"So what's going on?" Tabitha asked as she took in the motley crew in her sister's living room.

"Oh Alicia was just explaining some things to us," Kyrian said calmly.

Tabby clapped her hands together and ran out of the room. A few seconds later she came back with another bottle of wine and another glass. Plopping down on the couch next to her sister she looked anxiously at Alicia. "I love a good story. Catch me up somebody."

Kyrian laughed at his sister in law. Nothing ever threw her off kilter. "Alicia is a lot older than she looks. Nasty goddess wants to kill her. Xiovar is her body guard. Did I miss anything?"

"Cool," Tabitha said nodding her head. "So, like how much older?"

Kyrian grinned, "A whole lot."

"Whoa, like older than you grandpa?"

Amanda shivered a little at the 'grandpa' comment as Kyrian said, "Yes Tabby, older than me."

"Damn girl, you look good for your age then!"

Alicia laughed and Xiovar looked puzzled. "I'm really not that old this go round. I'm the same age you are."

Tabby's eyes lit up, "Ooo reincarnation huh? Cool."

Amanda shook her head in wonder at her sister, "Absolutely nothing phases you does it?"

"Have you met this family? Right, so how many lives have you had?"

Alicia sipped her wine and looked at Tabby over the top of her glass. Having met their family she could totally understand Tabitha's non chalance. With psychics, voodoo priestesses, vampires and assorted other odd balls she couldn't have had a choice but to accept the unexplained. "Let's just say a whole lot. I make Shirley MacLaine look like an amateur."

Tabby sat up on the edge of the couch, "So do you have like any cool powers or anything?"

"Nope, strictly human. Albeit I do have a bound demon and some pretty interesting friends but nothing special here."

"Rats, I was hoping for some mayhem."

Xiovar looked at Tabitha and bared his teeth, "If you stick around long enough there will be plenty of mayhem."

"Ain't that the truth?" Came Ash's deep rumble from the foyer. "Sorry I didn't answer, a little tied up. What's the major catastrophe this time?" He walked into the living room and saw the bloody claw marks on Alicia's back. "Whoa, what'd I miss? You okay?" he said as he came around the sofa and sat next to Alicia.

"Oh a couple of Charontes with PMS. Nothing Xiovar and Kyrian couldn't handle. You okay?"

Ash's look of concern wasn't lost on anyone in the room and suddenly they had a new appreciation of just how old she may be. "Business as usual. Let me see that will you?"

She lifted up the shirt that Amanda had loaned her and Ash hissed when he saw the scratches. Xiovar looked over his mistress's shoulder at them and told Ash that they had actually been worse but that he had healed them somewhat. "Thank you Xiovar." He slid his hand over Alicia's back and the scratches faded away. "And Kyrian got in on it too?"

"Meh, old times sake." The other man shrugged.

Marissa came running back in from playing in her room. She saw Ash and ran squealing into his arms. Ash of course grabbed the little girl and threw her up in the air as she giggled in delight. Then he hugged her gently and sat her down on his knee. "How are you tonight Marissa?"

"Good," the little girl said around the thumb in her mouth. She looked around at the adults as they talked and realized that none of them were going to play with her so she began crawling back and forth across the sofa over the laps of Ash, Alicia and Xiovar all of whom tickled the little girl until she squealed with laughter. Amanda watched them appreciatively and wondered if anyone else on the planet could ever imagine that they would watch their child play with a god, and ancient reincarnated woman and a demon.