“You asked me what my powers were.” Taking my hand in his again, he studied my palm. “I can get a feeling from people when I touch them. I can understand them. I am also able to swim fast.”
“What do you mean fast?” I asked.
“Very fast.”
“What else?”
“I have this energy that comes from within me that I can focus and use as a weapon.”
My mind flew back to the day Akin attacked me.
“I remember a very bright light, almost like the one Limus used on you.” I said.
He looked down and massaged his shoulder with his free hand. “Yeah, well, not exactly. He uses his for evil. I use mine for good.”
“Like to save damsels in distress?”
“Just one damsel in distress.”
A new plate of fruit was brought to us and we both dug in. For some reason, I was starving. Then I remembered Thayde had been hinting at a fourth power if he found his love. Was that why he was suddenly coming on so strong? I stopped, my fork raised and a mango hanging from the end.
“What’s wrong?”
“You said you had a fourth power coming to you. Is that,” but I stopped. I didn’t know how to say what I wanted to say to Thayde. Here was this gorgeous man, obviously interested in me, but how much of that was my delusion? He had said he loved me, but what if all this was just so he could get his fourth power? I started to feel sick. I put my fork down and stood up.
“What’s wrong?” He asked again, this time sounding worried. He stood and I pushed my chair in.
“I don’t feel so well,” I admitted. “I think I need to find the bathroom,”
“It’s over there,” he pointed to the ladies room and started to push his chair in.
“Don’t!” I cried, stepping away. “I mean, I see it.”
I turned straight into a waiter, causing him to tip over a glass he held in his hand.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled and quickly made my way to the restroom.
Hovering over the toilet, yet again, all sorts of thoughts ran through my head. What if this had all been part of the plan from the very beginning? What if Thayde and Akin had planned my attack so he would rescue me and I would bond more quickly to him? What if they planned The Judgment knowing that I’d be there to see, to try and rescue him, to get my parents involved and to get him to our house so I could fall for him even more? What if my dreams were all a set up?
I started to heave. What if this was just a complete hoax and I was the joke of it all? I wanted to throw up desperately, but I didn’t. Finally, I washed my hands and straightened my shirt. Placing my cool hands on either side of my face, I tried to slow my thoughts. Perhaps these were all the ranting’s of an immature high schooler. Maybe the death of my father was making me more susceptible to my hormonal feelings. I didn’t know. I just knew that I wanted to leave. Now.
I left the ladies room to see Thayde paying the waiter. I approached the table and he looked up. His face was granite. He stood.
“Let’s go,” he said.
We returned to the Ferrari and he pulled onto the road in silence. We drove that way for a while until he turned into a parking lot by the beach. The Ferrari engine purred seductively and when Thayde turned the key, it was silent.
“Morgan, please listen to what I’m going to say to you.” His voice was sad. “I felt everything you were going through in that bathroom. I know what’s bothering you and I want you to know that everything you thought back there was wrong.”
He leaned his head against his seat. “I know all this has been hard for you to understand, but you must believe me when I say I love you. We’ve corded and that’s incredible.”
“Why haven’t I heard about cording before?” I asked, a little mad that he had known what I was feeling. Was his fourth power going to be mind reading? Just great.
“Because you weren’t raised mermaid.” Thayde reached up and lifted my hair away from my face. “When I was sick, did you ever feel hurt or nauseous or in pain?”
I didn’t have to think back. I knew I had. At the time, I hadn’t known what it was.
“If you have, then you were feeling what I was feeling. You wouldn’t have felt that if we weren’t corded.” He pulled his hand back and traced the scars on his right wrist with his fingers.
“I wouldn’t have gone through all this if I didn’t love you. I wanted to protect you and I wasn’t able to. I’m supposed to protect you. I wanted to make sure nothing ever harmed you but I couldn’t even protect you from my brother. I had to take the punishment because, if I hadn’t, they would have come after you for making false accusations against one of their kind. Couple that with the fact that they don’t like you, they would have hurt you and you would have left. I would have lost you.”