A Touch of Madness (A Recipe for Disaster Novel 1)

Wakes up with a grumble

For the second day in a row, I woke up to screaming. My body was in motion before all the separate parts of my brain had caught up to being awake, let alone moving. I charged into Cassie’s room as Edward snapped in. Cassie was in bed, still out cold but screaming and whimpering at a night terror. I grabbed Edward’s wrist before he managed to touch her.

 

“Don’t. Waking her up suddenly makes it worse.” I whispered, pushing past him. I crawled up into the bed and held my twin, which made her screaming stop but she continued to whimper. After a few minutes of rocking her gently and making soothing noises, she slipped out of the night terror and into a restful dream. I heaved a sigh of relief and settled her back into bed. Good thing my twin could sleep through the apocalypse, I crawled out of the bed and followed Edward down stairs to the kitchen.

 

“What was that all about?” he asked me, voice soft. I could feel his eyes follow me as I walked past him to the fridge. The weight of his gaze gave me goose bumps as my magic gave an uncomfortable twist but I ignored it to grab orange juice and answer his question.

 

“Night terrors. Cassie started getting them last summer. See, as a Healer she feels it when someone is hurt, and she feels it when they die. She doesn’t remember having night terrors but if you wake her up during one, she’s freaked out for the rest of the night, and probably all day too.” I explained. He worked a lot of nights but this was the first time I’d ever realized that he’d missed all the other night terrors. It made me feel guilty for blocking our guardian out so much lately, so I turned to the fridge and fished out everything I’d need to make a meal for four people. When I don’t know what to do, I feed people, and since I could hear Barry snoring merrily away on the couch I was determined to feed him too.

 

I was chopping green peppers up when I felt Edward touch my back. I whirled, heart in throat to stare at him. He jerked back. “Sorry. When did you get a tattoo?” he demanded, voice stern. My nerves were on fire from his touch but as always, I ignored it. Luckily for me, Barry laughed from the doorway.

 

“She got the phoenix on her back after her 18th birthday and the Rune for fearless on wrist during first year University. Oh, and trying to agitate the cook is a bad idea. Callie’s jumpy and she has a sharp knife, tread softly.” Barry teased. I flashed him a rude gesture.

 

“You have two tattoos?” Edward demanded.

 

“Well, only the two that I’ve seen, but there could be more.” Barry added helpfully; I groaned.

 

“Bear, stop helping me. Yes I have two tattoos, no I don’t have any hidden. And I don’t need a lecture from you Edward. Now sit down, shut up and eat your breakfast. That goes for you too Barry.” I ordered them. Edward looked startled at my tone, but Barry grinned.

 

“Told you she gets agitated.” He said conversationally. I poured them both coffees once it was hot and continued cooking. Cassie came down stairs once all the food was ready. She had taken the time to shower and looked like a child in the giant fluffy bathrobe she wore over her hospital scrubs.

 

“Mmmm bacon.” Was all she said in way of greeting. I fed my silent twin, my guardian, my best friend and then finally managed to snag some food for myself. I smashed my scrambled eggs in between bread and turned it into a sandwich. I pretty much turned all food into sandwiches if I could. “I’ll get the dishes.” Cassie said after her coffee kicked in. I nodded and kept chewing as I headed upstairs to shower.