Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

Chapter 76

I try to roll over to get out of bed so I can get a shower, but Bronx tugs me back down and pulls me until my back is close against his chest, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"I need to get cleaned up, Sweetheart. I'll be back after my shower," I giggle and scrunch up my shoulders as he nibbles at the spot on my neck below my ear.

"Nope," he growls playfully from somewhere in my hair. I feel him take a deep breath, "I like when you smell like me."

"I like when I smell like you too, but I don't enjoy laying in bed feeling sweaty and sticky. Give me ten minutes," I turn in his arms to face him.

"Five," he kisses my forehead and drapes his leg over me, trapping me against him.

"Eight," I negotiate for more time.

"You drive a hard bargain, Kas Mason," he grumbles, burying his nose back in my hair.

"My husband says I'm a damn good businesswoman," I smile into his chest and give a gentle nip on his marking spot that isn't completely healed. I feel him shiver happily at the sensation.

'That guy is one lucky son of a bitch," Bronx chuckles in his gruff voice. He rolls me on top of him and nuzzles my cheek, "Seven minutes or I'm coming in after you." 1

"I'm not sure if that's a threat or a promise," I giggle, giving him little kisses on his mouth. The idea of straddling him again is tempting, but I really need to get my shower and go to sleep. I look at the clock. It's after midnight and I have training with Marco and James at five a.m.. Bronx and I have been messing around ever since we got back from letting Lex and Saint spend time together.

"If you're not back in seven minutes you'll find out," he pretends to snap his teeth against my ear, making me squeal as I slide off of his chest and run on my tiptoes to the bathroom.

Once the shower is warm and I'm comfortable under the stream of the water, Lex catches my attention.

"Kas, we need to finish our conversation from earlier," she insists.

"Okay, Lex. I'm all ears for the next six minutes," I tell her as I massage shampoo through my hair.

"So, I was telling you about Bronx's lineage."

"Yeah, Perses. Titan God of Destruction, right?"

'Yeah. When Zeus said Mother and Endymion could have children and allowed those children to be goddesses, he didn't know they would fuck like bunnies and have forty of them."

"Language, Lex. And you mean fifty. There are fifty Manae," I correct her as I rinse the shampoo.

"Well, there are fifty now. There were some problems with your sisters trying to overpower some of the other gods and goddesses during the Giant war. Zeus ordered Mother to fix it or he would take the Manae away from her. So she asked him to change the calendar so she could have ten more daughters. The daughters would bring balance to the Manae."

'The Mavri Magea?"

'Yeah, the Mavri Magea. Zeus agreed the calendar could have forty-nine months for one cycle and fifty for a second cycle. He warned our Mother the Mavri Magea, needed to be strong to stand up to the rest of the Manae. While the rest of your sisters have abilities that help people and bring strength, Mother implored the Goddess Hecate to give you and the rest of the Mavri Magea abilities to stop them."

"So like Leticia was saying, burning hands, stopping time, manipulating people, magic."

"Yes. As a special favor for the youngest daughter, the Goddess Hecate gave her the ability to harness all the Manae's abilities. Although she and Mother recognized how dangerous this child could be. So Goddess Hecate asked her father for advice."

'The Titan God Perses is the Goddess Hecate's father?"

'Yeah. So he recommended putting the Guardians in place. Five total, one for the leader of each faction. Mother agreed as long as they were mates for the rest of their life journeys. So that was Perses gift to Mother and as a gift to his only daughter, he put a drop of his own essence into the Guardian for the Mavri Magea. It made the Guardian strong enough to not be able to be destroyed by the youngest goddess."

"Bronx's human spirit contains a drop of Titan God Perses's essence," a flash of the look on Bronx's face when he thought he was going to take a prisoner of war crosses my mind. The anger when he recorded the message about me to the media. His eagerness to spar during training. How fondly he remembers his time in battle when he was in the military. How intimidating everyone thinks he is, even when he is minding his own business. It makes sense now.

"It sure does. You will see how scared your sisters are of him and you, too. As they should be."

I don't really understand why they would fear me, but I'm not really worried about that right now, "Lex, what does all that mean for Bronx and me?"

"It means while he doesn't have any abilities like you do...well, he didn't until this lifetime, anyway. The short story is you cannot beat him. He cannot beat you. The two of you cancel each other out. Even when things get gnarly."

"Leticia knows that doesn't she?"

'Yeah. Definitely."

"So she knew exactly what she was doing when she broke that knife in his abdomen," I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up even though the hot water is running down over me as a thought comes to my mind, "I-I told her to weaker him so he couldn't stop me."

'You did."

"Why would I do that?"

"Kas, you know I'm not allowed to tell you details like that. I can only tell you if you are right or wrong about things that have happened to you in your past lives. What I can say is, you should really ask Delilah to help you hone your ability to have visions. Not just the ones in the future but the ones from the past too."

"So, urn, do you think I should heal Bronx? It sounds like an old version of me didn't think so."

"I don't know what the future holds, Kas. All I know is that I care about our mate. I want him to be strong to protect US from our sisters."

I nod slowly, trying to process everything Lex just told me.

A tap on my shoulder makes me practically jump out of my skin. I slip on the wet floor as I try to turn around. Bronx catches me before I fall, but not before my hands burn his arms. I quickly get control of myself as he stands me up. "Bronx! Why did you sneak up on me like that?" I growl, smacking his chest.

"I told you seven minutes. I didn't mean to scare you, Baby," he looks at me with a concerned pout.

I hold my hand to my chest to stop my heart from pounding, "I was just having a little heart to heart with Lex."

"Ah. Did she tell you what she and Saint want you to do?"

'Yeah. Saint already talked to you about it?"

'Yeah. A couple days ago," he says quietly. The look on his face is a cross between angry and guilty.

'Well? Will you let me try?" I wrap my arms around him and look up at him compassionately as the water slides down our bodies. I know how he feels about my abilities. He tries not to think of them as magic, but at the end of the day, there isn't any other way to explain it. And he even though he tolerates Delilah being mates with James and he tolerates Lady Camille being my mentor, he really doesn't like the idea of magic.

"I don't know yet," he says more seriously. It's clear that he wants to change the subject. He turns off the water and grabs a fluffy towel, wrapping it around me.

"Come on, let's get you in bed, Baby. You have training early in the morning," he says once he wraps a towel around his waist. It looks like the mood has passed. He kisses me softly on the lips, then easily picks me up and carries me back to the bedroom.