Chapter 21

Christmas Eve, the family sat in our lounge to watch it. I had put some serious money into the family coffers and Dad had bought a giant flat screen TV and sound bars.

That night, Jordan and I cuddled on one sofa with Ali on our laps. Jordan had finally admitted to his mother that we were a couple. She, surprisingly, was happy to go along with it, considering that many in the wide world thought we already were Ali’s parents.

He and I would be spending the night in the stable.

I got up and walked over to within a few feet of Sasha, and her tail thumped against the couch as she looked up at me queasily.

“Sorry, Master, I didn’t mean to listen in… not that I really understood much of it… just, Master and her highness were having a conversation, and that’s more important….” I frowned a little at that reasoning.

Puberty Changed Everything

Part 1

Chapter 13: In Which I Stand In The Hallway With A Woman Whose Name I Don’t Know For A Very Awkward Five Minutes

It took me a moment to process that offer with a very hot and extremely naked Princess pressed up against my own naked body, but then:

“No.”

She blinked, tilted her head to one side, raising an eyebrow as she tapped my nose with her finger.

“I mean, no, sorry, your highness… anything that involves the death of Master is not something I’ll ever agree to.”

“Okay, I can respect that. What if your Master agreed to it?”

Chapter 12: In Which I Am Sorry I Used The Metaphor Too Soon, This Time Literal Cards Are Hitting The Literal Table

The Royal Garden of Eusthyne, the place where those looking for admittance to the Night Court waited for their invitation. It was surprisingly unkempt, with plants growing all over the place in a lot of places, yet barren in other parts, stagnant pools of water filled with algae. We were dressed in black robes, which was the apparent custom of the Night Court to conceal identities, but Valentine still stood out thanks to her relatively huge size.

Chapter 19

I had tears in my eyes. When I looked around, Pet and the other girls who had seen it already were also glistening. Jordan sat with tears streaming down his face. He turned to me and buried his head into my shoulder. Pet had let go of my hand and was comforting a weeping Anton. Ian and Matty were wet-eyed. Abigail was rocking a weeping Matt.

Flora said, “I think it still has the power to heal.”

I met up with Anna in the parking lot. I had walked past a few car and and trucks until I came upon a small car with Alabama plates and assumed it was hers. Anna walked up to me with a young girl skipping along behind her.

“OK, Ella, what the heck are you thinking, agreeing to have Reginald the Idiot with us? Do you want us to get caught?” Naomi demanded, as soon as we were inside our beach house.

I hurriedly rummaged through the deep pockets of my beige coat before pulling out a set of unorganized keys, one of which was supposed to open the door to my apartment. I let out a big sigh as I carried the bags of groceries I had just bought inside before closing the door and slumping to the floor. Being a woman had made me significantly physically weaker than when I was a man, and performing everyday tasks took more energy. Like how every time I needed to use the tallest cabinets in the kitchen, I needed to grab a chair and climb on top of it.

Shadowsblade a Whateley Tale: Written by Shadowsblade

Created for war and forged in pain, dealing with demons within and without.

"Here's the thing, Merope," Agent Kirchmeyer said.
"If we take what you said at face value, what do we have? Something about cylinders.
We don't know what these cylinders are. Frankly, they sound like rolls of money.
Which, of course, is nice for him, but not really remarkable,
if you know anything about the Switcher."

The days before she died was all the time that I really knew the real Anna Renee Joel. She was very sweet; always helpful and polite to me and that kindness made me feel threatened because whenever she talked to me my guard would come down and I was pretty much hypnotized. She could read the directions for soup from the back of a can and it would have sounded like poetry in motion.

[WARNING – There are some bits of this story that are not for the fainthearted and is NSFW]

[just before Christmas]

I’d gone into town to collect Kelly from work. Even though she was serving out her notice, the job had to go on and her patrol SUV was in the shop for another new water pump, the second this year. When I arrived at the office, she was just finishing up some paperwork, so I switched the Station TV to the Weather Channel.

Carrie, delighted, smiled. Her eyes sparkled. "I knew something was up! It's like Freaky Friday, isn't it?" she laughed.

"Well, yes, I guess it is," I admitted. "Except that I'm not his mother."

Mukti's eyebrows went up. "And we can't switch back," he added.

The figure in the mirror was still a stranger to Keir. Despite having spent weeks in the body, he had not gotten used to it, or let himself study it beyond the basic plumbing problems. It was a perfectly useful body, at least when it wasn't recovering from getting shot and nearly killed. Many people had similar bodies. Still, it wasn't his. Like ill-fitting armour it chafed and pulled in odd and uncomfortable ways.

Lying on a fluffy towel, surrounded by soft green sand, with the sound of waves just a few feet away, I had to admit life wasn't so bad.

We stood over the fallen tiger lady… she seemed to still be breathing, at least.

Master stared off into the distance with a slight smile and a sort of vacant expression.

I blinked… I hadn’t seen that look on her since she switched places with me. “...you okay there, Master?”

“Shhh, quiet, trying to think, Master.” From her superior tone, I gathered she hadn’t meant to say ‘Master’… actually, maybe she had said my original name instead, whatever that was. Maybe I should try to read her lips next time… but how would I even know when or if there would be a next time?

It was morning, and I had just put my clothes on. Master had watched me the entire time with a languid smile, which didn’t make me exactly more comfortable when doing it, but given that she clicked her tongue at me when I tried to hide my body, I did my best not to actually cover myself up… although I did at least try to angle her at an angle that would be less revealing, since I doubt she’d figure that out just from the angle.

“Probably not, but you do remember I can hear your thoughts, right?” Fuck.

Returning to the diagrams on the computer screen, I told them, "This is important. I think I need to call the FBI."

"Okay, fine," Cleo agreed. "But I'm sure they're sleeping now. You can call them in the morning."