The cool, blue flame flickered for a moment while Yumia deliberated. She finally said, “Yes!”
And the flame turned an instant scarlet.
Yumia laughed heartily. “Haha! You are one of the worst cooks I’ve ever encountered. Definitely, don’t quit your day job.”
Hollyn lifted her arms and embraced Yumia in a tight hug. “You really are an amazing teacher! I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
They pulled apart and Yumia smiled. “You’ve done it for yourself. I just gave you the push you needed to get there.” She gave Hollyn a cheeky grin, “Now, who’s your daddy?”
Hollyn finally understood the question and how to answer it.
“I’m my own daddy now!”
“Exactly! Always remember that you have control of you. You have power and strength. Use them!”
They hugged once more before Hollyn left Yumia with one last wave and headed back to the room where Thian and Kai were in a shouting match with each other.
“You’re a son of a bitch who tried to convince her I didn’t want her anymore!”
“Bastard! How dare you accuse me of doing anything other than exposing her to the truth!”
“I’ll show you the truth!”
“Not before I show you!”
Hollyn came into the room just as the two men, their hands gripping each other slammed into the vase of roses, sending them crashing to the floor and glass scattered everywhere. They, then, went careening into the piano keys, making a loud discordant noise as they fell into the white and black keyboard.
They ignored Katerina and Hollyn’s cries to stop, but Hollyn was over it all, and with a zap of her blue magic, she separated them to opposite sides of the room, restraining them against the walls.
Thian growled, “He started it!”
Kai shouted, “And I’m going to finish it!”
“Both of you need to shut up and listen!” Hollyn commanded in a no nonsense voice.
Reluctantly, the two men took their gazes off of each other and looked at Hollyn. She released them slowly and walked to the center of the room.
“Now, I’m going to ask all of you some questions, and you’re going to answer honestly. Everybody agree?”
Hollyn focused on each person in turn and watched as each nodded. She held up her hands in a motion that suggested everyone stay where they are while she walked toward Katerina. Hollyn held out her hand, and Katerina laid hers on top.
“Katerina, did Poseidon set Kai up?”
“Yes. He sent Kai with Triton and Polyphemus who left him so that I could do my part.”
Their hands glowed green, and Katerina nearly pulled away, but Hollyn grabbed her hand and said, “It’s okay. No harm will come to you. I promise.”
Once Katerina relaxed once again, Hollyn asked her, “And what was your part?”
Katerina took a deep breath and glanced at both Kai and Thian for a moment before she focused back on Hollyn and explained, “I was supposed to give him lotus wine, which makes a person lose all sense of time and makes them forget anything other than the moment. But Kai was resistant to the lotus wine. It took three drinks to put him in a state of total unconsciousness and three more to stop him from saying your name over and over.”
Again, their hands glowed green.
Hollyn swallowed hard and asked, “Did anything…intimate…happen between you two.”
Instantly, Katerina said, “No! Nothing happened.”
Hollyn was never so happy to see the color green.
