Working on the Charger had to wait, unfortunately. The club was just getting ready to open as we arrived home and I was reminded that Carmen’s mother wanted to spend more quality time with me in the clinic. Anxious to just get it over with, I headed up to the third floor with Melody and Jessica while Mom and Aunt Merry got off on the first floor to prepare for work.

Since Carmen and Sorcha wanted to be poked and prodded as little as I did, I got to go first. I was still on the fence about whether I should be happy about that or not as I sat naked on the examination table. I didn’t think that Dr. Diaz could do more tests or ask more awkward questions than she did before, but I was to be surprised. After doing all of the same tests that she did before, taking my temperature, taking blood and other samples for analysis, and feeling around everywhere she could think of to try to figure out where my symbiotic Salamander might be camped out she asked, “Have you noticed anything abnormal or concerning since you woke up this morning Crystal?”

“Like I’d know if I did,” I muttered. “I’ve had this body for what, almost a week? I thought that I’d be able to sense where Cinder is in my body, but I don’t really feel anything, at least not physically. I can always feel her presence in the back of my mind though and I think I can tell when she’s conscious and aware or sleeping.”

Dr. Diaz reached out to pat my shoulder gently and smiled at me. “I’m sure you’ll get used to all of this. From what you said that Ashe told you and what I felt, I don’t think that you would physically feel her presence though. While in your body, Cinder is in her pure energy form and I believe that energy has been spread evenly throughout your body to prevent any risks to the host’s health. Part of that energy is heat, so that does explain why your running body temperature now seems to be about two degrees hotter than average, I’ll have to make a note of that in your file. Anything else, Crystal?”

“Cinder seems to be sleeping a lot and when she’s awake I try to send her loving, happy, and encouraging thoughts. And I kind of talk to her when she’s awake.” My cheeks flushed in embarrassment and I hurried to add, “I did notice that I needed to eat quite a bit more to feel full at lunch but Ashe did say to expect that since I’m eating for two now.”

“Don’t feel embarrassed for nurturing the new life inside you, Crystal. It’s a very maternal thing to do and I think that you’re wise to start developing a healthy and loving relationship with her from the start since and you’re going to be together for a very long time. Cinder is an infant so it’s to be expected that she won’t be active much at first but, once she becomes more active, you should start training her and setting some ground rules as best you can, parenting is equal parts love and discipline. I wouldn’t worry about having to eat more either since your metabolism seems to be adjusting to your new state, just try not to overdo it,” Carmen’s mother advised.

“Ummm… okay, is there anything else?” I asked uncertainly.

“Have you started taking the birth control pills that I prescribed yet?”

I nodded, looking down at the floor. “Rhissa suggested that I take them after breakfast every day, so I get into a routine. I took my first one this morning before we went out.”

“Rhissa was right. Now is a good time for you to be getting into routines since you’re adjusting to a new life anyway,” Dr. Diaz said approvingly as she went to one of the cupboards and opened it to retrieve a small paper bag that she placed beside me on the examination table.

“What’s in the bag?” I asked, glancing down at it.

As casually as if she was talking about the weather, the Healer said, “Fey-safe condoms. I’d suggest you put half in your purse and the other half in your nightstand for now. Use a condom every time you have sex with a man. I would also suggest that you put panty-liners in your purse and wear one whenever you go out. We can’t be sure when your period will start and it will help preserve your panties when you’re feeling aroused. You will likely need more than that when your period does start though, so keep tampons in your purse as well. If you need help on figuring out how to use them when the time comes, just ask me or your mother.”

I sighed as I looked at the bag and tried not to groan as well as I said, “Yes, Dr. Diaz. I… think Jess is going to cover that though. We bought a bunch of stuff like that at the drugstore that would be safe for me to use and she mentioned teaching me to use everything we got there when she starts her girl boot camp for me so I can blend in at school.”

“Good,” she said with a nod. “I’ll let you get dressed then. Could you let Carmen know that it’s her turn next?”

Jessica, Melody, and Carmen were all in the common room watching cartoons with Sorcha when I got there and passed on Dr. Diaz’s message. “You’re up next, Carmen,” I told her.

“Ugh, how bad was it Crystal?” the younger teen girl asked as she stood up.

“She did every test possible, and then some. She even wanted blood and other samples to send to a friend of hers at the PDA clinic for lab work.

Carmen sighed and nodded. “I figured as much. As much as I want to do what she does when I’m older I really hate being on the patient end of things. Wish me luck, girls.”

“Good luck,” we all called out as she headed down the hallway, looking to all the world like she was headed to her execution rather than to see her mother.

Once she was gone I turned toward Jessica. “Umm… Sis? Y’know those lessons that you wanted to start giving me?”

My sister gave me a long look and tried to cover her smile as she said, “Let me guess, you want to wait to start on those tomorrow so you can go tinker with your beast. Go ahead, Sis, and have fun. You earned it, Mom said you did great with your intake appointment after all.” She knew me so well.

“Yeah, I’d like to get it road-ready. I was going to ask Lou if he wanted to tag along as a peace offering but he’s on Werewolf lockdown again tonight. But yeah, apparently I make a pretty convincing bimbo. By the time I was done the lady looked like she was ready to pull her hair out and the guy was in no condition to walk me back to the waiting room,” I told her with a laugh. Then I asked, “Are you sure, Jess? I know that you wanted to get this stuff done as soon as possible.”

Jessica reached up to hug me and told me sternly, “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be better to start first thing in the morning before you shower anyway. Besides, Carmen and I were thinking of teaching Sorcha how to play Monopoly.”

“I’ll come and give you a hand, Crystal. Demon strength has to be useful for something right?” Melody offered.

“Thanks, Melody, maybe we can get things finished up before I start getting hungry for dinner,” I replied with a smile as I thought about how nice it might be to have a bit of alone time with her. We made our way to the elevators and headed down to the garage and on the ride down I told Mel what it was like having a Salamander sharing space in my body and mind.

“It sounds cool, hopefully, I’ll be able to get one of Ashe’s next clutch. I’m already fireproof but having a Salamander to call on would give me a source of fire whenever I might need to use my magic, once it was old enough to stoke a flame. It sounds like there are a few useful abilities with that deal. How do you get used to them being in your mind all the time though?” the half-Demon spoke pensively as we exited the elevator and headed toward the Charger.

“It’s a little weird at first,” I admitted, “but kind of comforting too in a way. She sleeps most of the time right now and I don’t get thoughts from her really, at least not yet, just emotions. I’ll probably be used to it by the time she’s able to actually communicate with me. It does seem to be a good deal, though the speaking mind-to-mind with Carmen, Sorcha, and Ashe is gonna take some getting used to. I kinda wish that Jess could get one though, it would make that twin-speak thing she wants us to work on so much easier.”

I put my new coveralls and gloves on over top of my clothes and we got to work. Don’t judge me, axle grease is a bitch to get out of clothes, I just bought that outfit yesterday, and as comfortable as I might be naked I was not getting down and dirty without something between me and the grease. Melody was a big help when it came to changing the tires. I wasn’t as strong as I used to be and some of those lug nuts were pretty tight from not being changed for a while. With her help It didn’t take long to get them changed, the security system actually took longer to install.

As we worked we listened to the radio, though that brought to mind something else that I wanted to get for the Charger. The sound system was old; the speakers sounded tinny, there was no subwoofer, and the only option besides radio was a tape deck. That got me trying to hear the sound from the driver’s seat, front passenger seat, and the rear seat and I wasn’t really happy with it at all. Though I managed to forget about it for a short time as All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You, by Heart, started playing on the oldies station.

Don’t you just love mood music? And we were already in the back seat so things started getting pretty steamy. We were going at it hot and heavy and I was eagerly trying to pull both of our clothes off when she held me down, holding my wrists secure. There was this feeling of domination about it and I could feel the fire of lust in me burning even hotter as I realized that I liked being dominated by her and wanted more. I wanted her so bad as she looked down at me, and I could see the desire in her own eyes, even as she said in this sexy husky voice, “Crystal, we… should… stop. Let’s just… cool off.”

I was just a little bit blindsided by that. Seriously, what the fuck? I wanted her now dammit, but that feeling of being dominated as she held me down just felt so right that I wanted, no needed, to obey. I needed to please her. In retrospect, I don’t think I would have if it was anyone else but it was Melody and for some reason as much as I wanted her to screw my brains out right then, it was also important to me that she be in charge of that and for some reason she didn’t seem as happy as I was with the idea of going further.

“I… what… you don’t want me?” I half gasped in desperate need, even as I tried to get some semblance of self-control again. The mere thought that she didn’t want me, that this wasn’t making her happy was like a knife to my heart.

“I want you… I want you so fucking bad right now, Crystal,” Melody replied throatily. “I… just… I don’t want our first time to be like this. We haven’t even been on a date yet.”

“I’m a Nymph,” I joked weakly, “I thought this was a date.” I was torn between wanting her to take me and make me her own right then and wanting to make her happy. It confused me that she wouldn’t want me right then either, or rather that she could hold off on that desire.

She gave me a stern and serious look and I felt all of my remaining resistance fall away as she spoke. “Please, don’t put yourself down like that, Crystal, you deserve better. I don’t want you to think that this is just a booty call. I want more than sex, I want you, and I want to show you that I want you for more than that admittedly sexy body of yours. I want to do this the right way; the way you deserve. I want us to go on a date first and I want your first time to be special, not just some hook-up in the back seat of your car.”

I… just… wow. That was, like the sweetest thing ever and my heart melted in my chest. I could have kissed her right then. I did kiss her. It was full of fire and passion, but I also stopped when she broke it off. As much as I wanted her right now, I couldn’t not think of her feelings, especially when she was so obviously considering mine. I fought to get my breathing under control and then looked up at her, my heart hammering away in my chest as I breathily whispered, “So… a date, huh? We could… umm… go to dinner.”

“What, now?” Melody asked, looking a bit shocked at the abruptness of it, despite her insistence that we date before getting to what we both really wanted to be doing right now.

“Yeah, it is dinner time,” I said, nodding. “I’m getting hungry and there was a nice looking old-fashioned diner near the big auto parts place where I got the stuff for the car. I… kinda want to price out a new stereo system anyway if they’re still open, and maybe a GPS too since we’re in a strange city and don’t really know our way around yet. We could go do that real quick, have dinner, and then come back here and go to my room to talk… or whatever.”

“We shouldn’t be going out alone, Crystal,” she said uncertainly. “Like you said, this is a strange city and we don’t know it well yet.”

“Well, you are supposed to be my bodyguard, right? So I think I should be safe with you. You can bring your gun and your big-ass purse of badness if you want, and I’ll have my Para-mace in my purse too. We’ll be gone like two hours max, and we’ll tell the others where we’re going.”

After putting away all the tools and car paraphernalia, informing the others of our date, enduring my sister’s know-it-all smirk following that announcement, and then grabbing our purses, we climbed into the Charger to go on our first date. I wore the same thing I had worn to the PDA office earlier for three reasons. First, I didn’t want to waste time changing clothes when there was food and possibly sex to get to later. Secondly, I looked hot in it. And the third reason was that if something did happen while we were out I wanted people to underestimate me and I might have to pull the bimbo card.

Auto-Worx Parts ‘n Mods was still open when we got there. It was a Paranormal-run business that Pandora had suggested when I had first mentioned getting stuff for the car the day before and wasn’t too far of a drive from the club. The outside of the old four-bay garage and showroom had illusions on it to make it look like it was boarded up but since we weren’t normies I just pulled into one of the opened bays since parking outside would draw attention to the building.

We stepped out of the Charger and I heard a whistle. “Damn, girl. That is one sweet ride.” The owner of the whistle and the voice was a tall and muscular human-looking woman maybe in her mid-twenties with spiky black hair and more piercings than I had ever seen on a single person before, and those were just the visible ones. She was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and seemed to be the only one working this late. I guessed that the owner and the cute guy that I had gotten a good deal on the tires from had already gone home for the day.

“It was my Dad’s, he… left it to me when he died,” I told the woman, whose name patch claimed that her name was Lita. “The sound system totally sucks and I want something better, maybe something so I can plug in my MP3 player. I want a GPS too, I’m kinda new in town and I’m not very good with remembering directions and stuff.” I gave my hair a twirl on my finger and tried to look vacuous.

Lita smiled at me. “I’m Lita, and I can hook you right up. New in town, huh? Never seen anything like you around here before, I’d say Fey but they’re usually a lot more…. compact. Your friend looks Human, is she some sort of Mage? I’m a Metal Mage myself.”

“Thanks, Lita,” I replied with a smile of my own, trying to be friendly and bubbly while Melody did her best to look harmless and kept quiet. “I’m Crystal and this is my BFF, Melody. I’m a Ny… uhh… kinda a cousin to the Fey,” I quickly corrected myself as I thought about what I could say to a total stranger that would be true but not give too much away. “Yeah, Mel uses Fire magic.” That wasn’t quite a lie, she does use Fire magic so technically that does make her a kind of mage and she is half human.

If she had caught my quickly covered slip of the tongue she didn’t give any indication of it. She showed me some various speaker and subwoofer sets but since I was a gearhead and not a sound type person I had to think a lot about what she was telling me and had trouble concentrating on half of it as horny as I still was. I was a bit distracted and that made things take a bit longer. After she had let us listen to a few in the showroom I was able to choose one that I thought would be better for the Charger as well as a decent MP3 hook-up and GPS system.

“If you don’t mind waiting an hour I could get all of this installed for you, you’re my only customer right now and it’ll only cost you an extra fifty bucks,” Lita offered as we headed to the counter so I could pay for my new gear.

I figured that I was probably going to need help installing the speakers and shit anyway since I’d never done that kind of work before and the sound had to be properly balanced. So, since Melody and I were planning on going to eat anyway I agreed, “Thanks, that would be totally awesome. Mel and I were going to go have dinner at that diner down the street anyway.”

“Cool, everything should be set up by the time you’re done eating,” she said as she processed my payment.

I had to leave the trunk and the driver’s side door open for her to do the installs but I’ve watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off enough times to know better than leaving my keys with a perfect stranger. So, being the ditzy blonde that I am, I was just so distracted by something that Mel said that I put my keys in my purse without thinking as we left for the diner.

Benny’s Diner wasn’t a Paranormal business and seemed to be pretty popular so it was about half full of normies having an evening meal or just chatting over coffee. Melody and I claimed a booth and I was extremely conscious of the number of stares I was receiving by the time our waitress arrived to give us menus and take our drink orders. ‘Marge’ was a heavyset woman with her more grey than brown hair in a pixie cut that did not flatter her at all. I almost winced at the sidelong glance she had cast my way as she asked, “What can I get you to drink, ladies?”

It was not lost on me that she used an ironic tone when she said the word ladies either. Hey, don’t hate me because I’m beautiful. Still, I managed to survive ordering my orange juice as Melody asked for a Coke. “Wow, resentful much?” I muttered as Marge headed back behind the bar to get our drinks and give us time to decide what we wanted to order.

“You’re going to get that kind of attention Crystal, especially around normies,” Melody said quietly, taking my hand in her own and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Yeah, I know. I can’t really blend in too well now, looking like I do, can I?” I responded with a sigh.

Melody gave my hand another gentle squeeze. “Try not to let it get you down, Crystal. We’re on a date, so let’s get to know one another better and try to enjoy ourselves.”

We were quiet then for a few minutes as we tried to decide what to order. We were both ready by the time Marge returned with her notepad and our drinks and asked, “What would you ladies like?” Again with the ironic ‘ladies’ as she looked pointedly at the way I was dressed.

“I’ll have the double bacon cheeseburger and fries,” Melody said in a carefully controlled voice.

“Ooh, can I get the large chef’s salad, the grilled chicken burger with fries, and a piece of blueberry pie with a side of respect and professionalism?” If Marge caught the last bit, she didn’t show it but then nobody takes me seriously with my chirpy voice and looks. Hell, I could see it in her eyes, she thought I was an airhead and was more concerned with the amount of food that I had just ordered. I had almost said I was eating for two but managed to stop that little admission. Marge probably would have loved that, thinking I’m some slut who’s going to become a teenage mom and swell up like a blimp.

Melody saved me and made me grin as she said, “Oh, she has a crazy metabolism. She eats whatever she wants and never gains a pound. I wish that I could do that.” Considering the grease platter that Melody had just ordered, the fact that she was so skinny herself, and her pointed look at Marge I couldn’t help but giggle. I think I’m in love.

Marge, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be amused. Still, she returned to the kitchen to place our orders as I giggled away. “That was absolutely demonic,” I said once I managed to calm myself a bit.

“I didn’t like her attitude,” Melody grumbled with a dark expression on her face. “Her jealousy is her problem, not yours. It’s not your fault that you’re good-looking and you’ve never done anything to her, except point out her lack of respect and professionalism. Even then, you only did it after she deserved it.”

“Not that she even seemed to notice,” I said with a sigh. “I’m sorry, this isn’t really turning out to be the best first date, is it?”

“I’m with you, Crystal. Nothing else matters,” she said as she leaned over the table to kiss me.

We were at the diner for a little more than an hour. We couldn’t really say much about our current lives or interests with all the normies around but we did try to get to know each other better as we ate. Most of that talk consisted of stories about ourselves growing up and our dreams before our lives were sent hurtling in a different direction when we Manifested. We kept our conversation low for the most part when talking about anything else, though I did giggle a lot as Melody related stories about her former occupation.

What? She had a lot of funny stories about things that had happened when she was killing people. My favorite was about the Death Mage that she had surprised in the shower. Apparently, when she had shown up in his hotel bathroom looking all Demon-like and pointing that big gun of hers at him, the big bad killer had shrieked like a little girl, dropped his soap, slipped on it, and brained himself on the side of the bathtub. She didn’t have to do a thing.

Another reason that we took so long was that I was trying to take Carmen’s advice about taking smaller bites and being more ladylike as I ate. Also, my taking so long and my constant giggling seemed to annoy Marge. So whenever she showed up at the table to ask if we needed anything else or to bring the check, I played up the bimbo card to the hilt just to fuck with her.

We were getting attention though. It wasn’t really my appearance or our occasional kisses that brought on that attention though, okay maybe it was with the normies, but I thought that was all there was to it until Melody sighed, nodded her head subtly toward a booth not too far from us, and said in a hushed tone, “We should pay the bill and get out of here. Those four guys are watching you.”

I had barely heard her, and since I was right across from her I doubted that anyone else could, as good as my hearing is. I whispered back, “Half the damn diner has been watching me since we got here. I’m kinda noticeable among normies, even with my ears covered.”

“Yeah, but most of those normies have been sneaking glances and then quickly looking away, these guys haven’t taken their eyes off you since they sat down. They’ve been at that table for over half an hour and they’re nursing the same cups of coffee that they started with. They’re not normies either, they smell like Troll changelings.” She return-whispered behind her glass of cola, making it look like she was taking a long sip.

I closed my eyes for just a moment to try and tune out everything around me and discovered that she was right. I could sense the magic of their glamours. “Shit,” I silently cursed. With Fey changelings, the odds are usually fifty-fifty whether they are going to be trouble but Troll changelings are selfish, greedy, and violent. They also have thick skin that makes them difficult to hurt, and they’re strong and quick on their feet. Oh, and they generally eat Humans.

I tried to send Carmen, or even Ashe, a message through the Salamander network but I couldn’t reach them. We were several kilometers away though so it wasn’t surprising that I was out of range. I reached for the cellphone pocket of my purse but Melody stood up and took my hand to walk me toward the cash register to pay our bill. As soon as we were turned away she whispered, “No. If they think you’re calling for help or if we take too long by sitting around, now that they realize that we’ve noticed them, they’re going to turn on the people in here. We get them to follow us outside and then we either take them down or hightail it.”

I was scared and, since she seemed to be awake at the moment, that was making Cinder scared too. I tried to soothe her and calm myself as Melody paid for our meals and we headed outside. It was snowing, which helped me to calm down a bit but the Trolls followed the moment we stepped out the door and we hurried to make our way back toward the parts store and the Charger. I think that Melody and I both sensed the other three other trolls in the alley ahead of us before they even stepped out in an attempt to cut us off.

Two of them had guns and I could feel something being pressed against my back. Melody raised her hands as we were surrounded and I really hoped that she had a plan as she said to the non-glamoured trolls in front of us, “Whoa, guys. You don’t want to eat me, I’m gamey.”

“Keep those hands where we can see them Mage,” One of the Trolls behind us said as we were shoved into the alley and out of sight of the street. “If I see a lighter or anything else that looks like it might make a flame we’ll kill you now and eat you later. You’re not the prize here, the Nymph is. Keurst, get the bimbo’s keys.”

“My keys?” I had a bad feeling that I knew where this was going. See, I was right not to trust that bitch with my car keys. We were still too close to the normies, Melody couldn’t use her gun here without getting a lot of attention and we were really outnumbered.

One of the trolls, who I had to assume was Keurst, was stepping forward to reach for my purse as the speaker smiled at me revealing a mouth full of yellowed teeth in his lumpy grey face. “Fuck yeah, Lita has been looking for a classic muscle car to trick out for one of the local street racers for a while now, he’s willing to pay top dollar, but not near as much as we’ll get for you once we find a buyer in the Caverns. She gets to sell your car and we get to sell you, everybody wins.”

“What do I win?” I asked, glaring at them as I backed away from Keurst and against the alley-facing wall of the diner with my purse clutched tight behind my back. My heart was racing in my chest and Cinder’s fear filling my mind was making it hard to focus.

“You get to…”

Whatever he was about to say was cut off by Keurst’s scream as I felt my magic go off and two blood-tinged spikes of ice erupted from the tops of his sneakers. Melody wasted no time, transforming into her natural half-Demon form and raking her claws across the eyes of the changeling closest to her, making him drop his gun, before grabbing him by the arm and tossing him at the other two Trolls without glamours. I reached for Melody’s arm in the confusion as I thought, “Oh please work…”

Picturing Ashe’s mindscape in my mind I thought about how very much I would rather be on the Fire Plane. I felt a sort of pulling and twisting sensation and a lurching in my stomach as I grabbed Melody’s hand and the alley around us disappeared. We were standing upon smooth black stone before a lake of lava and flame and even the sky seemed to burn. I couldn’t feel the heat that I knew must be present but I wasn’t exactly comfortable either. The acrid burning air was barely breathable; we wouldn’t be able to stay here long.

“I’m guessing this is the Fire Plane?” Melody said as she looked around, gathering flames into a ball in her hand. At my nod, she grinned. “Well, now that I’ve been here once, I should have no problems getting back if I need to. We should get to the garage and your car. It’s probably the first place they’ll look, but there won’t be so many normies around and we’ll have an advantage.”

“Yeah, we can phone home if we need to once we’re back on the Material Plane too but I doubt that anyone can get to us before those Trolls do. We could go straight home but I’m not letting that bitch have any time to contact her buyer and try to unload the Charger. I say let’s get my car and try to make a break for it,” I agreed before muttering, “I wish I knew how to use my magic consciously.”

Melody frowned and took my hand with the one not holding the massive fireball. “I’m mostly self-taught, but here’s basically what I do. I feel for the heat of the Fire element inside me and then use it to call on the flames around me, direct them, and shape them to my will. You should be able to feel the coldness of Ice and the light of the Divine so grab on to one and think hard about what you want it to do with what’s available nearby.”

I held off on an urge to take a deep breath and quickly nodded. “Okay, let’s go.

I felt that pulling, twisting, and lurching sensation once again as I thought about the garage door of the bay where we had left the Charger. Then we were there, but I could see just why Melody didn’t like traveling between planes with passengers repeatedly, it was really tiring. I ignored the wave of exhaustion, felt for the cold feeling inside myself, and reached for the snow and ice on the ground outside as I took a quick look around.

Lita had just closed the trunk of the Charger and was talking on a cellphone, not having noticed us yet. “I charged to parts to your card and I’ve got them in the trunk. Once I get the keys I’ll take it to my place, do the rest of the work there, and give it a new paint job. I can’t have it here when the boss shows in the morning, the car is too noticeable and people might come asking questions about it and the former owner. You’re going to love it when it’s ready, Jocko, this baby is in pristine condition.” She was smiling as she ran her hand along the driver’s side.

“You’re not taking that anywhere, Bitch,” Melody half-growled, her fireball still in hand.

“Get your hands off my car. Now.” I was tired and it was taking a lot of concentration but I now had five really big icicles floating in the air in front of me and aimed right at Lita.

“Should have known that I couldn’t count on those morons,” Lita grumbled as she turned off the phone. “Or maybe not,” she added with a nasty smile as the gang of Trolls showed up, two of them half dragging Keurst. Even if I could have gotten into the Charger and started it in time, they were between us and the way out. Lita was still smiling that nasty smile as a length of chain flew at me from the ceiling. Oh right, Metal Mage. Dammit.