Shannon O'Reilly was bullied and everything his older sister wasn't. When his sister Sarah gives him a chance to change things through a single wish things don't go as planned.     I Wish: Book 4 Chapter 1 Promises By Amethyst

It was hard for me to believe sometimes that it had only been two weeks since Annie received Anjurael’s mark and gained her Celestial abilities. We had been so busy during those two weeks that it seemed much longer somehow. Of course, I still had school and volleyball keeping me busy, somehow I was still managing to get straight A’s and our team was undefeated in our first five games. Annie was still teaching most of us self-defense while Talisha trained Ziralin/Beth in her use of Faery magick, and Ziralin was now learning jewelry making as part of her training. As busy as we both were, my girlfriend/assistant/Familiar and I were also trying to spend as much quality time as we could together, but we were all spending time together as a family too; training our abilities to prepare for finding the last Sentinel, and trying to take it easy and act like normal people once in a while.

The latter wasn’t easy when we were out fighting Demons every other night. There had been a major upswing in demonic activity in the Toronto area since we had returned from Haven and I couldn’t help but feel that Khinara was responsible for this. The mysterious Demoness had taken an interest in me, or rather my masked alter-ego, during our trip to Haven, and having a Demon interested in you is never a good thing. I only hoped that she never found out who I really was. Between her stalking my White Witch persona and Lisa White still following me around and doing her best to slander me at every opportunity I was half-entertaining the thought of just going to live with the Faery in Tír na nÓg.

I also had other activities filling what little free time I had, like learning to drive. My new birth certificate, medical card, and other documents had arrived last week with my new gender properly displayed and I was eager to be able to drive on my own. Sarah was also busy looking at new houses with Talisha in their spare time. She had already put our house on the market and we had a few prospective buyers, with the help of the real estate agent that Jennifer’s parents had put us in contact with.

There was also work though, our daytime jobs were keeping us busy. Talisha was still having Elsaishe helping at the store and learning the business aspects of being a jeweler, Jen was helping her mom in product development for Divine Cosmetics, and Sarah and I were busy with modeling and that kept our assistants busy too. We weren’t doing anything for Divine Cosmetics at the moment since the public appearances and modeling for phase two of the ad campaign wouldn’t start until the beginning of December, but Jennifer’s parents had approved some modeling offers from people or businesses that they felt might help our careers and yet not negatively affect the Divine Cosmetics brand. The only stipulations were that those proposals go through our agent Peter and that any shoots take place in Toronto to not interfere with school.

That was why I was currently having a lot of time to think, while I smiled, looked pretty for the camera, and held a pose for the past forty-five minutes that was supposed to look casual and relaxed. It was anything but relaxed after that long, but I was getting used to holding poses for a long time and I really liked the challenge of it. Besides, I was being paid an obscene amount of money to model Giselle Collette’s newest clothing line for teen girls. She was a big fashion designer based out of Montreal and one of the people that I had met at the big Halloween party. She had been insistent that I was the girl for the job and her persistence had paid off when Jennifer’s parents had approved the shoot and Peter had negotiated a lucrative contract for me. It was well worth it, not only was I being paid a freaking lot, but I got to keep the clothes too.

The style was sort of an edgy girl next door look that suited me and wasn’t too revealing or slutty. I actually liked the clothes, and Giselle had contracted André to do the shoot so it had been a lot of fun so far. That being said, I had been working the whole weekend from eight to six yesterday and since eight again this morning. I was starting to get tired, though I was trying not to let it show. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but Andre had said this was the last outfit to shoot so I was almost finished.

“Très bien! Et nous avons fini, ma belle!” André pronounced with a grin.

I breathed a sigh of relief and allowed myself a careful stretch to get the kinks out of my muscles from holding that position for so long. “Thanks, André, did you get everything you needed?”

“Oui, ma belle, I will call you if we need to re-shoot anything, but I think that this should be just what Giselle wants. You can go and relax for the rest of the day, you have earned it, ma Cherie.”

“Great André, let me know what she thinks and you have Beth’s number if you need me for anything else.” I hugged him and gave him a quick kiss on each cheek and then went to give Beth a far more personal show of affection. “I don’t envy you your job, mon amour. At least I’m doing something, it’s got to be boring watching me sit and pose all day. Je t’aime.”

She returned my kiss eagerly and held me close for a moment after breaking it off, just staring into my eyes. “I love you too sweetheart, and don’t worry about me, I like the view while I’m working. And the benefits are more than worth it. You’re spending too much time with André I think, but it’s so sexy when you speak French.”

“Smooth-talker,” I teased before kissing her again.

I didn’t bother changing back into the clothes that I had worn this morning. The clothes I was wearing were mine now anyway, and I liked how they looked at me. Since I was finished for the day we started taking my new clothes from the shoot downstairs to the car. It took us a few trips, but we got it all stowed carefully in the trunk, all of them placed safely back in the garment bags by André’s makeup and fashion stylist, Janine. André had offered to have them shipped to my home when we were done, but I didn’t see any reason for the added expense when I could just take them home myself. As we finished putting the last of them in the car I asked Beth, “What time is it anyway? I kinda lose track when I’m doing my thing.”

“It’s almost four o’clock, you finished up earlier than we thought. You have nothing else on your schedule for today, so what do you want to do? We could try and catch the Rainbow Group meeting this evening, or pick Ellie up at the mall and do some shopping,” she suggested.

I shook my head as I opened the passenger door to get inside. “I’m too tired to deal with being glared at by Rebecca all evening. It kinda hurts that I can’t help her too, I mean I could, but then I would have to explain magic to her and the need to keep it secret, and nobody would believe that she just got turned into a girl overnight. She’d just be stuck with the same issues that I was at first, but with no wealthy, and eager to help, family friends to help sort it all out without asking uncomfortable questions.”

“Shopping it is then, Talisha suggested we stop by the store anyway,” my girlfriend replied with a nod.

The mall was busy with weekend shoppers as we made our way toward Fantasy Jewelry. Ellie’s shift would be over soon, but she would likely need a ride home since Talisha was supposed to be working until closing. There weren’t many customers in the store at that moment, just a couple who were looking through the engagement rings while Ellie made suggestions and told them about the pieces they were interested in. “Mom is in the back taking a quick break before I’m done or the day,” she called out. “You can head on back there, I’ll come let you know when I’m done.”

We headed into the back room where Talisha was sitting at the small break table drinking a cup of tea. She smiled as soon as she saw us enter. “You finished up early today Shannon?”

I nodded as Beth and I joined my elder Faery, cousin, at the table and I leaned on and snuggled against my girlfriend. “Yeah, it was a good day and André thinks that we got everything he needs. I am so beat right now. As much as I love my job, it can be exhausting. I’ve got a whole new respect for Sarah, doing this for as long as she has.”

“Well she’s pretty proud of the way you’ve been working so hard,” the Faery said with a smile. She reached into her pocket and produced a jewelry box, placing it on the table in front of us and opening it. “Speaking of pride in hard workers, this is the first professional-level work by my newest apprentice.”

Inside the box was a pair of identical platinum rings, with a delicate-looking Celtic knot atop arranged in a heart pattern around an inset pink amethyst surrounded by tiny diamonds. The inside of the bands were engraved with words that looked like they were written in the Faery language. They were so beautiful that I could only stare for a moment. Then what she said hit me, “Wait, your newest apprentice? But that’s’…” I turned to gape at my girlfriend. “You made these?”

Beth was blushing a bright red. “Yeah, Talisha has been working me hard during our lessons on shaping the metals and stones and making them look like the picture I have in my mind. I really worked hard to get these just right.”

“Don’t be modest Ziralin, you’re a natural. If you keep working this hard during your lessons then you will be as good as Elsaishe is soon, and she could surpass my skills someday. These could fetch a good price if you didn’t have other plans for them,” Talisha assured her.

“Other plans…” The words seemed to catch in my throat.

Beth let her glamour fade and suddenly I was caught in Ziralin’s amber gaze. Wait, when did she get down on one knee? She had apparently also claimed the box from the table while I was spacing out and was holding it out to me. “Shannon, I wanted these to be perfect, because they’re for you, well both of us really. They are promise rings and I wanted them to be as beautiful and breathtaking as you are every time I look at you. I know that we’re too young to get married, but these are to show that I plan on us being together for the rest of our days, however long that may be. So… umm… what do you say?”

For a long moment I couldn’t speak. Hell, I couldn’t breathe. My heart was fluttering in my chest and I could feel the tears starting to flow. Omigod, this was like, the most romantic thing ever. She could have taken me out to dinner or something and tried to make it all movie-romance, but she wanted to be able to be herself for this, not hiding behind a glamour. I could feel her love for me washing over me in waves from our link, but she was suddenly nervous too. Oh crap! I hadn’t answered her yet.

I wiped my eyes and took her hands in my own shaking ones as I fumbled over words trying to give her a response. “I… of course… Yes!”

She kissed me passionately, holding me tightly in her embrace, her love and joy wrapped around me like a warm blanket. For a while we just stayed like that, holding one another, kissing and running our hands over one another’s bodies. What finally broke us out of it was the giggle from behind me, followed by Elsaishe saying, “Well, I’m guessing that she said yes.”

We reluctantly relinquished our embrace, our lips parting far too soon. At that moment I could have kept kissing and holding Ziralin forever, but she quickly turned her attention back to the rings, examining the engraving on both before slipping one on my finger. “I love you more than words can possibly say, Shannon O’Reilly. Sorry, but I kind of chose the words without asking you and I’m still working on learning the engraving part, so I asked Talisha to do the engraving part for me, and…”

She was starting to babble, nervous about how I might react so I silenced her with another kiss. “I don’t care about that, I‘m still floored that you made these and that they’re for us. These are perfect, YOU are perfect. Besides, what girl can say that the person they love didn’t just give them a beautiful ring, but made it herself? And Talisha is family and your teacher, so her doing the engraving just fits. What do they say, my love?”

Ziralin flushed again and I loved that our link made us so close. No words were ever really needed between us, but whenever she said the right words, the perfect words, I think that made it that much more amazing. Just like when she said, “The one you’re wearing says, ‘My Witch, my heart, my life. Bound forever in love'.” Oh, Goddess, I was starting to cry again as she added, “Mine says basically the same, but Familiar instead of Witch.”

“You’re too perfect, what did I ever do to deserve you?” I managed to say between happy sniffles.

“You were being yourself, how could I not love that at first sight?” Ziralin replied, lovingly tracing a fingertip along my jawline before kissing me again.

I had just gotten my tears and sniffling under control and probably would have lost it again when she said those perfect words if it hadn’t been for Elsaishe giggling again. “You two are going to give me cavities. Seriously, you’re like the cutest, most lovey-dovey couple I’ve ever met. It’s like sweetness overload.”

Now we were both blushing, not to mention uncertain of just what to say to that. Luckily we were rescued by Talisha. “You can get going now Elsaishe, I can handle the next hour and closing up on my own. You girls will probably be on your own tonight for dinner, though. “Sarah, Annie, and I are going to go look at a house once I’m finished closing up.”

“Okay Mom, I’ll see you when you get home then.” Ellie wasted no time in snatching up her jacket and purse from her employee locker and then gave Talisha a big hug. “Love you, Mom.”

Beth had re-cast her glamour and we were out in the mall proper and heading for the food court, browsing along the way, when Ellie offered, “You guys can just drop me off at home and I can make something quick for dinner if you want. I kinda feel like you should be having a romantic date night what with the whole ring exchange and all. I don’t want to be a third wheel on your special day.”

I reached over to hug her. “You’re never a third wheel, cuz, we like hanging with you. I already had the most romantic thing ever happen, it would be hard to top that no matter what we do on a date. And I’m tired, so what do you think? We just grab some dinner here and then have a girls' night?”

That sounds good to me,” Beth agreed. “You’ve worked your pretty little ass off this weekend sweetheart. I know, because I was watching the whole time. I’d say that dinner and then going home for some movies and snacks sounds like a great idea. Besides, I doubt any date that we went on would be very romantic with Lisa following us again.”

“Again?” I more groaned than spoke the word. “She’s getting more subtle about it. You know the drill; don’t let her know that we’re on to her, text Sergeant Williams so she can request the security footage, and we stay in public places, so food court it is.”

“Yeah, she’s been watching us like a hawk since we left the jewelry store,” Beth quickly confirmed.

“Geeze, when is that crazy stalker bitch going to give up and leave you alone already?” Ellie muttered.

“Maybe once Sgt. Williams thinks we have enough for a restraining order, but I’m not going to hold my breath waiting,” I said with a sigh.

“Well, at least the other shoe dropped early this time, I’m pretty happy that you’re wearing my ring so I’d still call it a good day overall. And now at least we’re not going to be wondering when something bad is going to happen. So what if it’s going to put a damper on an otherwise good night, we’ll just eat and go home to try and enjoy ourselves before something worse can happen.”

It was about then that my magic senses twigged on a demonic presence. It was right at the edges of my senses, so it wasn’t in the mall, but it was moving in our general direction. From the surprise and annoyance emanating from my Familiar’s mind, I was guessing that Beth had sensed it too. I let out a groan and tried to keep acting casual as I said, “You just had to say it, didn’t you?”