Chasing Starlight: Cassandra's Story (The Daughters of Night Chronicles) Read online

  He’s perfect.

  Michael must have felt my gaze and looked at me from across the table. His brown eyes were soft and kind, boring into me as they had before. This time, when my heart fluttered, I couldn’t dismiss it as quickly. The feelings I’d been trying to suppress were coming back harder than before, and I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t enjoying them.

  I swallowed hard and forced myself to break eye contact.

  Elsie fussed as she reached for our mom, who swept her into her arms and started bouncing the baby on her hip. “Oh, dear! I think it’s time to put this girl to sleep. I know you two were going to go out,” she mentioned to both of us. “I hope you don’t mind we took up so much of your evening.”

  I kissed Elsie on the cheek and said, “Not at all. You know I love coming over. Family nights are the best.”

  “Yeah, thanks for inviting me,” Michael added. “Mrs. Williams, this was delicious.”

  “Thank you, Michael. You’re welcome anytime.”

  Michael nodded as we gathered our belongings and walked to the front door. His hand brushed against mine and sent a rush of delightful tingles down my spine.

  “Bye, Mom! Bye, Fred! Love you.”

  “Bye, Sweetie. Good luck next week at the new job.”

  “Thanks.”

  My stepfather hugged me on our way out the door, and I gave him a gentle squeeze. Michael shook Fred’s hand in farewell, and then we stepped out into the night. The warm air was light and breezy as we walked across the front lawn toward our cars. I glanced over at Michael and smiled when he leaned against the hood of his truck. “So, those memories…” he started with a smile.

  My blush returned, and I glanced at the sidewalk. “Yeah?”

  “Which ones were you referring to? There were an awful lot of them.”

  As he took my hand, I chuckled and glanced at the driveway while lacing our fingers together. “Well, I seem to recall once or twice when I didn’t make it in by curfew.”

  He smiled. “I remember. For some reason, we kept getting distracted.”

  “That’s a delicate way of putting it.”

  “So…what now? We could call it a night, or you could come with me back to my place.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Is that an innuendo, or are you being genuine?”

  “Whatever you want it to be. I just want to spend time with you.”

  I exhaled heavily. “It sounds tempting, but maybe we should keep it PG for the time being.”

  “I’m okay with that,” he responded. “So? What will it be?”

  I glanced up at the starry sky. “Well, the night is young. I could be persuaded to stay out a while longer.”

  “Excellent! I’ll lead the way in my car, and you can follow me unless you’d prefer to ride with me.”

  I bit into my smile when he patted the hood of his car, and I turned to climb in my Prius. “You lead the way. I’m right behind you.”

  After buckling myself into the driver’s seat, I waited for him to pull in front of me then followed him onto the main road. We made our way to a quiet subdivision of townhouses, and Michael pulled into a covered garage. I parked on the street close by and turned off the ignition. He jumped out of his truck and came to greet me on the walkway.

  “Welcome to my humble abode,” he chuckled, gesturing to the building.

  I gazed up at the stucco townhouse with broad windows and a neatly manicured lawn. I fell in love with it.

  “Wow, this is nice. I’m impressed.”

  “Thank you. I live with one of my friends from work. He’s not home, but you’ll meet him soon enough.” He pulled out his keys and led me to the door. “I should warn you; we’ve got a few pets.”

  Before I could respond, a fat, ginger cat jumped onto the window ledge and stared at me from inside. “Speaking of our four-legged housemates, that is Peaches.”

  “Peaches?”

  Michael shrugged. “Don’t look at me. He picked it out himself.”

  The door to the townhouse swung open, and we both walked inside. It was a typical bachelor pad with minimal furniture, an enormous flat-screen television, and every gaming console imaginable. The orange cat jumped off the couch and glared at me, swishing his tail behind him.

  “Not now, Peaches. Go climb up your cat tree.”

  I quirked an eyebrow at the feline and turned to Michael, asking, “What’s going on?”

  “Oh, the cat’s kind of a jerk. He likes to swear a lot and has no respect for personal boundaries.”

  I laughed, knowing Michael understood what his animals were thinking. “What’s he doing now?”

  Michael snorted. “Don’t worry. He does this to everyone. It’s super rude. What did I say? Get out of here, Peaches!”

  The cat slunk off, and Michael took me by the hand and guided me into the living room. He paused. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “Sure. Ice water, please.”

  “Coming right up.”

  As he disappeared around the corner, I noticed a picture on the bookshelf. A pretty, young woman with light brown hair and big green eyes stood next to Michael and they had their arms wrapped around each other. My curiosity piqued so when he came back with the drinks, I blurted, “Who is this in the picture with you?”

  Michael glanced at the photo and scoffed while handing me the glass. “That would be my ex-girlfriend, Kim.”

  “I’m judging by your tone that things didn’t end well?”

  He shook his head and laughed. “Not even a little bit. We were on-again-off-again throughout college until I couldn’t handle any more of her drama and ended things. She retaliated by sleeping with my roommate and making my life a living hell for the better part of a year.”

  “Yikes. So, why do you still have the picture?”

  “No idea. I guess I never cared enough to purge all this stuff, and it didn’t feel right just to throw it away.”

  “None of my relationships ever got to the point of getting ugly,” I informed him with a dejected sigh. “The guys I dated would lose interest after a couple of weeks. They thought I was boring. You know I’m not a party girl, so college was purely educational.”

  “I can’t imagine anyone losing interest in you,” Michael told me, his gorgeous brown eyes intense again.

  “Well, that’s kind of you to say, but I think that’s an opinion unique to you.”

  His smile softened and he looked away, saying, “So, what was it like in Arizona?”

  “Dry…hot…” I responded in a laugh. “Exactly what you’d expect. I got back to California after graduation at the beginning of the summer and have been living with my friend Samantha ever since.”

  “Oh cool, how’s that working out for you?”

  “She’s a great roommate, we get along well, and I appreciate not having to stay in my parents’ house.”

  Michael laughed. “I know what you mean. I had to stay with my folks for a couple of months after I graduated, and it was rough. The first paycheck after I started at the zoo, I was gone.”

  I grinned at him. “That sounds like you. You’ve always been so stubbornly independent.”

  He chuckled and our conversation shifted to other topics. Eventually, we made it over to the couch and sat across from each other. I set my drink on one of the side tables. When I looked up, Michael was gazing at me with a tiny smile.

  “I like this,” he murmured. “Spending time with you and talking—I guess I didn’t realize how much I missed you.”

  My heartbeat quickened, and I forced myself to look away. “I missed you, too.”

  Michael cleared his throat and said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s just, after all our phone calls, it’s nice to look at you while we’re talking—seeing your face.”

  “That’s okay...I like it when you look at me,” I admitted, my cheeks heating.

  He reached up to place his hand against my cheek, and my lips parted as I peered at him through my lashes. The heat of his palm a
gainst my skin caused a thrill of excitement to rush through me, every nerve alight with expectation. My breathing hitched as I stared at his lips, and Michael draped an arm around my shoulder. When he leaned closer, my heart stuttered.

  This was it, the kiss I’d been secretly dying for since the moment I laid eyes on him a few weeks ago. He was so close, all he had to do was close the distance between us.

  As he began to move, there was a jingling of keys outside and the front door opened. A tall, bearded man with hipster glasses and an ironic fedora strolled inside giving us both a casual wave. Michael groaned and hung his head in embarrassment. “Hi, Adam, this is my friend Cassandra. Cassandra, this is my roommate, Adam, who has the worst timing on the planet.”

  Adam closed the door behind him with a confused expression and said, “What?”

  Michael shot daggers at Adam with his eyes from across the room while I smoothed the front of my blouse.

  “It’s okay. I should get going.” I pulled myself off the couch and collected my purse from the kitchen table.

  While I was getting ready, Michael turned to me with an expression full of disappointment. “You don’t have to leave.”

  “That’s okay. It was getting a little intense there for a minute.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Is that a bad thing?”

  “No, it’s just too soon.”

  “Don’t run away from me,” he pleaded.

  “I’m not. I just need to get home. It’s been a long day.”

  Michael sighed and stroked his hand against my shoulder. “Alright, can I at least walk you to your car?”

  “Sure.”

  Adam waved goodbye as Michael and I walked past him. “Bye, Cassandra. It was nice meeting you.”

  “Likewise.”

  Michael glared at his roommate as he opened the door and followed me outside. My car was parked along the street corner, and we strolled toward it side by side. I fumbled while getting the keys out of my bag and gave him a brief smile. “Thanks for having me over. I had a lovely evening.”

  “Me, too. I wish you didn’t have to go.”

  “I know, but I’ll call you when I get home.”

  He sighed as I unlocked the door and climbed into the driver’s seat. “Okay, drive safe.”

  As he turned to leave, an irrational fear bubbled up inside me out of nowhere. I wasn’t sure where it came from, or how to justify it, but I couldn’t bear to see him go. Some deep-rooted issues pricked at the back of my mind, like I may never see him again. All I knew was that I wanted him. Before I could stop myself, the words came ripping out of me, and I called to him. “Michael?”

  He paused in the middle of the driveway and faced me with a quizzical expression. “Yes?”

  I met his gaze like a deer in the headlights, not knowing what to say. “N-nothing,” I admitted. “I just don’t like it when you leave.”

  We stared at one another silently, and a slow smile spread across his face. I melted. My heart fluttered, and I couldn’t help but smile back at him. He said nothing but nodded in response. “See ya later, Cass.”

  My heart soared as I pulled away from the curb, leaving him waving goodbye in my rearview mirror.

  Wish Upon A Star

  Chapter Five

  I drove back to my apartment in a daze, going over every detail of the evening. The whole night felt like a whirlwind, from dinner at my parents’ to Michael whisking me away to a perfect evening at his place.

  I wished every day could end like this.

  There was a moment at Michael’s townhouse when we almost kissed. I was relieved and disappointed he hadn’t. We were so close; it was a gentle torment. It would be so easy to fall back into old habits, fall in love, but I wasn’t sure either of us was were ready for that.

  I arrived at my apartment, pulled into my parking space, and got out of the car with an enormous smile on my face. The moon shone brightly overhead, illuminating the blonde tendrils of my hair, making them look almost white. Moonlight had a funny way of making me feel anything is possible…even a happily ever after. My heart was still beating hard when I opened the door and walked into the living room.

  Samantha poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled, saying, “Hey, Cass! I was expecting you back hours ago. How was visiting your folks?”

  “Oh, it was fine. Elsie’s getting so big I can hardly believe it.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet,” Samantha crooned. “So, what did you guys do, play board games or something?”

  I grinned, thinking back to the cheery cobbler as the door fell shut behind me. “Well, dinner was incredible. Mom even made this cherry cobbler because she knows it’s my favorite. But after we finished eating, I ended up going out with Michael. He sort of crashed the party.”

  “Michael?”

  I nodded. “He’s my friend I went to the bar with the other week.”

  “Oohh…isn’t he the one who sent you flowers?”

  And talk with on the phone every night.

  “That’s the one.”

  “Did your parent’s mind that he came over?”

  “No, actually, Mom was the one who encouraged me to invite him. We had dinner and then hung out for a while at his place.”

  Her lips curved into a grin. “Huh. You guys must be really hitting it off then. Good for you. What does Halle think?”

  I turned five different shades of red as I stared down at my shoes, “I, uh, haven’t told her about him yet. I don’t think she’d approve.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he and I dated back in high school, and she never forgave him for moving away and breaking my heart after graduation.”

  “Uh-oh. Is she still on that whole ‘Never look back’ thing?”

  “Yeah…understatement of the century. It’s borderline hostile. I missed the window of opportunity to bring it up casually, and now it just seems too awkward to slip into conversation. It’s not that I’m avoiding the discussion, but Michael and I aren’t even dating, so I don’t know what to say.”

  “The fact that you’re squeamish about telling her proves there is something going on. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be such a big deal to you.”

  I groaned melodramatically and buried my face in my hands. “Ugh, shut up! I know you’re right. I just don’t want to think about this right now.”

  Samantha chuckled and said, “Well, don’t put it off too much longer. That will only make things worse.”

  I snorted. “No kidding, if for no other reason than to keep Halle from finding out through our parents. That would not go well.”

  “No, it wouldn’t,” she agreed. “But I’m glad you had fun anyway.”

  “Thanks, Sam.”

  She turned back toward the kitchen but paused, bracing her hand against the door frame. “Oh…and one other thing.”

  “Hmmm?”

  “If you and Michael ever do decide to ‘make it official,’ you don’t need to sneak him in and out of the apartment—he’s more than welcome to stay the night. Not that you need my permission, but I just wanted to put it out there. This is your apartment too, and you’ve been cool about letting Rob sleep over, so I just wanted you to know that I’m okay with it. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t bring a guy here.”

  I almost laughed. “Good to know. Though I don’t think we have any plans about taking that step just yet.”

  “Fair enough, but at least you and I are on the same page.”

  I opened the door to my bedroom and let myself inside. The pale, blue walls were illuminated by a strand of white twinkle lights lining the headboard of my bed. I appreciated their soft glow over the harsh rays of incandescents.

  With a tired sigh, I set my purse down and changed into a pair of loose pajamas. I lit a stick of incense on my dresser and waited for the smell of lavender and cedarwood to fill my bedroom. As I unbound my hair, a chime buzzed from the pocket of my bag, indicating an incoming text. I pulled my phone from my purse pocket to read the message.

&nbs
p; “Hey there, Beautiful. I loved seeing you this evening. Wish you could have stayed longer.”

  My smile widened at Michael’s message, and I typed a response. “Me too. We should do it again sometime.”

  There was a pause before he responded. “What are you doing next week?”

  “Nothing, I’m free.”

  “Then it’s a date.”

  My heart fluttered, and my lips curved into a smile. I set down my phone and stared up at the ceiling for a moment, letting myself relax. With the dim lights and smoky incense creating a soothing atmosphere, I decided to make myself some chamomile tea. My bare feet padded down the hallway as I walked into the kitchen and retrieved a mug from the upper cabinet. I went through the process of heating the water and getting out the box of loose-leaf tea when I heard a familiar song playing down the hall. It was soft and low, but unmistakable to the well-trained ear—my lullaby calling me to find the next dreamer.

  Crap.

  The tea was still steeping on the counter when I cradled it carefully in my hands and walked toward my bedroom. The light, aromatic smell filled the entire room with its floral bouquet as the song grew louder. I approached my closet carefully, everything inside me pulling me toward the flute. It was my duty to join whoever was in the dream and help them work through whatever baggage they were dealing with and to save them from the Shadow Demon before it got to them and fed on their insecurities and greatest fears. This time, however, the song felt strangely urgent.

  I set the mug on my dresser and pulled the flute from its case with resignation, then brought the mouthpiece to my lips. It wasn’t until I started playing that I felt the pull of the lullaby cease, replacing its music with my own.

  My Luna moth appeared in a shimmering cloud of dust. Her pale, green wings flapped lazily in the darkness, shining like moonlight. Moments later, my own wings burst forth with a spray of glitter from my back, bestowing the fairy power that allowed me to pass through walls and enter the dreamer’s consciousness. I closed my eyes as the music took control, losing myself in the haunting tune.