Chapter Five #2
Nyla smiled. “I am just going to run a test.”
She walked in close, put her hand high, and slowly lowered it.
She smiled. “I think I have it.”
Three inches left and four down. You grabbed my nose.
Nyla grinned, and her eyes flared. “Okay, I have the curse band. Fuck, this is a heavy one.”
Mik frowned. “How thick?”
“Nearly two inches wide and vibrating like a vacuum. She must have a ton of energy to be around still.”
Mik said, “We are still doing this, but we are going to need a few more bodies to spread out the impact. Give me a minute, and we are going to have a lot of company.”
Ted looked at Win as she showed up, then women with energy signatures or jagged ears were filling the room. A tall elite omega walked up. “Achilles is bringing the body blank.”
A huge dark elf walked toward them with a marbled statue in his arms. He set the sombre woman who was standing with her arms wrapped around her, and Ted blinked. “That’s Lucia.”
He smiled. “Good. Mik called Sabin, and Sabin went back to find a picture of her. He remembered her while Mik spoke to her. I got the photo and worked from there. Keres rubbed my shoulders, so that delayed delivery a bit.”
The phones in the area exploded with texts. It’s me! It’s me! It’s me!
Nyla blinked. “Whoa. That was quite the power surge.”
Ted felt the energy next to her crackle. “Lucia, what’s happening?”
One word filled all of their phones. Hope.
The dark elves that gathered teared up. Ted saw the orcs doing the same.
Mik looked around. “Okay, they are all here. Now that we have the statue, it will be easier. More surface area. Lucia, can you move to settle in the statue?”
Yes.
Ted felt the power leaving her and turning, and Nyla moved with her, keeping hold of the curse. When Lucia was in place, the statue's eyes began to glow. The curse band glowed dark gold on the marble.
The women gathered around and put their fingers on the band. Ted joined them. She listened to the instruction, and when the time came to pulse energy through the band, she did.
There was a horrifying count to five, and then the band shattered, and they were all blown free of the energy column that pierced the morning sky.
Ted was sitting and staring. “Holy shit.”
Achilles asked, “What’s happening?”
Mik smiled and got to her feet. “Shake a bottle of soda and jam a nail into the top. She’s full of power, has always been full of power, but they put a bottle around her so they could control the output.
We just punched a hole in the top, and the bottle can go fuck itself. She gets to fizz all she wants.”
Ted smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes as the energy continued to make itself known. Lucia was a beast.
Achilles was holding his mate and said, “I think I will remember this forever. One of my statues coming to life.”
The power slowed, and then there was sharp containment, and in a move that Ted remembered, Lucia lifted her head and said softly to those who were staring at her, “Thank you. How heavy am I?”
Achilles smiled. “Two seventy.”
“Fuck. I am going to blow out my suspension.”
He grinned and started laughing. “Sorry, I wasn’t able to hollow you out in the time given.”
She looked at him. “Thank you. Sincerely, thank you. I am starting from zero, or I would pay you for the statue. I have to save my funds to start over.”
Achilles smiled. “It was a fun challenge. My mate was all in favour of it, so of course, I was all in favour of it.”
Lucia smiled. “As things should be.”
Achilles asked, “Can I take a photo of you?”
“You have to get behind her, but yes.”
Ted saw Win and her camera going nuts.
Lucia gracefully bowed to the camera, and then she turned to Ted. “C’mere, Ted.”
Ted grinned and ran into her arms, hugging her and feeling flesh under her cheek.
Lucia’s arms were careful as they hugged her. “Glad to see you again, Ted.”
“Right back at you, Lucia.”
“What do you think Nanna is going to say?” Lucia smiled as she looked down at Ted.
“She’s going to squeak and cry, and then she’s going to try to use the sight on both of us.”
Lucia laughed. “That sounds right.”
Ted paused. “What about your parents and your brothers?”
“I have no idea. They were a solid unit while I was gone. I think I have some niblings now. I didn’t hang close to them that often. It hurt.”
Ted nodded. “I get that. My mom passed while I was stuck in the curse.”
“I know. It was a lovely funeral. I visit your dad every week. He can usually feel me, but if I am too close, it freaks him out. He called me by your name, and I let him tell me all about little Ted.”
Ted smiled. “I wish I knew you were there.”
“I only figured out how to do the phone thing two years ago. When you were there with him, I didn’t want to distract you.”
Ted hugged her. “Damn it, Lucia, I am going to cry.”
“Go ahead. Water just beads up and rolls away.” Lucia winked.
Ted started laughing as she looked at her cousin’s bright face and skin with a soft glow. “You are two seventy?”
“Apparently.”
“You are going to have to have some custom heels made. Nanna loves you in heels.”
“Just because I can see when the buffet is open.”
Ted snorted and looked at his cousin, seeing her truly for the first time. “You have a lot of power.”
“Yup. That is what made me so tempting. I am sorry, but it’s also why they came to our family shopping for someone else. They found you.”
Ted froze. “Oh, damn. That is how he started auditing the course. I knew he was too creepy for a course on morality.”
“You don’t blame me?”
“No. Hrinian was a dick. I am glad he’s dead.”
“Oh, we can do that? Cool. I am calling my power back.” Lucia grinned. There was a hum, and she twirled slowly, pulling on the power that had her signature.
Ted paused. “You know how to do that?”
“I am made of stone now. Stone keeps what belongs to it. I am pulling it back and leaving them for dead.”
Ted blinked and stepped back as power flowed from the sky and back into Lucia. How had she ever thought that her cousin was quiet?