"I don't believe you" I said to my dad, sadly "I have a feeling we're underestimating the vampires. I don't know anything at all about angels. But I just have a horrible feeling about the vampires" I tell him, looking down at my coffee and trying to find comfort in the aroma it gave off, but not even that beautiful smell could ease my anxiety. He visibly stiffened, and that made me feel even worse.
"I believe you" he said, grabbing my hand before continuing "one of your gifts is intuition. We will take their threat seriously"
"How do you know that?" I ask him, I knew he had the last 20 years to prepare for this, but my mom said nothing was known of my powers
"I resummoned Deumos a couple years ago. After years of researching myself, and the elders, to no avail, I swallowed my pride. It seems she has her own agenda, that or she's just bored, because she fully prepared me for everything you would be. I did considerable research on the tribrid, the elders did as well, and we got nothing." he says
"And?" I say, expectantly, holding on to everything he said. I had no choice but to master this, if the angels were after me on top of the vampires, then I had no choice. I felt a flicker of encouragement and approval from Tamisra, and I let her feel my fear.
"And we need to get you training and up to par with your powers as soon as possible. You have a lot to learn, and your power is...extreme. It rivals mine and Aylin's. And it will rival even Jeremiel's and the other angels. You weren't made to falter, Amara, you will always prevail. But I will help you get there, as will your family, and I hope your mate too. He's the most powerful demon on this Earth, surpassing even his ancestors. It's no mystery why you're mated to him." he says with so much absolution, I have no choice but to believe him
"I've never seen much of the power he wields. We did small things in the last week, but nothing that showed me his or my own full power. He seems to hold it back, more than he's willing to use it" I say, it's not that I doubt Roman is strong, but if you have that much power at your disposal, why not use it?
"He's more powerful than he's willing to admit, even to his mate it seems. Maybe even himself. You will see it eventually. He hasn't had to use it yet, but I'll make sure to force it out of him when he comes to the underworld with us" he says with a gleam in his eye and cracks his knuckles. I glare at him
"He is my mate, and he is a good male, a good mate. Don't terrorize him for no reason" I say, the fire clear in my words. Father or not, my mate was the other half of my soul. I will defend him at all costs.
"It's not for no reason, he needs to embrace those powers. Maybe he's had no reason to use the magic at his disposal, but his reluctance is a weakness. And you're hunted, I will not allow him to let his pride get in the way of protecting you." he says firmly. I scoff at him
"I don't need protection. I can handle myself."
"When you learn the potential of your powers, yes. But right now, you stand little chance at defeating an army of vampires or a single angel, let alone what will come for you when Jeremiel realizes you're alive. I can see you're headstrong, you wouldn't be mine or your mother's daughter if you weren't. But you have weaknesses, and until you learn to wield your powers, those weaknesses will be your downfall, Amara. This is your first lesson, do not let foolish pride alter the reality of your situation. You are hunted. The vampire king isn't much younger than I, and Jeremiel, he is at least 3500 years old. Your rising is not a secret, your prophecy is known amongst all species, and when they realize what you are, when Jeremiel realizes you're the tribrid, you will have many enemies. They will all be ones you deal with easily, but not until you learn how to handle the powers you possess. You are not weak, but this pride you're showing me now is. I saw you spar today, and don't get me wrong, it was impressive for how little training you've had, but it will not help you last against vampires or an angel." he says to me, anger lacing his words. I glare at him, maybe he's right, but he doesn't need to know that. I go to give him a rebuttal but Tamisra interrupts me
'Amara, I know he hit your pride, but he's not wrong. Don't defend your pride by saying something you'll regret.' she says, almost desperately. I send her a glare and I hold my glare at my dad while biting my tongue from cussing him out
"So teach me then. I'm here now, you're here now. Train me, teach me to wield this magic." I say coldly, throwing down the fork to my salad. I'm not hungry anymore, dread coils in my gut because I know he's not wrong, but I'm not going to falter.
"That's why I'm here. Come back to the underworld with me tomorrow, and we'll dive right in. I've spent the last 20 years doing what I can to learn about your prophecy, Amara, don't think I come without a plan for you." he says, and I want to smack the smirk off his face, but I hold back.
He's here to help me, he's here because he cares about me I tell myself, over and over again while trying to reign in my anger
"You're more like Aylin than I thought you would be" he says, and I shoot him another glare
"Sophie is only here for the week. I will not sacrifice my time with her." I tell him coldly
"She can come with, I'll teach you to put a shield around her. It won't even drain you. You can put one around your friend group too if you so wish. There's no limits to what you wish, what you can do, Amara."
"The beta, gamma, and their mates have to stay behind. You teach me to shield Sophie, Seth, and his mate if they all wish to come with us." I spit, my attitude is the only defense I have at this point, but I don't care, I'm pissed off. Black curls my vision and leaks out of my fingers. He notices my eyes, and looks at my hands and smirks.
"Good. Now pull it back. And then bring it forward again, will it to wrap around me." he says smugly
There's a part of me that wants to defy him, but I know he pissed me off on purpose. So I oblige, I pull it back to me, and then I send that power back out to him. I don't just let it wrap around him though, the black mist goes into his nose, his eyes, and his mouth. He coughs and falls out of his chair. He tries to get up but I hold him there, tapping into some part of me that calls to my basic instinct. Cocky bastard. He coughs, but then his own power leaks out, somehow darker than mine, and wraps around the tendrils I allowed to creep for him and cuts them off. I feel the power instantly return to me, and I jolt.
"Very good, once you're done with your training, I won't be able to cut that power off." he says getting up, dusting himself off and sitting back in his chair. He sips his espresso as if nothing has happened. I guess if Aylin is as strong as he claims and has unleashed herself on him before, that show of power would be nothing to him. I remain silent, holding my glare towards him.
"Call the power back to you, you're still surrounded by the black mist. Unless you want your pack to suspect you before you're ready to tell them" he says, ignoring my glare
I listen to him and pull it back in, he has a point. I don't need the pack to suspect their Luna is anything...paranormal, before Roman tells them. At least, I tell myself that's the reason. He doesn't need to know I did it just to prove I could. But he's right, I need to consider the pack. Letting it out when I'm around our family is one thing, but around the pack is another. I won't cause problems for Roman. I'm their Luna. I need to take that role seriously.
"Good job, Amara" he says and smiles, settling back into his seat and sipping his water.
I realized then I took the bait he offered, to see if I was at least somewhat in control. Fine, I would have done the same thing. I let my anger dissipate. There's still that defiance in me that wants to unleash that power I can't control, but I don't give into it.
"The thing you'll realize about your demon powers is that they're much more volatile than your angel powers. If you can control the rage that comes with that magic, you'll be able to wield the angel powers with no issue. There's a reason your wolf thought it was best to hold the angel powers back. You think the rage is bad now? Just wait until you have your full power available to you. You will rattle the world, Amara." My dad says to me
I felt the truth in his words. I close my eyes and take a deep inhale, letting those powers that rose, that anger, dissipate. I realized they rose in response to my insecurity. That self doubt that my mind harbors is uncontrollable, but my powers aren't. Maybe I can't control those dark thoughts that haunt me, but I can control this. I look down at my hands and will that obsidian mist out of my fingertips, and then I pull it back. I do it again, and again, making sure my subconscious knows that I'm in control. I feel the buzz of magic rush through me, but I don't push it back.
I am your master. You listen only to me. You unleash yourself only when I allow it. I command that buzz, and to my surprise it listens. Fine, I see why he got me irritated. I look up at him, and I can see the pride gleaming in his eyes. It's enough to make me smirk, these powers are for me to control. The power doesn't control me.
"Fine. We go to your home tomorrow, Sophie, Seth, Gemma, and Roman come with us. And then you teach me" I tell him, maybe I sound a little too cocky but I feel on top of the world right now
"Of course, and let me just add that I'm proud of you. You have a lot more control over your power than I originally thought. I was prepared to protect this cafe from collapsing." he says, still teasing me
I shoot him a glare, but he just laughs and stands up to walk home. Fine, I'll go with him. Even though he's a cocky fuck.