The New Rangers

Chapter Nineteen

Deva twisted this way and that in front of the mirror, looking at herself from every possible angle. "This looks really good. We are just perfect. This is a long way from those ugly little cloaks we made."

Holly laughed. "We are pretty darn good."

"Our mothers won't agree. By the time they see us it will be much too late for them to do anything about it! They won't embarrass Aunty Cassandra in front of all the guests."

"No they won't, but after the ball we might want to run and hide," Holly told her.

Deva smirked at her. "Good plan."

"I thought it was an excellent one!" She stood and stepped up in front of the mirror beside Deva. "We look fabulous."

Deva eyed her. "Are you ever going to tell me why I saw you coming out of Logan's room yesterday?"

"I told you that I wasn't in his room." Holly didn't want to admit that she was in Logan's room. Her best friend would jump on that fact and start in about how it was so obvious she had a crush on the other apprentice. If Deva started harassing her about having a crush on Logan she'd blurt out his secret just to shut Deva up.

"Mmmmhmmm, riiiight."

Holly grumbled. "I'm not having this argument with you. Let's get downstairs before our mothers come looking for us so we can make a grand entrance."

"Fine, but this conversation isn't over."

Holly opened her mouth to protest but Deva was already hurrying out the door. Fine, they'd continue it later, but she was certain Deva would hate the results of that conversation as much as this one. She glanced at the desk in the corner of her room and sighed. She'd begun the forgery of the marriage certificate. Logan had decided it was worth a try. The worst his father could do was say no and if he did, Logan wouldn't have lost anything except the chance to claim Crowley as his father.

She caught up to Deva at the top of the stairs and they walked down together. Luck was with them, they made it into the ballroom without seeing their mothers. They stopped and looked around, searching for their mothers so they could better avoid them for just a bit longer.

"Over there, across the room. They're standing with Aunty Cassandra," Holly said, pointing across the room as inconspicuously as possible.

"All right then, we stay here," Deva said with a small nod as she moved to stand near the wall while putting a post between them and their mothers.

"You look beautiful, Deva."

She turned with a grin to Mitchell. "Thank you! You look ... sparkly."

"Wow, thanks. I think." He grimaced and looked down at himself. "I hate this outfit."

Beside him, Logan grinned and gave him a little encouraging slap on the back before looking at the girls. "You both look beautiful, but I thought you had to wear dresses?"

"Yes, well, our mothers did have them made. We modified them to suit our needs," Holly told him as she did a little twirl.

"Clever. I suppose we should have expected no less from the two of you."

"Why, thank you, Logan!" Holly grinned at him.

Deva latched onto Mitchell's arm. "I think it's time we had that dance."

He frowned at her as she tried to drag him onto the dance floor. "You're in a hurry aren't you?"

Her eyes went across the room "Yes."

He followed the direction of her gaze and grinned when he spotted her mother and Lady Pauline making their way across the room in their direction. "Ah, I see, you want to avoid your mother." He chuckled. "And here I thought you were simply anxious to dance with me in all my sparkling glory."