"He will tooooodally some." Ghost pat Isabel because Isabel needed patting. She had another shot in the meanwhile and smoothed her hair back from her face because it was warm.

Somehow her brother always got involved when she went out to drink. She was going to have to not invite him next time. But this time. This time was special because dear, sweet smooshy Isabel was here. Ghost was making this sacrifices fro her.

>“Well, the two of you look to be having an interesting time.”

He came? HECAMECHEMCEAMEMSE! Ghost hopped to her feet and got out her phone to text Zephyr, she was so excited that he came to smoosh Isabel!

"Isbel is for smooshing and you have no IDEA we are so many friends now." There was shirt patting and ushering. Much ushering for Zephyr to have a seat in their not even bloody anymore booth. The nice man had wiped all of that away and now Zephyr was so, incredibly here.

"There is this thing where you have these tiny socute shot glasses and then stuff is not even halfasbad as you think it once was because Isabel is so wise. Ans so smart." She was ready to talk him around. He was so, so receptive. This was going to work.

There was petting and there was confirmation and Ghosty was so right Zephyr would totally show up. He totally came and found her last time Isabel had called him and asked him to find her so he would totally do it again because she called and told him to. She was so totally the boss of him when it came to phone calls and making him come find her after those calls.

The forgotten colada found its way back into her hands. How did she forget that was there? It was so delicious. She was such a bad person for leaving it alone for so long and she would have to make up for it by taking really big sips and trying very hard to ignore the brain freeze that was threatening to cripple her for daring to love her drink so much.

And then Zephyr was there! And he was probably being a smartass but his talking was so true. They were having such a good time! The best time! There were drinks and best sisterfriends and now Zephyr was there and it was the best night in the whole world. They would have to do this again forever and never stop this was awesome.

"Zephyr! You brought yer j'rk face!" Isabel threw he hands up in celebration, just barely managing not to knock her glass over as it wobbled dangerously on the table. She scrambled up onto her knees so she could kneel in her seat and be nearly Zephyr's height while Ghost ushered him over.

She would smoosh his face just as soon as it got close enough. Just reach right out and squash his dumb cheeks together and make his face appropriately stupid looking and Ghost would be so proud of her smooshing skills and they would be even bester best sisterfriends forever.

Throughout most of the time he’d known and dealt with her Zephyr had gone to great lengths to keep Duskmoor separate from the rest of his life. The savage soubrette didn’t know his real name, address or what he did outside of the time he spent ‘teaching’ her, she wasn’t even aware that he’d never been more than tangentially connected to her beloved ‘Order’.

This had initially been done more out of pragmatism than anything else; associating with a known homicidal maniac tended to raise the type of attention the elemental went out of his way to avoid. Furthermore it forced Isabel to focus any of her tantrums or other anger on him rather than on those he cared about who wouldn’t survive a meeting with her, and while that list was thankfully quite short and her tantrums had become far less frequent, the hessian hadn’t seen any need to chance fate by providing the brunette with future targets.

And that didn’t even begin to cover what his own friends and family would say.

"Isbel is for smooshing and you have no IDEA we are so many friends now."

…

…

Deciding to simply ignore the part of his mind that was trying, and failing, to reconcile how in the seven hells this was actually happening, Zephyr instead took the opportunity to check his sister for any obvious injuries, though in truth he wasn’t overly worried; the snow haired sylph was always at least partially incorporeal and she could make the full transition in what often felt like a blink of an eye, thereby rendering Isabel largely harmless.

His lack of concern was validated fairly swiftly; as soon as she’d notice him Maya had practically leapt to her feet and, rather surprisingly, managed to keep them despite a clear lack of balance no doubt caused by what could almost be called a crypt of shot glasses littering the table. Still aside from an unusually rosy complexion she seemed perfectly fine-

"There is this thing where you have these tiny socute shot glasses and then stuff is not even halfasbad as you think it once was because Isabel is so wise. Ans so smart."

-If perhaps lacking in coherent thought, though that would hopefully pass by morning even if the hangover didn’t. Otherwise, loath as he was to think the words, she seemed in rather good spirits as she cheerfully attempted to shepherd him into sitting next to Isabel.

Speaking of Duskmoor, the shapely soubrette seemed to have enjoyed a few more drinks than his sister
as she hadn’t quite managed to get out of her seat despite making an effort when she’d seen him. Instead the girl had settled for climbing onto her knees so she was sitting well above the table with her arms held out and Zephyr noticed that at some point she’d apparently tried to take off half her shirt and likely been more successful than she’d intended.

"Zephyr! You brought yer j'rk face!"

“So I did. I must say I’m curious how the pair of you ended up here.” The question was posed with a false smile as the azure eyed elemental let Ghost usher him a few steps closer so he could speak to both of them without having to shout over the music, as he tried to think how best to get girls to leave without causing a scene, criminal or otherwise.

In theory, all he had to do was tell Isabel to head home and let the compulsion take care of the rest as Ghost wasn’t likely to remain by herself once her new ‘friend’ left. In practice however the buxom brunette was clearly so hammered that the hessian doubted she’d comprehend half of what he told her, which was ultimately the reason he’d chosen to come in person rather than speak a few orders over the phone, he had to ensure he wasn’t misunderstood.

“Unfortunately, I’m afraid the story will have to wait.” He continued as he stepped into of the bonemancer and deftly knocked her clumsy attempts at his head to either side as he leant in to speak more privately and prevent his sister or anyone else from eavesdropping. “Follow my lea-“

He wasn’t entirely sure what happened next, whether Isabel’s flailing arms had blindly wrapped around his neck to stop him getting out of reach and pulled him forward or if Ghost had simply been a little too ‘enthusiastic’ in getting him to sit down, all he knew was that he’d lost his balance and Isabel’s face was getting closer all too quickly.

---

((OOC: As always if any edits are desired just let me know.))

He was sitting. No wait. Why wasn't he sitting? He should be sitting! Sitting was for romance! He clearly needed to be sitting. Maybe he needed a drink.

Ghost turned to catch the beertender's nervous roving eye. She waved. Like with her whole body and total excitement. There was no WAY he missed it because Ghost could imagine the cartoon gulp just from seeing him turn a little green. What a funny fellow.

If she bumped into Zephyr, that was Zephyr's fault. Clerly.

"Okay, I— oh!" They were smooshing. ALREADY. It was a good thing she had her phone SO READY to TAKE ALL THE PICTURES. "OhmigodI'msogoodatthis."

The barkeep skittered over with an empty tray and Ghost caught him around the neck and put her finger to his lips with a shhhhh that trailed down with her finger down his lips and chin and chest.

"This is magical. Can't rush this. Nono. No, sir." She smiled her best mischief smile and he turned from green to almost as pale as she was when Ghost laid her head along his shoulder and shipered in his ear. "Do you dance? You shoul dance. Let's."

As it turned out Isabel was not a very good face smoosher. Or maybe Zephyr was just crazy good at thwarting face smoosh attempts. Seriously she was like thisclose and he had to go and ruin it and maker her look bad in front of her new best sisterfriend5eva. She really hoped Ghost wouldn't think too badly of her because of that windy jerk and his jerk face that wouldn't be smooshed. Isabel really wanted that sisterbodyguard job and if he ruined it for her she'd have to murderstab him somehow without getting tattoodead in turn.

They would need more drinks. Like a lot more drinks. The beautiful Ghost could not be allowed to remember such a horrible failure and then their sisterfuture would be totally safe and Isabel could re-prove herself as a good face smoosher.

But first she'd have to get herself back into her seat. It was a lot harder than getting up had been. Fortunately Zephyr's scrawny shoulders made for an adequate brace so she could avoid toppling off of the bench while she attempted to wrangle her uncooperative legs back under the table. When had her limbs gotten so difficult? That was probably his fault, too.

Or maybe he wasn't such an adequate anchor cuz he seemed to sort of buckle or topple or something pretty quickly once she'd latched on. She totally managed to make it back into her seat which was good, but it came with the added repercussion of Zephyr smooches, which was gross and bad and so totally the opposite of face smooshing.

She released her hold on his shoulders as soon as she knew she was safely back in the seat and could scoot back away from him without the risk of toppling over. One hand found its way to her reddening face while she held the other out to keep the windbag at a safe distance.

She should have known better. Everything always went wrong whenever Zephyr showed up. Whose idea had it been to call him? That was such a bad idea. She would have to smoosh he face of whoever had come up with that idea. After more drinks.

"'m gon need so many cootie shots."

Zephyr generally prided himself on being aware of his surroundings; it was one of the many perks of being able to ‘see’ everything that moved through the air. In this instance however the deafening vibrations of the music combined with Ghosts own influence in the area had left the hessian with rather less perception than he would have preferred.

Which was how he found himself leaning over both the table and Isabel with arms to either side of her head as they braced against the wall behind her and he found himself tasting something sweet, cinnamon and undeniably alcoholic as it flowed from the brunettes lips to his own and down his throat which left him coughing as a sour drifted to the front of his mind.

‘I’m far too sober for this.’

Duskmoor was apparently of the same opinion as she quickly began to wriggle back into her seat, making the azure eyed elemental rather grateful for the table between them as her new height would have made things… awkward, to say the least.

"'m gon need so many cootie shots."

Regaining his balance Zephyr drew a deep breath and did his best to pretend the past ten seconds had never happened, both for his sanity, and his health. Trying to be intimate with Duskmoor was like caring for a poisoned rose. Beautiful from a distance but all too sharp and deadly once one got close.

“While I’ve no doubt the bar tender could provide some concoction with the same he seems to have gathered what remains of his sanity and left” The elementals words were dry with only a slight hint of irritation as he glanced down at the inebriated ingénue and continued, “I think you’d best emulate him, after all You’re tired. You want to go home. There’s a silver cab outside. Wait in it and Behave.

The final words were spoken slowly and deliberately. He was not going to waste time arguing with Isabel tonight, not when he still needed to track down his wayward his sister.

Bar tender. Bart ender. Beer tender. Bert ender. Ghost gasped in sudden delight and the man under her arm jumped as if she'd stabbed him. "Bert! Bertybertybert. Shhh. Oh please don't cry." It was crying or sweating. Either way her escort was getting kind of moist as she dragged him toward the beer floor.

Uh. Dance floor.

"Uh. Look. I don't have any money really, but I make good tips."

Ghost spun him around until she had a hand on each of his shoulders. Bless him, he yelped. It must have been her mom look. Because, "Shush!" She was offended! He wanted to tip her? This was not no event that needed tipping.

"I don't want your money, Bertram Arthur McBeerface-" She collapsed down to her hands on her knees, laughing. She just couldn't do it. He was so scared looking! Her mom look was fearsome! FEARSOME! She stomped along with that thought and sent an accompanying blast of air from around Ghost's feet that caused more than a few little stumbles. "I just want you to dance, honey." Ghost wiped a tear from her own eye.

"Are- are you gonna kill me?"

That triggered another bout of near hysterical laughter. "What? Why would I-? Bert. Berty. Baby." She made sure she had his attention before she went on. "I've done more than enough damage today. If you don't want to dance, you don't have to."

He was gone sofast.

All the shot glasses were empty. How had all the shot glasses emptied so quickly? Isabel really wanted more of those shot glasses to not be empty. When Zephyr was around there could always be more alcohol but here he was and there was no more alcohol and everything was terrible.

"Whad'ya mean he's gone?" The bartender had disappeared. That was bad. He was such a bad bartender. She would have to scold him on being such a bad bartender and then he would be a better bartender after because she was scary and good at making people do what she wanted and where the hell was he? She wriggled around in her seat to see if she could spot the offending employee among the crowd but it was very hard to find much of anything with all the flashing lights ad moving people and slowly tilting room. "Sumvabich."

But Zephyr was totally right, she was very comfy and booze-tired and home sounded very nice but she couldn't just up and leave her sweet, lovely, beautiful new sisterfriend behind. That would be so rude and she might turn back into a cloud and start sky sobbing again and that would be to awful. Isabel couldn't do that to her Ghostyfriend.

"Whatno I'm having fun with m'new sistyfriend I can' jus' leave tha's not faaaiiir," she whined, redoubling her efforts of wriggling around in her seat, this time to try and find her pretty friend in the crowd. Ghost would save her from the fun-ruining jerk face and his jerk taxi that Isabel had to go wait in but not just yet. Zephyr wasn't waiting in the taxi and Isabel felt much more compelled to stay right where he was at the table. The table seemed like a much better place to be so she would wait for him to make his way to the taxi before she followed his lead and went in that direction. If he hadn't learned to tack on a 'right now' to his orders yet then she really couldn't beheld responsible for procrastinating.

"I'm gon' find Ghosty first, sisterfriends come first." The table was nice, but Ghost was better and Isabel needed to climb over the back of her seat and find her new bestest friend right that second. Zephyr would totally follow her and then she could turn around and follow him and everything would work out in the end she was so smart.

"Whatno I'm having fun with m'new sistyfriend I can' jus' leave tha's not faaaiiir,"

Repressing a slight sigh of frustration Zephyr reminded himself that cuffing Duskmoor, while satisfying in the short term, would only only serve to make the ingenue more quarrelsome. Granted the girl was being foolish and infuriating, but that was no reason to stoop to her level; not when she had the advantage of experience. He could hardly be surprised she’d ignored half the order; she was drunk as lord, but by the same token he doubted she was really in any state to go anywhere. All he needed to do was reword the order until it penetrated soubrettes intoxicated skull and then he could-

"I'm gon' find Ghosty first, sisterfriends come first."

Proving yet again that she was a women of action rather than thought, Isabel abruptly began squirming again as she tried to climb over the back of her seat utterly heedless of mortal concerns such as balance and dignity while the hessian simply watched in bemused resignation, half expecting the soubrette to lose what few shirt buttons she had left as she rolled length way’s over the ridged back of the booth before falling to the floor.


‘I don’t know why I bother sometimes, I really don’t.’ Pinching the bridge of his nose to ward off an oncoming headache Zephyr drew a small tube of pills from his pocket and swallowed a pair before wearily stepped around the booth and glanced down at Isabel who was steadily getting to her knees. ‘The dreaded ‘bone bitch’ of NYC, loose without a leash.’

Hmm, now there was a thought, it likely wouldn’t work against a determined effort, but then again she’d have to be sober for that. Decision made, the elemental focused on the air immediately behind the buxom brunette, creating a small invisible hook which he closed around Isabel’s rear belt loop, effectively anchoring her to the back of the booth before she could get off her knees.

“Oh dear, it looks like you’ve gotten caught on something. I’ll help you as soon as I find Ghost. For now though just, stay there. The hessians tone was deadpan as he casually walked past the inebriated ingenue with one last command before heading straight into the mass of dancing bodies, doing his best to ignore the constant pulse of the base that echoed in the air as he tracked down his sister.

Finding Maya was, in itself, a rather trivial task. His power effectively let him ‘see’ or feel all the air within his range, by that same measure he could also perceive everything that displaced it and Maya was the only person he knew who was never completely tangible. In other words if the room and everyone in it was painted black and white, she’d be the only grey figure. Granted it wasn’t always immediately obvious, but once he was actively looking for her the effort involved was nominal at best.

No, the harder part was actually reaching her through the crowd, more than once the azure eyed elemental used the air to air to deliver some less than subtle shoves to clear the path all while keep hold of Isabel back at the booth, one particular shove nearly felling a man who looked far too pale to be one the dance floor, before he ultimately caught up with his white haired sylph of a sister and placed a hand on her arm to stop from separating in the flow of bodies.

“Maya.” The music and all other sound abruptly cut off as he gently spoke her name, a small zone of silence surrounding the two of them to ensure she heard him.“We need to leave, Isabel is feeling tired. Come with us and I’ll drop you home.”

"But... Bert." Her face was all tingly and her hairline prickled as her eyes started to well up with tears.

"Er. Would'y-?" The woman she approached jerked away under Maya's touch. The next couple shimmied and bounced a step away every time she took a step toward them.

But- But-

Why did nobody want to dance?

The sound cut off and it took Maya longer than was pretty to identify why she felt as if she was in a snowglobe.

> "Maya."

"S-s-simon!" She launched herself at her brother, big round tears already falling down her face and now big round tears on Simon's shirt. "My Isafriend was sodancing, but-" A thought interrupted her weepy thoughts. It was a very loud thought, but it was also very fuzzy and took time to focus.

"You LEFT HER!?" Soprecious flower! Ghost whapped Zephyr and march-wobbled a couple steps away. She had to stop and regroup when she broke through the sound bubble barrier and every club sounds came rushing in all at once, but she had a friend to rescue!

SHE WAS ON THE FLOOR! Ghost whapped the man next to her (who turned out not to be Zephyr) and wiped the tear residue from her cheeks before she sank to her knees next to her Isabfrensd. She had not the concentration to pick apart her brother's handiwork that was holding her sostage so she offered instead her hands for commiseration. "If you need him slapped, I am your girl." She said this with all the earnesty in her heart.

Isabel made it over the back of her seat like a champ. It was the making to down the the floor part that was a little tricky, but she totally stuck the belly landing and only knocked the wind out of herself for like a second. Then it was upward and onward to sisterly companionship victory!

Or it would have been, had Zephyr not materialized and told her to stay put. Seriously, how did he manage to move around so quickly? Did the tilty floor and disorienting lights not bother him at all? That man truly had no weaknesses and it was terrible and awful. At least he was nice enough to let her know that she'd gotten herself hooked on something so she didn't wind up clothes lining herself by the seat of her pants. It would have been a lot nicer if he'd helped her up right away instead of walking off and leaving her on the floor, though.

If she was on the floor she couldn't be guarding her sisterfriend's body and that would make her a very bad bodyguardfriend. But she could not for the life of her manage to get her belt loop unhooked from whatever it was that had snagged her and it was making her very anxious and very uncomfortable. She did not like being on the floor and she did not like not being able to see or get to her new friend and Zephyr was such a jerk faced jerk for leaving her stranded like he did.

But then Ghosty was back! And it had only taken like half of an eternity, which was sucky but it was not as bad as it could have been. "Ghostyfriend!" Isabel couldn't get up to greet her friend so she had to settle for kneeling and raising one hand while she kept her balance with the other.

The other woman was very considerate and got down on Isabel's level instead of standing over her like Zephyr usually did and it was just another reason why she was so much better than he was. "I was tryin t'come an find you but Zephyr isa butt and then my butt got caught on s'mthing and I can't geddit unstuck and I'm sosorry I am the worst at guardbodying." She accepted Ghost's delicate little flower hands and felt very bad and very guilty and a little but eye-stingy. She was so gonna get fired and it was gonna be the worst day ever she was so bad at making friends.

"You LEFT HER!?"

Any potential reproach the Sylph’s words could have carried fell flat when her voice hitched in an ethanol laced hiccup, making her sway so that when she swung for a drunken slap she connected with the elementals shoulder more by luck than actual intent.

Fortunately Maya was practically the poster child for the classic ‘You hit like a girl’ cliche and the hessian merely rolled his eyes as his sister huffed and flounced off the dance floor without a backwards glance.

‘Well that could have been worse’ Zephyr thought idly as his hands found their way into his pockets and he stalked after her. On the bright said the waif was heading straight for Duskmoor so he wouldn’t have to shepherd them to make the pair stay together. Of course the obvious downside was that Ghost was acting jut as coherent as the last time he’d seen her dru-

With a swift shake of his the elemental suppressed those

Suppressing a sudden shiver the elemental banished that line of thought behind the mental equivalent of Fortknox with a vault door carved into a single word serving as both warning and deterrent “NOPE!”.

Something were simply better left forgotten.

Shaking his head to his clear as best he could Zephyr paused at the odd dizziness which accompanied the motion. What the in the world had Isabel made him drink? Actually, no, why the hell had he taken his medication right after a shot? He knew better than to mix Oxycontin with alcohol.

“…my butt got caught on s'mthing and I can't geddit unstuck and I'm sosorry I am the worst at guardbodying."

Hearing Duskmoors voice Zephyr blinked and found that he’d apparently left the dance floor and nearly tripped over Isabel’s recumbent form. The shapely soubrette was in the same awkward kneeling position he’d left her in, but now clung to Ghosts outstretched hand which caused her to lean forward and present a rather appealing view down her-

Dragging his eyes back to Isabel’s face he glanced between her and ghost briefly but both seemed too caught up commiserating with each other to pay him much notice, causing him to sigh.

“Comfortable as the two of you seem down there, I think we could all do with some actual rest. How does a warm shower and a clean bed sound?” As he spoke he he released his hold on the back of Duskmoors trousers and held out a hand to both of them, ignoring the way it somehow made the floor tilt beneath them. The girls had gone through more glasses than he could count and he doubted either one was particularly steady, he'd likely have to balance both of them he wanted to get out of here any time before sun rose.

> “How does a warm shower and a clean bed sound?”

He didn't mean that when he put ihs two hands out: one for Ghost, one for Isabest.

It started with her cheeks and ranged all the way up to her hairline and down through the visible skin at her neck. She turned red as an embarrassed lobster. Extraterrestrial saucers were smaller than Ghost's eyes.

He didn't think that one through.

"NO!" The word carried further than it should have thanks to Ghost's relaxed grip on her power. She slapped Simon's hand away and practically crawled over Isabel to get to Isabel. Oh. Wait. No. Hiding. She was hiding behind Isabel. "You can' make me!"

Ghost turned to her best5eva and had warning in her big, teary eyes. "Isafren don' go in hisshower unless you uhreally want to makesobad mistakes. Showers are dangerous for uh- it's dangerous! It would be better making a pillow fort. OH! WE SHOULD-!" She adjusted her volume when she realized she was suhddenly shouting. "We should make a pillow fort at my brother's house! He'ss godt loooads of pillows!"

Standing was sosuddenly a thing that was happening. Sosuddenly that Ghost's legs were very quite unaware of how'd they gotten there. Her brain, too, was confused and more than a little spinny. Wall. Wall would help her. She clung to that because it did not want to take a shower with her.

Isabel was a little sleepy, but bed was not a thing that sounded like the place to be. She was having way too much fun with her newest bestest friend and their bestest booze shots. A shower was only slightly more acceptable, mostly because it was good for scrubbing off cooties and also drunk showers were way more fun that sober showers.

Whatever it was that had caught her belt loop had suddenly un-caught and she only swayed a little as her anchor disappeared. The swaying became more exaggerated as Ghost practically launched herself at Isabel while very loudly protesting the idea of a shower. Ghosty must have known something about showers that she didn't and so a shower immediately seemed like a much less appealing idea.

Isabel accepted the hand that had been offered to her so she could use it as a new anchor point while she twisted around to look for where the other young woman had disappeared to, which was apparently right behind her. If she knocked Zephyr off balance in the process it wasn't her concern. He would just have to be a better anchor.

"Ghos' I promise I won' make you take a sh'wer ever forever," Isabel vowed. This was so serious. No shower would ever endanger he bestyfriend ever again. "I dun wanna be in his shower 'neway. It's prolly a jerk like 'is face."

And then there was wince-worthy shouting right near her ear and it was not so nice but the thing that was being shouted about was the best thing ever so it was okay. "Pillow fort! Yesyesyessss!" Now she was shouting but she couldn't help it. Forts demanded to be shouted about.

Isabel followed Ghost's lead and clambered to her feet using Zephyr's entire arm to help her get up. And then she was using that arm to drag Zephyr toward the door because he had said there was a cab outside and the cab could get them to their pillow fort making this was such a good idea. "Lessgo lessgo lessgo! Zephyrrrrr! Pillow fooooorts!

Nothing was going to go right this evening.

It was an inconvenient thought, but one Zephyr resigned himself as he lowered the hand he’d held out to Maya while watching scramble behind Isabel and hide behind her new ‘best friend’ like a child would an overstuffed teddy bear.

In all honesty he was just glad the music from the dance floor had been enough meant that his sisters drunken, mutation assisted shouts had only reached half the building rather than all of it. Still, any misplaced sympathy the sylph might have managed to garner was rather quickly lost when any would be do-gooder realized she was hiding behind Duskmoor.

It was almost amusing to see at least three individuals start to make their way over, pause, and then abruptly make an about face when they spotted the the bonemancers tell tale green bow and… other, distinguishing features.

Entertaining as the impromptu social experiment was though they did need to start moving before the girls somehow managed to make an even bigger scene.

At which point Murphy decided he hadn’t been quite enough of a nuisance as Ghost whirled to her feet like a giddy jack in the box and Isabel practically climbed up his arm as though it was a ladder shouting some nonsense about forts. The next thing the hessian knew he was practically lifted off his feed being dragged behind the shapely soubrete as she stumbled towards the exit with his arm over her shoulder and clenched to her chest like some sort of fairground prize. The brunette was in such a rush that they nearly left Maya behind, but Zephyr somehow caught the back of her shirt and the three of them were heading outside.

Outside, where it was raining.

Truth be told the cold water did a good deal to start clearing the elementals head but it apparently did nothing to curb Duskmoors enthusiasm as she continued to charge down the street, somehow managing to be both deaf and blind as she ignored his calls to put him down and staggered past the cab he’d arranged and straight to another. The last thing Zephyr saw was the roof of the cab coming far too quickly as Isabel dived inside.