by ROCFanKat

Disclaimers & E-Mail: See Chapter 1.

•••

By the time Cassie got to the condo, right at 7:30, I was almost calm enough to hold a wineglass steady. A good thing, too, because she'd brought wine.

"We had this at the Midsummer Festival," she said as she poured. "I think it was at the Bella Luna tent. If I remember right, you really liked it. You had a little much of it, anyway."

No argument there. For reasons that were no longer clear, I'd wound up lying on the lawn near the jazz stage, contemplating the moon. After a loud lecture about my conduct, for the benefit of passersby, she lay down next to me.

"Look at that moon," I'd said. "It's beautiful. If I were drunk, I'd say it's romantic."

"You're very drunk, and it is romantic. A person could fall in love under a moon like that."

"But there are golf balls on it now, Cass. Golf balls. And American flags."

She'd been silent for a while. I'd thought she was coming up with her own list of space junk.

"I hope you fall in love with someone just like you someday," she'd finally said--and gotten up and walked away.

What I didn't know then. Worse, what I didn't know now.

"Cheers," Cassie said, clinking her glass against mine. "God, what a day. Wall-to-wall clients. I went home after work and soaked in the tub for an hour, just to get the day off me. How was yours?"

"Interesting."

"Oh-oh." Laughing, she reached over to take my hand. "Then we won't talk about it right now. Dinner looks great, by the way. I was just in the mood for Greek. Did you get baklava too?"

"What's the point of having Greek food if you don't have baklava?"

"I adore you."

"I hope you mean that. I saw Monica today."

Cassie was good when she wanted to be. Her expression didn't change. "Monica who?"

Raising the hand that she was holding, I kissed hers and folded my other hand around it.

She sighed. "Monica. I should have known. That explains it. She's the red eyes I've been seeing, isn't she?"

All the alarm bells in the firehouse started clanging. "You've been seeing?"

"A couple of times. Saturday night, during that storm..."

"...and in the back of that van at the mall yesterday," I added.

She almost withdrew her hand. "You didn't tell me."

"You didn't tell me, either."

"You saw it both times?"

"Both times. And all of her this afternoon."

"Damn."

"Exactly," I said.

We sat in silence for a minute.

"Devvy?"

"Sweetheart?"

"Don't 'sweetheart' me right now. What did you mean when you said you saw all of her?"

I pulled both hands away from hers. "What kind of question is that?"

"A question that I have every right to ask. If you ever want to see all of me again..."

"She was all there--that's what I meant. More than just the eyes. She had that black dress on, if that's what you wanted to know." A little annoyed, I scowled at her. "Nothing happened. She scared me stupid, and then she disappeared. Nothing was going to happen anyway. Don't you trust me?"

"I trust you. But you can't trust her."

"There's a news flash."

Cassie sighed. "I don't understand why you didn't tell me about her right from the start. You were acting so weird, even for you, so I knew something was up."

"You wouldn't have believed me if I had told you. Besides, what could you have done?"

"What I did at the Halloween party."

"What--out yourself?"

"That was all she ever wanted, Devvy. First you, and then me. It was that simple."

I watched her narrowly, thinking. "What was your deal with her?"

"Nothing much. She said she'd leave you alone if I took over for her. She has left you alone, hasn't she?"

"That way, yes. But something's not right here. There's got to be more to it than that."

"That's what she said."

"She lies," I reminded her. "She's a demon."

"Witch."

"Cassie..."

She leaned into the candlelight and took my face in her hands. "Whatever she is, she's already got her deal. She's not getting any more out of either of us. We won't let her. Understand?"

"I hope you're right."

"So do I," she admitted, and kissed me. "Could we have dinner now? I'm starving."

•••

We barely finished dinner, much less made it upstairs. Cassie decided that she wanted a fire, even though it was still raining out, so I made one. Then she wanted the greatroom lights off, so I saw to that. As for what she wanted after that...

"Now I want baklava," she said, wrapped in my arms and the couch throw.

"I don't think I can move just yet."

She looked up and brushed damp hair out of my eyes. "I don't want you to go anywhere. I want the baklava to come to me."

"You learned all the physics you know from 'Star Trek,' didn't you?"

"For someone who can't move, your lip seems to be working just fine." Snuggling closer, she pulled my arms tighter around her. I could still feel a light film of sweat on her body. "Keep me warm. A person shouldn't get chilled after a workout like that."

Truer words were never spoken.

"Can you walk yet?" she asked, after a few seconds.

Exasperated, I pushed her away a little. "What is it with you wanting everything at the same time tonight? Do you want this or not?"

"Something's wrong," she mused. "Sex is supposed to be relaxing. Why don't we try that again and see what your problem is?"

There was no good way to respond to that, so I kept quiet.

Cassie laughed. "Oh, all right, I'll play nice. Forget I said anything."

That I could do, and did. We lay like that for a while, her fingers tracing light patterns on my skin. Slowly, I relaxed, lulled by the fire, the rain on the roof, and Cassie's touch.

"That's better," she said. "Much, much better. You're getting sleepy. Very, very sleepy. Now, when I count to 10, you will get up...and bring me baklava."

Without a word, I dumped her on the carpet. She landed sputtering but unhurt. Then I got up off the couch and back into my clothes.

Cassie watched, bemused, from the carpet, still wrapped in the couch throw. "Espresso would be nice, too."

"Remind me again why I'm with you," I said, zipping up.

She got up and came over to remind me. What I'd told Kurt that afternoon had been only half the truth. Cassie trumped me, too.

Then she gave me a little shove in the direction of the kitchen. "I'll be in to help. I'm just going to stop in the bath down here."

"Careful," I told her. "The medicine cabinet in that one's got a broken mirror. I haven't had a chance to get it fixed yet."

"I don't need a mirror for this," she said dryly, and went off to the bath.

I smiled after her. How all this had happened was still pretty much a mystery, but it was probably best not to think--just close my eyes and hold on tight for the ride.

Flipping on the kitchen lights, I got the espresso going and started searching for the cups. I very seldom made espresso--the machine had been a Christmas present, and to be honest, I was a little afraid of it--so the paraphernalia that went with it was never right at hand.

The cups and the little spoons finally turned up in a cabinet behind the green tea and the flavored vinegars. While I inspected them for dust, the phone rang.

"Go ahead," Cassie said, on her way back through the greatroom.

Shrugging, I picked up the wall phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kerry. How's noncelibacy treating you?"

"Make it fast, Walt," I snapped.

Cassie rolled her eyes in sympathy and crossed behind me.

"Won't take a second," he said. "I just saw something amazing on TV, and I had to call and share it with you."

"Define 'amazing.' "

"Well, it really can't be defined--it kind of has to be seen. Is Cassie there?"

"Are you here?" I asked her, loud enough for him to hear.

"No," she said. "Get bent, Walt."

I got back on the phone. "She says she's not, and you should..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You want to hear this, or you want me to hang up?"

A warm hand turned my face her way and popped a piece of baklava into my mouth. Great--the second-worst jerk at J/J/G was on the phone, looking for trouble, and there was a troublemaking blonde in my kitchen, wearing only a couch throw. It took a second to swallow and collect my wits again.

"Kerry?" Walt asked.

"Sorry. Now, just what is it that you're so hot to tell me?"

"Well, it's like this. I just saw the Rumours spot on Channel 10, and..."

"Impossible. We bought late-night cable. That slot on 10 should be...what?" Frowning, I checked the time display on the microwave. "That'd be 'Ally McBeal.' The client couldn't even have afforded it. And what are you doing watching that show anyway?"

"I'm telling you, Kerry, I saw the spot. And that's not all I saw."

I didn't like his tone--he was building up to something bad. "Really? So what else did you see? Did Ally finally get her skirt so short that you saw London and France?"

Cassie, who'd been licking honey off her fingers, frowned and pressed up close to the phone, to hear what was going on.

"I'm still talking about the ad. Remember that part the lawyers made you keep recutting?"

Every second of it. Every inch of those miles of tape. "Out with it, Walt."

"I really think you need to see it for yourself. Let me surf a second, and...hey, whaddya know? There it is again!"

"What channel?" I asked.

"Channel 5. It just started."

"Would you mind turning on Channel 5?" I asked Cassie.

Puzzled, she let go and went back to the greatroom.

"She's getting it," I told him. "We didn't buy this slot, either, so we're going to check your story and then call the paramedics. I really think you've lost..."

"Oh, God," I heard Cassie say.

I turned, startled, to check the TV. It was the Rumours ad, all right. The second segment was just ending, and the kiss was about to begin.

"Kerry? You still there?" Walt asked.

I started to answer--but then I saw Cassie and myself on the TV screen, and the phone dropped out of my hand.

•••

(c) 1999, ROCFanKat

Continued - Part 7