My heart started to race and everything swirled around me. I tried concentrating on Sireenia, but she looked as if she were swimming around me. She flailed her arms at me. When I asked what was happening to me, my voice sounded in the distance and a baritone tone had taken root in my throat. Then my body felt like it was falling backwards…
I heard Saren in the distance, "Snap her out of it, Sire. We need her with us, not in the Orca."
"If she goes, then Stepianhas will calm her down."
A burst of energy zapped me. I felt like my insides had exploded, but I jerked upright from the chair, gasping and pounding my chest. My heart had stopped. When I didn't hear the constant beat again, I looked up, terrified. "What—what—what just happened?" I fell off my chair and scrambled to my feet. I pounded on my chest. "My heart stopped. My heart isn't beating. I don't—"
They stood before me. Sireenia had her hands folded in front of her. Saren had her hands on her hips. Then she snapped, "You're immortal. You're not going to die. Ever. Your heart is the least of your problems right now."
"Wha—but—my heart!" I gasped with each word. They didn't understand. They weren't human anymore. "I need to be normal. I need my heart to beat!"
They glanced at each other and a look was shared between them.
"Stop that! Stop looking at each other about me. Do something. You're all magical things. Make my heart beat again. Please." I nearly sobbed the last word. It felt like my world had changed. It was irreversible. Everything shifted in that moment and I didn't want it to happen. I didn't want to fight this guy. I didn't want to have to deal with the fact that my heart didn't beat like Emily's, Brown's, or Pippa's.
Then Saren stepped forward. She spoke with authority, "You're doing this to yourself. You stopped your heart. Only you make it start again. Calm down. CALM!"
Everything stopped.
I stopped and I felt my body jerk upright. I stood at my highest height.
She took my shoulders then in her hands and looked me straight in the eyes. Her fire was mesmerizing. "You stopped it. You can make it start." Then she kept repeating that until I found myself mouthing the words with her. After a few minutes, I felt my heart start again.
Thump…thump…thump
"It's okay!" I exclaimed. "I'm okay. I'm going to be okay." But I wasn't. I had so much more to do and I wanted to cry. I wanted to bury my head in a pillow and make everything go away.
"I think that's enough for sharing time." Saren released my shoulders and sat in my vacant chair. She threw a blue-leathered leg over the side and pursed her lips.
"Hey, you changed your outfit back."
She shrugged. "It's my favorite. I don't care what you think."
"Oh."
Sireenia watched me during our exchange and glided forward now. "Are you okay, Davy?"
I jerked my shoulders in a casual shrug. I could be casual about this. They were. I could be one of them. Then I broke. "No! No, I'm not!"
She sighed.
Saren waved her away. "She'll be fine. She's a fighter. Besides, I have to work with her now."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? She seems fragile right now." Sireenia bit her lip as she watched me.
"She's fine. Go. Brood up something so we can disguise her power to that wolf. The sooner we can get her back, the better."
"Okay." But Sireenia glanced at me over her shoulder as she left.
"Catch!" Saren called out to me as I looked back at her. Something slammed into me and I flew against the wall.
I glared at her. "What was that about?"
She smirked and gestu
red at me. "Look at yourself."
I did. I was flat against the wall in mid-air. My mouth fell open. "Are you doing that?"