Twenty six

When I turn around I find him sitting hack at the table, looking at me expectantly. For once, I join him without a second thought, because I'm dying to hear what he has to say.

He rubs his hands together excitedly, and for the first time his eyes drift from my face towards my chest, and I become aware that I'm wearing nothing more than a bathrobe.

" Do you want to put some clothes on first," He looks back up at me, but the glint in his eyes, and the lazy smile he gives tell me that he would rather have me just like that.

" Just give me a moment," I rise to my feet, pick up a pair of trousers and a top from the wardrobe along with underwear, and slip back into the bathroom.

When I emerge, Mason looks me up and down with a keen eye," Cute," He says but his eyes stop to hover over my breasts a second longer than he should have, and I know that he doesn't think I'm just cute.

I smile, say nothing and plop back in my seat at the table with his eyes on me. One part of me anyway, Mason doesn't seem to stop staring at my breasts.

" You're staring," I point out, he blinks, looks up at me, and grins unabashedly.

" I think they are bigger," I feel the heat creeping up my neck, and make a full stop in my face. Jesus Christ.

" What's wrong with you," I pull the seat pad from under my ass and throw it at him, he laughs, grabs it out of my hand, and puts it under his ass. Thus taking my only weapon against him that I could procure whilst sitting down.

" So many things," He says drolly, and sighs," Right. Back to business, " He clears his throat, and I frown at the choice of words.

" So, when a man loves a woman," Mason begins and I cross my arms over my chest because I already know where this is going. Nowhere.

" They lay down, and become-" I clear my throat and he chuckles under his breath, thinking he is hilarious. He is not. I'm not laughing. Quite the opposite.

" I know how babies are made Mason," I say sarcastically, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't hear me because he is still laughing.

" Right, right," He says as soon he's calmed down a bit, and shuffles in his seat, " There are two possibilities, " He shows me two fingers as if I'm so dumb that he needs to use his hands to make himself understood," One. There is the possibility that somehow he'd managed to preserve an embryo and then transplant it into your mother's womb. Two, there is a good chance that your mother isn't your birth mother, " He clears his throat, and the amusement leeches away from his voice and expression. And somehow what he said made sense to my insane brain, and it doesn't seem all that far-fetched, except for one minor inconvenience. The medical advancements we have made so far are not even close to achieving such a feat. So, I suppose my mother wasn't my mother. Then who is?

" I don't know," He answers my unspoken question, " I find it strange because you and Anika look alike," True, which made everything even more confusing. How could I look like my mother if she isn't my mother?

This doesn't make any sense.

" Your theory," I begin quietly, " Has some holes in it,"

" I know," He rubs his face with both his hands, " I questioned a few V'asay, and they weren't able to tell me anything," I sit straight in my chair and lean on the table, waiting to hear more, but he just looks at his hands on the table.

" And," I prompt and he looks up at me shaking his head.

" Nothing. They don't know what the higher echelons are up to. They only do the grunt work. We need to catch, either Eagan or Lissete," Great plan, if I'd know where to find them.

" They will come to you," I'm struggling now. This is the second time he has answered me without me asking.

" How do you do that?" He sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

" I don't know, " I hate those words coming from him.

" You're not being very helpful," I say with a hint of annoyance. The last thing I need is for him to read my thoughts.

" Not quite. Is more like an echo of your thoughts. It only happens when we are close," Fuck me.

" What do you mean an echo?" I question suspiciously because right now I'm struggling to keep myself level.

" An echo," He shrugs, impassive, " A bit like a whisper in the wind, sort of thing," He waves a hand in the air to emphasise his point. Why can't I feel it?

"It's because of Anam Cara," He says quietly because right now I'm properly freaked out. I will have no privacy. And what's anam cara?

" It's the spell your mother used to bind your powers to me," I want to scream. When did it happen? We've never had this before.

" I think they were wrong. It won't fade. It has only grown stronger. I can feel it more now than I ever did before," This little magic trick is beginning to annoy the hell out of me.

" Sometimes, " He sighs," I can hear you in my dreams as if you were right there with me," At least I'm not the only one that has those eerie experiences. I knew it was strange to see and feel someone in your dreams as if they were there with you, but at the same time, they are not.

His expression clouds and I wish I'd know the answer to what he is thinking. I feel like I'm on the losing end of this stupid bargain, but then again I always am.

I settle back in my seat, and we look at each other with different eyes. Eyes that have lost their icy glint, and have become warmer, more welcoming. Eyes that could make me do anything without him even asking me.

A smile stretches on his lips, crinkling his eyes, and I find myself mesmerised by the sight, and can't help myself from drinking it in. I don't know how long it lasted but it felt like time stood still, the world stopped spinning, everything else just faded and it was just us.

And right now he is probably hearing every single thing that goes through my head, and I feel naked, exposed in every sense of those words.

His smile doesn't falter. But I'm beyond terrified that I won't be able to have anything to call my own anymore.

Not even my thoughts.