Demon Night

"They shot you!"

As Tasha cowered beside her, Vivienne sat up with a grunt, frowning. She reached up with the hand of her uninjured shoulder and covered the bloody hole. When she pulled her hand away a minute later, the skin was white and clean, showing through the rip in her blouse.

She grinned as the bullets from below stopped. "And with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away." She leaned over, spotted the two men below, and blew.

The wind from her lips grew and rushed, like straight line winds. It picked up the men and slammed them against the house next door like rag dolls.

She got to her feet as the banging on the wall behind them continued. They were nearly through. Vivienne found she didn't much care. Let them come. She leaned over and put one hand on Jack's head, pushing away the drug and healing him.

He blinked his eyes and looked up at her. "What . . . what happened?"

"Later," Tasha said, reaching down to tug at him, encouraging him to get up. "Let's get out of here."

Tasha led Jack to the slide and Vivienne followed in a sort of euphoric haze.

Jack glanced back over his shoulder. "Viv? Tasha, why is she glowing?"

Tasha glanced back. "Just, let's get out of here first."

They went down the slide.

"Where the hell did this come from?" Jack asked.

Down at the bottom, they got up and moved toward the street.

Vivienne heard a shriek behind them and looked up to see several people silhouetted in the opening to the bedroom. She thought she saw guns and put up a hand. "No."

It was hard to describe what happened next. Vivienne couldn't even remember it later. Jack claimed it couldn't have been what she did and Tasha backed him up. They seemed to be shielded from it but the house simply imploded. Tasha and Jack grabbed Vivienne's arm and pulled her back, further down the sidewalk.

Most people stayed in their houses but some ventured out to see what had happened. Someone called the police and fire, who eventually arrived.

"Damn meth cookers," went the mutters as more and more people ventured out.

"Police won't do anything about 'em, at least they only blew themselves up," one man said.

Tasha managed to borrow someone's phone to call a taxi. Inside the cab, she turned to Vivienne.

"Viv?"

"Hmm?"

"Viv, you need to take that pendant off."

"What?" Vivienne's brow creased. "Why? It's mine."

"What's going on?" Jack asked. "Where did the pendant come from?"

"The demon witch," Vivienne said with a scowl.

"Who?" Jack asked.

Tasha just shook her head and took Vivienne's hand in both of hers and stroked. "Trust me, please?"

Vivienne looked at her sister. She was the only person Vivienne had ever trusted utterly and completely. She nodded once.

Tasha looked at Jack. "Get it off her . . . now."

Jack complied, lifting it from Vivienne's neck.

"Wrap it up with something," Tasha said as Vivienne slumped back against the seat.

"Viv?" He looked at Tasha. "Is she okay?"

Tasha felt for her pulse but Vivienne pushed back. "M'okay."

Tasha nodded. "Probably just weak. She used what she had and was funneling energy from that thing."

"Jus gonna take . . . nap now," Vivienne slurred, her eyes sliding shut. She was with the two people she trusted most. She could finally relax.

Vivienne woke back at Jack's house, in his bed. She felt a little woozy but much stronger. She started to sit up and found she had some company. The cat purred and stretched then got up and jumped down, trotting out through the closed door. A moment later there was a knock before she'd even sat up completely. She glanced down and realized she was in an oversized t-shirt night gown, decent.

"Come in," she said.

The door opened and Jack peeked around the edge. "How do you feel?" He stepped inside and closed the door then sat on the edge of the bed near her feet.

"Much better," she replied. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Only a few hours, it's just about dawn."

"Where's Tasha?"

"At the hospital with Joseph."

Vivienne nodded, not sure what to do. "We should probably be getting home. Do you think the police will let us take him home with us?"

Jack frowned.

"Are they going to press charges?" she said, concerned.

"No, no . . . it's . . . " Jack looked down and smiled ruefully. "I hoped you might stay for another day or two. We could . . . catch up."

Vivienne shifted in the bed. "Oh, oh."

He shook his head but he got up and went to a dresser. "You do still owe me a favor." He opened a drawer and pulled out something.

Vivienne flushed. "Yes."

Jack came back to the bed and sat back down. "Here's what I want." He held his hand up, two gleaming silver rings on his palm. They were Irish Claddagh rings. She didn't recognize these particular rings but she knew what they were.

"I bought these a year ago to ask you to marry me, but now I'm asking you to take this ring as a symbol that wherever we are, however far apart we are, whoever else may enter our lives, we're connected, we support each other, we're part of each others lives and we're . . . bonded. Maybe not in matrimony, but maybe in some way that's more important. I love you and I probably always will. Will you wear it on your chain?" He nodded to the chain around her neck that held her parent's wedding rings.

Her heart felt like it was going to burst. It was so much more than she felt like she had any right to ever expect after the way she had cast him out before, but she wasn't going to let him get away this time. "Yes," she agreed immediately, reaching up to unhook the chain around her neck.

She opened the clasp on the chain and he slid the more slender of the two rings onto her chain then she put it back around her neck. She looked into his eyes and took a deep breath, trusting what she saw there. "I love you too."

And there it was, that gorgeous smile.

He held the other ring out to her. "Will you put this on my hand?"

Her hands trembled as she took the ring from him but she smiled as he held out his right hand. "Which way?"

"I think, for now, with the heart facing my body."

"What does that mean?"

"That I'm in a relationship, of some sort."

She took his right hand in her left and slid the ring on his finger. Before she could let go, he curled his hand into hers and pulled her onto his lap. She went willingly, wrapping her right arm around his neck, and their lips met.

It is said there are five kisses in the world that are rated the most passionate, the most pure . . . well, maybe this didn't come anywhere near them but it was . . . divine. Spirits met in breath and danced between their tongues and when they parted, the gleam in their eyes said I do, even if they never did.