Chapter Eight
Claudia came
into the room wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt. Her face was being illuminated by a smile that would of made Mona
Lisa jealous.
I was
sitting on the floor doing stretching exercises by the TV tray. She walked behind me and dropped her entire
body on the bed. I looked back at her
and began to laugh.
"It's
only six-thirty at night and I've never been better in my entire life."
I turned my
body around and pulled my right leg out in front of me. I stretched my arm out until it touched my
ankle.
"Why?"
"Apolonia
treated me like a human being and I just talked to Shawn."
"The
love bug, eh?"
She looked
past me out into the depths of her own bubble.
She had a smirk on her face that would have driven me to hysterics about
a month ago, but I was beginning to understand where she was coming from.
I was about
to deliver a smart ass remark to her, but a knock on the door stopped me. I stood up in slow motion and wadded to the
door. I opened it the same way I had
gotten up. Slowly.
There in her
own glory was a beautiful short haired blonde with sparkling blue eyes. She smiled at me through a mask of
delicately applied makeup. She was
wearing tight blue jeans and a short blue halter top. The blue from the shirt made her eyes all the more bluer. When I finally retrieved my voice, it came
out groggy.
"Who
are you?"
Her smile
blossomed, which revealed little wrinkle lines around her eyes. Not from aging, but from natural sunlight, I
suppose. Her skin was a gorgeous honey
brown.
Her voice
was just as honey soaked as her skin was.
"My
name is Cassandra Lane, but you can call me Cassie."
She batted
her thick mascara covered eyelashes at me.
I just rolled my eyes. "Why
are you here?"
"I just
heard from Cameron that you were challenged by Selena. I just wanted to clue you in on what your
position will be once you win."
"Well,
aren't you confident?"
Her smile
beamed so wide it could have be seen on radar.
"Yes, I
know the stories. I have even seen you
in action once for myself."
"Yeah,
yeah, yeah. I'm trying to get ready for
tonight Cassie, please hurry up."
"Okay,
may I come in?"
"Sure." I stepped back from the door and let her
walk in. I, then, shut the door and
turned around to face her. She was already
sitting on the bed shaking hands with Claudia.
I hate company sometimes.
Claudia
stood up from the bed, walked up to me, and said, "I'm going to call Lonia
again."
"Whatever
makes you feel better."
She opened
the door and stepped out humming "Amazing Grace." Both Cassie and I watched her leave. Claudia is great about not butting into my
private life without me inviting her in.
She's a great friend.
I stood
there halfway between the bed and the door when someone else knocked. "Shit, what now?"
I briefly
looked down at Cassie, but her face was still in that smiling mask. It looked one hundred percent fake to me,
but it's not my problem. I stepped back
to the door and quickly opened it. I
was about to start complaining until I was taken prisoner from Cameron's
smile. He had one hand resting on the
wall and the other at his side. His
head was leaning against his arm.
"What
Cameron?"
"Just
had to say hi."
"Are
you like an obsessive boyfriend?"
He turned
his head left and right, raised his left eyebrow, pointed to himself, and
asked, "who me?"
"No,
the ghost standing behind you."
He laughed,
but playfully pushed me out of his way.
He placed both of his hands on my hips, picked me up, and put me on the
left side of the door. He tried to
squeeze through the door still facing me, but I ended up kicking him in the
shin. He grabbed his knee, laughed, and
limped to the bed. Cassie had already
moved over enough so that Cameron with his wide shoulders could sit down easily
on the narrow end of the bed with her.
He smiled down at her and I think she did a little more than just
batting her eyes. Cameron held on to
his knee, turned around, and just unloaded himself on my bed. Cassie had to brace herself so she didn't
bounce off.
"Now,
why are the two of you here?"
Cassie's
voice rang through the plastered room.
"When you win tonight..."
Cameron
interrupted her, "if." But
Cassie corrected him. "No,
when. When she wins, she'll need help
in deciding what is right for the pack."
"So,
I'll become leader."
Her eyes
twinkled with anticipation.
"Yes. I will support you
full heartily."
"Selena's
that much of a bitch?"
Her face
finally lost of its charm. "Yes,
she has beaten two members to death already just because they didn't show up on
time to make the midnight fly. She has
sex with the male members of the pack even if they don't want to."
I crossed my
arms over my chest. "Why doesn't
anyone just stand up to her?"
Cassie tried
to answer, but Cameron beat her to it.
"Because she'll kill them, Sara.
These are a new type of lycanthrope.
They aren't that powerful yet.
There are only two that can really meet the challenge. Shawn and Selena. Shawn left so Selena took control."
My curiosity
was kicking in. "Shawn who?"
"Shawna
Parks."
My laughter
tore into the walls of the hotel just the same as a bulldozer would.
Cassie's
forehead wrinkled up with confusion.
"Why are you laughing?"
"I
thought you were talking about another Shawn.
My bad. So, this Shawn is
female, right?"
Cameron
smiled up at me. "Exactly, Ms.
Beautiful."
I just
continued laughing right in front of their faces. Just to think that Claudia's boyfriend could have been a
bat. I didn't mean to be rude, but it
was funny as hell. I laughed until my
sides began to ache. Cassie left at
some point. I guess she felt ignored or
it may have been her beeper. Possibly,
the beeper. I laughed for a full five
minutes. When I finally calmed down,
Cameron patted the side of the bed. I
knew what he meant, so I came to sit beside him.
He turned to
face me and started laughing. I didn't
want to laugh anymore so I just stared at him.
"Why are you laughing?"
"I've
never seen a more beautiful face so red."
I giggled
and tried to hide my face with my hands, but he grabbed them. I looked into his eyes and nearly drowned in
raw emotion.
"I feel
as though I have known you for years.
You don't seem like a stranger at all."
I ducked my
head down, trying to hide away from his feelings, but he placed his hand under
my chin and raised my head.
"Cameron,
don't. I won't be in Texas too
long."
He smiled
shyly at me. "If you kill Selena,
you will be."
My eyebrows
cringed up and my voice escalated a little.
"What
the hell do you mean?"
He took my
hands in his hand and patted them.
"You'll
be their leader. Their human
leader. You'll have to protect them
from the evil world. From the bad
werebats, from challenges. You'll live
the life of a leader. All except you
won't need a counterpart like I do."
"You've
got a lupa?"
"Yes."
"You
two married?"
"No. We are only dating. It's not going too good right now."
"What's
wrong?"
"Some
friend's told me she's cheating on me."
I started
laughing. "What's with the
lau..."
"You
say she's cheating on you, but you're here with me?"
He shrugged. "Can't help the way I feel."
I pushed him
away from me and stood up. "You
don't know me well enough to chance shit Cameron."
"She's
fucking some of the lesser werewolves Sara.
Would that be enough?"
My heart
felt as though a piece of it had been shot out. Who would do that to Cameron?
My face folded itself all together in frowns. I didn't want to know who she was, but then the question was
dancing on my tongue.
I knelt down
in front of him not because of the way I felt, but because I needed to stretch
more. I looked up at him and his eyes
were soaked with tears. I, being the
softhearted type, stood up and went to him.
I held him so very close to me while his silent tears fell. He loved this woman very much. He didn't want to lose her, but she was
throwing his love away and it was latching itself on to me.
