Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who waited patiently, and also to the ones who did not wait so patiently. I appreciate the Emails of encouragement...and deleted the Emails of death and dismemberment. I never knew I had such...CREATIVE readers! Honestly, I thank you all for the support. I hope you all enjoy the next section of my story.
Chapter 23: Care
(One month later)
I fell backwards, landing hard on my ass and rolling completely over my shoulder to lay out flat on my belly. The blue field around me shimmered and winked out. I was panting so hard that I sucked a bit of grass into my mouth from the lawn and spit it out in disgust. Something flickered in my vision and I rolled to the side as a sharp black spear pierced the ground right where my head had been resting!
I gripped the shaft and turned enough to kick out hard and hit the knee of my attacker. She just smiled at me through sharp teeth. Lucretia chuckled at my counterattack. Yep, she has taken over my training times in the morning. No more working out in my gym, at least not the same way I usually did. Once I asked her to help me find out about what type of magic I had, she turned into a slave driver making me use it and control it.
"That tickled Greg! Got to focus or your magic won't let you stop me!" She punctuated this by attacking again!
I absolutely hate it when she uses this stupid, rotten, mean and annoying attack! Her wings fold up, I mean all the way up. She has around a twenty foot wing span right, and the whole wing part lays flat along the thick spine of the wing. Then the little claws near the arches fold over her arms so that the spine of the wing runs along her arms all the way down to her claws. Basically, they act like pointed rods that extend at least 5 feet past her fingertips. I never knew that the spine of her wing was so flexible. It actually was kinda nifty to see her do that, it looked like she was packing up a stunt kite.
Except then she would attack me with her brand new weapons!
I thought it was hard enough to spar with her when she had those nasty claws on her hands and feet, and let's not forget those ominous spurs on the back of her legs, but nooo! Then she had to go ahead and get her wings involved in the whole mess! They stung and cracked like a switch that left deep bruises instead of welts, and one time when I dodged her attack, the points penetrated the walls of my backyard shed! She never gave me any slack when we were training, constantly pushing me and punishing me when I let my shield fall.
All right, let me bring you up to speed here. Turns out, Mother was right about me, sort of. I am a telekinetic, just not a very useful one. When you think of telekinesis you think of somebody cool, who can do useful things. Like someone who can reach out a hand and call their keys from the coffee table across the room and they float gracefully to their hand. Or any number of other useful tricks. Yes, I am a telekinetic, but my range is almost exactly...2 inches.
That's right! I am about as useless as crescent wrench in a beauty parlor! I can move things without touching them, as long as they are only two inches away from me, or less. That is the lamest and most pathetic power restriction I had ever heard of... or even imagined! Let's use that key analogy from earlier. If my hand is within two inches of my keys? I just lean and pick them up! There, problem solved, no need for any power or magical whoopy!
Lucretia seemed fascinated with my ability. She had me lift things with my mind, or lack there of, from the palm of my hands. Then she made me hold it there for a half hour each day. She said something about pushing my boundaries and yadda-yadda. My mind would usually wander off as I didn't understand any of it. Then she would measure the space between whatever she was having me lift and the palms of my hands to see if I was extending my range at all.
Never did.
One of the useful things I got out of the deal was a full body shield that protects me. I first brought it up when Will dropped his...whatever it was on me at that disastrous first meeting between him and my roommate. The other is that I seem to be able to lift things that are really...REALLY heavy now. Lucretia says it's because I have such a short range, that my power can lift heavier things to make up for the lack of distance. Something to do with "balance and forces" and again my mind just wandered off for a bit while she tried to explain it.
All I know is that now, I can almost juggle my dumpsters at work! Also Lucretia has to work really hard not to get hit when my power is active. Though, like now...when my brain is tired and I can't even hold a shield against a puff of wind she likes to ramp up her attacks on me!
It's at times like this I wish I hadn't of given her free will. Her clawed foot came up to stomp me and I shifted so it missed, then rolled the other way as her other wing struck down at me. Then she pounced, or fell on me and I rolled with her over and over on the grass. She was laughing as I finally stopped moving with her on top.
"So, giving up I see....Whoa!" She shouted as I brought up my legs and my power flickered enough for me to have the force to get her off of my chest. I rolled to my feet, breathing hard and sweating like an ice cube in a toaster. Lucretia stood, and looked me over.
"You are getting better Master. You're able to hold your concentration longer than a week ago. Your shield is able to take stronger strikes. You are also able to move faster by letting your mind move your body through your power." She observed while brushing yard debris off of her skin.
"I honestly don't like using my telekinesis to move my body around." I told her. "It makes me feel like some kind of psionic sock puppet! I was born with muscles to get around, seems weird to use my mind to move my arms and legs faster."
Lucretia nodded. "Wise to think like that. Using telekinesis to move your limbs you might push them to hard or too fast and damage yourself." She paused and scratched her chin, a gesture she seemed to be picking up from Jemima.
I guess I should tell you about that too. Lucretia has not been hanging out with me 24/7 all this time.
We enjoy each other's company, but she needs interaction with others.
Jemima, Gwen and Lucretia seemed to all have hit it off really well. Three weeks ago I had walked Lucretia over to visit my neighbors. She was in human form, so the apprehension on her face was easier to see. They were going to have a girl's night with a Twilight movie marathon. They seemed to see it as a comedy.
Don't ask me, I'm male...it must be one of those female things.
I walked in to say "Hi" to everyone and show that I was alive, and undrained by my succubus. Lucretia had brought over cookies since she wanted to see if she could make them as well as I did. She didn't add the white chocolate chips and instead doubled the amount of butterscotch. They seemed alright, not really up to my standards of cookies, but I may be a bit biased. After the initial awkwardness was done, the two Gatewatchers and Lucretia seemed to relax. Yet, we seemed to be missing one?
"Where's Hildy?" I asked Gwen. She just sighed with a cute little frown.
"She is still not...comfortable with having an Outsider in the house." Jemima explained from over by the microwave.
I glanced at my two neighbors appraisingly, "And, you all are?"
"More or less..." replied Gwen as she took the cookies from Lucretia and set them over on the dining table. "I am more of the more and not the less!" Said Gwen as she started to divide cookies between three plates. There was a large veggie, and a large pepperoni pizza sitting there as well. Both just waiting to be devoured. I thought about asking for a slice, but decided against it.
Lucretia looked uncomfortable, and I stood next to her as she stared at the dining room table.
"You okay?" I asked Lucretia.
Gwen continued her dividing of food, but I could tell she was listening. That was fine. The ice needed to be broken somehow, and if they could see a little of Lucretia's vulnerability that might help. It was important for my succubus to have interaction with more people than just me.
