Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (45 page)

She stared at the card intently. Kara studied every detail
, number
and letter on the black debit card. She looked up and asked “So do you also have over
seventy
million
dollars
in your account too?”

He scratched his spiky b
l
ack hair and looked at Connor
and Sarah for help. He was on his own in this. He sighed as
he looked down at his girl. “Kara
,
does it really matter how much money I have?”

She blurted “Not at all, but I still want to know.” He sighed and leaned down
to her ear. As he whispered the size of his
bank account
,
her eyes continued getting wider and wider. When he pulled away he studied her
,
wearing an emotionless mask. She finally said “That’s interesting news.” She touched his chest with one hand. “I
t
doesn’t matter to me because you are still my Mark
Connolly
. I still love you.”
She handed his card back and as he put his wallet back she hugged him tightly.

Sarah came to
Connor’s
si
de and wrapped her arm around his
lower back and
he
pulled her close and held her with
an
arm around her shoulder.
Connor
finally saw how much love
, depth
and commitment his
best friend and little sister had for each other.
It was heartwarming.

When they pulled from their embrace
,
Kara
’s eyes were
suddenly
set and secure.
Connor’s
instinct alerted
him
to something
serious
that was about t
o unfold. She
came to a decision. Her chocolaty eyes were focused and determined on a course of action
that she wouldn’t waver from
.
She
said softly
to her boyfriend
“I’ve made all of my
preparations
a
nd I’m ready to become
like you
.
I told Mom that I might not be home for a few days or a week
,
if that’s how long it takes.
When can we get started?”

Connor’s
heart starte
d beating wildly at this news. He
looked down at Sarah and saw that her eyes were closed
and
she bit her bottom lip
, a worried and nervous habit
.
Sarah knew
this
was going to happen today
instead of tomorrow
.
She too was worried for his
siste
r.

Connor completely blocked his
mind just to think in private.

Mark said nothing at hearing this. He closed his eyes as he held
her shoulders for balance and Connor
could he
a
r him breathing deep and slow. When he was finally settled
,
Mark
slowly opened his pure silver eyes. He spoke strongly and evenly. “Sweetheart
,
there are a few things that I need to do before we go through with this.
I mean it in all seriousness.
”

Sarah’s arm released
Connor’s
lower back as she stepped closer
to them
. “What do you need?” She sounded stro
ng, but Connor
could feel her mix of emotions boiling inside.
Her emotions were twin to his
.

Mark
’
s hands dropped to his sides as he looked at
Sarah
. “First
,
I need a bath because river water doesn’t do much justice. Next
,
we will need to prepare food and a lot of it. And finally
,
I need to find a place that is secluded because the transformation is
…
excruciating
ly painful
.”

Sarah looked back to Connor
and her piercing green eyes asked
him
a simple question.
He
nodded at her wordless question. Looking back at Mark she said “Our house fits all of those requirements.”

Everyone nodded in
silent and
grim agreement.

The course
had been
set.

After putting Kara’s wagon into the garage
,
the four of
them
started to
Connor’s
cottage.
All
were quiet.

Halfway there
Connor
shifted
his
bag to
his
left shoulder. Kara and Mark walked side by side
,
holding hands
silently
. When Mark wasn’t looking
,
his
sister would
glance at him and vice versa. He
looke
d at Sarah who was walking at his
right and she too was intently watching them.
Connor
ent
ered her mind and as she felt his
presence
her
emerald eyes
were
riveted
t
o
his
face. “
I had a good weekend. How did yours go
,
Princess?”

She finally smiled.
“It was a lot of fun. Kara and I went to the spa and had the full
girl
y
experience.”

He
felt playful
,
being near her again.
“Tell me how the
bikini
wax felt!”

Her face went red as she
smacked his
arm.
“You know that I’ve never needed one in my entire life.
Be nice you brat.”

“I missed you too
,
Princess. I’ll personally make it up to you
,
after my little sister
’
s ascension.”

She smiled brighter.
“I’ll hold you to that
,
Connor.”
S
he touche
d the spot where she smacked him
lightly.
“I missed you too
,
my mate.”

When the four of
them
entered the clearing of
his
cottage
they
crossed it in silence.
Connor
opened the door and allowed the three people in first.
Since Kara and his
mate were
already
both clean
Connor
let
M
ark shower first.
He
also told
Mark
that he could borrow a pair of shorts from
his
room. Sarah and Kara started cooking a lot of food as Mark
ordered
before using the facilities
.

When he came out of the
bedroom he had put on
black pants. They barely fit
,
even with the belt tightened at his waist. He gave
Connor
the signal as
he
stood by the door.

Connor
took a quick, but th
o
rough shower.
He
shaved
his
face
and brushed his hair to the side. He
exited the bathroom and entered
the bedroom. Connor
put on
pure
b
l
ack shor
ts and a
black sleeveless shirt.

Exiting
his
bedroom
Connor
walked into the kitchen to see Mark helping out as the girl
s cooked
over
the electric stove.

About thirty minutes later
the food was
done cooking and the dining room table
laid
completely filled with tiers of food.

Sarah and Connor
sat on one side of the heaping table
of food
while the other t
wo sat across. Kara asked Mark the
question Connor
wanted to ask. “Why did we have to cook so much?”

Mark said honestly “Kara
,
you will
need to
eat. And when your full,
you’ll eat some more. When you can
’
t
do that any more I’ll push even more down. You need to have as much food in you as possible because you’ll be in so much
pain that food
and drink
will be the
furthest
thing
from
your mind. Anything
that’s
left
,
we’ll eat.” He gestured
across the table to the Balancers
.

Connor
answered
Kara’s confused look. “Kara,” S
he turned her head to look at him
. “Mark is saying that you might die of starvation
and thirst
before the change is
even close to being
complete.” S
he understood that much more clearly.

The three of
them
sat and watched as Kara took one bite after another for
over
thirty minutes. When she started slowing down
,
Mark kept
coaching
her to
“Keep going.”
And she did
so
for
another twenty minutes. Her features
soon became
sickly
white a
nd she looked like she might lo
se the contents of her stomach.
They
waited for another thirty minutes and then she ate just a little more.
She ate a five tier tower of food by herself
, something never done before
.
When she pushed her plate away
they
knew that she ate enough food for at least five days.
She looked beyond miserable.

The three of them
ate the rest of the food on the table. While
they
ate, Mark made Kara drink a full two lite
r bottle of soda alone. After they
finished
the rest of the food Sarah and Connor
washed the dishes.

Kara said an hour later that she had to relieve herself because of all
that
she drank. When she came back she looked only slightly uncomfortable.

The preparations were finally complete.

With the dining room table
now
cleared
,
Mark told Kara to lay down on it. She put her fist on her hip
and arched an eyeb
r
ow
. “What kind of kinky things do you think I’m into
, Honey
?
Bondage isn’t my style…
”

Mark smiled gently and said “All I’m going to do is strap you down
so you don’t hurt yourself.
I don’t do this for fun.
” He held up the
four bundles of
rope
,
pulled from his duffle bag.

Connor
quickly knew she needed some
form of
comfort.
He
quickly ran around her. She looked like she moved in slow motion,
taking minutes to even blink once,
but
he was just moving too quick. Connor ran into his
bedroom and grabbed two of the brown silk pillows
off his
bed
. She barely even moved as
he
passed by her again.

He
sat the pillows at the top of the table as Kara said “Well that
is
actually a
fetish
, it’s called bondage
or S&M
,
or didn’t you
hear what I said bef
… Brother where did you get those pillows?”