Rose smiled warmly. “Hi, Eden,” she giggled. “I love you so much.”
❖ ❖ ❖
Sam Archer
April 14, 2735 – Current Day – Late Morning
Once Winter and I walked a few feet toward the gate, I spoke up again. “So what’s this about? And also, while I’m thinking about it, can you stop referring to them as ‘my females’ like that? At the very least, call them women.”
She finally stopped and turned to face me, raising her thin jet-black eyebrows. “Are you really trying to control how I talk?” she asked seriously.
I crossed my arms. “No, but if I’m respectful of you, then I’d appreciate it if you would have the same respect. And calling them females feels disrespectful to me. We’re not a pride of lions or whatever.”
She rolled her eyes, changing the subject. “Anyway , I want to see that blue fire again. Light me up.”
I gawked at her.
Confused as hell, since Winter shouldn’t have ever seen the blue flames, I tried to respond. “When did you…”
“I didn’t. I saw it in Lexi and Heidi’s thoughts when they told me about what happened. And I also know you feel uncertain about it. You’re worried you can’t control it. We need to fix that. So, light me up.”
“Umm, no,” I said seriously. “Are you crazy? What if I catch your clothes on fire, or worse, what if I burn you?”
She sighed, giving me another eye roll, and then reached up to tug on the collar of her t-shirt, revealing…a bra strap…
A shiny black bra strap…
“Are you wearing FRIL underwear?” I said in surprise, trying so hard not to look for myself.
“You really want that bloody nose, don’t you?” she taunted.
I scoffed. “Where did you even get FRIL underwear? They don’t exactly sell that stuff at a typical clothing store.”
Winter groaned, visibly annoyed. “Will you stop demanding an answer to every little question that pops into your head, and set me on fire already? If you burn my clothes off, I’ll still be covered.”
“What if I burn your fur ?” I asked seriously.
That earned me a glare. “Then I’ll be pissed. So don’t do it.”
I shook my head. “No, if I’m going to experiment on someone, then it’s going to be Lily, because I know she’ll be alright if I mess up.”
“But she’s busy, and the sooner you feel comfortable with your flames, the better. Just focus on how you felt when you were doing it before, and try to recreate it.”
We were both silent then, as we stared each other down. Because I wasn’t going to budge on this issue. As far as I knew, she didn’t have any kind of regeneration capacity, and even if she happened to heal faster than normal, I wasn’t going to take a chance with someone I could accidentally kill.
She finally groaned, reaching into her pocket. “Fine,” she said, tossing a small shiny container to me.
I caught it, already knowing what it was. “A lighter? Do you smoke?”
“No, I don’t smoke, idiot. I have a heightened sense of smell, and do you have any idea how horrible that stuff stinks? If you won’t create flames, then at least see if you can control a flame you’re not creating.”
Damn, I hadn’t thought about that. And shit, it made me wonder if that was the reason why Lily wasn’t aware that she might have pyrokinesis. Because she could only control the flames she generated, rather than any flame.
And sure enough, all it took was a quick click for me to discover that either I didn’t know how to use my pyrokinesis consciously, or else I simply couldn’t control this flame. It certainly didn’t do anything abnormal when I tried willing it to.
“Can you create a flame on your finger?” she wondered.
My brow furrowed as I considered that, feeling really nervous about it, only to turn away and begin walking further from the house, toward the side. Winter followed after me, but stopped when I told her to. This wasn’t the first time I’d tried to create flames. After all, when my eyes started glowing, I was worried that was going to be a problem.
However, I never managed it before, and this was the first time I’d attempted it after failing previously. But now it was time to try again.
Create a flame.
Deep within me, I sensed the tiniest spark ignite, feeling like my cells were singing as my entire body erupted into a brilliant blue bonfire. And yet, my clothing was fine, and even the lighter in my hand was fine.
The only problem was, I was only trying to ignite my finger, not my whole body.
Turning toward Winter, I saw that she was staring at me with a look of awe, mesmerized by the sight before her.
Sincerely afraid to try doing much with these azure flames, I just waited for her to gather herself, with her finally holding out her hand. “Okay, toss me the lighter.”
Of course, I had no idea what was on her mind, but did as she asked. She caught the lighter and then clicked it on, slowly moving closer.
“Careful,” I said seriously.
“I am,” she reassured me. “It’s not hot though. Even the surface of the lighter wasn’t hot.”
“And what are you trying to do?” I wondered, watching as she inched the lighter’s orange flame closer and closer. So much for telling me to ‘light her up.’ She was certainly being cautious now.
Unexpectedly, it was like an azure tongue shot out and snatched the orange flame up, with the light suddenly out. She clicked it on a second time and moved a little closer, watching it happen again. And then again.
“Having fun?” I asked.
She met my gaze. “I think the fire you’re creating is foundationally different from the lighter’s fire. You should have the capacity to control the flames you’re producing, but you can’t control this. And, at first glance, it kind of looks like your fire is swallowing up the lighter’s fire, but I think it might actually be changing it.”
“Changing it?” I repeated.
“Yeah, like when your fire touches the orange flame, it almost looks like the orange flame rapidly turns blue, as if it’s transforming to be like your flames, and then it gets pulled away.”
“Huh. I bet that would look interesting on a slow-motion camera.” Really, between what she was saying and the fact my flames weren’t hot right now, it was almost like they foundationally different than regular fire – like she was suggesting. Almost as if they were ghostly flames instead.
Astral flames.
She nodded. “And I think that’s how you stopped the bomb yesterday too. Normally, two explosions are just going to create more damage, but it seems like you might have reduced the damage caused by rapidly transforming the fire you couldn’t control into a fire you could control.” She paused. “The flames were white then, but rather than just go in every direction, they spun like a tornado, and it looked like they were swallowing the orange explosion from the bomb.”
“You saw it?”
She nodded again. “From my hotel room.”
“Huh. And how do you know I reduced the explosion?”
“Overheard some thoughts this morning.”
I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised. Plus, she was probably aware from my own thoughts about having a premonition before it happened. That I’d seen the damage that never fully occurred.
“That too,” she agreed.
I cleared my throat. “Oh, and I almost forgot to ask you. Apparently, you’re trying to get added to my Sovereign Persons ID?”
That drew her up short. “That a problem?”
“Well, I don’t know,” I said seriously. “Seems kind of risky for you to just request that, without talking to me about it first. What if I told her it was the first time I was hearing about it?”
“I think you forget that I’ve already done my own assessment.”
My eyes widened in surprise, recalling the fact that she was the very reason I got everything I wanted at the negotiation. Because she trusted me and apparently her confidence was a big d
eal. Not to mention, I promised her a favor in exchange.
Sounded like she was trying to cash in on that favor, though I hadn’t a clue why.
“And how does that work?” I wondered, referring to her assessment.
She shrugged. “It’s like a sixth sense. I can actively hear your thoughts and sense your emotions as they happen, and I can sense people’s general emotional state, even when asleep, if I’ve temporarily latched onto them. And then I can also determine the trustworthiness of an individual if I concentrate hard enough. But it’s hard to explain that one. It really is like a sixth sense, because I just concentrate, and then I know.”
“But I mean, people can be trustworthy in certain situations, but not others, so how does that work?”
“You’re right,” she agreed simply. “It’s complicated. When I used to use my ability more frequently in the past, usually I assigned people a number from one to a hundred.” She frowned. “The problem is, as you just pointed out, a number doesn’t truly quantify a multi-dimensional issue like trust. It’s why I don’t use it professionally anymore.”
Something about her expression made me realize there was more she wasn’t saying. “You got it wrong at one point in time,” I assumed.
She shook her head. “No. But they did. I gave them a number for an individual that I felt was a fair assessment, and they proceeded to put them in a situation that turned out to involve a significant conflict of interest.” She grimaced. “That didn’t stop them for trying to blame me though. Anything to avoid having a fire lit under their own asses.”
“Was that what the situation was all about at the negotiation? When that guy asked your opinion?”
She nodded.
“So what would my number be?”
“High.”
“Eighty? Ninety?” I guessed.
She hesitated. “The fact that I didn’t offer him a number was indicative.”
My brow furrowed, as I tried to understand her meaning. “Surely, it’s not a hundred?”
She shrugged. “My assessments are by nature subjective, so whether I said ninety-five or a hundred, it doesn’t matter. Point is, it’s high.”
Damn, am I really that trustworthy though?
“Your females are finished deliberating,” she abruptly said. “I was planning on staying for the rest of the day, but I’ve changed my mind. I think I’ll leave and come back this evening. But I intend to leave my bag here.” She paused. “I’m aware you have an unused room upstairs. Please put my bag there, along with a pillow and blanket.”
“That room doesn’t have a bed in it though.”
“It’s fine. I’ll sleep on the floor. I’d rather do that, and have some privacy, than sleep on the couch. Your females might get irritated if I’m in their face all the time, by being in plain sight in the living room. Better to be out of sight, out of mind.”
“Sure,” I agreed hesitantly, prompting her to begin walking away toward her car. No goodbye or anything, just departure.
As she drove away, I considered what she said.
Honestly, thus far Freya and Lily both seemed fine with Winter, but it wasn’t like any of them had actually spent time socializing with her. For all I knew, Winter might be correct about them getting annoyed by her camping out in our living room. However, for now, the benefit she brought by being around, far outweighed any drawbacks as far as I could tell.
I also kind of wondered if Winter had another ability she wasn’t sharing, like the capacity to cause people to just be alright with her, though I felt like that would contradict everything else I’d seen so far. Then again, there was really only the one guy at the negotiation who didn’t like her. Everyone else seemed to be okay with her being present. And technically, it was Winter who claimed that everyone hated that she could read their thoughts.
Hard to say what the truth was, though I felt like she wouldn’t outright lie to me, since usually if she didn’t want to answer a question then she either deflected or refused to respond, instead of being deceitful.
At the very least, I supposed it helped that Freya had seen my reaction to her, which made it seem as if what Freya told me just yesterday was actually true.
Winter was objectively as hot as hell, but I wasn’t trying to get in her pants at all, because I was content with the women I had. And Freya’s explanation that I fell in love with Heidi and Lexi because of how they came into our lives – that their vulnerability and my desire to protect easily shifted to love, given that they could both be potential romantic partners – really made a lot of sense now.
Because here was another hot woman, who I had zero interest in or feelings for, even though she was objectively drop-dead gorgeous.
Like, Winter could not come back, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world for me. Granted, I did have a general concern for her wellbeing, but otherwise I had little to no attachment to her.
I did hope she’d come back though. Because we needed her in our lives right now.
And not just her superpower.
For some reason, I felt like our family needed her , power or not.
I had no idea why I felt that way though. Could be that hypothetical ability I just considered she might have, or something else entirely in the event she didn’t actually have a superpower capable of making people like her.
But one thing was certain. Even though I missed my chance to ask her why she wanted to be under my Sovereign ID, I was probably going to do it. After all, when she was first hesitant to offer her opinion of me, I silently told her I’d ‘owe her one.’ And it really did seem like this was the favor she was cashing in on.
Not to mention, she was technically the reason why I got approved to have Political Sovereignty in the first place.
So yeah, she could be under my ID.
When I got back to the house after putting my flames out, I was shocked to discover in my second-sight that Heidi and Lexi were in their separate rooms upstairs, both of them looking nervous for some reason. Alternatively, Freya and Lily both seemed to be in pleasant moods as they led me to our bedroom, informing me that they had a surprise.
Holy shit, it was not what I was expecting.
I felt like I was in some parallel dimension or something where the impossible could be made a reality.
The rules were simple. They wanted me to continue making both of them a priority like I’d always done. And since I was literally less than a year away from marrying them, I had zero problems with that. However, they were also giving me the green light to go on dates with Lexi and Heidi, and to allow those relationships to progress however I wanted.
I’ll be honest, after the initial shock, I was very skeptical, wondering if this was some kind of ridiculous test of my commitment to them. However, Freya reassured me that my previous, and continued, self-control was plenty of evidence for her to know I was committed. She also pointed out that they shared some of the blame, in the sense that they allowed Lexi and Heidi to become so involved in our lives.
Not that they were implying they wished they hadn’t, but just that it wasn’t fair to expect me to ignore the two hot women being constantly flaunted in my face like the proverbial carrot on a stick.
However, once it finally settled in that this was really happening, I went from slightly aroused to extremely somber. Because they’d been through a lot to get us to this point, and I didn’t want either one of them to think I just wanted their bodies.
No, I’d have to talk to them myself about this and take our growing relationships slow, and entirely on their terms. If anything, I needed to resist any advances for a little bit, just to make sure they were fully confident they wanted to cross the point of no return.
However, it turned out, that was why they were upstairs in their rooms. They were waiting for me to come see them individually, to talk about the situation. But that had its own problems. If I went to go talk to Heidi first, then Lexi would no doubt think I truly had a preference for her younger sister, and I might end up with
the same problem if I saw Lexi first.
Thus, I instead asked Lily to get them in the same room, so I could talk to them alone at the same time. That way I could clear up several potential issues, ranging from me liking them both equally to how it was going to work between the two of them .
Because they both seemed to understand how sharing me with Lily and Freya would work, but what about how they would handle sharing me between themselves? At the very least, I couldn’t imagine that most women would find it easy to share their boyfriend with their sister.
Once the three of us were alone in Lexi’s room, it was an awkward conversation for us all. And an important point that came up between them was not comparing themselves to each other. For example, if I eventually had sex with Heidi, then it was important Lexi not view herself as a failure because she couldn’t do that right now. Or if Lexi and I did intimate stuff that didn’t involve normal sex, then Heidi shouldn’t feel bad that we hadn’t even kissed yet.
Furthermore, if the relationships developed differently, where I became more intimate with one than the other, just in general, then they had to not compare and only focus on their own relationships specifically with me.
Definitely a lot of complicated stuff to talk about.
Heidi was especially nervous because she’d never done anything before, beyond watching videos of other people doing it, and did want to take it slow. Even just the idea of kissing got her flustered, despite how she sometimes talked, with a lot of her confidence being purely a façade. But I assured her that everything would be on her terms. I wouldn’t do anything unless she made it clear it was what she wanted, and if at any point she changed her mind, then I would immediately stop, no matter what we were doing.
That seemed to reassure them both – that they could take it at their own pace.
This was definitely what they wanted, but they were nervous about me having expectations for them. Nervous that I’d suddenly become someone who demanded my own needs take priority over theirs, which was basically who Blaze was to them, even though they never actually said that out loud. Therefore, after we were done talking, I did the one thing I knew they needed, but probably never expected.
The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4) Page 21
