Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (24 page)

Kara
reached forward a
nd took Mark’s warm hand into her own. She
asked “Are you in love with someone?”

He sighed and said “Yes.”

She
leaned forward and was face to face with him. “Do I know her?”

He smiled. “Maybe, but I can’t understand what she
sees
in me.”

She
put
her
hand around the back of h
is neck. “Maybe you need a
lesson
about
being with a real
women
and not a mentally disturbed one
.” She pulled him forward and they
kissed.

A few hours later
,
after learning about
what he has seen from history she
ask
ed as she
was cooking
both of them
hamburgers “Can a Balancer and a Changer become Mates?”

He walked into her
field of vision and leaned his shoulder on the wall. “No
,
that is a law among immortals
that cannot be bent or broken.” He sighed
,
trying to find the best way
to articulate it for her
. “If my
blood was to mingle with a
n
un
mated
Balancer,
their bodies would instantly negate the virus. Now if an unmated Balancer were to be with a Changer
,
they both would die. The soul fusion would kill the Changer and the virus would kill the girl
when her soul became vulnerable
. It has been tried three times before
,
to my knowledge
,
and none survived the blending.
I heard it was a violent death that even
frightened
Keepers
.
”

She
changed his mood by saying
airily
“Good thing I got you before some other broad did.”
And he started chuckling.

When
she
finished cooking
they
ate together on the couch. He asked “When you first saw my transformation what went through your mind?”

I knew he would ask that sooner or later.
Kara
put
her
plate on the armrest of his sofa. “First
,
I thought something was going to silently kill my brother, but it was just you standing behind him. The first thing I saw from you was your black clawed hand
when you touched his shoulder
.
That kind of freaked me out.
When I got a good look at you
,
I
was frightened at first until I
saw in your silver eyes that it
was
really was you. I wasn’t afraid any longer
,
knowing it wasn’t me t
hat was holding you back. T
he cutest parts that I saw from you
r transformation
were your ears and your tail.”

His grin was priceless. “Is that so?” Suddenly he sat his plate on the ground and stood up.
She
watched his eyes start to glow and then his black
tail came out from behind and she
saw
his ears change shape. The rest of his body looked normal as far as
she
could tell. “You like my ears and tail huh?”
T
hen he began twitching his ears and tail very playfully.

When his eyes stopped glowing
she
stood up and felt his soft and velvety black ears. When
she
quit playing with his ears
she
stated “So you can
also
do partial transformations.”

“Yes and I can change my shape into whatever I want.”

Soon after they
finished joking and talking
,
Mark drove
Kara
home.

Sitting at home Sarah
watched as Connor made dinner. She
looked out the window and saw how dark it
became
.

Sarah
just had to say something to break the silence as the meat sizzled “I’m sorry about earlier.”
He turned from the skillet to look
at her
sitting at the dinner table. “I’m sorry too.” He smiled and
her
heart started another rapid
arrhythmia.

“What are you sorry for?”
She
ask
ed weakly.

“I ruined a
nother of the shirts you bought
for me.” He turned back to the cooking food.
It was smelling delicious.

She
laughed softly. “I could care less about clot
hes.” He turned and winked at her with one eye. She
felt the slight sensation of
their
still linked minds.
He was still reading
her
mind so
she
gave him something
good
to think about.
I’ll show you later how much clothes mean to me.
Suddenly he turned to look at her
directly
when she sent a few delicious image
s and
arched
her
left eyebrow proactively.

He smiled in anticipation.

When he brought the heaps of food he made
to the table
they
ate together. He asked softly as his hazel eyes were fixed to
hers
“Can you tell me what
had
happened earlier
at the clearing
?”

She
remembered exactly how it happened. “When you were explaining how to use Pressure
,
as wind,
to fly
,
instead of solidifying the element
,
I used too much energy.” He nodded and still kept his eyes on
her
, wanting more
. “I tried to fly just a few inches above the ground, but the amount I used was too much. I’ve never been too good with heights to begin with and when I opened my eyes to look down
,
I became
deathly
afraid.” She
shook involuntarily. “I lost my
concentration and plummeted
. I thought I was going to hit the ground again, but this time I knew that today’s would be far
more deadly.”
He understood what she
meant from falling back in school when Mathew pulled the table out from under
her
.

“I am just glad I had the energy and the speed to catch you
.” His smile broke the tension she
felt
. “Tomorrow after I get my job
up and
running I’m going to work with you.”

“With
what
exactly?” His tone made
her
suspicious.

“You and I are going to have
some flying
lessons
.” His
playful grin didn’t work
this time.
It had the opposite effect, she became more frightened.

Sarah
was
deathly
afraid of flying now.
She
felt
her
forehead start
beading with
sweat,
her
muscles locked in place and
her
heart was beating in pure fear.
Sarah
said weakly “I… I… What if I fall again?”
She began nervously biting her bottom lip.

“That’s why we are going to do it together
,
Princess. I will keep a firm hold of you and I won’t let you go until you ask.” His smile and voice
only slightly
eased
her
apprehension for this newest idea of his.

“Ok
I’
ll try,
but no promises.
”

After dinner was finished and the pans were clean
she
showed
her
mate
just
how much clothes really mean
t
to
her
.

After
they
made love during the night
Sarah
looked up at his face as
she
cuddled next to his warm and
masculine body. As she
traced
the
brand
over his perfectly sculpted chest
she
said “When you and Mark were sparring
,
did you know that very few Balancers could fight hand to hand with a Changer of his caliber. Not even Father could have fought like that.”

“Did I impress you
then
,
Princess?” H
e said smiling down at
her
. His haze
l
eyes sent a chill down
her spine
and as
their sweaty
skin touched it felt like a mild shock
from each of
her
nerves.

“More than anyone else ever could.”
She
pulled
herself up and kissed him until she
had to come up for air.

After another round of bed play
,
they
went to sleep.

Early the next morning
they
went down to the advertizing agency that
sat
in the next town over and made fliers for Connor’s survival and outdo
or campaign. While they
were in town
they
each got a cell phone for this new business.

On their
way back into town
they
stopped by the
police station at Connor’s request. He walked in
the establishment
and gave Deputy Burrow his new cell number
as the primary one to call if he’s needed
.
They
also got permission to put some
fliers up around the town
. Before they
went home
they
also
stopped by the local newspaper and paid to put an ad in the paper for this new business.

Finally pulling into her
parent’s garage
,
Jillian
gestured for
them
to follow
inside.
She seemed up to something again.

When
they
sat down together
Jillian
asked “How did things go this morning?”

Connor spoke first as he laced his fingers with
his love
. “We have placed all of our advertisements around town and in the paper. All we can do now is wait
for
the
customers
to call
.”

As Jillian
finally sat down on the sofa
,
Jack
entered the
living room from working outside. “Good afternoon
,
you two.”

“Afternoon
,
Jack.
” Connor said at the same time Sarah
said “Good afternoon
,
Father.”

Her f
ather sat down next to
her
mother and put his arm around her back. “Have you calmed down since your fall
,
Sarah?”

“Not entirel
y,” She
admitted
to him.
“but
Connor and I are going to practice
on it more
together.”

“Is that wise?”
Jillian
asked as she looked
towards
Connor.

“Not at all Jillian.”
He answered
with a grin
and a
t that
Jack
started chuckling. “There isn’t another way for us to do it. It’s a
part of our gifts and we need to learn to use them
or else they will
only
become a hindrance to us
when we are in
great
need
.”