Chapter 10: Lessons In The Library

Balkalor

Simion shared with us this morning what happened last night between him and Tali. He also explained, in detail, not only what he witnessed in her dream, but all she told him after.

We are all sitting around the island in the kitchen, and the three of us are rendered absolutely speechless.

"I told her we'd find out if they're still alive, and if so, we'll take care of it, and bring her their heads as a present."

"Sounds like a great plan to me." I know the anger in my eyes matches his. I want to destroy them with my bare hands.

I wished we hadn't needed to kill the men in the location we rescued Tali from; they got off too easily, but she was the priority.

I was surprised that I felt such a pull to her the moment I saw her, though she was injured and bloody. I just wanted to comfort her and hold her. I am most definitely not the type to think about that. Comforting is definitely not something I would ever think of myself as. Yet, with her, I want that, and more now, but that first night it was all about taking care of her.

When Michael asked us to mate her, I didn't even have to think about it; I immediately said yes, as did the others. I hope she agrees, and soon.

I'm in the library, combing through books to see if we have anything on protector powers. Simion mentioned he wanted to research them, since he's a bit rusty, as are the rest of us, on the rarer ones.

I looked up when I heard someone and saw Tali standing there, hesitantly looking at me. I smile, hoping to reassure her.

She seems to let out the breath she was holding, "I bet I'm here to look for the same thing you're looking for."

"A manual on plumbing?" She freezes, and I chuckle, "I'm just teasing. Simion mentioned wanting to find more information on powers."

For a moment, she wasn't sure, then she smiled, "Yeah, apparently I have some unusual ones. Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure, you can ask me anything." I watch her as she kind of chews on her bottom lip.

"Michael and Simion showed me their wings, and I'm assuming the rest of you have them." She paused, so I nodded, "Then why don't I?"

I tip my head back in frustration, "I'm sorry, it's been so long since we've really taught anyone about our species, I mean, there's no young to teach, so we've gotten rusty."

She nods, and I walk closer," You will have wings when you mate. Females are different in that regard. We get ours at 18, the same as our powers starting to show up. Usually, we get our powers pretty close together, but occasionally one shows up later, like Zahaine, and his healing power."

She nods, and I can see she has more, "Do you have more you'd like to ask me, Tali?"

"Yes, I remember that Simion said that Jesus, like from the Bible, was the last known hybrid."

I nod so she continues, "Could it be possible that there's actually more out there and you just don't know? How did you find me?"

"Ah, another thing we neglected. All protectors develop an essence trace when they turn 18. Basically, it creates a connection between 2 people that allows them to find each other. When you turned 18, your trace basically turned on for Michael. He immediately went and found you. When he saw where you were, he went to the council for aid, and they refused, so he came to Simion."

"Wow, your council is full of assholes. That guy Greyson, he's a total douche canoe, and very misogynistic."

I laugh," Yeah, unfortunately over time they have all sorta drifted away from their protector roots, now they're more politicians. I personally hate it. Now, as to your other question, the truth is I don't know. If their parent is dead, I suppose it's a possibility; however, Michael said it was only possible because of your bloodline, so unless Lilith's bloodline is more vast than we knew, the possibility is very minuscule."

"Okay, I understand that. How long do you all live anyway? Aren't vampires and angels supposed to live forever or something?" She looks at me, puzzled.

"Okay, let's sit at the table and have a conversation, and I need to grab a book." I look for a moment, then grab it. "Ah, there, okay, let's sit."

We both sit at the small round table we have in here. "Okay, this may be a shock and a bit overwhelming, but yes, we are immortal. Now, you are a hybrid, and so we don't know. Jesus was killed, not like in the Bible, but both he and Lilith were murdered."

"I remember Simion saying something about that. So wow, I could be like you, or perhaps have a human life span, or maybe even not those, crap, that's scrambling my brain."

"Okay, let's talk about something else, maybe that'll help. This book I grabbed is sort of a condensed encyclopedia of other species and their facts. You'll need to learn this information. Also, you might find it interesting."

"Wow, men have been looking for little green men on other planets like forever, but we had non-humans here with us all along. That's rather mind-blowing."

"Yeah, humans usually try to find a way to explain things. Like, we couldn't just be from another realm, nope, we had to be Angels from heaven, or gods, or whatever. We have all been mixed up in their lore and fairy tales from the beginning. Sometimes it's useful, like when someone sees us taking care of a rogue, but other than that, protectors who encourage the worship or false adoration really piss me the fuck off."

She smiled at me, "I'm very glad you feel that way. Yeah, it would weird me out to have someone do the whole worship thing."

She reaches out, takes the book, and starts flipping through it. She pauses on a couple and shakes her head.

"Wow, yeah, so, there's a lot of them." She scratches her head in a little frustrated move.

"There are some species that have mostly retreated back to their home realms, so we hardly ever see one," I tell her as I watch her.

"Okay, so what exactly is a rogue, and how do they get classified as a rogue?"

"A rogue is a member of any species who has harmed another individual or individuals. Species police their own for the small stuff. If we get called in, it's basically a death sentence, so it's really bad by then."

"Ah, so people like my dad or Anthony would be rogues."

"Yes, honey, they are most definitely rogues, and we will hunt them down if they still live, you can depend on that."

She smiles a little and looks up at me with glistening eyes, "I'm not used to having anyone care about me or want to defend me, or help me."

She whispered that, and a tear escaped, and she quickly wiped it away. I don't know what prompts me, but I caress her hand on the table.

"I want to give you a hug," I tell her softly.

She looks up, a bit startled, she's choked up and doesn't speak, but she watches me for a minute. Then she gets up and takes the few steps around the table till she's standing in front of me, right between my parted knees. Then I open my arms, and she practically throws herself into my arms and onto my lap.

I wrap my arms around her and hold her like I've wanted to. I hear her sniffling, but I don't mention it. I just enjoy finally having her safe in my arms.