Daughter of Anat (10 page)

He curled a finger around my chin.  “
No  Kissa. Never.  That could never be.  You are perfect.”

Hardly. 

Chapter Ten

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind...

The day after next we met everyone at the warehouse and Maze joined us.  I was happy for so many days straight I decided it was about time some mastermind popped the bubble.

Still no on
e acknowledged the intelligent Elf dude’s appearance and just as quick exit.  His words were sketched in my mind waiting for the answers of what he meant by his message.  I had some pretty good guesses.  And I knew the guys were quick enough on the uptake to get what I got out of it.

Granite was considered dead to us.  My father had the severest of detailed security.  Lee was silent on the information trail and never verified his link to my privied knowledge.

A few sharp words and several fists to the face, Cord and Cas were duking it out after out meeting.  I did hear Cord taunt Cas with some comment about the way my body curled like a...I didn’t hear the rest.

“Are you two done?  Are you crazy?  Been drinking the Pine Sol?” I told them both opting for humor to help diffuse them.

Maze and I had hardly sparred much today, but they kept it up.  Rolling, kicking, bloody messes.  After a long bout of manly testosterone fits, they came up to a standing position and dusted off their pants like they’d just had a gunslinger fight from a western movie.  Then they man-hugged like it was all better.  Men!

Nurse Stace had to step in now and clean them up,
again
.  My to-do list should learn to get a broader perspective in life.  My job list was growing.

Maze and Calum both headed toward Cord with weapons ready like they were double teaming him.  “
We’re next!”  I intervened the second I read their emotional railroading. “All you Hunters want to do is attack.attack.attack.  Can’t you solve some things in a peaceful way?”

Maze and Calum looked at me dumbfounded like I suggested they eat dog food.  I wished after I'd kept my mouth shut.

“Later dog,” Maze whined a promise.  Cord didn’t make friends easy.

Instead of
continuing on the UFC takedown like I’d just announced. Calum sidestepped over to me and squeezed my hand.  It was a facade.  His face didn't show desire, just the opposite.  His hand slowly rose up and touched the ring hanging around my neck.

Ahhh!  We still hadn't talked about how our rings lit up like a spark plug when he forced
me away from imminent danger at the shack. At least, that is how I reasoned it.

I nodded to the bows target
and for him to follow. 

We both took a long bow and several quivers at a slow pace to make more time. 

I whispered, “I think we both should research.  Ask my father or the mothers.”

“Maybe try it again.  It means something
, Stace.”

I knew Cas could hear this.  I had to stop it now.  It was better to ignore him and shoot!

“We all have them for a reason Stace.”

“Have what?” Cas was swift in appearing near me presently.

Shoot!  So much for waiting.  I released the arrow first before telling Cas what happened.

A pang of something flashed across Cas' eyes probably based off the secret I
’d kept.  He gritted his teeth, “Maybe Calum’s right.  We should test it.”

I opened my mouth to protest but it was just causing a
fly trap.  The whole room was now gathered and circled around Calum and me as if we were a lab experiment.  Just great!

“Tell me exactly how it happened before and show us step by step,” Cas insisted.

I raised an eye.  Calum raised two.  “You sure you wanna do that, man?”

Now
Cas reacted to that tone from Calum. 

“Maybe not...”

“Oh for goddess sake, let’s just do this.”  I grabbed his arms and wrapped him around me, reenacted the scene and talked them through till the throw back of arms and even added in the jumping into Cas arms for effect. 

Everyone starting talking at once.
  The uncomfortable Cas moved right into leader mode.

“What were you thinking or feeling right before?”

My “oh my god” look set him straight.  “You were tied to a freaking chair Cas and growling at me.  How do you think I felt?”

He ignored me and went to Calum.  “I can assume you felt her in danger and grabbed Stace as you did to keep her from nearing me?”

“You would be correct.”

“Then we recreate what we can.”

All of the sudden, Cord jumps out of his freaking clothes and sprawls me out across the floor, and bearing his teeth.

I had no doubt that the scene look very scary, but Cord would never hurt me.  Cas immediately grabbed Calum and held him back.  Szar grabbed Maze and slammed her hard against the floor banging her head too hard.  She screamed out in real pain, and boy did
that
do it.

Calum screamed like a freaking lion, walloped Szar over the back of the head, and ripped Szar
’s shirt half open to get Maze away.

I think I was in bigger shock from the action taken by Calum than the dog standing on my chest.

Cord snapped up and trotted off.  I prayed he returned clothed.

Cas grabbed my chest and left me in total confusion until he yanked the necklace and ring right off.  That brought me back to earth.  I jumped the two steps to get to Calum and see his ring.

Sure enough, it was dying from the glow.  Mine was silent and still held it’s cold, colorful hue.  But I wasn’t the one in danger or the one he was saving.

ℓℓℓℓℓ

I had something I had to do.  I found him on our bench sitting alone right where he said he would be when I texted him.

“I want you to be okay,” I asked.

“
I am.  Will be.  You’re always going to be at the top, Stace.”

“That is good now, but not when life changes and the winds bring a shift in your universe.”

“Yeah, cuz’ others will talk like that and know very well that the universe is totally in control and we have none.”

“True, but you could be happy.”

“Drop it.”

“At the warehouse...you didn
’t hesitate to help Maze.  But not me.”

“The dog wouldn
’t touch a hair on your pretty head.  Maze was scared.”

Ding! Dong!  Fear.

His back went up as a female voice said, “Hey Cal.” 

I glanced sideways at Calum who stared a little too long.  Cal?

I stared at the dark, long haired Amazon beauty before me.

Oh
, Calum.  There is hope.  My heart panged a little with jealousy but his happiness is so much more important to me. 

The girl said her name was Marley.  I smiled and introduced myself, her eyes going wide with the knowledge of who I was.

Guessing from her awed expression, my feats had been spread around to the new kids on the block.

Marley shyly said her goodbyes and that she
’d see Calum later.  I guessed also from Calum’s silence he wasn’t unhappy about seeing her later.

“She seems...nice.”

He guffawed.  “Don’t.” 

“I like her Calum.  She could be good for you.”

“She can never know anything though.”

What was he saying?  “
She doesn’t know what you can do?”

“Most of the Hunters know nothing.  I
’m not telling her or anyone else.”

Okay!  “Then I will keep it for you.  Just know that if your heart stays the way it is, you
’ll get harder and be a total grump to be around.  Lighten up and let someone in.”
              “Maybe later.  A lot later.”

“So she
’s a toy?”

“Maybe,” he didn
’t look at me but at the back of the gym wall. 

“Well, toying with someone
’s emotions can be dangerous.”

He snorted in the direction of the interesting gym wall. 

It was dig at me.

“You know I never meant to hurt you,” I confessed probably for the tenth time.

“Been there.  Done that too.  Stace, just leave it.”

I wouldn
’t give up on him.  But for now I knew he could focus on the school.  He felt comfortable there.

Chapter
Eleven

...
and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.

“Welcome to the house of all flavors.  We aim to please.”

I could smell the
movie flavored popcorn before I entered the room.  Never having been to a theater, I’d spent my entire life watching movies in this room with either, Kassie, Dyer, or my brother.  And now with Cas and a small group I could call “friends”.  Cas and I spent one other date lengthy night here that was permanently edged in my memory. Like all the memories held knots on my brain.

I invited Kassie.  She brought a friend, Lee.  Great friend.  I wondered how he weaseled that one, but I was so glad to see Kassie and let her meet everyone.  Her life was so different from mine, pampered and living at court where she lingered all day reading and partying at night.  She still sparred I found out, but I doubted anything like what all I
’d seen since leaving home.

Szar, who let in a girl I knew very little from growing up, teased me about losing my room that housed oh so many memories.   He then reminded me of his leniency in the court that I never had.  Come to find out, he
’d dated girls for several years now where I was housed and treated as a trophy.  Arg!

This was a night for unwanted observances.

Calum threw a dirty look to Cas for reasons unknown to me and made sure to sneer a little before turning back to his date, Liz.  Not Marley, the girl I’d met.  Maze had to visit with her family. I suspected Calum wanted casual and calm.  Someone he was comfortable with and wouldn’t throw herself at him.  He was after all, absolutely gorgeous. 

Liz was happy to just be here though she was oblivious to what and who we were.  I hated that Calum brought her knowing she
’d keep us from being able to talk freely but we were here to relax and not think about the world’s doom and gloom.

He really doesn
’t like me.

Who?
I played dumb.

You know
who very well, Kissa. 

He
’ll come around.

Don
’t count on it. 

How would you know?
I eyed him making our faces an inch apart and giving the others the quick assessment that we were either chatting on the inside or about to lock lips.

I
’m a guy.  I just know.

I made a loud sound to let the others confirm our goings-ons.  Oh, well.

Making sexy little kitten noises doesn’t help your cause.

I rolled my eyes and ignored him.

After the movie, Szar grabbed a stack of crackers and the small pieces of meat, stacked then on the tray, and walked over to the sofa where I sat.  He plopped down beside me and leaned in close.  I checked his date and saw that she was missing from the room.  Cas didn’t seem to even glance our way when I surveyed his direction. 

“Calum really doesn
’t like your boyfriend, does he?” he popped a meat and cracker pile into his mouth.

“What are you, a broken record?”
I didn’t look at him, but stared only at my knees folded neatly under me.  He guessed my thoughts before I could think twice about what I’d said.

“Ah, ha!  I thought that might be the topic of discussion by the silent death threats that were flying through the air during the movie.  Well, sis.  You may resent me for years of dating and you left out of the loop, but you sure are making up for it now.”

He hopped up and took his tray with him.  I continued to stare at my severely interesting kneecaps until Cas wrapped his fingers around my hand and squeezed.  He was sweet enough to say nothing at all.

That night, I dreamed, but not of Cas.

“Oh, your back.  Great.  What motherly advice shall you expel this time?  Are my male counterparts hanging in the limbo too?”

“The are not.  Only you.”  My mother wore the same long white gown looking everything of the goddess kind.  I could see the resemblance especially in the way she carried herself.  “You doubt yourself even now.  You can
’t see what you are capable of.  Steps you’ve already chosen are set in motion leading our worlds to a collision course that is much overdo.”

I remember her opening line from her last Dear Abby. 

             
We created you to change our own greed driven mistakes of the past.  As history has claimed, we gods meddle in the affairs of humans and their corresponding supernatural factions living amongst them.

             
“You told me last time I couldn’t fail.  That I’d be the end of the supernatural in itself if I did.  I still find that a little hard to believe.” I was dreaming, so rolling my eyes didn’t seem to soothe my annoyance near as much. 

             
“I know you have not called upon me in defiance of the reality I belong in and you were purposed for.  Know that my offers stands.  Say my name aloud or not and I will be there.”

             
Could be handy.  Maybe I was being a two-year of brat about all this.  Could something change by simply believing yourself the “chosen one” for something like this? 

             
“I chose you because you can handle this, Anastacia.  You are strong.”

             
OH my!  “Did you...can you read my thoughts?”

             
The mother nodded a firm, but softly unspoken yes. 

             
Well, all heck to the gods.

             
“Do you appear only in my head?”

             
“Unless I otherwise choose to appear in another form and only then will I make that sacrifice if there is no alternative.”

             
“Sacrifice?” I was dreaming, but I felt my hands perspire.

             
“I cannot interfere in human
or
supernatural affairs.”

             
I couldn’t help it.  I laughed out loud and held my stomach the comment was so full of irony.

             
“You do know that’s exactly what you’re telling me your doing?”

             
The mother smiled.  Oh, this smile wasn’t nice though.  She apparently thought to be motherly enough to admonish my smartbutt mouth with indignation.

             
Oh wait...I just remembered something.  “You said before that all the factions were represented including human.  You meant Cord was human.  Why is that important?”

             
The smile changed, but only a little to show some kind of admiration for me pointing this out.  “At the end of this, they will know of your world.”

             
Whoa! Um... "That might have been a detail you could have mentioned before.”

             
“This world was broken a long time ago from the destruction humans brought on it.  The pieces were scattered among us making the supernatural world dance around its glass shards, shattered and reconstructed to fit into a picture frame that doesn’t quite fit. It will take every single able body to make this work again.  It is a delicate detail that needs to be handled very carefully.  You needn’t tell your male counterparts until the necessary time.”

             
Still standing right where my dream started I asked, “And when is that?”

             
“You’ll know.”

             
Ugh!  My eyes stung with tears.  Last time she told me the guys were “expendable” and I was not.  Now she was saying I had to keep a secret from them that could change our world forever for which seemed like it could cause a bigger war than what we have now.

             
“Sure enough, you are correct.  But I have confidence in you.”

             
Eavesdropping mothers come in all forms.  “You have confidence in what you give no advance help in.  I am to hear your great knowledge, bow to the power of it, and go back with nothing.  Mother, I don’t know what to do next.  I can’t choose the next move.”

             
“You already have.”

             
Didn’t see that coming.  I waited so very impatiently.

             
“I have word that you are aware of the Godslayer made of pure silver.”

             
I’m sure my eyes widened, but I wasn’t shocked at this point anymore.  Too many knew too much more than me.  I didn’t answer as she continued but was hypersensitive to the prickle attacking the back of my neck.

             
“It is real and very dangerous.  The enemy will use it against you and I have no power to stop it.  There are some things that have to be left to fate.”

             
Ominous thought.

             
“Your decision to involve the half Hunter boy from your court was a courageous, but critical move.  He will be needed in the end.”

             
More mystery.  More people involved.  Lee wasn't expendable as a whole.

             
“And you are going to the enemy’s battlefield before he can make his next move.  That shows your enemy that you have your own plans and you are not afraid.”

             
But I am afraid.

             
A sveevy smile cropped up on her face reminding me she heard me loud and clear.

             
“Remember, if you need me I will be there.”

             
I hadn’t said a word to her in the last half of our conversation since she spent time making sure I was aware she could read me verbally or not.

             
Destinies are never really what you make them to be.

             
“You chose the Vampire for protection, as you could have any of the four.  The Hunter will die before this ends, but his destiny isn’t death.  The human Were will be your greatest asset in the greatest peril.”

             
“What about my brother?” 

             
“His purpose is served.  He will remain the leader of the Valkyrie court.”

             
Seems a little downing with all that the other are debted with.

             
“Not at all.  He will still aid you, protect you.  His destiny is to be there, when you’re not.”

             
I woke up instantly like last time.  The humans would know about us. Calum would die but not die.  Cord will help,
somehow. 
I had a lot to think about.  Hiding my “thoughts” was getting harder.  I spent the rest of the night blocking like Cas had showed me.  Now, what would be my excuse for hiding it from him?