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Truth be known, she was sure she wanted a gift. Could she have her parents back and not spend almost all her life in captivity? That would be a gift worth paying for.
“How do I know you're speaking the truth?”
He pushed his plate back on the table and grabbed the bag by his feet. He set it on the table, pulling out pictures of her mom and him together. Others were pictures of her mom with friends. There were some of them with their parents, but the one thing that remained the same was that the background could not be found on earth.
She picked them up, staring, looking for anything to say she was perceiving reality instead of seeing it correctly.
“You’re not lying. What makes me so different?”
“You were born from two different planes that give you the right to use the light within you. Being born on earth means not only can you use it there, but you can manipulate it there as well as on other planes. Think of it like breaking the border.”
She blinked at him, not understanding a word.
“Try this. You grew up speaking one language then decided to learn a second. Once done, it becomes that much easier for you to learn a third and a fourth. The natural laws of this plane are hardcoded within you, and you’re already using the law of the earth plane. When put together, you’ll be able to manipulate that law on other planes as well.”
“Is that why the demons are chasing me?”
“You realize they are not demons the way you may think of them. They aren’t from hell; at least not the one humans speak of.”
“Are they from this plane?”
“No, this one is close to the earth plane. It makes it that much easier for us to live on either plane.”
“He doesn’t just want to control her or make her a slave. He wants a bond that can’t be broken where he’ll have the power to manipulate her as well as make her power his,” Rada said, watching Moxie as he spoke.
“I’ll make you my queen.” The words that haunted her at night came back.
“He wants to mate with her,” Zeek said. The look on his face, the anger, spoke eloquently what he thought about it.
“What? No, that makes no sense. You said your brother and Rose were mated. He’s not controlling her or draining her for everything she’s worth.”
“It’s not the mate bond; it’s who performed it and what type of bond he chooses. Where the demons come from, they are in charge. Whoever is the weaker vessel gives their all to the master. That’s not the way of hell beasts. If it were, he would have never made it through the portal.”
Great, is there anything else I should know?” Not only did the demon want her, but he wanted to drain her of every bit of power that resided inside of her and then throw her away like an old party hat. Life was just perfect.
“The boy is your son; I can feel his power from here.”
She didn’t ask him how he knew about her son or why he knew. Right now, she figured he probably knew her panty size and other embarrassing things about her. Wait, no, and gross.
“These clothes?”
“Your mothers. We are many years ahead of you in clothing, and you hadn’t gotten to that point yet, so she left her brand new wardrobe here when she went to your plane.”
Her eyes closed as she sent a silent thank you up to God. “Thanks for thinking about the clothes.”
“Do you believe me?”
“I do.” She cleared the table needing something to do. Her mind was whirling as she tried to picture herself being mated to a demon. Death would be preferable.
“I can’t, I won’t marry him, mate him, or whatever his term is for it. I won’t let him use me to hurt and enslave millions of people, maybe even different planes. I’d rather die.”
“That’s why you’re here.”
“We can’t stay. Rada’s brothers will be looking for us.”
“Under normal circumstances, you would be right. They have no idea you are missing. We are standing on the outside of time. What you perceive as almost a day is not even minutes where you come from. That is why Rada himself doesn’t say much when I am around. The two of us together slow him down. His observation of the demon tells me his brain is working fine. He’s the perfect complement to your power.” She finished the dishes and then went to sit by him, taking his hand.
“Explain in layman’s terms why I need an opposite?”
“Your power is blended, not coming from one plane. If you’re not careful, you will burn yourself out. Rada grounds you, giving you the ability to use all your power without the worry of dying.”
“Oh.” What could she say to that? What happened if they didn’t work out as a couple? Was she seriously thinking of being with him in the long term? What about children? Would the child be hell beast, human, or a combination able to shift like him? Babies, she got a goofy smile. Wait! Hold the horses. I’m just at the I want to rip your clothes off stage, not the let’s have kids. She had already done that and suffered the consequences.
“Moxie, are you listening to me?” Zeek asked.
“Of course, I am.” She was not thinking about having sex with the gorgeous male whose hand she was holding.
Zeek’s fingers snapping in her face brought her out of her thoughts.
“I saw that coming.” Zeek and Rada laughed at her. She blushed, darn fair skin.
“Let’s recap this. No one knows we’re missing because we’re standing outside of time. How freaky is that? The demon wants to marry me and then suck me down like a juice box. That’s right, I said it, and yeah, I could have said use me as a superconductor, but let's face it, he thinks of me as food. My son is still alive, and I don’t know what the hell to do about it. That’s what I heard. Did I miss anything?”
Rada moved his chair back before pulling Moxie to sit on his lap. She placed her head on his shoulder while shudders of ‘what if’ ran through her.
“The demon can be defeated, but you can’t do it on your own.”
“Will you kill me if I fail.” She didn’t have the right to ask him that, but he was all she had. There was no way she could live knowing what that demon was doing to her. “Please.”
“If we fail.”
“Thank you.” She heard the pain in his voice and hoped losing one more person wouldn’t send him over the edge.
“If you fight intending to lose or even believing, you will probably lose. You will. The fight starts here,” Zeek touched her forehead, “long before your fist of magic comes out.”
“They’ve controlled me for so long, programmed me.”
Zeek got up and came to kneel before her. “Only you can take your power back. You’ve never had a reason to wrench your control back, now you do. There’s the male whose lap you are sitting on. The boy who is your son and the friends you have made where you now call home. The biggest reason is your desire to live your life and make your own decisions. I can train you, but I can’t do it for you.”
“Is this where I’m supposed to call you Yoda or something, but I’ve got nothing. Train me.”
“What’s a Yoda?”
“You missed out on baby Yoda; I feel sorry for you.”
Zeek stood and gave her a look before heading to the door. “Follow me.”
When they got outside, he sat with legs folded.
“Wait, I don’t do that yoga stuff.”
“You missed out on yoga. I feel sorry for you.”
“Haha, you're so funny. I’m dying of laughter,” she muttered while she sat bending her knees like a pretzel. “Why doesn’t Rada have to sit like this?”
“He’s not the one who needs to concentrate.”
She closed her eyes and tried to find whatever made her different. She tried to look through her brain and her heart. She pictured tiny doors that needed to be opened. Nothing, there was nothing unique or different inside of her.
“I hate to tell you this, but there’s nothing special inside of me. I looked.”
“You’re right.”
Then what am I doing on the ground?”
“Getting ahead of your teacher.”
“Sorry.”
“What is special inside of you cannot be seen because it is all around you. It simply blends into your being.”
“Nope, that didn’t make any sense.”
“If sunlight and moonlight were the same things, would you see the change when the day became night?”
“No, it would look the same.”
“If what you manipulate inside of yourself is the same as what you can manipulate outside of yourself. Would you see the difference?”
“No, but is that possible?”
“It is with you. That’s the ultimate gift your parents bestowed on you.”
“If I can manipulate or weave a substance that is outside of my body, then...” Her words trailed off as her eyes got wider.
“Then you would never have to touch the core of your reserve. You could also...”
“Also get so lost or overwhelmed in power outside of me that I could lose my way and die.” She finished the sentence for him.
“Yes, Rada will help to keep you grounded.”
She reached out and laid her hand over Rada’s; the need for grounding was beating at her mind like a persistent debt collector at the door.
“What am I weaving?” She decided that was the term she wanted to use. It sounded nicer than manipulating.
“You carry a purse filled with bullets.”
“Hollow points, some of the best.”
“What happens if you run out?”
“All my enemies will be dead before that happens.” He just looked at her making her sigh. It was something she worried about. What if she forgot to restock her bullets, or a crowd came at her in such a large number she didn’t have enough?
“I’ve thought about it, but it seems unlikely.” Still, it scared her.
“You’re fighting demons.”
“Anything can happen,” she said. He was right, but she believed with all that was in her that this would never happen.
He held up a hand. “Watch.”
One perfectly shaped bullet came from nowhere, nothing, or that’s what it looked like to lie in his hand. Then another and another. Moxie’s mouth opened wide as sounds of wonder came from it.
“I want to learn to do that.”
“No, first you have to learn to shield.”
“Why?” She felt like a petulant child when she crossed her arms over her chest but darn it, she wanted to make bullets. “I know how to shield.”
One bullet lifted from his hand. It shot through the air with her eyes following it. When it flipped midair and came back, she thought she might cream her panties. Then without warning, it stopped right before it blasted a hole through her forehead. It broke through her shield like it wasn’t there.
“If I can get a bullet this close to you, you’re dead.”
She hated to agree with him, but he was right. If he were an enemy or someone with less control, she’d be gone. Now it was time for her to practice control.
“Why didn’t my shield work?”
“Your shield is in its infancy. It looks like you stumbled across the ability and assumed that was all there was to know.”
He wasn’t that far from the truth. Everything she did was a try and see. If it worked, she kept doing it but there had never been time to refine the process.
“Teach me, Uncle Zeek.”