rage would have prevented me from stopping before I seriously injured them. It was lucky she was there, and additionally lucky that not many others were around the park that early.
We moved the next day, and I got the biggest kick to the butt for acting on instinct, which confused me at the time – what three-year-old even knows about instinct? – and exposing us to the humans – another phrase which confused me. Still, that was the first time I started to understand that I was a freak, that I didn’t think or act the same as the people around me. It was also the first time my mom was really disappointed in me, and I didn’t even understand why. I now knew she’d been trying to keep me safe, but the truth was, her lecture tore me down and was the first time I started to question who I was. To hate who I was.
No parent should teach their children to deny their true self. Because of that moment I would spend the next nineteen years trying to mold myself to fit in with humans, and since I was not a human, all I really did was lose small parts of my soul, until there was nothing much left but the shell of a supe .
Some of my soul returned when I found out the truth of who I was, when I found out about the supernatural world. When I found my sister. That was when all of the messed up thoughts and events started to make sense. More pieces of soul clicked into place when I fell pregnant, because the pure rightness and love was so all encompassing that it changed me fundamentally. And now there was one more thing that had changed me, that I never anticipated happening.
Maximus Compass.
As he ran at vampire speed through the forest and lands of Connecticut, both of us probably being chased by psychos who wanted to kill us and wear our heads as a hat or some crap, I’d never felt happier or more content. His pure joy and acceptance of our baby, well, it was so much more than I’d expected. It was the first time I felt that I had someone in my corner. A friend even. I knew raising a baby was going to be tough – it takes a village and all that, or so the humans say. In my opinion, Maximus was going to be a pretty darn good village.
“You okay?” His low voice jolted me and I focused on our surroundings again. I was really not good at this stealth and subterfuge thing. “I’m not shaking you around too much?”
Right. He was concerned for the baby, which was to be expected. All of the Compasses had turned into crazy protective monsters over me and Jessa the moment they found out about our babies.
“I’m perfectly fine. Me and bubs are tough.”
I tried to lighten the mood, but it was clear that the rigid lines of tension which had Maximus’ face looking like it was carved from granite were not going to disappear until we were back in Stratford.
“Don’t worry, Misch, I’ll never let anything happen to you. There are a few of them following us, but they are going to regret that very soon.”
At that moment supes burst out of the trees to our right and charged straight for us. I expected Maximus to go mental then, until I noticed one of them was a dragon … who happened to be carrying my twin on his back. Jessa. She looked like the queen of the dragons. Which was pretty fitting actually, since Josephina, the dragon from her soul, was now the queen of all wild dragons.
Maximus powered across to his brothers and I was gently deposited to the ground beside my sister. Braxton started shifting back, Tyson standing by to clothe him. My twin took two steps forward and threw herself into Maximus’ arms; the two of them began whispering furiously. I waited for my normal jealousy to rear its ugly head. I hated to envy anyone, because we all knew that people fought battles you could not see, but the closeness of Jessa and her pack, well, it was a sore point for me.
But the jealousy never came. I felt only a sense of happiness and contentment at their love and acceptance, to see the pack bonds solidifying. Maybe
Jonathan L. Howard, Deborah Walker, Cheryl Morgan, Andy Bigwood, Christine Morgan, Myfanwy Rodman