Shift (The Neturu Chronicles)

by Sarah Kay Carter

  “Count to five,” he murmurs. Spinning, Kayla follows Damien around her. When he stops, she points directly at him. “Good job.”

  Kayla opens her eyes and smiles. “I can sense you!”

  “Yup, you did splendidly. Now the more difficult part will be blocking me out.”

  “How do I do that?”

  Damien replies, “I’m going to block you out. I want you to feel the pressure of that, okay?”

  “What if William comes?” she spits out. “I don’t want to be here alone.”

  “I’ll only block you out for a few seconds. I swear nothing will happen to you.”

  With a smirk, Kayla says, “What if it’s not William? What if it’s a cuter boy with more to offer?”

  Damien looks shocked. “Who could possibly be cuter than me?”

  Kayla laughs. “Not that he may have more to offer, but it’s the cuteness factor.”

  “Ummm, yeah,” Damien retorts, putting his hand on his chest. “I know I can give you anything in this world.”

  “Not everything I want costs money. That is not why I’m interested in you.”

  Damien steps close to her. “Not even a little bit? We did just buy you a car.”

  Her eyes narrow. “Then you can take the car back if that’s what it’s about. I want you for you, not a car.”

  “If that’s the case, then I’ll get you a car for every day of the week. Now, let’s focus on what we’re here for. I’m going to block you for a few seconds. See what that feels like, all right?”

  Kayla nods. She feels a slight pressure and Damien disappears. “Damien?” There is a presence, like someone standing there, but it’s like she hits an invisible wall. “Okay, this is weird.” A few seconds go by and then Kayla draws out, “Daaamieeeen.”

  “Right here,” she hears behind her. Kayla spins around, and Damien puts his hands out. “See, easy.”

  “Yeah, but how do I do that? Better question, will I be able to block you out? You can block Jackson out, so that makes you pretty powerful.”

  “It’s a lot easier to block someone out for yourself than it is to block out for other people. I’ve practiced a lot. Jackson hasn’t. Now, I want you to try. It’s like feeling a force field build up around you. Somewhere between us you need to put up that field. Once you do that, you can go about your business and no one can get in. The field is up until you take it down.”

  Clicking her tongue, Kayla mutters, “Yeah, invisible force field, I feel like I’m in a movie.”

  “Well…really…we are aliens, so it kind of is a movie,” Damien says. “As in force fields are real, so are our ships. Sci-fi all the way, baby.”

  She rolls her eyes. “How do I put up this wall of power?”

  “Exactly how it sounds, feel a wall of energy build up around you, like putting a stone wall up, piece by piece.”

  “Because I have put together so many stone walls in my life.” Kayla giggles, closing her eyes.

  “Okay, lady sarcasm, just try it.”

  Concentrating really hard to follow Damien’s directions, Kayla takes her energy and starts to form a circle around herself. From that circle, she starts to build a wall upward. After a few minutes, Kyla exhales. “I don’t think I have it.” When she doesn’t hear anything, she turns around. Damien is gone. “Holy hell, I did it,” she whispers. “Now what?” A few seconds later, she feels him. “It’s like you’re standing right next to me, but…not. I wonder if you can hear me.” She waits for a few seconds. “I will have sex with you if you can hear me.” He doesn’t reply. With a snap, she lets the energy go.

  “See?” Damien yells, appearing in front of her. “You did it!”

  Kayla gives him a quizzical look. “Did you hear me?”

  “No, no one can unless you want them to. Why? What did you say?”

  Kayla bursts out laughing. “That’s what I thought.”

  “What in the world did you say?” Damien asks, leaning over to look at her.

  “Nothing, I didn’t even mean it, anyway. I just wanted to see if I was really blocking you out. I would have known instantly if I wasn’t.”

  He furrows his eyebrows. “What did you say?”

  Kayla shakes her head. “Nothing, let’s try again. Can you try to force yourself in, because I have a feeling that’s what William will try.”

  “Yeah, I can. I want to know what you said, though.”

  “I’ll tell you what I said if you can force your way in.” Kayla chuckles.

  Damien gets a devilish smirk on his face. “All right, but I’m pretty powerful.”

  “How do I block you out if you’re trying to force your way in?”

  “You know how you feel your energy to come here?” Kayla nods. “Take that energy and push it out, to reinforce your walls. You aren’t weak, so you should probably be able to hold your own. Let’s try it, all right?”

  Kayla closes her eyes and builds up the force field. When Damien disappears, she looks at where he was. She feels a strong pressure pushing against her. Kayla pulls in her energy and shoves it out against that pressure. It proves to be more difficult than she thought. Unable to hold on much longer, she let’s go and Damien appears. “I should get an A for trying.”

  “You did commendably well. I really tried to force you.”

  “But I still failed. What am I supposed to do if William shows up?”

  Damien crosses his arms. “You won’t come here alone anymore. There is nothing to be afraid of.”

  “What if I come in my sleep again?” she asks. “You guys can’t sit up with me all night. He held me here against my will!”

  “Oh, that’s easy to break out of. Just hurt him.”

  Confused, Kayla says, “What?”

  “Kick him, scratch him, punch him, do something to him. The more it hurts the less he can concentrate. I’ll teach you how to do that right now.”

  “Shouldn’t Jackson? He’s the one with the martial arts background.”

  Shocked, Damien replies, “Who do you think he spars with most of the time? What better way to spar than with someone who annoys you so much.”

  “You can fight?”

  “Extremely well, now come here. I’ll teach you the best ways to hurt someone. I will also teach you how to defend yourself, but for right now, you’re going to learn how to inflict a lot of pain.”

  She grins and walks over to him. Damien grabs her shoulders and proceeds to show her various weak points on the body and how to attack them. “So if a boy gets all touchy feely with me, I can hurt him?” Kayla asks after she feels confident in her new fighting skills.

  “Yes, I prefer that you do, otherwise, I’ll have to hurt him.”

  “What if it’s you?” she asks with a grin.

  He shrugs. “Then it’s all up to you. Feel free to inflict pain on me if I’m going overboard in my affections for you.”

  “Good to know. Okay, try forcing yourself in again.”

  “Wait, what did you say earlier? I was able to force my way in last time. You said you’d tell me.”

  Clicking her tongue, Kayla says, “I was joking when I said it.”

  “Okay,” Damien draws out. “Tell me anyway.”

  “I said if you heard me, I would have sex with you.”

  A smirk crosses Damien’s face, and he chuckles. “I want to lie and say that I heard you, but to be fair, I didn’t. Anyway, I wouldn’t have sex with you.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because you wouldn’t really want to do it, so it wouldn’t be the same. I want all of you, not just a one-night stand.”

  She smiles. “Good to know.”

  “Hey, I’m not a bad guy.” Damien sighs. “Just been around the block a few too many times. Enough about all that though, let’s start working on your blocking capability more.”

  Kayla nods. “Let’s do this.”

  Two hours later, she is jumping from side to side to try and expel all the extra excitement she has. “I did it. I blocked you the whole
time!” She stops and happily exhales.

  Damien laughs. “Yes you did, good job, babe.”

  She looks at him. “So I should be able to block William?”

  “Yup, you can instantly put up your guard, and he won’t be able to get through.”

  “What if he’s stronger than you though?”

  Damien puts his hand on his chest. “I’m not trying to boast, but I am rather strong.”

  “That’s all fine and well, but there has to be people of our kind who are more forceful than you.”

  “There are, but I doubt William is one of them. You just need to keep practicing. The only thing you need to worry about right now is concentrating so you can prevent someone from coming in. The more you practice, the more it will become second nature.”

  Tilting her head, Kayla replies, “Then let’s practice some more.”

  “We need to eat first,” Damien says. “You’re burning a lot of calories right now. You’ll learn you need to eat more for the first few years of shifting. Your body needs to acclimate to the changes.”

  “All right, that sounds good to me. Are you cooking?”

  Damien winks at her. “Yup…naked too.”

  “Oh please,” Kayla moans, rolling her eyes. “At least keep your boxers on.”

  “So you want me to take my clothes off?” he quips, with a grin.

  She gives him a look. “No. Your shirt sure, but the rest you can keep on.”

  “I’ll take my shirt off if you take your shirt off,” Damien teases.

  “Whatever, Jackson already tried that one on me. Didn’t fly then and it won’t fly now.”

  With a somewhat disturbed look, Damien says, “When did Jackson say that?”

  “Ummm,” Kayla mumbles. “I don’t remember.”

  “Liar.” Damien laughs. “When was it?”

  Clicking her tongue, Kayla answers, “The night I first shifted. He was totally joking because I was trying to convince him to take his clothes off.”

  “Hmmm, suddenly I feel more like a consolation prize.”

  “I was coming off of my first shift! I was all over him.” Damien’s jaw drops. “Wait! I did not mean that the way it came out.”

  With a snort, Damien replies, “Sure, mmhmm, I believe you. It’s fine. Your hormones are heightened right now. You have a lot more control than I ever would, if this was happening to me.”

  “It doesn’t seem like I have that much control.”

  “Trust me, you do. Anyway, let’s go eat. We’ll come back and practice more later.”

  Kayla nods and they leave Shima. After lunch, they take a break and watch TV. Kayla takes a deep breath and then leans over and puts her head on Damien’s shoulder. He takes her hand in his and leans his head on hers. “This is nice,” she murmurs.

  “It is. I’ve never really experienced this before.”

  “What’s that, watching TV with a girl?” Kayla giggles.

  Damien smirks. “No, just hanging out with a girl that I really like. I normally don’t put myself out there that much to actually connect with someone. I used to try and just put the moves on a girl. With you, it’s different.”

  “That’s comforting,” Kayla whispers, looking into his eyes. He returns her gaze and time seems to stand still. Kayla kisses him. It is soft and sweet, but it still makes Kayla’s pulse race. Then, with her nerves shaking, Kayla unfurls her energy into Damien.

  He tenses for a second before kissing her more passionately. Their energy starts to tingle against each other. Kayla’s breath catches in her throat; Damien pulls away. “We need to slow down.”

  Ignoring him, Kayla moves onto his lap. She puts her hand on the side of his face and kisses him. He hesitates and then pulls her closer, their kissing intensifying. Damien picks her up and lays her on the couch. He crawls on top of her and brings his lips back down to hers, causing her to whimper. Lowering her hand, she pulls his shirt up. Damien grabs it and yanks it off. Kayla giggles. He bends down and kisses her neck. She arches her back against him, which seems to entice him even more.

  “All right, that’s enough,” someone bellows before Damien is suddenly yanked off of her.

  Her eyes snap open and find Jackson pulling on Damien’s pants. “What…what are you doing?” she asks.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Jackson answers, scowling at her. “Interrupting something that wasn’t going to go anywhere beneficial.”

  “I was completely under control,” Kayla hisses. “When I asked you to look out for me, I did not mean you could break us up every time we express affection.”

  Jackson crosses his arms and looks at Damien. “Were you planning on having sex with her?”

  “I told you before, I am not taking advantage of her,” Damien states sharply.

  “I’m using the question I won during the game last night. Answer me, if Kayla wanted to have sex right now, would you do it?”

  Kayla’s eyes drift to Damien. Damien looks down at the floor and then back up at Jackson. “Yes.” Jackson throws his hands up. “But,” Damien emphasizes, “only if it was what she really wanted, and if it wasn’t a result of hormone increase from shifting. I would only do it if it meant something. I’m not going to take her virginity on something stupid. I have more class than that.”

  “Mmhmm, sure you do,” Jackson replies sarcastically. Without warning, Damien swings his arm forward and punches Jackson in the face.

  “DAMIEN!” Kayla screams, running over to Jackson. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

  Jackson tilts his head toward her. Blood trickles down from his lip. “Yeah,” he says, “but I deserved that.”

  “No one deserves that,” Kayla snaps. She looks at Damien and spits out, “You have no idea how mad I am at you right now.”

  Damien glares at Jackson and then turns and leaves, snagging his shirt off the floor. Kayla watches him go. She turns back to Jackson and finds him watching her. “Why aren’t you running after him?”

  “Because he hurt you,” Kayla whispers. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

  “It’s just a busted lip,” Jackson replies, licking the blood from his lip. He grimaces. “It’ll heal. We heal fast.”

  She takes his hand and pulls him out of the living room and down the hallway. When they get to the bathroom, she pushes him in. “Sit down.” Jackson plops down on the toilet while Kayla searches through the cabinets.

  Jackson laughs. “You’re such a girl. It’s a busted lip. I’ll be fine.”

  “Be quiet,” Kayla insists. She grabs a washcloth and wets it. “He shouldn’t have hit you.”

  “I would have hit me,” Jackson mutters. “I should go apologize, except I don’t apologize to him.”

  Kayla brings the washcloth to his mouth and dabs the cut. “You two are ridiculous.”

  “I think you bring it out in us more than normal.”

  She stops dabbing at his wound and shifts her focus to his eyes. “What? Why?”

  With a crooked grin, Jackson sighs. “I’m protective of you and he wants you. We’re going to clash in the end, no matter what.”

  “That doesn’t give him the right to punch you.”

  Jackson chuckles. “I deserved it.”

  Blotting his lip, Kayla whispers, “No, you didn’t. I’m furious at him for punching you.”

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.”

  “Would you be this upset if I had punched him for saying what I did?”

  Kayla shakes her head. “No, not if he deserved it.” Jackson arches his eyebrows. “I mean...no...that came out wrong. I don’t want either of you to punch the other one! It’s stupid.” She gently presses the washcloth to his lip again. “No more punching of any kind.”

  “Mmmm,” Jackson hums. He puts his hand on top of hers. “I can do this.”

  “Just let me do it. Don’t you like a girl taking care of you?”

  Jackson lets out a small laugh. “I like…you…taking care of me.”

  “W
ait until you’re sick someday, I make a great nurse.” Kayla giggles.

  “I would only appreciate that if you dressed up like a nurse.”

  Smirking, Kayla says, “What, in scrubs?”

  “Oh hell no, I mean the short little white lab coat and some white thigh highs. We can play doctor.”

  She shoves him. “Only in your dreams.”

  “We haven’t played doctor yet in my dreams, but that does give me some ideas.”

  Kayla puts her hand on her hip. “Jackson, I’m going to get Damien to punch you again.”

  “What goes on in my head is our business only,” Jackson retorts with a smirk. He nudges her with his knee. “I can keep my fantasies as long as I don’t act on them.”

  Kayla laughs. “I promise next time I fall asleep on you, I’ll try not to tear you apart during a sex dream.”

  “Hey, now that I know that was what was going on you can do it anytime, major turn on.”

  “This is so inappropriate! No more, I’m seeing someone else.”

  Jackson laughs and grabs her, pulling her down on his lap. “You’re not technically boyfriend and girlfriend. Once that happens, I’ll back off, but until then, it’s fair game.”

  “Whatever,” Kayla says, rolling her eyes. “I’m staying a virgin for a long time, so you and Damien can keep your fantasies.”

  “And you can continue to have naughty dreams about me,” Jackson whispers into her ear.

  She shrugs him away with her shoulder. “Stop it. You’re going to get me in trouble.”

  “No, trouble would be if I kissed you right now,” Jackson murmurs, pulling her closer.

  Everything in Kayla makes her want to close the distance between them. She looks at him and whispers, “If you kiss me, I have to slap you. That may hurt your lip more.”

  He brings his lips up to hers. “I think it may be worth the pain.”

  “Jackson, don’t,” she breathes out. “We said we weren’t going to do this anymore. Going back and forth like this hurts me.”

  He pulls away quickly. “Sorry.” Jackson pushes her away and stands. He takes the washcloth from her. “I got this. Trust me, it will heal and I’ll be fine. It will just bruise.”

  “Jackson, stop,” Kayla says softly. “What is going on? You say you don’t want me, but sometimes you act like you do.”