Forbidden Law (An Alien Love #1)

Chapter Thirty

She was silent for a couple of heartbeats, then sucked in a slow breath. "I need to Shift your eyes. And the tattoos. So the rest of the troops will think they were still under the influence of the supposed gas in the fight when they looked at you at dinner."

I just stared at the ground. A trickle of water ran somewhere close by, and the back of my mind was aware of the possibility of someone listening in on us. But again, I didn't care. "Fine, just do it. And then leave. I'll go to breakfast when I'm ready."

She sighed and then sat next to me on the wall. That trickle of water was now a soft tacking nuisance that diverted half of my attention, not that I was trying to reserve any for her. My insides were a ball of tension and hurt that couldn't be unraveled on its own. I'd have to knead it softly, over time, with attention and knowledge of what was to come and myself. Clearly, I had a lot to think about and discover. If I didn't get killed first, that is.

Her pale, slender hand reached over and gently squeezed my forearm. "When you were a little girl, I knew you would probably be different. I am old, far older than you probably realize. I've seen a few generations of half bloods come about, and what they can do. What happens to them. I think...I think I muddled my better judgement in denial, and for that I am sorry. As your mother, I should have put on my big-girl pants, as they say, and prepared for the worst. But know I would never do anything to hurt you intentionally, and I will do anything in my power to protect you from now on."

A scraping hiccup escaped my throat. I dug around for a response, anything, but came up with nothing. My brain was a fried desolate desert that needed tending. Which is what I would do if she would just leave. "Okay," is all I could mumble.

"Look at me so that I can Shift you," she said. "You're powerful, you know. There's no way I could've done what you did back on the Sharve ship. I can only do small portions on others and myself as a whole. Along with other abilities, but I'm sure you don't want to hear about that right now." I lifted my eyes to hers. She had a small smile that curved her lips, so familiar that that little girl that still giggled and craved her love wanted me to reach out and comfort us both.

"What are your other abilities? Will I have them?"

She looked over at the sink, eyes drifting far away as her hands fell into her lap. "I have the ability to understand all spoken languages- a Polyglot. That's from my mothers' line. The Shifting is from my fathers', your grandfather. Those are the main ones, among the small abilities all Morfilians have when Morphed. But as a half blood, you will have different ones that can appear. Like the energy I saw you use back in the fight," she said wryly. "I watched in amazement. You probably would have laughed if you saw me. But I couldn't believe my daughter was such a natural prodigy. What you were wielding was the work of someone who'd been training for a very long time."

I sat back with my head knocking into the metal of the wall. "I can speak languages I've never heard before, too. I figured that out when I...escaped. And when I freed the captives."

Her head snapped around. "Captives?"

I looked at her and nodded. "Yeah. You didn't see them? Lirah is one of them."

Her brows drew together. "No. I must have been too distracted. But yes, that ability is inherited as well."

We sat in silence, and I tracked how many drips trickled from the mysterious leak. One, two, three...thirty...

"Okay, you're eyes are Shifted, and the tattoos are gone. If you experiment with the ability further, be sure to look in a mirror before seeing anyone," she murmured, grunting as she stood. "I made the mistake of going to a party after Shifting. I was much younger, mind you. I had forgotten to change my eyes and one ear. It was, to say the least, embarrassing." She held out a hand for me to take, and slowly, I did. Looking in the mirror, I found that my eyes were now a light violet, slightly different from her chosen disguise the night before. I glanced at her in question. She shrugged.