Sireenia looked up from a counter as she stirred something in a bowl. A bright smile lit her face and she tucked a long braid behind her ear. She left a trail of flour on her cheek. "How's she doing?"
"She's blocking me. She's blocking herself. It's like she doesn't want to progress," Saren grumbled as she hopped on a stool at the counter. "What are you making?"
"Chocolate chip cookies. Davy, you like these, don't you?"
My finger had been raised in the air, ready to swipe some of the batter when I was caught by the look in Sireenia's eyes. The uncertainty and eagerness shook me for a moment. Those were human emotions and I'd grown used to not seeing Saren or Sireenia as human. Magic oozed from them in every word, emotion, or look. They told me that they were once human and it surprised me when I saw moments such as this one that showed their humanity.
I smiled back. "I love these cookies. Kates used to buy the premade batter and that's all we would eat sometimes."
"The batter?" Sireenia paled. "You mean you didn't bake them? I thought you were supposed to bake them?"
Saren swore under her breath. "Don't worry about it, Sire. You're fine. You're being more amicable than she is."
"Hey!" I stole some batter and turned as I tasted it to glare at my trainer. It seemed that was all I did with Saren now. "What's that supposed to mean?" It felt like an insult…
"You know what that means. Why won't you transition? It's like you don't want to be the Immortal. Why don't you want to be the Immortal?" She shot to her feet and rounded the counter. Her body had stiffened, ready for a fight.
I stared at her. "Wha—huh? I don't want to be the Immortal? Why do you say that?"
"Because you don't! You hold back on every training exercise I've put you through. The only thing that you don't hold back is protecting yourself. I've sent missiles at you and you evade them. You've acclimated inside. Your power is complete, but you don't want to admit it. Are you blocking yourself? You must be. I don't understand you. This is why the Immortal should never have ascended into a human being."
"I don't agree with that." Sireenia put down the bowl and spoon. "Saren, please watch what you're saying."
"Why? It's true. We've done so much for her, fought so much, sacrificed, bled for her. And this is the end result? A human who doesn't want it? I lost my humanity for the thread, but—" Saren threw her hands in the air and bolts of fire slammed against the walls. A mural caught fire, but Sireenia waved her hand in the air and it was extinguished immediately.
"The Immortal chose her. Davy is the one who will stop Jacith. She can make everything correct. She will change it all."
With narrowed eyes, I watched as Sireenia held Saren's arms and tried to calm her, but Saren shook her head and broke free. As she walked to the door, I realized something that I had never even considered. "You guys had the thread before, didn't you?"
They weren't witches, but they came from witchcraft. Saren had told me before. And they weren't vampires or werewolves or anything else. She said that Roane wouldn't know who they were, but the way they talked about the Immortal, as if they had first-hand knowledge…that meant only one thing. They had been the humans who had held the thread before me and that meant…I gulped. That meant that I could meet Talia at any moment. And the idea sent my heart racing.
Both stopped and looked at me. It was like a blanket had been pulled off an
d I saw the relief in both of their eyes. Sireenia was the first one to respond. "It changes you, when you've had the thread in you for so long. I had it in the beginning of time. Saren had it in the 1800s. You go through a vortex when it leaves you."
"It feels like you're getting your heart pulled out of you through your throat when the thread jumps out of you."
"Or when it's forced out of you." Sireenia grew quiet as she looked down at her hands.
I saw the pain in her and wondered who had taken the thread from her, but Saren distracted me. "How did you know that? About us?"
How could I not, but then I realized that I wasn't sure how I knew it. "I don't know. It was just a feeling. You both talk about the Immortal as if you've had first-hand experience."
Before I finished talking, Saren zapped me. The bolt of power hurdled through the air, but I looked up and everything slowed in that instant. I saw it coming, but at a snail's pace. I deflected it and sent it into a wall. Then I looked up again and saw Saren in the air, soaring at me. Her hands were outstretched and ready to let loose two more bolts of power at me. I sidestepped her too. When she landed on the floor, her bolts shattered the floor beneath her, and I grabbed her collar. The floor crumbled underneath her while I lifted her in the air and kicked off the ground. I sent us both through the air to land in the opposite corner.
Sireenia watched where we had been. Her mouth hung open and her hands had lifted to her cheeks. Then it all stopped. Everything snapped back in place. They were no longer in slow motion and Saren stumbled backwards as she fell to the ground.
"Oh my goddess." Sireenia rushed to Saren's side. Both of them looked at me.
I grimaced as I saw the questions and shock in their eyes. Then I saw their mysticism and knew they had never thought I would transition, not completely. I swallowed that back. Their lack of faith in me shouldn't have been surprising.
"You have transitioned!" Saren shot to her feet. "When? How? Have you been like this the whole time? Has this been a waste of our time?"
Sireenia grew quiet.
"Are you kidding me?" How could she even think those things? "I didn't know until now. I had no idea when whatever happened. I just knew that something clicked in me and I knew both of you had been thread-holders. That was it and then you're throwing yourself at me. What am I supposed to do? I thought you wanted me to defend myself."
"Can you control it?" Saren stood with her hands ready at her side.