I stopped dead at those words. No ... oh, my fricken gods. Could my life be any more complicated?
“So you’re telling me that my Walker half is Brace’s mate, and my First-World half is the Empress connected to you?” My voice was almost hysterically high by the time I‘d finished that sentence. A ridiculous sentence, which unfortunately explained a lot.
“I’m not sure about the Brace part, but you and me, that’s a sure thing, gorgeous.”
I rolled my eyes. Always with the sweet-talking.
“I find it difficult to take you seriously, Lucas. I’m not going to be your dalliance for this month. Not my style.”
I couldn’t even think of anything beside the ache deep down for Brace. I couldn’t stand not knowing if he was okay. I straightened my shoulders. This was my choice. I had to get it together.
“Let’s get this straight, gorgeous, you and I are cosmically connected.” He leaned in closer, the light icy blue of his eyes darkening just slightly. “Not to say I don’t enjoy the occasional dalliance, if that’s where you want to take this.”
Shaking my head, I gave him a shove. “Dream on, Lucas, you and I – never going to happen.” I waved a hand dismissively. “You should probably attempt to think with the head on your shoulders. The other one is leading you astray.”
He laughed. “Don’t say that. You’ll wound his humongous ... pride.” He winked. “And I mean humongous.”
I blushed. Of course I did, and of course he noticed.
“You know red is your color, gorgeous.”
My next derisive comment was interrupted by Josian entering the room. He didn’t acknowledge Lucas, just strode forward to stand before me.
“We have trouble, baby girl; you might want to head downstairs.”
Chapter 9
I stared at Francesca, gobsmacked by her words.
“You’re freaking kidding me, right?”
She shook her head, her demeanor apologetic, but the chill in her eye spoke of something different.
“I know before you left I said two of the Seventine were released, but apparently the second one wasn’t quite free. Now it is. And the first tether has been severed.”
“The Seventine are on the countdown to the final battle,” she had told me the moment I stepped into the room, her creepy soothsayer voice washing over us.
And apparently we were now missing a few landmarks on Earth. The French population was probably stunned by the sudden disappearance of the Eiffel tower.
“And I have to leave straight away, to both collect Talina and move on to the other worlds?” My cup was running over with crap today.
“We’re almost out of time, Aribella.” She stood, her white eyes boring into me. “I know you’re not stupid; I shouldn’t have to explain this to you.”
What the eff? I wasn’t taking that from anyone, especially not a know-it-all soothsayer. I moved closer, getting in her face. I was taller than her by at least two inches.
“You better check that attitude, Francesca. I’m on my last sliver of patience, and it’s been a long day. Which includes, but isn’t limited to, me being kidnapped and tortured.” I huffed in a few breaths. “So if you don’t want to find yourself trekking to other worlds, dealing with the natives, and basically copping the crap we have, then be very careful about how you phrase your requests.”
My power flew from me again, encasing the room. I recognized this energy. This was the dream thing I’d done before. When I looked around, I saw everyone was frozen to the spot. Josian shifted almost instantly. His eyes flew open in concern.
“What did you do to them, baby girl?” His brow was furrowed.
He moved toward Lallielle and gently nudged her.
“They’re fine, Dad,” I hurried to reassure him. “I did this once on Spurn. It appears to be a variation of Mom’s power. I can project a dream out to people and they’re virtually frozen in time whilst they relive moments of my life, or whatever I shoot at them. I don’t know what they’re seeing; I didn’t mean to do it.” I snorted. “Which pretty much sums up my energy.”
Josian didn’t leave Lallielle’s side, his expression a combination of concern and a little pride. “Well, baby girl, I have to say Walkers don’t possess the ability to freeze people or trap them in dream worlds. Once you grasp this power you’ll be in control of something very useful and dangerous.”
“Will you help me learn how to control it?” It was no use having a power if it only randomly sprang from me.
He nodded. “Of course. Like any ability or muscle, you just need to practice the projection, learn what triggers the release, and then you’ll be able to dictate when it happens.”
That sounded good to me, his words instilling a confidence that one day I’d be strong enough to control my half-Walker nature. I hoped we could start as soon as possible.
It took differing amounts of time, but eventually everyone started to stir. Anger poured off Francesca.