Free Soul-Bonded to the Alien by Serena Simpson Page A

abdomen. It was even faster when they traveled to her heart. She never physically moved. Cal was actually the one doing the transporting, but why couldn’t she do it. It really would have helped if he told her how he did it.
    Standing up, she threw Voyager a frown for good measure and then started to think about how she could transport herself to the top of that mountain. Maybe if she pictured where she wanted to go, except she had no idea what that mountain peak looked like. She tried anyway. Nothing.
    Next she went over everything she ever read looking for a clue. Some people claimed they could levitate. Think light thoughts, she told herself. Nothing. Maybe she just needed to find her center.
    “Are you going to stand there all day humming, Girly? Or are you going to tap into your talent? It’s getting hot out here.”
    “If you’re hot you should leave,” she snapped.
    Reaching inside, she wrapped her hands around a glowing light she could see in her mind and looked at the mountain top.
    “I was beginning to think you’d never get us here.”

Chapter Ten
    Getting to the mountain top may actually have been the easy part. Paige stopped breathing for a moment as she caught sight of Cal trapped in a corner of the bird’s huge nest that was filled with baby birds with poisonous beaks. This bird definitely brought Cal home for dinner and the diners would be its children.
    Cal was hopping around avoiding their beaks as the mother blocked any chance he had at freedom. The look on his face was one of terror. Paige felt the grip of desperation clinging to her as she looked around for a weapon.
    She ran to pick up the biggest stick she could find in the nest, it was long and thick but she managed to lift it. Swinging at the mother bird, she jumped back ready for it to attack. It never even turned its head. The bird acted like it didn’t even feel the strike. The thought of failing hit her like a tree branch, she had to save him.
    Stepping back, she picked up several rocks throwing them trying to redirect the bird’s attention. Sighing, she stopped. Of course it wouldn’t work. She may be stubborn, but she was getting the picture. If she wanted to save him it would come from the inside. Closing her eyes she imagined them on the ground far away from the nest. The light she saw earlier was a little brighter, a bit more tangible; she reached for it hoping that it would take them out of the nest and far enough away to be safe.
    Opening her eyes she realized it worked, sort of. She was now standing next to him with several small birds trying to take a bite out of her.
    “Paige, can you get us out of here?” Cal dodged another hungry bird.
    The look of tiredness on his face had Paige snapping out of fear.
    “I’m trying, why don’t you just teleport us?”
    “I can’t. My talents are bound up tight. Nothing I do will work while we are here.”
    “That’s convenient.” She realized this trial was more about her than Cal. His talents had been refined over many years, it was her talents she needed to develop and learn to use successfully. She was the one who needed to prove herself. She was the unknown entity. The fact that his life, their lives, were in jeopardy and depended solely on her would have been enough to send her off to a dark room.
    “What’s not convenient is how aggressive these birds are becoming, soon one or several of them will take a bite out of us and we’ll be done.”
    “I’m trying Cal, I think I almost got it.” Sweat dripped from her brow, the jumping around combined with the added weight of needing to save him was tiring her out. Stopping to close her eyes, she bellowed in pain as a beak closed over her leg.
    She fell even as Cal caught her. Pain shot through her leg encouraging her to retreat from reality.
    “Paige.”
    “It bit me Cal, I’m sorry I tried to save us.”
    “You saved us, Paige. We’re out of the nest. Not sure where we are but there are no mountain peaks or birds in