to her. It was about Doctor Evil having accepted some kind of reward for saving the life of a war hero. She looked at the picture, seeing something in his face that looked so familiar and then it hit her. If Tyko had said something about her last statement, she hadn’t heard it. She was completely floored by what she had just realized. She looked between Tyko, and the picture. She knew Tyko’s jawline had looked familiar.

“He’s your freaking brother.” She looked at him waiting for him to deny it. He was clearly taken aback by those words, but didn’t oppose them.

“Technically,” Tyko said, “ he’s my half brother.”

“What the hell?” Larissa said. “You didn’t think to tell me that?”

“Does it matter?” he said. “I’m me, he’s him.”

“It kinda does,” she said.

“Why? It’s not like I’m handing over new shifters to him. I’m trying to stop him, remember? I’m not the bad guy here. I saved you. I’m the knight remember?”

Larissa took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just...I wasn’t expecting that.”

“I was going to tell you,” he said relaxing the tension he’d been holding in his shoulders. “I didn’t expect you to figure it out.”

“I’m smarter than I look,” she said gruffly.

“Then you must be a genius with three Nobel prizes,” he said, giving her teasing smile.

She glared at him.

“It never came up,” he said, dropping the smile.

“All the times we talked, all the times you brought me breakfast, you couldn’t think of a way to work that in there?” she said, astounded.

He gave her an almost blank look.

“No,” he said honestly. “I didn’t want to scare you off. So, if I had just came out and said, ‘Hey, you know that psycho doctor I saved you from? He’s my brother. Here, have some oatmeal.’ Would you still have trusted me?”

She looked hurt. “Of course, I would have! I was in hell, Tyko. And you saved me. You helped me so much. I have no reason not trust you. If there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, you don’t get to pick your family.”

Now Tyko looked hurt. “I’m sorry. I should have told you.” He took her hand and squeezed it gently.

She sighed and gave him a smile while squeezing his hand back. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I freaked out. I just wasn’t expecting that bombshell today.”

“Dealing with this situation is nothing but bombshell after bombshell,” he said turning back to the papers again.

“Tell me about it. Tell me about him.” Larissa pulled her knees to her chest watching him run his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Tell me your story.”

He looked at her, then leaned back crossing his arms. “Tell me yours first.”

“You already know mine,” she laughed.

“There’s got to be more,” he said.

She shook her head. “Nope. Dead mom, meth head dad. I was in the system by the time I was three, and it was foster home jumping until high school, then I ran away, got attacked, got kidnapped, got rescued, and here I am.” She looked at him pointedly. “Your turn.”

“Fine, fine,” he said. “From what I heard, my dad wanted nothing more than to have a family. So, at young a age, he married Brian’s mom, but they couldn’t pregnant. After months and months of trying, they went to a fertility clinic and that’s where my dad had his first run in with the scientists. They offered them a large sum of money to inject something into the the zygote. They took it, just happy to finally be starting their family, and a cash bonus never hurts, but in this case it did. Brian was a healthy baby, but his mom died, as is the usual side affect. My dad was devastated from what my aunt told me, but he moved on in time. Bored yet?”

Larissa smiled. “Nope. Keep going.”

“Twelve years later, my dad remarried to my mother. She was a nice lady, I’m told. Anyway, they ran into the same fertility problems. Guess my dad didn’t have strong swimmers.”

She chuckled, hanging onto to every word. His voice was warm and comforting even if he was rushing through the story.

“Turns out, they wound up going to the same place,” he continued. “They offered the money and my mom took it happily. Apparently my dad begged her not to, not wanting a replay of before. But my mom didn’t listen. So I was conceived from a turkey baster on an examine table. Exciting right? Can’t wait to tell my kids about it.”

Larissa laughed. “At least it wasn’t in a gas station bathroom.”

“Mange, please tell me you’re a gas station baby. I’ll never let you live that down.” Laughter sparkled in his eyes.

“I plead the fifth,” she grinned.

“No fun,” he said, poking her in the side.

She laughed and waved his hand away demanding he continue the story.

“Anyway, nine months later, Tyler Kole Truitt was born. That’s me, in case you’re confused.”

“I got that,” she said. “Thanks for the clarification.”

“Anytime, Mange,” he winked. “Subsequently, my mom and wife number two died. My dad was wracked with guilt and depression, and killed himself, like I told you before. We were shipped off to live with my aunt. Brian went away to college by the time I was eight, so I didn’t really know him growing up. He was in med school. I honestly don’t remember him coming for any holiday visits. He pretty much abandoned us. I think he blames me for our dad’s death.”

Larissa frowned. “It’s not your fault though.”

“I know,” he smiled. “I’m not the one that thinks that. I made peace with that a long time ago. I didn’t have to live with that though. He had to go to court appointed therapy for years. Dad’s death messed him up. Then he decided he was going to be a doctor and disappeared.” He frowned. “He’s really not a bad a guy. He was just born with a gift that got taken away. And he wanted it back. Everything he loved always got taken away from him. I think that’s what messed him up. But that doesn’t give him the right to do some of the things he’s done.”

He paused. Larissa didn’t say anything, just left him with his thoughts, until he was ready to start again.

“It was three years ago, but it feels so much longer than that. It feels like a life time ago.” His gaze grew distant. “That’s when he couldn’t shift anymore. And he came to the only person he could think of that might be able to help him. Me. But I didn’t know what he was talking about. I almost called the police, he looked insane. He said he would show me what he was talking about. And he did. He told me about the transformation. I had felt...broken before. Not myself. But once I transformed, my whole life shifted back into place.”

“That’s how I felt,” Larissa said. “I’d gone through the whole day in almost a daze. Nothing felt right.”

“I don’t understand how some of them do it,” Tyko said. “Sheena went months without knowing. I guess you get used to the feeling.” He shook his head, then continued on with the story.

“The change was great and all, but the fact my brother handcuffed me to his bed kind of dimmed the brilliance. And that’s where I stayed for at least a month.”

Larissa eyes widened. “A month?”

“Yeah, but it was nothing compared to what you went through. I’m guessing he was just losing patience by the time he got to you. He fed me, let me shower, unsupervised bathroom breaks. My stay was first class. He did all kinds of things to me. Well, to my blood rather.”

He extended his arm for Larissa to see. The inside of his arm was covered in little circular needle scars. She gasped. It was nothing compared to the track marks she had seen on her father’s arms, but the fact that Tyko’s own brother had done that to him made it much worse.

“We’ve got that in common, Mange,” he said with weak smile. “Me and needles aren’t friends.”

She didn’t know what to say, just stared at him with sympathetic awe.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said. “Like I said, it was nothing like what you went through.”

“Yeah, but my brother didn’t handcuff me to a bed for a month and experiment with my blood,” she protested.

He gave her a look. “We’re not arguing about about who’s Doctor Evil stay was worse. At least I knew who he was. You win by far. Anyway, about half way through my stay, he brought in a girl. He had been working in the ER, and she had come in complaining of the usual pre-change symptoms. They were strong enough to scare her. I don’t know how he got her out without anyone noticing but he did. And that’s how I met Deidre.”

Larissa’s eyes widened. “Deidre?” She definitely hadn’t expected that.

Tyko nodded. “Yeah, Deidre became my bed mate for at least another two weeks. Kinda hard not to get to know someone when you’re both chained to the same bed.”

She nodded, still shocked.

“Brian did the same stuff to her, and continued to do the same with me. I think he even tried mixing our blood. I don’t know what all he did. He probably would have been able to figure it out back then if he’d had the set up he had when he had you. He’s very smart. One day luck was on our side, and when he had handcuffed Deidre back to the bed, he didn’t tighten it as much as he usually did. Once he left, she shifted, and was able to slide her hand through the cuff. She broke mine with some kind of gemstone or geode Brian had laying around. And we left. Just like that. We actually ran into Sheena on the sidewalk a few blocks from his house. Would have been really bad if it had been anybody but her since Deidre had forgotten to shift back.” He laughed at the memory. “Sheena’s expression was priceless. She crowded us into the alley, and made Deidre shift back, then brought us here. Home sweet home.”

“But Deidre went back didn’t she?” Larissa asked.

“Yeah, after awhile. We heard about him taking somebody else several months later, that kid named Walter. Deidre decided she wanted to be a spy. It was her idea. Everyone tried to talk her out of it, but she does what she wants. Nothing holds that girl back. So she went, she convinced him she was on his side. She even moved out so she wouldn’t lead him back to us in case something went wrong. So far, so good.”

“So that’s yours and Deidre’s history?” Larissa said.

“Yup,” Tyko said with a deep breath. “So you guys never dated or anything? Figured going through something like that would form a stronger relationship than friendship.”

“Oh, we tried the whole dating thing,” he laughed. “Don’t be jealous, Mange.”

Her cheeks grew warm. “Nothing to be jealous of. ...Right?”

He laughed and pulled her out of her chair and onto his lap. He put his head on her shoulder, nuzzling her neck. “Right. We’re just too different. Or maybe too close. I don’t know, but it was weird. She’s definitely more like my sister.” Larissa cuddled against him enjoying the warmth that always seemed to radiate from his body. “You’re like a heater. I think I can go to sleep now.” She just realized she had never gotten her water, but decided she didn’t care.

Tyko chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Then let’s get you up to bed.” She got up, taking his hand, and followed him down the stairs and down the hall to Larissa’s room in a comfortable silence.

“Nice tree,” he said.

“Thanks,” she smiled. “I hope I don’t kill it.”

“I have faith in you,” he laughed. She crawled into bed and Tyko sat on the edge beside her running a hand through her hair. She snuggled against him and said, “Tell me a bedtime story.”

“Ha,” he laughed. “I just told you my whole life story, Mange. How about a kiss instead?”

She perked up. “Yeah, I’ll take that. Twice over, please.” She rolled over on her back and Tyko leaned down kissing her lips tenderly. Her insides melted and her lips tingled with heat.

“Much better than a story,” she said, smiling against his lips.

He kissed her again, with slightly more pressure, then pulled away and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, Mange.”

“Goodnight, my knight.” And for the second night in a row she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

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