‘I know now from talking to Woody that my mother should have told me a lot of things but never did. All I do know is what I have read in books. When I ran from you and went to Perth I had my twentieth birthday. It was then overnight that everything changed for me. Not only the superficial changes as you see me now, like never having to shave or cut my hair. Normal female bodily functions ceased leading me to believe I may never be able to have a child. Then there were the personality changes due to the strange dreams and daytime flashes of another world, the one you have now shown me. I felt smarter, wised up about all sorts of stuff. At first my thought was that it was a reaction to being so stressed and I thought I’d go back to normal with time. Except I already knew from talking to other females at the Casino that I was different. Not that it worried me too much as I’ve been a special case all my life. Going to a doctor was out. I guess I just didn’t want to end up a lab rat, being experimented on. Then what if they figured out about my powers? You can see why I just decided to hide it. I’m sorry, Kayden, I should have told you about the baby thing. You know, the not having kids thing. But I thought in time maybe I’d be enough for you.’
He looked at her seriously. ‘Honey, I know already that having children for our kind is almost impossible. You are more than enough, so never question that but that’s not what worries me about all this. I can’t believe your mother could be so heartless. Cassie, how old do you think I am?’
She searched his face, suddenly realising what she had already assumed: that the boys were immortal like the others up in the universe above. Woody especially was a real old style gentleman, although she wasn’t yet entirely convinced this could happen to earth dwellers.
‘You look maybe early to mid-twenties. You and your men all look around the same age. It’s hard to say because you all act so grownup, as if you’re a lot older than even that. I had given it thought, that you might be immortal like the rulers and gods up in the galaxy.’
Running his hand down her arm soothingly, he breathed out, sounding relieved. ‘You have such insight, Cassie. I’m quite sure it’s another of your powers that is only just beginning to develop. The men and I have been twenty for many years. Just like you, we had a growth spurt after our twentieth birthday where we developed into men almost overnight. You see, I know how weird that feels to go to bed wearing a man’s size eight shoes and waking up needing size fourteen or bigger in most cases. Then the universe downloads a whole lot of information that your brain has no idea how to process at first. That’s why your powers are still developing. It all takes time but believe me when I tell you, as soon as the time comes for you to use these powers, they will just flow out of you comfortably. None of us will ever age from this point on, honey because of our importance to the universe.’
‘So we won’t wake up one day and just age into old people once the universe is done with us like in the movies? Our bodies will not drop all our flesh and end up skeletons or maybe dust?’
He smiled. ‘You’ve been watching far too many vampire movies.’ He laughed, turning to her this time with sincerity. ‘I can’t believe you’ve gone your whole life with absolutely no guardians to care for you or teach you what to expect. It is the normal way with any of us. We are born with a carer to ensure we develop as intended.’ He shook his head. ‘Like us, you will live forever, Cassie. We are immortals: a gift from the heavens to keep the balance between good and evil. Only a selected few are born with powers like ours. Some of us were born to fight evil and some to fight the light. It keeps the balance within our galaxies. With your terrible upbringing I really believe that you were ignored for a reason, that you were destined for evil. Yet through all the misery, you kept your heart pure and never gave up. That alone shows me how strong and trustworthy you will always be.’
Tears ran down her face. She had fought and fought hard, many times wanting to give up and destroy every single person who was hurting her but to hurt them back she would be no better than they were. Then she would have never been here, right now, where she was the happiest she had ever thought possible and with a man who loved her, even if she might not be able to give him a family. Hang on. Can immortals have babies, I wonder? Pulling out of Kayden’s calming embrace, she had to ask. ‘So can immortals ever have children? I mean I was born from one, right?’ She felt a little more hopeful.
‘Yes, it’s possible but rare. If immortals could breed without difficulty, the world would be full of us. It’s easier for an immortal male to father a child with a mortal female but it does not mean the child will automatically be born immortal. That too, is rare and depends on whether the gods permit it. They decide how many of us are required each century and for it to happen here on earth is a rarity. You see, you are born with a mission in mind. To want to fight or destroy, as I said, good and evil is the mix. To do what we do, it’s imperative to have your roots here, to grow up and love this planet so you have the passion to want to protect it; to be prepared to die for it.’