“Dylan told me to guard my mind around a warlock, that you could take hold of it and control me and I would never know the difference.”
Fuck, what a jealous dick. He didn’t want her to have Caspian, but he didn’t like my interest in her either. I guess that sting of rejection made him petty.
“Yes, a warlock can get into your mind and plant subconscious commands there. I’m not going to deny it, but you would have had to come into contact with one, and I don’t know of any who have been to Earth recently, and the only ones on this ship are me and a couple members of my harem, but they aren’t powerful enough to do something like that to you. That’s why I’m going to delve into your mind a little to make sure no one has.”
A floaty smile appears on Lila’s face, and I know the tea is definitely working now. I should be able to slip into her mind without any barriers, but I also want to do it with her consent. I wasn’t kidding when I told her I wanted her enthusiastic consent, I meant it for everything.
Sitting up, I wriggle closer so my leg is against hers. Taking her hand in mine, I look her in the eye. She tries to dip her gaze away from mine, and I curse that fucking dragon.
“Lila, I need you to look into my eyes. I am going to link our minds, but I promise I’ll be gentle and I’ll only search for any hidden warlock manipulation,” I tell her, and she sways with the sound of my voice. “Before I continue, I want to be sure I have your consent.”
“Yes, Xavier, I trust you.” Her smile is a little goofy, and I feel something lurch inside my chest at her words. The fact that she says she trusts me means the world, even if she’s slightly influenced by the drink. Sure, she doesn’t understand that warlocks are master manipulators and love mind games, but I have no desire to play them with Lila. I love how open and accepting she is.
It’s refreshing, and I can’t deny how attracted I am to her. I’m so tempted to plant a command in her mind to let go of all caution and allow me to fuck her, but that wouldn’t be as satisfying as her coming to me on her own. I also promised her I wouldn’t do anything nefarious. No, this time I’ll let anticipation and the rush of the chase be my appetizer. Delayed gratification has never been something I considered, but people say when you have to work harder for things you appreciate them more.
Her pretty green eyes meet mine, and because of her lower barriers, I’m able to access her mind easily. I try to do the right thing and not pay too much attention as I shuffle through her thoughts and memories, but it’s so hard. Her latest memories, the ones that caused her the most recent pain, are right there on the surface. Dylan’s aggressive attack and nasty words make me want to gut him, and he needs to thank the brothers because he would not have survived if they hadn’t kicked him off the ship. I would have made sure of it. There are also some hot as fuck images of Link eating Lila’s pussy like it’s a peach, and her kinky as fuck mating with Caspian. My dick throbs and I groan at those memories. It seems like Lila hasn’t got as many inhibitions as a normal human. I guess her Skarrian blood makes her open-minded.
I can’t get distracted, and I need to push past these memories and go further back. Getting my shit together, I speed up my scan and Lila’s life flashes through my mind as I search for any sign of warlock interference. There’s nothing until I reach her early childhood, and it’s so small I almost miss it, but there it is, a small spark of warlock interference. I recognize the signature. In fact, I recognize it because it is myfather’s.
I hover over that little spark, but I can’t seem to penetrate it, and I don’t want to slice into it because there’s a good chance it will hurt her, so I try a different approach.
“Lila, honey, what’s your earliest memory? Can you remember your parents?”
She slowly shakes her head. “No, though I had a brief flash of something when my grandpas told me a story that my parents had told them. All I remember was a floating stuffed animal. My earliest memory is when I was living in my first foster home. I think I was about five, and they had a party for their oldest child. They had a huge birthday cake for her. I remember wishing that I could have a birthday cake like that too.” I’m not sure what a birthday cake is, but the sadness in Lila’s tone stabs at my chest, and now I want to make sure that Lila gets one. I will ask John, he will know what it is.
I pick away at the seams of the warlock interference, and I get flashes of memories, but I don’t allow Lila to see them just yet. There must be a reason my father locked these memories away, and if they are something traumatic, I don’t want her to be upset.
I allow myself to seep into the memory, and I’m shocked to find that both my mother and father, as well as myself, are in it.
“Liliana, these are our old friends, Xylene and Cronus, and their son, Xavier.” A blonde-haired lady with the same color eyes as Lila introduces us. The little girl is probably four, and she’s hiding behind her father’s legs. He’s the spitting image of the Adams brothers and has the same dark hair as all of them and Lila.
I’m probably about eight, but I don’t have any memory of this meeting at all. Did my parents erase or hide it from me as well? I keep unraveling it.
“Xavier, why don’t you take Liliana and show her some of those fun spells you’ve been working on?” my dad encourages, so I hold out my hand for the little girl. She takes it without any words, but as soon as she does, a flash of purple light wraps around our interlocked hands and all four parents gasp.
I just about drop the memory in disbelief. It can’t be what I think it is. My parents wouldn’t erase this, would they?
“Oh my God.” My mother gasps, putting a hand over her mouth.
“Is that what I think it is?” Lila’s mom asks, and both of my parents nod, wearing troubled looks on their faces.
“Yes, Liliana is Xavier’s intimate. I guess soulmate would be the best description, but it is so much more than that,” my mom explains.
“No, that can’t be. She’s in enough danger already, so to be the soulmate of the heir of the warlock empire is just going to put an even larger target on her back.” Lila’s dad sounds desperate.
“They are too young. He can’t feed off of her exclusively. This has never happened before. Intimate bonds are not supposed to trigger until their late teens.” My mom sounds shocked.
“Maybe it’s because she’s in danger. You need to tell us more,” my dad says, pressing Lila’s parents.
The light dies down between us, and it’s obvious that neither of us have a clue what just happened. I’m looking at my parents for answers, but Lila starts to giggle.
“That was pretty, Xavar, do it again,” she says in a cute little voice, and I can see myself smile at her butchering my name.
“Go on, just sit over there so we can talk.” My dad points to a nearby tree.
I watch on in amazement, stunned at what I’m learning, as young me leads young Lila over to a tree where we sit down. I start to show her how I can make fireworks in my hand, which is the fun spell Dad just taught me, but luckily I was a nosy kid and I listened to the conversation.
“What do you mean she’s in danger already?” my mom asks Lila’s parents as the four of them take a seat at a nearby picnic table.
