Eternal

“I’ve noticed on occasion that when I have ordered someone to do something, their eyes seemed to glaze over and then they followed out my command. It’s only happened on three different occasions and that was with two different people, both men if that would be important. Anyway, with Martin I had told him not to let Jackie touch me again, and he did it, he even held her in place when I told him too. At the time I didn’t realise it was because of that, but after what you said about Alina, it just seems to fit.

But the reason I asked is because I had got into an altercation with my now ex Darren, he was being spiteful and cruel. I didn’t mean to lose my cool but I found myself telling him to take a jump off of a high cliff, I heard him faintly say Ok, but didn’t think anything of it. It was the next day I discovered he had jumped right off of Hooken Cliff.”

So, does that mean I killed him, did I cause him to kill himself?” I asked, wishing I didn’t sound so cold, as I spoke the words.

“I doubt it child, as I said before, that sort of thing only happens on the telly. It was more than likely just a coincidence.”

“Mihaela you can’t even look me in the eyes and yet you expect me to believe that it could have just been a coincidence.”

Her lack of eye contact said more than her words did, it said to me that it was highly likely that I was to blame. If that was the case, then I really was a murderer, whether deliberate or not.

Z

After our conversion ended on such a dour mood, I knew that I had to get out of there to clear my head. Before I reached that decision, I tried unsuccessfully to ask Mihaela more questions, but she just answered with the bare minimum of information. I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere with her, which made me want to leave even more. Don’t get me wrong, I was incredibly grateful for all she had given me and I had every intention of returning. I just really needed to get some space and clear my head.

I jumped in a taxi with no true destination in mind and somehow wound up standing outside Kat and Lawson’s place.

I was shielded by the wall that surrounded their home, unsure about whether or not I really wanted to see them. I was lost in my own thoughts when I spotted Marcus leaning against the wall on the other side of the fence.

Our gazes connected simultaneously and he cautiously made his way towards me, until he was once again leaning against the wall, with his ankles crossed, standing right beside me.

“I take it you wanted to see Kat,” it wasn’t a question in the least, I just stated how it appeared to me.

“She said that it was too painful to be around me, but I honestly feel like I can’t breathe when we are apart. The distance is killing me, but I know I have to respect her wishes, it’s just really hard you know.”

“I’m sorry Marcus, but I don’t understand it not in the slightest. I’ve never felt that all-consuming need for someone, my boyfriend killed himself and it didn’t even affect me. How sick must I be, that something like that doesn’t even register in my mind.”

“Unya I don’t think you are sick, but I agree that it is far from normal, unless you really despised the guy, but then I guess you may have at least felt relieved, but to feel nothing at all, I don’t even know where to begin to address that,” He replied, smirking only slightly.

“Well jeez, thanks for that Marcus dear, your bedside manner sure could use some work, I’ll give you that.”

He let out a deep belly laugh, shaking his head before shaking it off and staring at me thoughtfully.

“So, what are you doing here Unya? Clearly, we’ve addressed my innocent albeit slightly stalkerish visit, but I don’t sense you would need to do that with the occupants of this place. So why are you hiding?”

I pushed my hand through my hair, trying to think of the best way to answer his question and decided in that split second, maybe honesty really was the best policy.

“I have had my mind completely blown in the last two days and something Kat said, keeps running through my mind. She said that you two were different breeds and it made me wonder if you guys weren’t completely human either.”

His eyes zeroed in on me, he seemed completely lost for words and entirely gobsmacked and it made me feel like I had completely misread the signs. I wondered if he would soon be ringing someone to get me committed.

“You said ‘either’, are you saying that you’ve discovered the truth?” He asked and I swear he almost seemed hopeful by that possibility.

“I don’t know what you mean by the truth, but I’ve definitely had my eyes opened to a whole new world, one where gods and incubus’s and sorceresses walk this earth. One where I have no idea where it leaves me, other than being able to use an ability I don’t even understand, what the hell am I supposed to do with all of this?”

He held out his hand to me, with his palm facing up. “Do you trust me?” He asked, almost pleading me to do just that, with just the look in his eyes.

“I don’t even know you, how am I even supposed to know what the right answer is to that sort of question?”

He remained with his hand outstretched towards me and his next words had me placing my hand within his, he looked straight in my eyes and said: “I will tell you everything you need to know about this world and I think I am the only one who would be willing to make this offer.”

Once my palm connected with his, he closed his fingers around the top of my hand and began saying some words that were whispered so softly they could only be described as inaudible. In the next moment a bright blue light began to circle us and within a blink of an eye, we were no longer standing beside the wall that outlined Kat’s property, instead, we were standing in what appeared to be a basement with no way in or out.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lawson

I had no idea what made me agree to train Unya, I told myself it was so I wouldn’t have to keep such a vigilant watch on her. One I am ashamed to admit, I had been failing in. I wouldn’t let myself humour the idea there may have been more to my acceptance than self-preservation, I couldn’t think of Unya as anything more than my target.