Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (5 page)

She
scratched
her
throat as
she
looked up
her
self to process his question. “No, because they will only slow us down.
The path is in a direction that has very little population. Plus we can disappear faster than any officer can see us.”

Mark laughed. “I remember the last meeting
we had
a meeting,
where I snuck up on some hunters
during the winter
and went
‘
BOO
!
I’m the big bad wolf.
’
”

Kara asked in a lighthearted tone
“Were you
really
in your wolf form?” H
e nodded an
d they
all laughed
and imagined
just what happened
.
It would be rude to delve into a person’s memories without permission.

An hour later
Sarah
finished the bowl of apples as Kara stood and put the keys in her pocke
t
. “It’s too late to get started on preparing tonight. What time would you like for us to meet up, Brother?”

“We’ll meet you at Mom’s around eight and we’ll go from there.”

She nodded and walked across the floor to slip on her boots. Mark followed her lead. When they zipped up their jacket she hu
gged both her big brother and Sarah
. Mark and Connor balled up their fists and punched them together and
Mark
hugged
her
gently. As they left
the
cottage and headed back to their apartment, Connor shut and locked the door.

He turned and ha
d a twinkle in his hazel eyes. Sarah
knew what those eyes meant. He said in a seductive
, husky
voice that
shook her very
core “Ready for me to
Flex
?”

In her
mind
she
said
teasingly
‘
oh no!
’
His smile only widened.

Sarah
giggled as Connor chased
her
into the bedroom and
they
flexed
until
finally call
ing
it quits and
needing to
get some sleep.

Pack and Disembark

Sarah started
in bed
after hearing
a strange sound.
She
looked out the window of
their bed
room and saw that it
remained
dark outside.
Warmth from winter was tempered as she remained
cuddled up next to
her mate as she
tried to find the source of
the disturbance
.
Then she
heard it again and tilted
her
head u
p to
peer at
Connor’s
shadowy
face. H
is solid chest
had long ago became
a
comfortable
pillow and
it
proved
difficult to leave
the
warm
comfort
of his flesh
.
She
gently
lifted
her
left leg off of his and rolled onto
her
stomach
,
to get a better look at him.

He was whispering something
so quietly it became impossible to understand. His brow
creased and seemed
almost pained
, but it
looked
as if
he w
ere
strategizing
again
. He wasn’t moving or struggling with his body, but
Sarah
knew that he wasn’t dreaming
for his bond revealed that he remained alert
, but not to the outside world
.
His eyes were moving quickly under his eyelids and his lips were moving just as fast.
I
n response to this development she
closed
her
eyes
and
pushed with
her
mind
as
gently
as possible
so as to not
to disturb whatever he was doing
.
Without him blocking
,
she easily
entered his mind to see what h
e was doing inside his head
. Sarah
kept
her
eyes closed because
she
wanted to visualize what he was thinking about.

The moment
her
mind entered his,
she
gasped
at what laid before her
. A
vast
stone arena
lay as far as the eye could see and had the distinctive feel it’s design of a huge square
.
Centered in it w
ere two warriors
who
stood facing each other. One of them Sarah
could recognize
anywhere
, but the other was just
a dark figure that looked
to be
about the same build as his opponent.
The two suddenly closed the distance and began to fight. When
Sarah
was able to get a closer look
she
bit
her
bottom lip
painfully
to stifle a
worried
cry
in both the mind and real world
.
It was Connor, fighting for his life against an unknown
and equally ferocious
opponent.
The two of them were moving
too fast to be possible
, but it didn’t feel wrong in the least
.
They were moving so
swiftly
that their movements were actually blurring together.
Each blow that they landed on the other did
major damage and blood spilled
and sprayed droplets
all over the
white
arena.
Then the mysterious fighter got a hold of Connor’s left arm and ripped the limb right out of the shoulder. Then as the
dark
figure dropped the
bloody trophy on the ground, Connor leapt and caught the dark figure’s head between his
enormous
legs. As the two
of them tumbled to the ground Sarah
saw
her
mate rotate his body in the air. With a sickening
Snap
Connor bro
k
e
the
opponent
’
s neck.
As Connor
manage to stand
over his
shadowed
opponent
Sarah
finally
saw who it was. His opponen
t was none other than himself. Sarah
looked back up at the winner and saw Connor’s severed arm
had
completely recovered
like nothing ever happened
.
It seemed so vivid and real that this world was nothing but imagined.
The arena
suddenly disappeared, leaving only the two of them staring at each other
.
When
she
opened
her real
eyes and focused
back up
into his, he was looking back at
Sarah
without expression
.

Sarah
retracted her mi
nd
fully
because
she
couldn’t stand anymore.
She
gasped for air and noticed that she
had been
holding
her
breath through that entire ordeal
without realizing
.
After taking
several much needed breath
s
,
she opened her
eyes
again
.
P
iercing hazel eyes
remained
gazing down at
his love
.
I
n
the
soft
est
voice
possible
he asked “Princess, are you alright? You look sick?”
He touched
her
che
ek gently and brushed some of her
hair to the side.

The touch was so gentle compared to the brutality
she
j
ust witnessed within his mind. Sarah
finally s
poke after finding how to articulate again.
“I’m sorry about that. You were
looking in pain
and I wanted to know what it was about.” His smile
became tender
. “Do you remember that dream?”

His hand cupped her cheek. She
felt the comfortable warmth when he said “I wasn’t dreaming
and you know it
.” Before she
could say anything he elaborated. “I have been awake for an hour, but I didn’t want to wake you. I’m sorry that you saw what you did.”

She
sat up and spoke softly. “Connor, you
weren’t
asleep
? What were you doing then?”

He remained laying on his back
to answer
. “It’s
an old strategy that warriors all over the world use and it’s called
S
hadow
F
ighting. Quite a few fighters do it to keep their minds focused
and their abilities honed
.
Training the body is only half the aspect of being a warrior.
I’ve needed to do it more
and more
lately because neither Jack nor Mark are strong enough to win against me. I don’t want to get rusty or lazy in my training… so I usually do this when I can’t go back to sleep. I know my
strengths
and weaknesses better than anyone. So I have to fight myself
,
in my mind
…
I do it for you.” He smiled.

She
crossed
her
arms under
her
bare
breasts. “How do you do it for me?”

He sat up and crossed
his legs. He sat his eyes on her
pointedly
and
explained
“I’m your mate. It’s my job to protect you
and one I’ll always treasure. It isn’t a burden if you are thinking that.
” He gently placed his big
and warm
hand over
her
belly. “and
also keep
our children from harm. It’s my job and I take it seriously. Especially since this
gathering
is coming up
so soon
.
I don’t have the slightest idea what will happen, but I’m preparing
for it
as best as I can.
”

Sarah
grabbed his hand from
her
abdomen and held it between both of
hers
.
She
spoke with
quiet
compassion
and a feeling of stress melted away
. “I know how you feel. Just promise me one thing… Don’t
push yourself too hard or you won’t be able to accomplish your
task
.”

He laughed quietly. “Sure thing
, Princess. And you need to
promise me one thing
as well
… If I
do
over extend myself,
go
find a spoon.”

At that
she
started to laugh
with him
.
She
pulled on his arm and as he came forward
she
gently gave him a quick kiss.
Even though she
felt
calmer, she
couldn’t shake the feeling that Connor has the right idea.