Duality

part twenty-three

Ashton didn't know the answer to her question, either. Mila wondered how on earth they were supposed to figure this out, not even knowing the extent of their powers.

"And you won't have sex," Mila frowned.

"Not right now," Ashton said, unconcerned at the glare she sent his way. His fingers stopped tracing her shoulder to move down to her arm, almost tickling her. "When we have sex, I don't want it to be like this."

Arching a brow at his confidence, Mila begrudgingly admitted she understood. She would kind of be using him in an attempt to get her powers back, no matter how much she'd enjoy the process. And she wouldn't be able to touch him like she wanted, or wrap her legs around him, because he'd be trying to keep her from injuring herself.

Fine, they were on the same page. "Can I have my hands back?" she asked.

Ashton hardly blinked and the ground rose, placing her palms on the surface. The same happened to the soles of her feet. Looking at the dirt between her bony fingers, Mila surveyed the damage to her legs, reinforcing that she hadn't healed. Things couldn't continue this way. "What are you thinking?" she asked Ashton.

"You might need to regenerate."

"Haven't I been dying?" she puzzled. She remembered periods of blackness where she'd assumed she'd gone into that state. Without any powers she had a harder time of knowing when she'd actually died, though.

He shook his head. "You slept. I know the difference."

Having never slept in her life, Mila felt concerned. What if... "Am I human?" she gasped out, looking to Ashton. What if Anna had managed to take her powers away, after all? What if she'd abused them in bringing Anna back, and so now she was only mortal as punishment? Everything started to fall in place, that her injuries would be so bad.

Smiling to the point his cheek creased and revealed his dimple, Ashton said, "Not with how you gripped me with your thighs."

"Seriously," Mila said, though she couldn't help the blush spreading over her face.

"You're just weak," Ashton excused. His hand stopped moving along her skin. "But we'll keep that in mind, just in case."

The words made her want to panic, but his tone said he had a plan. "What are you thinking?" Mila asked again, afraid of his answer. If he thought it would work-or if it was something simple-he wouldn't look so resigned, eyebrows drawn low.

"I think we should see if you'll regenerate."

"I could die-"

Kissing her forehead, Ashton interrupted, "That's why I'll kill myself. Just in case." Mila looked at him in disbelief-had he forgotten their powers were linked?-and he smiled grimly. "If you're human, your connection to me is severed. Nothing will happen."

She would just watch as he regenerated for her sake and she continued to have no improvement. "I don't like this plan."

"It's not as good as your other," Ashton admitted. She would have smacked him if she didn't find it so endearing that he had enjoyed the moment as much as she, even given the circumstances. "But I think we need to try."

He strode into the hut. Mila wondered why until he returned, holding his bow and an arrow. Offering it to Mila, he asked, "Would you like to do the honors?"

Essentially, he offered revenge for Anna's death, if Mila wanted it. While she still loved the guardian she'd grown up with, she'd turned bitter toward the newer Anna that had left her suffering. During the shift in feelings, she'd completely gotten over Ashton's actions.