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“Hello?” her mother’s voice said, the slight Russian accent a welcoming sound.

“Hey, Mom. It’s me.”

“Cass! How are you? How’s camp?”

With a slight wince, Cassandra answered, “Mom, I’m grown up now. Check the back pages of your notebook.”

“Grown up?” Galina sounded flustered. “Are you calling from Paris? Are you getting a lot of modeling jobs?”

“That’s the wrong notebook, Mom. Look for the one with the pink leopard print cover.”

“Okay.” The sounds of shuffling filtered through the connection. Galina must have set the phone down because Cassandra could clearly hear her flipping pages. There was quite a racket when her mother picked up the phone again. “Oh! You’re so beautiful! You look like your father!”

“I look like you.” Cassandra smiled as she plucked at the frayed cuff of her jeans. It was an old argument that they repeated in every conversation. Though, now that Cassandra knew Cian better, she could see that they greatly resembled each other in appearance and manner.

“You’re with Aimee in Austin,” Galina read. She said Aimee’s name with great fondness. “I remember now. You’re visiting your father.” There was a long pause, then Galina asked the questions Cassandra dreaded. “Does he miss me? Does he want me to come back now?”

“Mom, he’s really busy right now.” Cassandra flinched. She had yet to tell her mother about Amaliya. “You know, with vampire stuff.”

Alexia tossed a worried look over her shoulder at Cassandra.

Galina was very quiet, but Cassandra could hear her breathing. “Does he still love me?”

“I love you. That’s what matters.”

“Always! Oh...Delta came today and we made tacos because I miss Texas,” Galina said, obviously recounting her latest entry in the notebooks that substituted for her memory. The vampires had left her mind riddled with massive holes.

“How is Delta?” Cassandra asked glad to change the topic.

For the next few minutes she listened to Galina prattle on about the caretaker Cassandra had employed to drop in every other day and check on her mother. Galina was fine with performing simple things around the house and was getting much better with recalling her daily schedule, but she would often forget to take her pills and vitamins. Sometimes she would not remember Cassandra was an adult and panic when she couldn’t find her daughter. There were framed reminders throughout her house, but sometimes Galina had severe episodes. Cassandra felt guilty for not being with her, but she consoled herself with the thought she was doing the right thing by being in Austin.

When she finally closed the call, she flung her arms into the air and let out an exaggerated, “Ugh!”

“She’s not okay today, huh?” Alexia gave her a sympathetic look.

“She’s a little more off than usual, but she’s okay. I just miss her and I feel guilty for not being with her.” Cassandra slouched in the chair, frowning. “I miss her. A lot.”

Alexia, who had no living parents, gave her a sad smile. “I know how that feels.”

Cassandra gave her friend a tight hug. “I know, Lex. Ignore me being stupid.”

“You’re never stupid,” Alexia said, squirming out of t

he hug. “Just way too huggy.”

“Ha! I’m giving you lezzy cooties! It’s already working on your butch hair!” Cassandra playfully ruffled Alexia’s short locks.

“I hate doing my hair! It takes up too much time! And I like penises!” Alexia protested, but giggled while smacking Cassandra’s hands away.

The teased each other for a bit longer, then settled in to watch movies on Netflix while Alexia continued to keep an eye on her emails and the websites she frequented for information. Cassandra couldn’t wait until Aimee got home. She needed to snuggle with her girlfriend and forget that the world was slowly going to hell.

As Alexia discreetly kept typing to her online boyfriend, Cassandra was glad to see that people didn’t stop falling in love and living their lives. She wondered if they would continue to after the earth was plunged into the abyss.

Chapter 15

Sitting across from Samantha on the ground in the yard behind Jeff’s house, Amaliya tapped her fingers on her knees. She could tell the blonde was nervous about something from the way she kept glancing toward the house. Amaliya flexed her toes in her boots and wiggled about, trying to get comfortable. Her jeans were a little snug and the waistband was biting into her midsection. She lamented her inability to lose weight, but it was her own fault for buying clothes without trying them on. Samantha, meanwhile, was dressed comfortably in black yoga pants and a pink tank top with an adorable chainsaw wielding bunny on it. The vampire reluctantly admitted the blonde looked cute.

“Are you going to concentrate at all, little bitch?” The affection in her tone still surprised her. Though Samantha could annoy her to no end, she did really care about the phasmagus.