Chapter
43
by Michelle M Pillow & Mandy M Roth
April is for Fools
Michelle took a
deep breath, knowing in this moment that women normally dressed up, put on
their best face and hoped like hell no one saw through the façade. Not her.
Not today. It had taken a few days to come to terms with the fact that she
was a werecat—a white, fluffy werecat. Okay, not so much fluffy as a
colorless black panther when in a full shift, but still a cat. Shifting made
her sick and she still didn’t have a handle on how to do it, or how to turn
back. Apparently, when she was angry, that side of her was triggered. And,
oh, how she’d been angry at Conner for his deceit. She’d almost killed him.
Thankfully, Mandy was there to stop her. She might hate the guy, but killing
wasn’t on her life to do list.
Dmitri was.
She took
another breath before going up his front walk. She barely saw the new house
he’d rented, only to note that its front yard was a little overgrown and a
statue of a garden gnome was in the front corner. Flowers were beginning to
peek through the April evening, but the promise of their beauty only
propelled her forward with the promise of something else inside of her
chest.
Again she
looked down. Today she’d dressed as she did everyday. In blue jeans and a
t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back in to a ponytail, nothing glamorous. Not
for today. She wanted Dmitri to see her, for her. She was just Michelle.
So many times
driving over, she almost turned around, scared of what she’d discover
tonight. But she couldn’t. She had to know.
Looking at her
feet, she knocked on the door, steeling herself to say what needed to be
said. The door opened and she blurted, “I want you.”
“Well, all
right, baby. Dmitri might kick my ass, but I’m willing to take a few punches
for the cause.”
Michelle
blinked several times, mortified as she looked up. “Ah, Mike. Hi. I’m, ah,
omigod. I’m going to—”
Mike reached
forward and touched her arm. “I’m taking off for the night. Dmitri’s inside,
straight down the hall to the back. Aside from you two, the house will be
empty.”
The soft,
almost caring words seemed so out of character for the man, she nodded.
Really, she didn’t know him at all, only that he was Dmitri’s cousin.
Walking past
her, Mike stopped and grinned. “It’s good to have you back, Michelle.”
Michelle
frowned. Mike whistled as he walked down the sidewalk as if he didn’t have a
care in the world.
“Weirdo,”
Michelle mumbled, going inside. She closed the door softly, standing for a
moment in Dmitri’s living room. Boxes lined the walls and the plain rental
wasn’t anything like she imagined. Straight ahead was a hallway, leading to
what she guessed was another living room by the flickering blue television
light coming from within.
She stared
forward, her foot lifting in a step. Then another. Another. Michelle found
herself at the end of the hallway, before the doorway. The low sound of an
action film filtered from within. She felt Dmitri on the other side, hidden
by the open door. Leaning forward, she tried to peek in the crack between
the door hinges and the wall. Dmitri’s gray eyes stared directly at her, as
if he’d been waiting.
“Hi,” she said,
through the doorway.
“Michelle,” he
sat up, as if startled by her voice.
Michelle
stepped inside. He was on a couch in front of the television. His body
stiff, he looked as if he wasn’t sure whether to sit or stand, so he just
stayed. “Mike left. He said he’d be gone all night.”
“I had popcorn
in the kitchen,” Dmitri gave a wary laugh, his piercing eyes staying on her.
He gave her a lopsided grin. “He didn’t have to go that far to get it.”
Her heart
flopped around in her chest and her breathing deepened. She was so nervous,
made worse by the fact that she was scared of suddenly shifting into a cat
and not being able to say or do what she came to.
Her eyes roamed
over his body, as she searched for words. He was so fucking sexy, with his
messy light brown hair, long enough to grab onto, but short enough to be
slicked back if he needed to. Now it fell in soft waves around his temples.
His broad chest was made even more so by the way his grey shirt pressed
against him. She bet he’d be warm to the touch. He always had such a high
natural temperature compared to her. Jeans clung to his hips and she knew
they’d mold to him when he stood.
Moisture pooled
between her thighs. She wanted him so bad. An ache stirred its way over her
hips, up to her nipples, nipples that had be erect points right now with
just the thought of his firm, full lips on her body.
“Do you want to
watch?” Dmitri asked, motioning next to him. It was clear he didn’t know why
she was there.
“I brought your
calendar proofs for your approval,” she said in a moment of chickening out.
“Oh, okay,” He
glanced down her body. “Where are they?”
“That was a
lie. I don’t know why I said it. I finished them, but forgot about…”
Michelle forgot what she was saying as she looked deep into his eyes.
Everything she wanted was right there, in his eyes. A future, a family,
children, a home. Dmitri. Instead of completing the thought, she rushed out
with, “I want you. I came here because I want to be with you. And I don’t
know if that’s what you want, but it’s really what I want. And you might
think me crazy, and maybe I am crazy, about you. I can’t get you out of my
head, since the first moment I saw you. And you’re so,” Michelle clenched
her hands into fists, growling lightly, “Errrr! Frustrating. All the
time.”
He grin widened
at the admission, but she hurried on before he could speak. Now that she
started, she didn’t want to stop.
“You’re
overconfident, but you have reason to… And you’re really…” Breathless, she
began to pace a little, fidgeting. “You photograph really well. I mean, your
body photographs really wel—I mean, you’re sexy. I mean cute. No, not cute,
handsome. I mean…” She frowned at him, as if her lack of control over her
mouth was his fault. In many ways it was. “Damn it, would you stop staring
at me like I lost my mind. I can’t think when you look at me. In fact, I
might claw your eyes out so you can’t and then maybe I could think and say
what I practiced saying in the mirror all day yesterday.”
“Miche—”
“Oh, and by the
way, I’m a werecat.” She stood looking expectantly at him.
Dmitri slowly
stood. She was right. His jeans did cling to him in perfection. Though
looser, each movement gave teasing peeks of what was beneath. “Is that
all?”
“Yes,” she
said, before furrowing her brow in thought. “I don’t know. What all did I
say?”
He took a step
toward her, his eyes glinting playfully. Was he mocking her? Happy? She was
too nervous to tell. “I think you said you like me.”
“No,” Michelle
shook her head in denial.
Dmitri frowned,
stopping in his progress. He looked like she’d kicked him. “No?”
“I love you,”
Michelle gasped, covering her mouth. Out of all the things she’d practiced,
that wasn’t one of them.
He didn’t
move.
Omigod, take
it back, Michelle, take it back! Her mind screamed
at her.
“I love you and
I really, really want to have sex with you now.” Michelle lifted her hands
helplessly to the sides.
Idiot!
Her mind yelled.
“Okay,” he
said, coming for her.
“Okay?” she
gasped.
Dmitri reached
for his shirt, tugged it over his head and tossed it aside. She couldn’t
help but lick her suddenly dry mouth. He looked really good, in such perfect
shape. When he came forward, it was with predatory grace. She held her
ground.
Suddenly, he
stopped, glancing at his wall. She followed his eyes, wondering what could
have caught his attention. It was a calendar marked on April 1st.
“This isn’t an
April fool’s joke is it?” When his eyes again met hers she saw something
deep within them. A hesitance and longing that was often hidden beneath his
confident mask. He blinked and the look was gone, but she’d seen it as clear
as she now saw his face.
“April is for
fools,” she said, trying to make him smile. She loved it when he smiled.
“No. I really came here for…” Michelle blushed, making a weak noise. He
wasn’t going to make her ask again, was he?
“So I’m a booty
call?” Dmitri grinned, as if liking the idea.
Michelle’s face
fell. “No, I’m not using you.”
“You are so
pretty when you’re flustered.”
Before she knew
he’d even moved, she was pinned against the wall. Dmitri’s firm body pressed
into her until every inch of her body burned with desire.
“I’ve dreamt of
this,” he whispered, tenderly stroking her cheek. “When you’d come to me
willingly.” His lips moved closer and she felt his breath on her.
“Did I tell you
I was a cat? We aren’t supposed to be able to mix,” she said, even as she
angled her mouth. “I don’t want to shift and hurt you. I can’t control it
and I don’t want to—”
“We already
mixed,” Dmitri brushes his mouth softly against hers, a teasingly light
caress that had her moving to follow him. “At the Vampire Ball. You began to
shift then and bit me while we made love pressed up against a car.” He
pulled her hips, his hands easily sliding down her thighs to lift her up.
“Like this.” He pressed himself into her.
Michelle
moaned, leaning forward to ease the distance between their lips. She parted
her mouth, wanting to deepen the kiss before it began. Dmitri let her have a
taste before pulling back.
“Are you scared
I’m going to bite you?” she asked. “I’ll try not to, but I…”
I really
want to bite you, she thought.
“You really
don’t know what happened, do you?” He gave a soft laugh. A light entered his
gaze and she saw his teeth appeared to sharpen. “I should be insulted that
the night wasn’t more memorable.”
“Suppression
spell. Conner—” She barely got the name out before he growled in anger. He
dropped her legs only to grab hold of her face. “No, wait, he thought we
were meant to be together. Some prophesy thing. He cast a spell to make me
forget things, to suppress my shifting. I don’t know everything, and I have
this sense that so much is still there lingering on the edge of my brain,
but I can’t grab it. All I know is that every part of me had wanted you,
even when under a spell. If it makes up for it a little, he had some
help—Muir and Pavel? Grammer? Garvor…?”
“Garmor?”
Michelle
nodded.
“The gods wish
to keep us apart,” he said. “Garmor is a higher being, a pain in the ass,
elitist higher being, but he doesn’t speak for them all. And Pavel, well,
he’s the king of kings when it comes to you cats.”
“Oh, I’m a
princess.” Michelle grimaced. “He’s not my—”
“No, no, I
don’t think he has children. Shifters have many clans and we all declare
ourselves kings at one time or another.”
“You?” Michelle
asked.
“Once in the
1700s. I was drunk.” Dmitri laughed.
To hear him
laugh, see him smile at her, to have him hold her. It was too much. She
didn’t want the moment to end, but she needed it to go forward. She
squirmed, rubbing her body naturally to his in enticement.
“I want you,”
he didn’t let go of her face as he held her gaze steadily to his. “It burns
how much I want you. But you have to be sure. If the gods—”
“Screw the
gods. This is my life. I want you, Dmitri. If you’ll have me, I want you.”
“You already
have me. I’ve always been yours. When you bit me at the Vampire Ball, you
laid claim to me—body, soul and heart—but I loved you before then. Before
your barbeque, before we even met. I feel as if I’ve known you a long time
but had lost you.”
Michelle rushed
him, pushing him back until he fell on the couch. Straddling his legs, she
moaned into his mouth, her hands tearing at his clothes. Feeling a tingle in
her gaze, she knew the cat inside her was trying to come out.
Pulling back,
she said, “You’re mine.”
Dmitri grinned,
flipping her onto her back. “I always have been.” And then he was kissing
her and not stopping as they made love all through the night.
~*****~
Mandy paced
along the barren street, knowing instinctively that Armando would come out
of one of the doors as soon as the sun had completely set. She waited for
him for over an hour, pacing along the concrete, smoothing the short red
skirt and tighter black lace shirt. Michelle had spent a total of ten
minutes dressing for her evening—rambling something about Dmitri needing to
see her as she was everyday, just plain Michelle.
Fuck that!
Mandy snorted,
rubbing her arms. She was here to bag her future and she’d take out every
last weapon in her arsenal, even if that meant the tall, hard to run in
stilettos, the deep red lipstick and the wonder bra that fit snug but made
her breasts cleavage to perfection.
It hadn’t taken
long to piece together what was happening in their lives. Mandy, being fay
had felt the pull Michelle felt for Dmitri. It’s why she had kept trying to
push them together, even when they thought Conner a decent enough catch. It
had taken Michelle a long time to admit to it, but Mandy could hardly blame
her. She’d been just as stubborn when it came to admitting she wanted
Armando.
When she
thought about it, logically, she wanted to laugh at herself. In all reality,
she barely knew the guy—aside from the fact he was a hunky vampire with a
penchant for drinking blood and designer clothing. And it wasn’t like she
wanted to live underground for the rest of her life, which by all references
she’d found, would be eternal.
Luckily, or
unluckily depending on her mood, she was not a completely logical person.
She wanted Armando. She felt him like she did no other. With him, she felt
a past, a past it was impossible to have if her logical brain was any
indication.
It took Mandy a
long time to love, to feel comfortable enough to allow herself such feeling,
but once she did, it was forever. And that scared her. Because she was
fairly certain she loved Armando. But what if he didn’t feel the same way?
Forever for her suddenly had a new meaning.
Mandy pushed at
her bra, adjusting her cleavage. Just let him try to deny me.
Feelings
someone’s stare upon her, she turned. Her gaze almost seemed to zoom in on
the guy at the end of the block. It took her a moment to place him, but she
saw it was Mike, Dmitri’s cousin. At her attention, he gave her a lopsided,
happy grin, flipped his thumbs up into the air and began to whistle as he
strolled on by.
Mandy chuckled.
“I guess I got his approval.”
“You have mine
as well.”
Mandy gasped.
“Ah, you scared the shit out of me, Armando! Why do you have to do that
lurking, vampire sneaking around, moving like the shadows thing? I swear,
I’m going to tie a bell around your neck so I know where you are.”
“You are one to
talk, kitten. You have been up here pacing for some time. I wondered if you
were not going to just come on in and wait. There was no reason to stand in
the street,” his gaze skimmed over her, lighting with an inner fire,
“especially dressed like that, if you wanted to speak with me.”
She gave him a
wry look, taking her time to study his clothing as he had done hers. Tight,
black leather stretched over his hips. A long sleeved maroon silk shirt
partially covered his upper half. Since it was held together by only one
button and the rest were undone, his pale, steely upper body showed—teasing
her, taunting her.
Mandy bit her
inner cheek and suppressed a moan.
“Like what you
see?” he asked, smug and entirely too sure of himself.
Mandy blushed.
She’d been staring, practically salivating to take a bite of him.” As a
matter of fact,” she moved forward, careful on her heels, “I do.”
His eyes
widened. She’d surprised him. Well, if he thought that was a shocker…
“I like what I
see very much.” Another step closer. “So much that I’ve decided that you are
mine.”
“Yours?”
“Yeah, mine.”
Mandy nodded. “That’s what I came over to tell you. Basically, you have two
choices. You can either invite me inside, make love to me all night and day,
and accept your fate. Or, you can play hard to get, try to run and know that
since I’m now come into my full fay powers I will find you. The way I look
at it. I have all eternity to wear down any resolve you have against me.”
Armando didn’t
move, still shocked. “You would do this to simply prove you can make me
succumb to you?”
Mandy laughed.
Going towards him, she drew a finger along his chest. A tiny trail of
pleasure erupted, winding its way down to tighten her nipples and flood her
sex. “No.”
“To torture
me?” His lids lowered lazily over his piercing vampiric gaze.
“Well, there
might be a little of that,” she leaned in, brushing her lips along the
corner of his deliciously full mouth. “If you’re lucky.”
“What has
happened, Mandy? Do you need protection? Has someone hurt you?” His tone was
hard and his fingers gripped into her arms, shaking her a little. “Tell me
his name and I will take care of it. You go inside, lock the door and wait
for me to come back.”
“Ow,” she
wiggled beneath his hands, “you’re the only one hurting me. Stop that.”
Armando
instantly let go of her. “I am so—”
“Sh,” she
pressed her hands to his lips. “Are you always this frustrating? Here I am,
all dolled up, doing my damnedest to seduce you and—”
Mandy gasped as
Armando again took hold of her. She felt her body flowing like air as he
pulled her into his home. A loud slam indicated the door closing, a door
that moved by so fast she couldn’t see it. When they stopped, she stumbled
to right herself. They were in his home, a tastefully decorated place with
modern, hard angled furniture, with a nice mix of old world oil paintings of
Armando in courtly attire hanging over the fireplace. The blending was odd
but worked well for him. It represented him well. A mix of old and new.
Mandy giggled.
“Still have that outfit? I bet you’re really good at the role-playing,
seeing as you’re as old as dust.”
“I wish for you
to continue speaking of this seduction,” Armando said.
Mandy laughed,
strolling around his home. She traced her fingers lightly over his
furniture. “Do you now? And what would you have me say?”
He studied her
for a long moment, as if contemplating the question. Then, instead of
answering, he said, “I take it by your presence here, you remember our past
together, as I have.”
“Our past?”
Mandy arched a brow. Role-playing time already?
“You do not
remember it? The club I ran? Working for the Nocturnal Journal? Us? Our
engagement?”
Mandy giggled,
strange fantasy, but who was she to argue with a vampire. “Okay, I’ll bite,
vampy, but only if you promise to bite me back.”
His eyes
seemed to swirl with lust. “If you don’t remember, why are you here?”
Mandy
swallowed, knowing that she couldn’t keep her feelings back any longer. “I
love you. I don’t know why or how, but I know I love you like I’ve never
loved anyone. The full truth of my feelings hit me when I came into my full
fay powers just a few days ago. Everything I’ve felt since first seeing you,
it was love trying to show me the way to my heart. You, Armando, you are my
heart.”
“But you don’t
remember our life together?”
Mandy frowned.
“You’re going to make jokes at a time like this? I just bared my soul to you
and—”
He was there,
kissing her before she could finish. When she was quieted, he pulled back,
smoothing her hair from her face. “Don’t you know, kitten. I’ve belonged to
you. When you pushed me away from you at the Vampire Ball, it nearly killed
me. To be within you is the only heaven I’ve ever known and to be without
you is hell. All I can offer you is the night, and I understand if that
holds little appeal, but if you take it, I will give everything I have.”
“I always did
prefer stars to sunlight,” Mandy said. “Besides, couples have gotten around
worse things than a husband who works the night shift.”
Armando smiled.
“I should tell you, it is you who will never escape me. When we came
together at the Vampire Ball, I bit you. I marked you as mine.”
She scrunched
up her face, liking the idea of it very much. “Did you now?”
He nodded.
“Turn about is
fair play.” Mandy opened her mouth, clamping down on his neck. She bit him,
her flat teeth not breaking surface. Armando moaned and she felt his arousal
jerking against her. Grabbing his crotch, she said, “Take me to my new
bedroom, Armando. There is something else I want to get a taste of.”
He whisked her
into his arms, their bodies blurring as he obeyed her every word. Night
passed as they played in each other’s arms, each understanding without words
what the other needed and wanted. And, as she fall asleep exhausted, Mandy
felt a tear roll over her cheek. For once in her life, she had perfection.
~*****~
Michelle and
Mandy shared a look as Tru walked toward them. Michelle was snuggled against
Dmitri, her back to his chest as she lounged in his arms. Mandy sat astride
Armando, placing tiny kisses along his jaw, giggling as he grumbled about
having to sit on the ground for the midnight picnic.
“It’s either
this or at noon tomorrow,” Mandy teased.
“We did it!”
Tru said, her pixie head bobbing excitedly as she looked from couple to
couple. “You found each other again.”
“We?” Mandy
asked, stiffening as she arched a brow.
“The gods can't
mess with you any more. You found each other in two lives and there is
nothing they can do to change your fates. We did it!” Tru sighed, a
girlishly romantic sound. “I love watching mortals in love.”
“You mean they
killed us and reincarnated us?” Michelle asked. “Is that why we have the
feeling, why I…?” Michelle’s hand touched her stomach lightly, a look of
horror on her features.
Mandy’s eyes
narrowed. The idea that the gods had done something to them….
“No, not
really. They rearranged your timelines in this life,” Tru said. “But after
it was discovered the Garmor meddled in your fate this time around when he
was ordered not to, and you found each other anyway, I can now let you
remember everything.” Tru giggled, lifting her hand. Kissing her palm, she
blew a kiss at Michelle and Dmitri. Sparkly pink magic showered from her
fingertips, covering them. The couple stiffened, their eyes going white as a
flood of memories washed over them. The past, a life they’d been erased
from, their first life, came rushing back as if it had never gone. It was
all there, the breaking up and getting together, the Raven Nightclub, the
Nocturnal Journal job, the writing career, psycho-cannibal, nearly blinding
Dmitri with Supernatural pepper spray, and their first date to the Palace of
Pizza. But that wasn’t all. New knowledge of forces meddling in their fates,
keeping her from Dmitri, whispering insecurities into her ear whenever she
was ready to take their relationship to the next level.
Michelle leaned
to the side, so she could look deep into Dmitri’s eyes. Tears flooding her
gaze. “I came to you and we… I was pregnant. I felt it. We made a baby and
then they changed our lives and now your son…”
“We’ll make
another,” Dmitri said.
She didn’t
think it possible, but in that moment, with their history, she loved him
even more. “I’m so glad I didn’t mess up two chances with you. There is so
much—”
“There is no
need. I see now that so much of what happened was outside forces at play.
But now we know and they will never invade our lives again. You are mine and
I yours. Nothing can split us. We are mated and soon, we will be married in
the human way so none can dispute it.” Dmitri kissed her forehead and she
turned in his arms to join her lips to his.
“No need to
make another baby just yet,” Tru giggled, looking at Michelle’s stomach. It
swelled, growing round. Michelle gasped, nearly screaming. “You’re due in a
month—give or take.” The baby inside her kicked, thumping so hard Dmitri
felt it against his stomach.
“Talk about a
shot gun wedding,” Mandy laughed. “Guess we can postpone the date until
after you’re back to your normal weight.”
Dmitri growled,
seemingly aroused by the site. He instantly kissed Michelle’s neck, a
serious of animalistic noises were all that could be heard.
Tru turned her
attention to Mandy. Mandy stiffened, wary as what would be revealed. Kissing
her palm, Tru blew another kiss. This time the sparkly pink magic showered
over Armando and Mandy, covering them. Memories flooded Mandy as they and
Michelle—the Raven Nightclub, meeting Armando, working in his office,
Elizabitch and Barbie, parties, Mike, Darren the ex-husband who wasn’t
really meant to be, falling from the balcony. But there was other knowledge
there, too—knowledge of forces meddling in their fates, keeping her from
Armando, sending Darren messages so he’d come to mess with her life
convinced he loved her.
Mandy gasped in
shock, Armando grinned.
“I told you we
had lived a whole life together,” Armando said.
“I thought you
were just making up stories.” She covered her mouth. “We lost a baby, too,
didn’t we? When I fell.”
Armando’s gaze
saddened and he nodded. “Can you forgive me for not protecting you? For what
I did? It was my fault. I let my anger loose. I let it free. I let the demon
out and in the end, you and…” His gaze slid down the length of her,
centering on her stomach. “I hurt you…both.”
“So much
happened, so much we couldn’t control, so much that I didn’t know about
until this very moment.” Mandy looked at Tru, hopeful as she touched her
stomach. “Am I…?”
Tru shook her
head, “I’m sorry, Mandy, I cannot give that baby back. We did not take it
from you, it simply wasn’t meant to be at that time. But have no fear, you
will conceive again. Very soon and everything will be healthy because Aunty
Tru will be there to make sure of it.”
Mandy tried not
to cringe at the “Aunty Tru”. But really, with everything the woman had
given back to them, she could put up with her being around.
“I like this
idea of making a baby,” Armando said in a low voice, a sly expression
crossing his features. Mandy shivered, feeling his mind enter hers with
wickedly sexual thoughts.
“But with two
lives, which is true?” Dmitri asked.
“Both memories
are there,” Michelle added.
“A little of
both, mostly the first,” Tru said. “But you keep all the knowledge gained.
Don’t worry, what is what will come to you when you need it.”
“Cool! Twice as
smart.” Mandy laughed. “But why couldn’t you have taught Michelle how to
cook this last time around?”
“Hey!” Michelle
moved to swat at Mandy, but with her new belly, she ended up falling to the
side, off balance. Dmitri was right there, pulling her back so she sat
between his legs. Grumbling, she added good-naturedly, “Why cook when I have
you to do it for me?”
“That poor
baby,” Mandy teased.
“Ah.” Tru
sighed. “Can I stay and watch?”
Michelle shot
Mandy a horrified look.
“I love seeing
people in love.” Tru sighed.
“You know, Tru,”
Mandy said, trying not to laugh. “If you go to Dmitri’s house, you’ll find
someone who is really in love.”
“She will?”
Dmitri asked.
“She will.”
Mandy nodded, giving him a meaningful look.
Dmitri clearly
didn’t get it because he said, “But Mike is the only person there and—”
“Exactly,”
Michelle said, stopping him from saying too much.
“Mike, you
say?” Tru asked, tilting her head.
“Yeah, tell
him you like to ride ponies.” Mandy grinned.
The woman
nodded. “I do like pony rides!” She hurried off in excitement.
“Was that
mean?” Mandy asked, giggling.
“I don’t know
who to feel sorrier for,” Armando said.
“Me, they’re in
my house.” Dmitri groaned.
“No, I have a
feeling those two will get along well,” Michelle said. “And if memory
serves, as it’s now seeming to do, I say we owe Mike for a lot of grief.”
Then, as if by
silent understanding, they went back to their picnic. Each couple whispering
of the present, no longer hampered by the past and facing a future full of
promise and love.
The End
Dear Raven
Readers,
We’d like to
thank you for being a part of our Raven family and for joining us in the
adventures of Mandy and Michelle, Dmitri and Armando. We hope you’ve enjoy—APRIL
FOOLS! Ah, come on, you really didn’t think we were going to end it
there, did you? Stay tuned, there’s definitely more chapters to come!
Mandy &
Michelle
