Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (8 page)

“You’re welcome. Now it’s your
turn for
questions
;
if you have any for me?”
His face came down to look at
Mark
yet again.

“Hmm… When I
sprained
my ankle
all those years ago,
going hiking with you and
Granddaddy
, did you notice anything odd as you carried me back to your home riding piggyback?”

“Only that you were a little heavy. Why?”
He was honestly perplexed.

“A
Little
Heavy?
!
”
Mark
mentally shouted and Connor
restrained
himself from flinching
,
otherwise he would wake up Sarah
.
Mark
lowered
his
mental voice to explain
his
posit
ion.
“Connor
,
my weight stays around a constant four hundred and fifty pounds.”
Mark
shook
his
head in disbelief.

“Really? It didn’t seem
all that
much to me.”
Connor
smiled again with his goofy grin.
He is a comedian now…
This is just bizarre.
He
thought
to
him
self
and a few minutes later
Connor
asked another query
.

At least
Connor
i
s always easy to speak with.

“Can you tell me what other Changer’s are like
? I only know about a few things about Balancers.
”

Mark
sighed
,
knowing he was going
to ask that question sooner or
later
.
“Changers are
usually
sol
itary and
highly
territorial creatures.
W
e like to be by ourselves or with our mate
s
. We only gather together
once
every twenty five years.
Sometimes
,
if there is a territorial issue
, we fight.
I
n the rarest of cases does a Changer fight to the death. If they do
,
it’s
usually
because the other party killed their mate
and they
are out for
revenge
.
I am a li
ttle different from them though,
I like being around others
. I
like you and your family
and I don’t have a mate that I will need to fight for
.”
Mark
smiled sadly
at
remembering some of the things from
his
past.

“That’s nice to hear and you’re welcome to stick around
us
for as long as you
’d
like.”
Connor regained
Mark’s
attention and pulled
him
out of
those
dark thoughts with his empathetic smile.

A ray of sunlight
now
caressed Sarah’s cheek
after a morning cloud moved over
. She slowly opened her eyes
after
fluttering them
to
look up at Connor. S
he stretched
out her petite limbs
as she said “Morning.” She twisted
a little and laid he
r back flat against his chest. S
he looked up at
Mark
and said
nicely
“What are you sitting quietly over there for?”

He
smiled at her.
“It’s not that quiet in here.” Mark
tapped
his
forehead. “Connor and I were just talking.”

“I didn’t hear you say anything.” She stated while yawning and covering her mouth.
“You guys must have been talking very quietly.
”

“He was just talking to me telepathically and allowing you to sleep
undisturbed
.”
Mark
said
while
looking at her.
He wonder if she caught what he
just
said.

“That was considerate of the two of you.” She smiled and a moment later her eyes were suddenly awake. “Did you just say Connor was conversing with you telepathically?”
She finally realized what he
said.

Connor
with
a tightlipped smile
looked
to
Mark.

“
I did.”
Mark
said and
couldn’t help but grin at the two of them.

“But…” S
he looked up at
Connor
as he looked down
at her with a loving smile that
would make
one
sick if you knew he was faking
. “We can’t enter a Changers mind.”
She said adamantly while
looking back at
the Changer among them
.

“Well apparen
tly my Buddy can.” Mark
then asked
“Would you
care
to try
for
yourself
?”
He
wanted to know if she was also capable.

She looked back at
Connor and then back to
him
;
nodd
ing
slowly.
H
er green eyes contact
ed his
.
T
he same feeling
hit him again, but this one had a softer
, more delicate
touch
.
“
Can you hear me
,
Mark
?”

“Loud and clear on this end
,
Sarah.” And Connor finally st
arted chuckling. “What is it?” Mark
asked him.

“Sarah
,
is just a little surprised at this new development and
she is just
a little giddy.”
He admitted and she placed a hand on his lap

“How can you tell?” Mark asked because he
was clueless.

“Through our bond
as mates
.” He stated
.

“How long did it take for the bond between the two of you to form?”
His
curiosity
was piqued
as his
smile
receded
.

“I felt our bond within moments of finishing the ceremony. Oh and that’s when I found out I could read her mind as well.” Connor stated and Sarah moved his arms
,
with hers
,
and crossed them
under
her breasts
to hold her closer
and absorb his abundant warmth
.
She looked cold
but he probably already knew and just let her move his arms
.

“Surprise after surprise. This is all so
very
fascinating
and intriguing
. I am so glad to have moved here.”
Mark
slapped
his
knee
,
hitting a bug
that bit
, saving it from future misery.
I
t was a little too loud of a smack though.

Out of the corner of
his
eye
Mark saw movement. He
turned
his
head and
witnessed
Kara walking away from the shelter
,
rubbing the sleep from her eyes
. She walked over and sat down
on the log
next to
him,
resting her head
on
his
shoulder. “Can we have something to eat? I’m drained.”

“Welcome to our world Kara.” Sarah said
with a laugh and the rest of them
joined in.

C
onstruct and Demolish

After M
ark walked over and brought
back the tree
suspended
bags
,
everyone
emptied the
rest of the
packs
of food and started cooking and eating
soon after
.
Sarah sat directly next to
Connor
,
on the ground
,
while the other two
lovebirds
sat on the log eating and drinking before the small flame
and warm coals
.
Following
the eventful and explanative night they
all shared,
they
were all waiting for someone
else
to say something first, but
each one became more afraid than the next
to know
just
ex
actly what to say
and not look a fool in the process
. This left the entire
group very silent until
the
meal ended.

After
K
ara ate her fill
Connor, as the one who felt most responsible for the current situation,
decided to be the one to break the silent streak. E
veryone
almost jumped at the sound of
his
deep
voice as he
spoke to
his
sister and best friend
.
“There is something we need to discuss with the two of you.”

Connor
received everyone’s undivided attention
within moments
. He
felt
the familiar touch of
Sarah’s mind start brushing against
his own
yet she said
and revealed nothing in her expression
.
Even her emotions were bland.

Grateful for the ended silence Kara asked
“Brother
,
what needs to be discussed? I vowed to never tell anyone about anything from last night.
I haven’t forgotten so soon.
”

Kara’s honesty made
him
smile even if she didn’t allow
him
to finish
his explanation
.
She has always leapt ahead when she gets overly anxious.
It isn’t anything new.
Everyone could tell she
remained
restless
from learning
about
all of this.
Connor pulled up his
straight right leg and rested
his
arm on it as
he
continued the discussion
without upsetting his sibling
. “I believe you. The problem lies not with you
in this particular conversation
, but
actually
with Sarah’s parents.”

“They won’t hurt us or anything
… will they
?” Kara asked Sarah
with wide
brown
eyes
.
Now the youngest in the group
ha
s
become worried about something she hadn’t considered.

“I don’t believe so, but it would be better to tell them before they find out on their own.
It would only invite more hostility.
It might get a little rough
for us all
if they discover that we were keeping secrets from them.” Sarah said
while
placing her
empty
bowl in front of her
,
without breaking eye contact with Kara
. She then placed her hand on Connor’s
left thigh
,
that
remained
flat on the ground.
He
placed
his palm
atop hers
and began caressing her hand with
a
thumb
.
She didn’t show any outward expression, but her bond said she enjoyed it.
“Especially one this serious to our survival.”