You know your mom and dad bonded him last night,Xavier says in my head, and again, I feel sick.
How do you know?I ask him, and he smirks at me.
I can feel it, and you could too if you tried.
Pass,I reply flatly, not wanting to feel any of the emotions emitting from my parents right now.
You’ll have to start calling Rick Papa, he teases, and I flip him off mentally.
“We already have a plan, and we are still going ahead with it. Lila is going to pose as the Madovian, and with Tirrian and Silac as her escorts, she is going to take the orb to the meeting. We need all six gods in the same room at the same time to redistribute the powers and destroy it,” Brannock tells Rick, and that gets my dad’s attention.
“The orb? You’re destroying it? How? It can’t be done.”
I guess they were too busy bonding last night for Rick to catch Mom and Dad up on everything.
We spend the next half hour updating my parents on everything they missed. Nothing like saying congrats, your mother is a god, so you’re half god, to shock a man into silence.
“Wow,” my mother says once it’s all out, and my father seems to be having a small stroke, sputtering nonsensically next to her. “You have had quite a few months, haven’t you?” She’s gazingat me with awe, and I want to squirm under her scrutiny, but I manage to stay still.
“You have no idea. After we deal with the Syndicate, we will sit down for a long talk, I promise,” I tell her. I’m sad that we can’t take the time to do that yet, but I don’t want this hanging over our heads any longer.
My dad jumps to his feet and yells, “I forbid you! We just got you back, and you are not putting yourself in danger. Why are you doing it and not one of your mates?” He looks around at my mates, glaring at them in fury. “Why are you letting her do this?”
Xavier whistles and steps back, holding his hands up. “Nope, dude, you’re all on your own with this one,” he says as a rumble escapes my chest and smoke starts to drift out of my nose.
“Xavier’s right, we don’t let Lila do anything,” Link says, crossing his arms and giving my dad his own glare.
“She’s right there. Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Brannock says, smirking because he knows what’s about to happen.
Everyone else in the room watches with undisguised glee. Echo is purring, trying to soothe a growling Maxsim, his tail flicking back and forth with his annoyance.
“Is it bad that I wish we had some popcorn to go with the show?” Susie whispers to Magenta, who giggles.
“And drinks. This is going to be good.”
“Nobody tells me what I can and can’t do,” I tell my father, trying to stay calm, but it really is a stretch. I know he is worried, I would be too if it were one of my kids, but he doesn’t get to walk back into my life and throw his weight around like he gets a vote.
“Hey, kiddo, I’m sure you think it will be easy, but you don’t know the kind of beings you will be up against. They may have all manner of life-forms in their little group, and how are you going to get out without getting hurt or worse, losing the orb to them and becoming a captive yourself?”
I stand up and start to strip off my clothes. I’m in a Galaxy Circus shirt and a pair of sweats this morning, wanting to be comfortable while we planned.
My dad starts to splutter. “Lila, what have I told you about keeping your clothes on?”
“Relax, Dad, everyone here has already seen what I have to offer. It’s nothing new.” His mouth drops open, and he splutters a little more.
“Lila…” My mom sighs with disappointment, but everyone else laughs.
“I certainly haven’t, nor do I want to,” Aarin grumbles, and Mark shushes him while Susie mouths, “Sorry,” to me. That threesome is going to be funny to watch. Aarin seems a little tightly wound, which is definitely not the definition of my girl Susie. Mark might fall somewhere in the middle, though, so maybe they’ll be okay.
“Seriously, why are you taking your clothes off?” My dad crosses his arms and stomps his foot before blocking Bubby’s view, which I’m kind of thankful for, to be honest. Wow, I’m pretty sure I saw Jack behave exactly like that the other day when something didn’t go his way.
“Because, Dad, I don’t really want to go through new clothes every time I shift forms,” I reply and let the first form wash over me. I choose the Celestian one, which he has already seen. Xavier lifts a hand to conjure me an outfit to cover my body, but I shake my head.
“Don’t bother, it won’t last,” I tell him before shifting into my Aaz’axian form, then my carevasta, then to my kraken and naga. I shift through all of them except for my dragon and mer forms because they won’t work in this environment. I finish with my Madovian form. Silac and Tirrian jump up as I hiss aggressively at my dad, who has gone pale and dropped into the seat behind him.
“Oh my god.” My tail slides back and forth as he stares at the crosscut hole in my stomach. “My poor baby,” he stammers, and I try to lunge for him, but Xavier freezes me.
“Shift back, Lila,” Tirrian demands, and I shake off the aggressive presence and shift back, putting my clothes back on. I’m a little shaky from the show, but I think it’s adrenaline. I really gorged on my mates last night, so my well of power seems kind of endless at the moment, and I think my dad got the idea.
