The humble beginnings of their relationship had occurred when she was only fourteen. It had started innocently enough—just a stolen kiss here and there. Pax had recently lost her mother, and her father had absconded to the mountains of India. She’d been alone, and she had focused all her need on the twenty-eight year old businessman who was a close family friend. She had chased after him for years, scaring away every other woman who looked his way until he relented. She was now twenty-six, and she recognized that perhaps she should not have been so adamant about pursuing Thorn.
She had been far too young to make such an important life decision about who she intended to spend the rest of her life with. She had been foolish and naïve, and now that she was twenty-six, which was much older and wiser… she would make the exact same decision. She would make it over and over again, a thousand times, for there was no one else for her, and there would never be anyone else.
If she had to assume the disguise of a different body each time, she would keep his love. Every time he got bored of her, she could simply change into a different woman. Every time he hurt her, she could find a way to slide into his heart from a different angle and hurt him back. It was not fair that Thorn had stopped wanting her because he knew she was his. Was there no reason to desire what one already possessed? Why did he want to be with the redhead in the pinstriped business suit he’d had on his desk, or with strange women in clubs like Para? Was the majority of their appeal that they were not Pax?
When she had been a broken-hearted and tragedy-stricken teenager, she had been plenty exciting. There was the feeling of this is so wrong but I can’t stop, combined with our parents can never know, and followed by the good ol’ we’re breaking all kinds of laws. That was all very well, but Pax had believed that there were certain things that would withstand the test of time. Disregarding the connections based on their special lineage, she had expected the I love you to remain, and especially the I respect you.
But Para had it. Instantly, and just because she was a beautiful stranger, Para had his attention. She wasn’t someone Thorn could easily have his way with at any moment of the day, because he was assured of her love. This thought angered Pax, but then so did almost every other thought. How long had Thorn been screwing around on her? Why didn’t he think what they had was special and electrifying? Why didn’t he think their love was worth keeping? She had.
Pax threw her arms out and levitated out over the water, letting the ocean breeze save her from her train of thought.
Did we just get a phone call? Amara’s voice projected into her mind. I was working. Why didn’t you take it?
Didn’t feel like it. Come out here and enjoy the water. This cliff is pretty.
Well, I guess I deserve a small break. Where are you? I don’t see you on the cliff.
Near the bottom.
You jumped off it? I can’t do that…
Pax rolled her eyes. Do you mean to tell me that the daughter of the Prince of Devas can’t even levitate? When there was no response, Pax flew up to the top of the cliff, moving so quickly that she wasn’t visible to the naked eye. She completely dematerialized, appearing behind Amara to push her friend off the edge of the cliff.
When Amara released a bloodcurdling scream, Pax could not resist a laugh, but she flew after her friend to ensure her safety. She was surprised when Amara was unable to catch herself, and she reached out to catch her under the armpits.
“Seriously?” Pax asked in surprise. “You’re twenty-eight years old and you can’t levitate?”
Amara only began to relax once Pax had deposited her safely on the beach. She took several deep breaths before she began laughing. “Ash used to toss me off that cliff all the time and say the same thing. I guess I was always too afraid to learn, but now I somehow feel ready.”
Pax shrugged. “I guess it’s the deva equivalent of women who are too scared to learn how to drive. So they keep putting it off, saying they’ll learn later just to avoid driving altogether. Then the next thing you know, they’re twenty-eight, and falling off a cliff, and they can’t do anything about it except let their heads get smashed on the rocks.”
“I think that analogy got lost somewhere in the middle,” Amara said with a grin. “On the bright side, I think my head might be naturally hard enough that even if I did go hurtling down onto jagged rocks, I’d get off with little more than a massive headache. Nothing a little Advil wouldn’t fix.”
“Shall we test that theory?” Pax asked gesturing up at the top of the cliff maniacally.
“Oh, Pax. I know you’re just trying to avoid the phone call. But it’s going to take more than almost-killing-me to distract me from the situation at hand. I am very, very upset.” Amara sighed and reached up to touch her temple. “Do you think merging together might be playing with our sanity? Give us brain damage?”
“In my professional opinion: absolutely.” Pax smiled and stretched out on a rock. “I have considered that it might be slightly altering our physical makeup.”
“I guess we’ll find out,” Amara said as she pulled out her phone. “Okay, enough stalling. It seems we have a missed call from both Thorn and Ash and there’s a text from Thorn.”
“Ooh, I want to read,” said Pax, sitting up and bolting to Amara’s side to poke her face over her shoulder.
The text message read:
Medea,
Please allow me to take you out for dinner.
I’m nothing like Jason.
Thorn
Pax growled at the phone dangerously. Jason had been Medea’s husband in the myth. The husband who betrayed her. “Well, I was having a good morning until I read that. It sounds just like him. Disgusting sweet-talker. You are Jason, Thorn! You are Jason. I think I need to be joined with you to think of a reply without exploding into a million pieces.”
“Yeah,” said Amara with a light nervous laugh. “Ash left a voicemail. Listen.”
The phone went to speaker and the voice began to play:
"Hi Medea! Ash here. I can't get the image of you out of my mind, and I keep hearing every word you’ve said replay in my mind. Unfortunately, I haven't heard you say nearly enough words, so there's way too much repetition. How would you like to help me with this problem? I'd love to treat you to lunch.”
Amara moaned, placing her face in her hands. “This is ridiculous. I need to be joined with you just to listen to this without getting depressed. Right now, I’m just Amara, and he’s trying his best to have sex with some girl he just met. It’s humiliating how little he cares… but when I’m Para, it’s a victory, it's just part of the plan."
“I don't want to answer either of them, Mara.”
“But we must. Do you want to go to lunch and dinner? What do you have time for, aren’t you scheduled at the hospital?”
“I’m the famous daughter of a beloved actress who tragically died. I can go into work whenever I choose. What do you want to do?”
“I don't know.”
“Let’s let Para decide,” said Pax. “She’ll know whether she’s the kind of woman who goes out with Thorn or Ash or both or neither. Get dressed and I’ll get some safe doses of sedatives ready for us.”
Amara nodded. “I’m going to reconfigure a few more features into the watch so that we don’t screw up and split apart in front of the…” The blonde woman twitched when her cell phone suddenly rang in her hand. She frowned, pressing the silencing button. “It’s my damned brother.”
“You should answer it. Don’t let my beef with him become your beef,” Pax warned.
Amara shook her head stubbornly. “Too late for that. There’s beef everywhere. We’re just swimming in beef.”
Immediately, Pax's cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pajama pocket and looked back at Amara. “It’s your damned brother.”
“You should answer it,” said Amara.
“Why me? You hypocrite! I haven’t spoken to him in weeks.” Pax stared at the phone until it stopped ringing.
“Who a
re you kidding, Pax? You sat on his lap last night and shoved your breasts against him.”
"Not me, we!" corrected Pax, putting her phone back in her pocket. She jumped as it instantly started ringing again, and then growled loudly. Double-calling! Twice in a minute. Emergency? Someone had better be dying.
Before she could change her mind, Pax answered the call calmly. “Hello, Thornton.”
“Pax… finally.” There was a long pause at the other end of the line as both parties held their breath. They both seemed to feel as though a truckload of eggshells would be crushed if either of them breathed too hard. Thorn was the first to break. “Could you and Amara please stop ignoring my calls?”
“No. How may I help you?”
“I haven’t been able to reach you in over a month.”
“Does that surprise you?”
“Dad is getting worried. He said that he noticed unusual fluctuations in Mara’s life force last night, and yours too. He said you both seemed very weak or possibly ill. Have you been practicing?”
“I’ve been teaching Mara to levitate,” Pax lied. Amara nodded to encourage this lie.
“I hope you’re not getting her into anything too dangerous. Were you hurt or unconscious? Is everything okay?”
Pax remained silent, holding the phone and staring into space. The sound of his voice caused nausea and nostalgia to overpower her and render her speechless. Amara tugged on her friend’s pajama sleeve when she saw her zoning out.
“Paxie, are you there? Please speak to me. Do you know how long it’s been since I heard your voice?”
Holding her breath, Pax waved her fingers to telekinetically separate large boulders from the cliff. She spun her fingers around to make the gigantic rocks rotate in a macabre carousel. Amara began to back away from her friend nervously.
“Neither of you have called or visited. I’m used to seeing you both at the breakfast table at least half of the time, so I’m really starting to worry. I nearly flew over there last night to check on you…”
Her grip on the phone tightened and she felt her heat spreading throughout her body, intensifying and consuming her. All of the spinning boulders burst into flame, creating massive fireballs with solid, crunchy centers. Gumballs of doom.
“Thornton Vincent Kalgren, you had better stay away from here,” Pax warned in a whisper. The fireballs began to spin so fast that they created a burning ring of flame. “I nearly killed you, so help me.”
“Pax, I am so sorry. Sakra himself doesn’t know how sorry I am. But I swear I have tried to contact you thousands of times since that night, in every possible way. You blocked yourself off telepathically, and you won’t take my calls. I have tried to explain what you saw…”
“I understand what I saw,” Pax hissed. “I’m a big girl now, Thorn, and you taught me lots of things. I’d like to hang up now. First I’ll say this: your sister is fine, and I am fine. You’ll see us when you see us.” She moved her finger to end the call.
“Pax, wait… I miss you.”
Pax let loose a funny noise from deep in her throat. If there was ever such a thing as a final straw, this was probably a prime example. Bad move, Thorn. Wrong thing to say right now. She shifted the phone to her left hand, and let the other one extend out towards Amara. “Thorn, I have something which belongs to you. May I return it?”
The ring of blazing boulders began to descend until they spun around Pax. Amara had been sitting rather close to her friend, and she gasped and scrambled out of the way to avoid being struck by one of the deadly projectiles.
“I guess I left a lot of things at your place, Pax. I have a lot of your stuff as well. What is it? You can come and return it anytime. Pax? I just felt a strange surge of power…”
She hung up the phone, and returned it to her pocket in order to lift both of her hands. She dislodged several more boulders from the cliff and added them to the fiery blaze surrounding her. Many of the boulders narrowly missed Amara who was still scrambling away nervously. The crackling energy in the air sent Amara’s blonde hair flying backward and over her shoulders. Amara put her arms up instinctively and crossed them over her head, ready to block any boulders that flew her way.
Amara began to panic a bit when she saw glimpses of her friend’s red eyes through the wall of fire. Pax, you’re not going to hit me with that, are you?
The rock-and-fire missile only grew and Amara found herself sliding away and stumbling back into the cliff. There was nowhere left to run. She was trapped. Please, Paxie. I can’t block that. I’m not joking… killing me won’t piss Thorn off nearly as much as you think, trust me.
When she saw insane flickers of gold in Pax’s eyes she frowned. Can you just not aim that thing in the direction of my house? The property costs a fortune and… just let me upgrade my insurance first!
Pax closed her eyes and pressed her left hand across her abdomen. She exhaled and pressed her right hand over her left. In an instant she had transported herself through the air and landed right in front of Thornton, with her pre-made ring of fireballs spinning inches from his nose.
This is for you, she told him as she released her carefully collected mini-volcano at point-blank range. She didn’t wait for the aftermath as she teleported directly back to Amara. She collapsed on the rocks and curled up, staring dejectedly at her knees.
“Did you hurt him?” Amara asked with concern. The blonde playboy was still her brother.
“He’s not dead. He’s a deva. Unlike you, he’s the actually-tough kind. I think I might have broken every bone in his body and burned every inch of his skin, but for me and Thorn that’s basically flirting.”
“Pax,” said Amara, disapprovingly. “That wasn’t part of our plan. We decided not to let them have any physical contact with our individual selves while we’re doing this. Not to let them see us so that they won't get any hints.”
“He didn't see me,” Pax explained, rolling over and putting her forehead flat against the rock. All he saw was an explosion right in his face. How dare he try to apologize, try to tell me he misses me while trying to have sex with Para? I want to go back to sleep now for the rest of the day. Maybe I’ll hide in a dark corner of the basement and never leave again.
“You can’t. We have work to do with… Pax!” Amara shrieked. “Your teleportation thing worked!”
Pax looked up in surprise before frowning. “Yes, I can get it to work sometimes. Usually when I’m teleporting to him. Something about his life force. I guess I know it really intimately and I’m used to keeping track of where he is in the back of my mind. For many years, he was the only destination I really wanted to get to, so it became easy to dart across the world and be beside him in an instant. I wish it could work when I was trying to get anywhere else.”
Amara smiled. “Joining bodies is really doing great things for our friendship.”
“What do you mean?” Pax asked.
“You were able to teleport back to me,” said Amara triumphantly. “I guess you must be intimately acquainted enough with my energy too.”
Pax smiled in genuine surprise. “That’s right. I did teleport back.”
“You should practice that skill more,” suggested Amara. “I’ll help however I can. It could really help us if we ever get into a tight spot as Para.”
“That’s a great idea,” Pax said cheerfully. “I’ll work on it as soon as I finish bawling in misery in a corner of your basement.”
“What?”
“Kidding, kidding. Sort of.”
Chapter 8: I’m Only Human
“This is kind of weird, Asher,” Thornton admitted, straightening his bow tie.
“You're telling me? I am not used to having you along with me on my dates. You’re going to cramp my style.”
“That’s actually kind of a lie. We’ve been double dating since high school, and for the last five years that you were dating my sister…”
“Well, there are usually two women present,” Asher clarified.
�
��You see, this is the problem with seeing doctors,” Thornton complained, glancing at the menu. “They’re always so busy that you have to make allowances for them. I can't believe she asked us both to be here, and more importantly, I can’t believe we agreed.”
“It was the only time she said she’d be free today,” said Asher with a shrug. “I really wanted to see her again.”
“As far as I can see she doesn’t have a preference between the two of us,” said Thornton in confusion. “Maybe that’s why she asked to see us both together, so that she can decide.”
“Well, how long is she going to take to make her decision? I want to sleep with her already,” complained Asher, playing with his cufflinks.
“We’ll just see about that,” said Thornton with a smirk. Then he noticed the girl and blinked. “Good Sakra.”
Heads of both men and women at other tables began turning to see the champagne gown which shimmered with the motion of confident strides. The low-key color was so neutral that it bestowed the effect of making its wearer look almost nude. Her deep plunge neckline exposed ample skin, as her hairstyle exuded sophistication. It was unmistakable to every onlooker that there was goddess in this woman. It was so unmistakable that they could not bear to look at her, and turned away to avoid seeming impolite. By being over-the-top posh, Para had managed to disguise herself as a completely human woman.
It had taken her upwards of four hours to get ready. Pax and Amara had separately prepared for the date before uniting, and their clothes had also merged into a wonderful combination of what they both had chosen to wear. It was a fascinating side effect of the spell—the girls would never have to argue over what Para should wear, because even her garments took on the respective properties of each of her segments.
Thirty Minutes to Heartbreak Box Set (Books 1-3) Page 7
