Page 36 of Fighting for Her Heart

She grins. “Not exactly like that, no. Great Mother creates global filters so that most creatures on earth perceive the same reality. This preserves the natural order and reduces confusion.”

I narrow my eyes. What Mom’s saying is kooky. Has she gone insane? She sounds like some kind of cult member or something.

“Everything you see and feel and hear around you,” she continues, “is simultaneously in an infinite number of states of being.” She says this like she’s teaching me how to do simple math. “Physicists have barely scratched the surface. While scientists have realized that such things are theoreticallypossible, only keepers of magic are able toharnessthis knowledge and alter how others perceive the world. Witches can bend the Great Mother’s will, altering the filters she places to align the perceptions of most sentient creatures on earth so that we all witness the same dimension.”

“But…” Mom’s the one who brought up science. I want to push her more about that, but realize that she’ll just have an explanation for any question I raise. Like anyone with a strong belief system, Mom seems to be able to twist anything that doesn’t match her worldview until…until it does.

But…I shake my head. What if what she’s saying istrue? What if I can manipulate how others see reality? Wonder and excitement build inside me.

“Can you teach me?”

She shakes her head. “This is something you need todiscover.”

“But…” I step back from her. “You said…”

“Honey, what I said was that I wouldexplainit. Discovering the ability to bend the Great Mother’s filters—that’s up to you.”

I look down.

“Hey.” With the crook of her finger, she tips up my chin. “Don’t be discouraged. What your vampires described you doing, moving not only objects but living beings, thatprovesyou have the ability to do this. All you need is control.”

“And you’ll teach me to do that?”

She cups my face. “I canguideyou.” She smiles. “Here.” Removing her amulet, she places it around my neck.

It’s surprisingly heavy and hot, even through the hoodie I’m wearing, and the thin chain digs into the back of my neck. I lift it to relieve the pressure on the chain. Now it’s freezing cold, nearly burning my palm with frostbite.

“Light as air, isn’t it?” Mom says, and suddenly I can’t even feel the amulet as it rests against my palm. “If you will it so, the amulet can always adjust to your body’s temperature.”

The frostbite sensation vanishes as I stare down at the small oval charm, intricately carved with images and symbols that seem to move as I watch them. Am I changing it, or is she? I’m pretty sure it’s all her.

I blink and the images fix in place, the tiny egg shape now appearing to be woven from metal and not carved at all.

“How does it change?” I ask, my voice soft.

“It doesn’t change. And yet it is always changing.” She touches the amulet in my hand. “What changes is yourperceptionof it.”

She closes my fingers around the charm.

Sharp pain sparks in my hand as if the amulet attacked me. Blood seeps through my fingers confirming that particular perception is real.

I try to open my fingers, but it’s like the amulet’s shot barbed spikes into my hand. It won’t open.

“It attacked me.” My voice is tight, and I look up into Mom’s eyes.

“Did it?”

The pain vanishes and I open my hand to find it unharmed, not a sign of anything that just happened. “I don’t understand.”

She nods. “You will. Stay here on the farm here with me, continue to feed your vampires and increase your power, and I will guide your discovery of the world around you.”

Hope surges inside me, hope that feels as strong and powerful as anything I’ve felt in my life. Almost the same feeling as I get when I feed from one of the men.

Maybe everyone who’s claimed that I’m special has been right. At this moment, I do feel special. Not only can I grant vampires the ability to walk in the light, soon, with help from my mother and this amulet, I will be able to manipulate the way others view the world.

If that’s not special, I don’t know what is.

One thing is certain, I am not leaving this property any time soon. We’re safe here. We’re hidden. Why would we ever leave?