“Don’t you dare jump!” Isabelle yelledat her brother, shooting Cassidy asilencinglook.
Cassidysmiled happily back as she hopped from foot to foot, not in the least bit ashamed.“Well, it was!” she protested.
“And if I hadn’t caught you?” Ethan demanded.
She shrugged, refusing to be intimidated by either of heroldersiblings. “It would have hurt, but I heal fast!”
Isabelle shook her head, trying hard not to laugh as she met Ethan’s aggravated gaze.“How do you argue with that?” shewhispered.
“Easily,” he said softly before turning back to Cassidy. “Then mom and dad would have found out what you did.”
Cassidy’s mouth dropped as she looked worriedly over at Willow and Julian.“We only climbed a tree! There’s nothing wrong with that!”Cassidy protested.
“After those two dared you!” he snapped, shooting a censuring look at Willow and Julian. They didn’t look remotely ashamed as they staredunabashedlyback at him.
“Forget it Ethan, you’re fighting a losing battle,” Isabelle told him. “Kyle, scoot to the branch below you! It’s a pretty clear drop from there,” she mumbled to Ethan.
“I’m scared!” Kyle wailed. “I don’t want to let go.”
“What kind of immortal is scared to fall from a tree?” Julian taunted.
“The smart kind!” Ethan snapped.
Isabelle studied the tree, taking note of the petrified look on Kyle’s young face.“I think you’re going to have to go get him,”she told Ethan.
“I’m too old for this crap,”he muttered as he angrily tugged on his shaggy black hair.
Isabelle grinned at him, not at all deterred by his sour expression.“You’re only twenty five;just think how you’re going to feel in a hundred years.”
He turned away from her and grabbed hold of one of the thick lower branches. Isabelle watched in amusement as heclimbedswiftly toward Kyle. She shaded her eyes against the sun as he climbed higher, finally reachingtheir brother.Kyle slid his small arms aroundEthan’sneck and climbed onto his back,heclung to him for dear life. Isabelle stifled a laugh as Ethan’s choking reached her. She knew he would be angry if he heard her laughing at him, but it took all she had not to. A lot of curses, scratches, and mumbled threats later, he slid safely backtothe ground. The minute he hit the ground, Kyle hopped off his back and raced over to join his siblings.
“Not so fast!” Isabelle yelled as they turned to bolt down the path. “There will be no more climbing trees! And if I find out that the two of you dare them to do something stupid again, I’m going to tell mom and dad, and you’ll be grounded for a month! Understand?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Willow and Julian mumbled.
“Don’t you yeah, yeah me, orI’ll go and tell them right now.”
“Nodon’t!” they both yelled.“We’ll be good.”
“Good, and you two,” she continued as she turned to her younger siblings.“I want your promise that if they do dare you to do something, you willnotdo it.”
“We promise,” Kyle and Cassidy vowed in unison.
Isabelle closed her eyes and sighed. It was a uselesspromise;it would only be a matter of time before they were back into some mischief or another. “Go,” she said wearily.
They turned and bolted down the path, disappearing easily into the woods. “How long do you think it will be before they’re in trouble again?” Ethan asked, absently pulling a twig from his shirt.
“Before they hit the end of the path,”Isabelle answered with a small smile.
“Most likely. So, what’s going on with mom?”
Isabelle shot him a look as she startedback down the path. “Nothing really, she’s just been awfully quiet since you told her that you ran into her friend Karen last month.”
“Kathleen,”Ethan corrected.
“Whatever,” she replied absently. “Plus, with Aiden going to college this fall, she’s a little upset.”
“Starting to get empty nest syndrome?”
