Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (53 page)

Jillian
started laughing at Kara and her hyper personality.
Jack
was the first one to speak. “Connor, are you up to a match with little old me?”

Connor took his hand off her arm and as Sarah
looked up, he
slowly began
rotat
ing his shoulders and rolling
his neck in circles. “I
always
need a good warm-up for my day.” He
then winked at
her
and
her
heart
leapt again.

Sarah’s fath
er and mate battled one on one using only their hands, weapons and reflexes. Connor now m
oved even faster than before, but
he
still was fatigued from his
earlier
exercise
. For every move
her f
ather made, Connor instantly countered with two blows
. Connor’s blows were all intentionally a graze
, but they could have each been a mortal wound
.
But she felt something was off.

After twenty
continuous
minutes of getting bested,
Jack
forfeited the match
and
Sarah
saw
something that hasn’t occurred lately,
Connor breathing
quite
heavily
.

Mark challenged
Connor
next
.
Kara,
Jillian and Sarah
stayed
in the grassy shade
, sitting
side by side
to watch it all
.

Due to Connor’s disadvantage and obvious exhaustion
,
he lost, but only just. The final move
was when Connor tried swinging
Tool’s hammer side into Mark
’
s armored ribs. Mark
’
s left hand caught the hammer and diverted
it
down,
forcing Connor’s head forward. Mark
’
s massive jaws opened and encased Connor’s entire head in razor sharp teeth.

Sarah began
panicking, but Kara’s soft touch
calmed
her
.
She
forced
her
way into Connor’s mind to know he was
n’t
harmed.
Then Mark slowly pulled his head and t
eeth back.

From where Sarah
sat
she
couldn’t hear their voices, except through Connor.
“Mark your teeth are well kept. Who’s your dentist?”

“Very funny Connor. You know that I do all my
own
personal
oral care. No dentist could match this perfection!”
Mark pull
ed
his muzzle back to expose
the lines of
his
razor sharp teeth
designed to rip and tear
. Suddenly Mark, Connor, Kara and
Sarah
started laughing.

Kara finally tapped
her sister-in-law’s
shoulder. “You he
ard that
f
rom all the way over here?
When did that happen?
”

Sarah
shook
her
head as
she
looked at her silver eyes. “No, but when I push myself
deep enough into Connor’s mind,
I’m able to h
ear everything
he can
and
what he
’s
saying.” Kara smiled
,
looking
perky as ever
as if she forgot the torture that has only waned in the past few hours
.

Jillian
grabbed
Sarah’s
arm and
forced
her
look
directly into her amber eyes
. “Wait… You are able to go that far in someone’s mind
and they are still conscious?” S
arah
tilted her head slightly.
Jillian
looked excited for some reason
again
.

“Yes
Mother, but I’ve onl
y tri
ed with Connor.”

All the men showed up around them
.
Jillian
continued by talking
up
to
Jack
who stood by her side
. “They can enter each other
’
s minds enough for them to hear from the other’s perspective.”
He
laid
Haunt across his lap as he sat
down
next to
Jillian
.
Sarah
scooted back as Connor sat beside
her
. Kara twisted
in her seating arrangement
and sat next to Mark as his armor
altered and returned to a
s
oft
pelt.

The three immortal
pairs sat in a loose triangle formation.

Connor handed her
Tool as
Jack
calmly asked
her
tired mate
“Can you see from the other’s point
of view
?”

Connor sighed and took a sl
ow and deep breath. “Not yet,” I
t wa
s true because the two of
them
kne
w
their
abilities are still growing. “But yesterday on the way home, I was able to reach Sarah’s mind from over ten miles away.”

Jillian
’s eyes went wide yet again
, but remained eerily
silent.
Jack
’s
azure
eyes didn’t widen, but his jaw dropped for a fraction of a second. He cleared his throat. “Alright… See if you can hear from my perspective.”

Sarah
clearly said “No.”

Her f
ather shifted his eyes to
her
. “Why?”

“Because Father
, we are
both
tired and depleted. Also
,
if what Mother said
still holds
true, our minds might be too strong for you to handle. Do you remember when Connor tested on entering your mind as you de
fended against his intrusion?” She
waited until he remembered. “That’s right. The pain you felt, was at most ten percent of his mental ability back then. He and I are both stronger now. I’m sorry, but you can’t ask us to do this.”
She
closed
her
eyes as
her
voice suddenly became lost. Then Connor
started rubbing her
b
ack as
she
felt him in
her
mind. H
e said nothing
and that was just what she
needed; nothing
.

He requested
her
mother’s attention.
“Jillian
,
can we call it a day? We’re
quite
hungry and we need to go shopping.”

Before her
mother could speak, Mark said “
No, you two a
re coming to my apartment first.
”

Connor’s predatory eyes suspiciously
turned
in
Mark’s immediate direction. Sarah sat beside her husband
spinning
Tool absent mindedly
between her fingers with effortless grace
. With
Mark’s
heightened senses
he could hear the forest behind him
still scurrying
with vitality and life while
mak
ing all kinds of loud racket. His
ears focused forward as Connor suspiciously
inquired
“Why?”

Mark
smiled
in spite of all that has gone on these past twenty four hours
. “Connor, both you and Sarah have graciously fed me time and time again. It will be my pleasure if you would come with me
and enjoy my hospitality for once
.”

Sarah’s green eyes
lifted
and she smiled. “Mark, but I’ve seen your apartment
,
in your mind
I mean
,
and I couldn’t see how much food could fit in your refrigerator.
It wouldn’t be enough for even me.
”
Her smile grew even more
strained as she glanced at Connor who looked to be about to fall asleep
at any second from total exhaustion
.

Mark waved his
claw at her to make Sarah
allow him to
finish. “I never said anything about eating over at my small apartment. It’s even smaller than your place
if we’re being technical
.”

Kara smacked his arm. When Mark
looked into her
new and beautiful silver eyes his
heart skipped a few beats. “Just tell them. Can
’
t you see how depleted they look?” and it
i
s the truth. Both Connor and Sarah looked like they were about to
drop where they sat
.
He’s
never seen either of them looking so exhausted.

Mark
still couldn’t believe that
his
muscle bound best
friend could fight so well
in his worn out condition.
After all
Connor
did, he wanted
everyone
to enjoy the day despite how he felt. He truly is a good man.

This day
i
s a celebration of Kara’s survival and new life.

Pulling such
thoughts back
,
Mark
took Kara’s advice. “Sorry.”
He
said to
his dear
friends. “T
he diner I work at, well… I
actually
own it. I will tell my manager
to
close it for today. I have more than enough food to feed four Balancers and the newest Changer.”
He
playfully wrapped
his
arm o
ver Kara and pulled her close. He had to make sure that he
didn’t cut her
with his
hardened claws
though
.

Connor regained everyone’s
attention as Kara squirmed in
his
arm. He asked “How long have you owned the diner?”

Kara
gained her freedom
from Mark’s
hold
and she playfully punched
his
shoulder.
Such a thing was common between them
and will be forever
. He
smiled at
his
best friend and
decided to
t
ell
him the truth. “I’ve owned the diner since I had it built when I first arrived here six years ago.
You should have seen the
stupefied
look
s
the construction crew
gave
when I paid them,
at the time
looking
like a young
teen
who
paid thousands of dollars to make my diner.
I love cooking
,
and being a Changer there isn’t a better place to eat than a local diner.”
Mark
saw Connor nod weakly
and his eyes weren’t nearly strong enough to stay locked
for much longer
.
He needs food now!

Mark
looked at Jillian and Jack. “Can you two give Connor anything you can spare? I’m also inviting the two of you as well to the diner.”
Mark
stood up and stretched. Kara also stood.
He then
looked at Connor then to Sarah. “Sarah
,
you will ride with Kara
and me
to my apartment. Connor
,
I’m sorry
,
but you
’
r
e
just a little too large
for me to carry on my back
. Go home and change your clo
thes and meet me at the diner.” Mark
looked meaningfully at Kara and she nodded
in
understanding the
urgency.