"Come on, you won't know until you try it," Drake lifted me and tossed me over his shoulder. Feather, Mack's daughter, came to get us, folding us to another world where skiing and winter were both present. I had to be outfitted at a shop there and felt terrible that the twins were spending so much money on me. The whole thing seemed to be a wasted effort. Feather, with her mates Christi and Kerry, all watched as Drake and Drew haggled with the shopkeeper over my outfit plus skis, poles and goggles.
"Baby, I don't think you know how to have fun," Drew said, rubbing my shoulders at one point. I wondered if he was right. Eventually I was fixed up, the twins paid and somebody folded us to the slopes.
"You're just going to push me down the side of the mountain?" I gulped, staring down the steep incline. Immediate misting came to mind as I contemplated my fate otherwise.
"Watch us," Drake grinned, pushing himself off the top. He was making short, sweeping turns with his skis, going down quickly and skillfully. Kerry went next, closely followed by his two ladies, Christi and Feather. They also skied very well and I started sweating.
"You go first, I'll come along and pick up the pieces," Drew teased.
"Oh, sure, laugh why don't you?" I swatted at him. "I end up with a broken leg and you'll just say turn away from the tree next time."
"Lissa, baby, you'll do fine. Show me those vampire reflexes."
"Uh-huh," I eyed him skeptically. "My vampire reflexes are for getting me out of trouble, not getting into it in the first place."
"You're not afraid are you?" He was still grinning.
"Are you kidding? My knees are knocking. I don't know why I let you two convince me this was a good idea," I snipped.
"Come on, Lissa-love, just try it." Drew coaxed.
"Okay, but on my tombstone I want you to put that I thought this was a bad idea." I shoved myself onto the slope. I learned quickly that going down in a straight line is a terrible idea. My shrieks could be heard for miles and probably caused an avalanche or two as I hurtled down the steep side of the snowy mountain.
"Turn, baby!" Drew shouted as he made his way down behind me. I was shocked I could hear him over the sound of my own screaming. "Turn your body, Lissa!" Drew yelled. He'd seen the pile of rocks, just as I had, and I was skiing straight toward it. I turned—skidding for yards and flinging snow up in cascades as I slid down the slope. And then I flopped over in the snow after coming to an eventual stop. I lay there in cold, powdery snow, panting and shivering. I'd get myself up off the snow. I would. Someday. Drew came to a neat stop beside me.
"Need a hand?" he asked, pushing his goggles up and leaning down to get a look at my face.
"I need a stick," I said tartly.
"A stick?"
"To beat you and your brother with," I snapped.
"But you did pretty well for your first time. The turn was almost classic when you made it."
"Yeah? A classic lapse of good sense," I grumbled. "It ranks right up there with sticking forks in toasters and taking baths with hair dryers." Drew snickered. I started laughing. "Come on, you," he lifted me up, dusted most of the snow off me and we started again. "Turn your body from side to side," he was trying to get me to do things properly. Sometimes that worked. Sometimes. At other times, I went hurtling down the mountain in a straight line, shrieking, turning and falling. Thankfully, no trees were involved by the time I reached bottom.
"You think this is funny?" I lifted an eyebrow at Drake, who was waiting at the bottom with the others, trying not to snicker. He bellowed with laughter. "You could have started me on the bunny slopes but nooo, we had to prove our point, didn't we?" I glared at him. He laughed harder and the others were laughing, too. "Unbelievable," I grumped. Ignoring all of them, I turned myself to mist and went flying straight back up the mountain. It was better the second time, and by the sixth time I almost had the hang of it. I paid no attention to the others; they were going up and down with the greatest of ease. I had catching up to do.
"If I can't move tomorrow, it will be your fault," I pointed an accusing finger at the twins as we were folded home later.
"Come on, Lissy baby, you can't be mad at us forever," Drake hauled me over his shoulder and folded us to the hot tub. He removed our clothing with a thought and dumped me into bubbling water. I huddled between Drake and Drew when Crane, Dragon, Devin, Grace and Karzac all showed up later, getting in with us. Drake grinned. Maybe he was used to parading around naked in front of his parents and everybody else—I wasn't. I intended to mist out of the hot tub and see if they could track me down later.
"Lissa learned to ski today," Drew grinned.
"I did not learn to ski today; I learned not to kill myself while those contraptions were strapped to my feet," I said sarcastically. Devin laughed.
"She doesn't know how to have fun," Drake observed.
"You could have taken me bowling," I grumped. Grace laughed out loud. Karzac turned his head but I heard the snicker. "Don't laugh, you may have to fix my bruises later," I informed him. That did make him laugh—something that didn't happen very often.
"I'm going to bed, I'm tired," I announced a few minutes later.
"I can fold you to bed," Drew offered.
"I can mist myself to bed," I counter-offered.
"I'd prefer we both folded you to bed," Drake threw in a third option. He didn't wait for a reply; he went ahead and did it. He landed us in the floor instead of in the bed while we were still wet.
"My baby's tired." Drew Pulled in a huge towel and started working it over my body. I was tired—and achy, too—if I were honest. Killing Flakkar had worn me out and I didn't get my nap afterward before going to the ski slope.
"Come on, you just need to sleep," Drake said, pulling me toward the bed. "Karzac will beat our heads in if we try anything else. He's still sending me mindspeech, telling me how tired you look."
"Let me get my PJs," I said, going toward my closet.
"No," Drew said. "Don't put anything on, baby. I want the feel of your skin against me in the night." He had his arms around me, nuzzling my neck. Drake disappeared and Drew crawled under the sheet with me. "Go to sleep, love," Drew murmured against my temple. I fell asleep in his arms.
* * *
Anybody with mindspeech would have been tossed out of bed that night when Spawn was shouted mentally. Drew was out of bed like a shot, Pulling leathers and blades in with barely a thought. He was going off to battle Ra'Ak spawn, and he was leaving me behind. I shouted as he disappeared. Well, it was time to see what I was made of. I threw on clothing as quickly as I could, Looked to see where Drew went and then working up the nerve, I folded for the first time ever. I landed in an open field on a world I couldn't name. I saw Drake, Drew, Charles and a multitude of Saa Thalarr, waiting for the approaching army of spawn.