Celestial Sisters

Chapter 28: The Lion's Den

The limo rolled to a stop at the top of a rolling green hill, in East Hampton. The tall wrought iron gate screeched and moaned as they closed behind the vehicle. The pale dark hairs on the back of Twyla's neck stood as the strange feeling of being caged in overwhelmed her. As conversation arose amongst the group, Twyla looked out the window and stared at the formidable structure looming over them. The Delphi mansion was a timely estate with lovely trimmed rose bushes lining the porch and stone statues dotting the yard. The house itself reminded her of her home in Virginia, except the mansion was much larger and didn't have a gaping hole in the wall. However, it did possess that same colonial charm that was favored in the 1700s when the house was constructed.

It had all happened very fast- their trip to the Delphi. Twyla found it difficult to keep up with everything that was happening. One minute they were standing in an alley beside a club and the next they were promising to raise a stranger from the dead and steal from one of the most powerful family in New York. Kaitlyn Delphi was mostly the cause for their sporadic trip. Everyone had agreed that they would need to get the book somehow and someday but Twyla did not expect everything to happen in one night. The Delphi heiress had barely even thought over Alix's request before she was ushering everyone into her car and gushing about how nice it would be to have her mother again. Twyla found herself questioning the girl's competence more than once that night, as she couldn't fathom why Kaitlyn would be so willing to trust them.

When Twyla had asked Luna if the girl was being sincere, her sister nodded and hesitantly said, "She seems to be ruled by her emotions." In which, Twyla only groaned.

A pinch at her thigh jolted Twyla out of her thoughts. "Are you paying attention?" By some unfortunate string of luck, Twyla found herself sitting beside Will who was doing a fantastic job at glaring at both Twyla and Alix at the same time. Of course, he was glaring at Alix for a completely different reason though.

"Do that again and I'll cut your fingers off," Twyla smacked his hand away.

Vibrations traveled down her spine as Xavier chuckled from her other side, his arm was thrown casually over her shoulder. "That would be a no, Billyboy."

Biting the inside of her cheek, Twyla had to stop herself from reaching out and hurting that pretty face of his. She was quickly discovering that she was quite fond of that face, and later, would regret it if it were permanently damaged by her hand. She crossed her arms over her chest, and averted her eyes from Xavier's intense gaze. Alix rolled her eyes at her antics but didn't complain about having to repeat the plan. She quite liked hearing the sound of her voice.

"Kaitlyn is going to do a quick spell to change your features. Nothing drastic but enough so you and Luna won't be recognized."

Twyla understood why that was necessary but that didn't mean she liked it. Her Aunt Nyx was an illusionist and she had been a witness to many horrible instances where a face-changing face went wrong. The slightest imperfection could leave someone with cat eyes or a tail. In some rare occurrences there had also been times when the illusion never wore off and the person found that their face was forever changed. Now, Twyla didn't really care about what she looked like but she knew the teen model she called a sister, would have an objection or two.

"Again," Luna wrung her hands in and out of knots, "That's not going to be permanent, right?"

"No," said Kaitlyn but there was a slight hesitation.

Luna's eyes enlarged, her face went as pale as the white, leather interior of the car but before she could speak again, Alix interjected. "Then, Kaitlyn is going to take you guys into the mansion with you two posing as friends from college. While Kaitlyn distracts her grandfather, you two will slip away and try to find the book."