Happy Friday! Note, this story is NOT polished. I will be posting a scene or chapter weekly. Expect an urban fantasy world. Romance and mystery. And magic, of course. Enjoy!
PART 11
Lobo sat across from me on the couch and waited.
I began to pace. “What are you doing and why? You’ve lied a lot lately, and you’re helping me. Why?”
“You asked that already.”
“You still haven’t answered.” Great. Now I was growling.
He smiled. “You’re blond again.”
“You’re on my last nerve, bear.”
He had the gall to laugh. And the big bastard had me reluctantly grinning with him. No doubt, he’d spread the insanity.
“Okay, okay.” He held his hands up in surrender. “I’ll tell you what I know, then you tell me the truth.”
I nodded.
“A long time ago, I met someone. She was…unique.” The sparkle in his eyes drew me. “This woman, this indefinable spirit, told me things no one would ever believe. Such clarity to see beyond the surface, she spoke of truths. Of prophecy. Of doom.”
The sudden quiet as we stared at each other unnerved me. “Well, that was dramatic.”
“You’re telling me. I heard it all firsthand.”
He paused and stared at my shoulder. I glanced down and saw my hair turning auburn again. Dang it. I couldn’t control the changes, but the more agitated I got, the faster the colors changed. An irritating tell.
I motioned for him to continue.
He sank back in his seat, easing into his story. “Apparently, a long, long time ago, the gods walked the earth. They created and destroyed, and they got so carried away that they nearly obliterated the planet. So, rules were put in place that kept the gods away.”
“Yes, we’re all taught that in grade school.”
“Were you also taught that a sign would signal the return of the Divine?”
That was a new one on me. “Gods returning, huh? That’s something I’ve never understood. Why do the gods care so much about our plane? They can go anywhere. Why not focus on any of the heavenly realms?” If I had my druthers, I’d live on a chocolate mountain surrounded by a marshmallow lake and strawberry licorice tulips.
And if I was really lucky, I’d sleep in giant bed of peanut butter cups.
“I think there’s something about this plane they need.” He frowned in concentration. “I think our belief gives them power. And maybe there are more rules than we know about. Rules everywhere, in every realm. Here, the gods are gods. Maybe in their plane, they’re like, evos. Special but not ultra-special, if you get my meaning.”
“Really?” I goggled. I’d never heard that before.
“I said ‘I think.’ I have no idea why they’re so fixated on us here. But come on. You can’t think they don’t still manipulate us on earth? They have for hundreds of years. Hell, where do you think shifters come from? Aleah created us.”
“No, the Great Shower created you.”
He snorted. “Uh-huh. So why aren’t all evos mages, then? Why are only some of us shapeshifters while others are elementals or witches? Because the gods took their pick of us.”
“Then why are there citizens? What god took on that crowd?” Of idiots, I wanted to add but didn’t. It wasn’t fair of me to stereotype, but even out east the citizens didn’t much care for evos. They tolerated mages because of what we could do for them, not because they thought we had a right to simply exist.
It annoyed me to be considered inferior. It was even worse because I couldn’t be myself with anyone. Other evos would consider me weird for being both shifter and mage. And maybe even part elemental, I thought, recalling my electrical bout with the dowdy assassin.
I glanced down at my fingers and wiggled them. But no, nothing. Not a hint of static or otherwise.
“You okay?”
I flushed as I met Lobo’s dark eyes. “Yeah, just thinking.” I twirled my hair, pleased to see it returning to blond. “Do you think the gods are back and secretly influencing things?”
“Not what I said, exactly, but yeah.”
“What does that have to do with you helping me without question? You took me in, fed me, and gave me a job. For all you know I’m a serial killer.”
He snorted. “I’m scared.”
“Shut up. I could be.” Why I was trying to convince him to be wary of me, I didn’t know.
“Okay, Miss Murder. That woman I mentioned, the one I met a long time ago? She warned me someone would be coming who would need my help. And that someone would change things for everyone.”