There was a happy, chirping sound. I hadn't heard any birds sing since we entered the woods. And it was at night. No songbirds were active in the nigh...t. What was going on? And then a colorful finch flitted out of the woods, singing as it flapped about us.Xera smiled. “Hello, Xandra.”“Xandra?” Minx blinked.“What?” I stared at the bird as she morphed, changed, feathers vanishing, her body expanding into the form of a slim, delicate woman, hair sky-blue, eyes shining sapphire. Xandra appeared,. She had just gotten to the pizzaria, which was closed for the night, when she heard the faint sound of shouting over the cars roaring past.She turned to her left, looking across the busy road. There seemed to be a brawl going on at the gas station across the way. There were four people. One girl, Angel recognized from the PD club, screaming at a man who was handcuffing her and dragging her to his near by car. The other two men were also shouting. One, laying on the ground, face down, the other,. I quietly got out of the sleep bed and headed into the bathroom to do my morning rituals. While I was in there, I stripped down and stepped into the shower. With the hot water cascading over my body, I felt relaxed. Since no one had joined me in the shower, it only took me about 5 minutes to wash, rinse, and shampoo myself. When I finished, I took a clean dry towel and began to dry myself off. As I stepped out of the shower, my little Dakota peeked her head into the bathroom but saw that I was. I stood up, holding her, carrying her into my room. As I crossed through the doorway, I heard my phone go off again. I told Katrina to make herself comfortable, that I was going to grab a glass of water. I got the water and my phone. I switched the mute button to the off position and put it in my back pocket. As I entered my room, Katrina said she had been waiting for this night.Katrina stood to greet me at the side of the bed and started kissing me. I pulled my phone, opened the text with my.