"Good boy." Her hand pets my head, yet I can't move away from the unwanted touch.
"You are still useful."
"What did you do to me?" I grit between clenched teeth.
"When you escaped…"
"With Carmen…"
"We planted the seeds…"
"Of lust and greed…"
"They rooted deeply…"
"In your soul…"
"Quite nicely."
The three women, the Moirai, the fates, whatever you call them, had me in deep within their clutches.
"It won't be…"
"Long now…"
"Until you've served.."
"Your purpose…"
"I won't do it." I groan, their power coursing through my veins, burning me.
"You will."
"Your jealousy…"
"Drives you already."
I scream, a guttural cry of defiance but my vision goes dark.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I'm not a child anymore, I'm fifteen." I huff at Aether as he follows me to the training ground.
"You shouldn't be roaming alone. You are valuable," I turn to face him and he sighs, "as a Seer, to our pack."
I roll my eyes and keep walking. Stupid pup never saying what he truly means.
"Plus you shouldn't be dressed like that in public."
This time I wheel around and scream at him. "What are you, my father? What gives you the right to tell me what I should and should not wear?"
"No," he walks up to me; the wind slightly pulls me to him, "I most certainly am not your father."
I gasp at the way his words and the wind caress me.
"Aether, stop." I can feel a blush creep up my neck and wash over my face.
"Tell me you don't feel it." He takes a strand of my white hair and twirls it around his finger.
"Feel what?" I feign ignorance.
"This pull." He smirks, clearly able to tell I'm lying.
"You're not 18 yet, you can't feel a pull either." I scoff stepping back. My hair glides through his fingers then falls. I quickly put it behind my ear.
"I'll be 18 soon enough." The smirk doesn't leave his face. "If you're my mate, I'm never letting you go."
I turn on my heels and continue to the training grounds. I can tell he's no longer following me because I don't hear his loud footsteps.
I look down at my outfit. A sports bra and high-wasted spandex shorts. This is the best outfit to train in. The nerve of that mutt!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Are you sure you're the father?" I ask jokingly as Indicum feeds Serenity.
His low growl tells me I've hit a nerve. "Yes, she's got my nose."
"Those eyes don't look like yours or Gin's. In fact, I've never seen anyone with golden eyes." I finish my pancake and sip my coffee.
"The sun deity." Augur says as he colors with crayons.
"Who?" Indicum and I both say turning to Augur.
"It's the story of the golden eyed goddess." He smiles as he continues coloring.
"What story Aug?" I prompt, trying to get a look at his drawing.
He sighs putting his crayon down. Definitely Gin's son. So dramatic.
"I don't remember everything." He shrugs eating a piece of his chocolate chip pancake with his hand.
"Use your fork." I prompt and his eyes narrow at me. Definitely Gin's son.
He picks up the fork and spears the pancake. Indicum tries not to laugh as he continues bottle feeding Serenity.
"There once were three sisters." He holds up four fingers and counts but then puts one finger down and giggles. He's so adorable, I can't wait for Gin to meet him. "The older one was named for the sun. The sun paled next to her golden hair and golden eyes. She would grow up to have children of the light."
"Fae, elves, and elementals have been extinct." Indicum chimes in.
"No! They're not like the dinosaurs." Augur scoffs.
"Smart kid." Indicum smirks at me. "Doesn't get that from you."
I growl, "Keep telling the story Aug."
"What story?" He's already picked up his crayon and began coloring again. "Oh yeah, the sun one. Well, her younger sisters were very different from her. They used to share everything when they were little. But once they grew up they all took different paths. The middle sister was named for the moon. She has long black or white hair, I forget. Her eyes are all the colors at once. This sister would grow up to have children of the night."
"Werewolves, vampires, and witches." Indicum mutters.
"And the youngest sister?" I prompt Augur as his eyes seem to be closing then snapping open in rapid succession.
"The youngest sister," Augur yawned, "she was named for the Earth. No one knows what she looks like. She grows up to have children of the day."
"What're children of the day?" Indicum asks rocking a sleeping Serenity.
"Humans." Augur's head rests gently on the table and the kid is out cold. His little fist is wrapped around a yellow crayon and chocolate is smudged on his cheek.
"Zombies." Niveus says from the door frame drenched in sweat.
"There's pancakes on the counter." Indicum whispers to her as he takes Serenity out of the room.
"Thanks." She whispers back.
Once he's out of earshot, I raise my eyebrows at her. "Zombies?"
"And dwarves." Niveus shoves a whole pancake in her mouth with her fingers.
"I thought witches made Zombies."
"With the gift they were given from the third sister." Niveus says thoughtfully.
"Dwarves are extinct." Indicum says from the door frame.
"They are." Niveus confirms.
"So these three badass sisters basically made up life as we know it on our planet."
"Yep." Niveus pops the P as she shoves another pancake in her mouth.
"You can take a bite you know," I say, "or use a fork."
She shrugs. "Interesting children you two have."
Indicum and I look at one another. I stand to pick up Augur. After his bath and wearing normal clothing, he reminds me even more of Gin.
"You already know who took her." Niveus' voice sounds accusatory and I turn to see her pointedly glaring at Indicum.
"What?" I whisper yell with Augur in my arms.
"Put him to rest and we'll talk." Indicum sighs. "Niveus, for the love of life, please go shower. You reek."
She laughs and shoves one more pancake in her mouth before running out of the kitchen.
I glance at the drawing before I take Augur away. It's a picture of everyone he's met so far. Aether, Niveus, Indicum, Serenity and I. I take a closer look at something he's drawn in the sky. It appears to be a big ball with lots of different colored dots in it. I shrug and take him to his room. I'll ask him about it when he wakes up. Right now I'm concerned about who's taken Gin and how we're going to get her back.