Balance - Book one

  * * *

  If you had told me a few days ago I would be hugging Selena Stephania, my response would have been along the lines of “how much would I be paying her?”

  But as I stood with her arms around my shoulders I can honestly say I had never had such an affectionate embrace in my life. Beyond lust, beyond sexual passion; her deepest and most intimate emotions had been laid before me. And we were bonded.

  The pain and horror she had felt at Sebastian’s death was something I not only understood, but shared. In a flash I saw my own father. Flat on his back, eyes glazing over. My mother was screaming and screaming…

  We parted and Selena took a step back, wiping tears from her cheeks with the back of a hand.

  “Now you understand,” she said, adjusting the creases from her skirt.

  “Yes,” I replied softly.

  “Good.”

  There was a moment pregnant with things unexpressed. “Selena…”

  “You need not say anything,” she jumped in, “I wish only for you to learn.”

  “Okay.” I decided to move things along, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable for even a second. “Why did it attack?”

  “Only true understanding of one’s self can defeat a demon,’ she responded, now regaining her calm exterior, “I failed because I could not accept my own reality. In the end, I chose not to be the mirror which is a demon’s bane.”

  I frowned. “How can I know I’m ready?”

  “I have shown you where your demon was born, Jet. You have seen the birth of my own. Understanding is something you must choose for yourself, I cannot do it for you.”

  “My father’s death.”

  “Sí.” She nodded. “There is something which you cannot accept, or are refusing to accept. What?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “You must be sure. Or you will fail.”

  The words sunk in and I felt my stomach drop. “I’m not sure, Selena.”

  “I have faith in you, Jet. You are strong, more so than even you understand.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Return tomorrow. And you will face your demon.”

  “Okay.”

  I hesitated, once again wanting to express the emotions swirling around in my head.

  “Selena…”

  “Yes?”

  “I appreciate what you’ve done for me.”

  “You are welcome, Jet.”