Chapter fourty

Chapter 40

“Wow actually ready in time to ride to school?” Ethan laughed a few weeks later.

“We aren’t riding though.” Cole corrected and they all nodded finally realizing my outfit wasn’t just to see if I could get away with wearing my training outfit. I had plans to train before school. Cole wrapped his arms around me and I felt the shimmer overtake us before we appeared in the gym. “So what now?” Cole asked.

“You help me train.” I nodded smiling as I headed to the first punching bag and jumped up to the top he looked confused but then I let my thoughts run through the exercise and he nodded understanding exactly what he was going to do. I had decided he was going to learn to do this exercise with me. We worked all morning perfecting it and then, “I can’t believe you can do that and I can’t!” I exclaimed.

“Let me help you.” He whispered in my ear and then pushed me down onto the mat kissing me. He let his hands move along my body and I immediately wrapped around him before I realized what I was doing and kissed him back.

“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked breathlessly when he pulled away but we both knew I was more upset that he’d stopped short of taking the kiss anywhere else than not helping me.

“You’ve got to know exactly where to touch to get the result you want.” He whispered in my ear letting his hand run along my body again and it curled around his once again. He smiled at me a little but I knew he was finding this challenging to not continue, “You also have to know exactly how far you can go to not go any farther too.” He finished pulling away. When he was gone Booth walked in and I blushed.

“What are you doing here?” Booth asked.

“Practicing,” I said quickly a little too quickly.

“Did I interrupt?”

“No…” I shook my head, “Cole just showed me up on the punching bags so I was about to see if maybe I could follow it up with me being able to finish the bags.” I hadn’t been able to finish them since that first day.

“Let’s see then you have a few minutes.” Booth nodded and Cole smiled at me. I jumped up onto the punching bag and then took a deep breath centering myself and thinking about Cole’s touch then I took off on the bags touching them just perfectly. I felt like there should be more when I touched the wall but then I landed on the ground.

“You did it.” Cole whispered in ear hugging me.

“Thanks to your wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, and did I mention wonderful demonstration of how to.” I smiled before kissing him. I turned to Booth next and smiled, “I did it!” I exclaimed and then I hugged him. I tensed for a second wondering if I was pushing my boundaries but he just tightened his arms and then let go and smiled at me.

“You did.” He nodded.

“We’ve got to get to class, Lily-be.” Cole smiled.

“I’m sorry.” I promised quickly.

“Lily-be you know that I trust you… I’m not upset that you hugged him.” He promised smiling and so I knew nothing was wrong. I went into his arms and let him walk me to History of magic.

“Ms. Carlyle, do you want to tell us about the wonderful duo?” Professor Spenser asked. We’d been learning about Cole and me for weeks.

“No she doesn’t!!” Lindsey and Kalila yelled.

“What if I did?” I asked.

“You are planning the wedding again you are not about to discuss your relationship for an hour and a half.” Kalila shook her head.

“Then I’m asking permission to go and train?” I asked.

“Since it is about the two of you just make sure you read the chapter so you know what the class knows.” Professor Spenser nodded. I jumped up after hugging Cole and left running into Booth’s class.

“Hey?” Booth laughed as I ran in.

“I got permission to come train.” I smiled. “The lesson is on Cole and me.” I shrugged.

“Oh History of Magic you didn’t think that one through I’m telling you half the class is on you two.” Booth laughed, “Just look through the book the first three days is an overview to get to know you then you get into huge study. If people like the class then they can get into the more advanced class of the late government which is obviously how you were made and then into an actual class just about you. Then there’s a class just about Cole. There’s even a class just about the two of you.”

“It sounds like they are making a bunch of stalkers.” I groaned, “I can’t believe Piper recommended me to the class.”

“She didn’t think you were taking your powers seriously if you are in the class you will see just how much you mean to this world.” Mom said coming in.

“Mommy!!” I yelled hugging her.

“I heard you’d convinced Professor Spenser to give you an out today?”

“Yeah it’s too much hearing about me every day.”

“Wow too much for my baby that keeps getting her ego blown?”

“Well I also keep coming back for it.” I gestured around.

“You love to fight too much.” She shook her head and the worry was clear.

“Mom I’m nearly indestructible I broke my back the other day and it took like a minute to heal.” I sighed but by her eyes I knew that was the wrong thing to say.

“Tristan!!” Mom yelled.

“It was nothing!!” I yelled right back glad this seemed to be a period Booth had off.

“You should have known better than to tell her that.” Cole’s thoughts came.

“Please come save me.” I begged and I suddenly felt his shimmer beside me but I also felt Leo and Dad appear too.

“You broke your back!!” Leo and Dad yelled at me.

“It was nothing.” I moaned turning in Cole’s arms.

“Did you know about this?” Dad turned on Booth.

“No all I told him was I need a minute.” I snapped.

“She knew he’d make her take the day off and I wasn’t around to make her take the time either.” Cole told them.

“I need to train. I knew it’d only take a minute and there was no reason for a break so…” I trailed off at the glares I was getting.

“You are taking the time until the wedding off.” Mom ordered.

“No I already agreed to take the week of the wedding off and the week after it. If I take too much time off I’ll get out of shape.”

“You’re a vampire!!!!!!!!” Leo, Piper, Mom, and Dad exploded.

“I’m going to train now if you’ll excuse me.” I said holding my hand up tiredly. I had neglected to tell anybody that I had cast another spell last week so that if they ever thought my training got out of hand I could freeze Mom and Dad too. I had just had to multiply my powers. I could handle it though. I had taken the time instead of hunting and trained my powers instead. I had it some-what under control again and I smiled when I saw them frozen and Booth and Cole still here.

“Cole you can go back to class if you want.” I smiled at him standing on my toes to kiss him.

“How’d you freeze your parents?” he asked.

“My powers expanded again.” I smiled easily, “I thought I had told you.”

“No you must have forgotten.” He said eyeing me worriedly.

“Oh well don’t worry I’ve got it under control fighting helps me keep it all balanced you know that. It’s why I’ve been so much more obsessed lately.” I smiled as he kissed me but I saw in his eyes he didn’t believe me. He shimmered away though in the middle of the kiss knowing I wouldn’t yell at him when he wasn’t yelling at me for freezing everybody.

“Are you ready?” Booth asked shaking his head at the frozen bodies.

“Yes.” I nodded heading to another mat. He followed me but pointed to the ground and I knew he was going to make me meditate. When he finally let us fight I concentrated only on the fight I didn’t even notice as the class joined they just watched us though.

“It’s time to go.” Cole interrupted. “You’ve already made Piper miss two classes. I’ve filled in for them but now it’s our class.” He continued so I just waved my hand. I watched as they all spun confused but their faces flashed comprehension on what I’d done to them when they saw where I was.

“You froze us?” Dad asked confused.

“Yes.” I nodded, “I told you I needed to train. Now do I really need to freeze you every time I practice or can we do this the easy way?”

“Do I really need to bind your powers?” Piper asked.

“Do you really want to try?” I asked, “You didn’t know they progressed do you really want to find out if I got any cool new ones with the progression?”

“You haven’t you’d be using it around everybody without practicing…” Mom trailed off comprehension dawning on everybody’s faces. I was never around them. Cole dropped me off here and then was gone until it was time to plan the wedding. Then on the rare times they convinced me to hunt I went alone so it was quicker the last few times though I’d just practiced on getting my powers stable. I’d even skipped practices to get them under control.

“Practice will end early today so we can talk.” Cole said tensely.

“It’s not my fault that my powers progressed. You should be congratulating me for being able to keep it under control by focusing my energy on fighting.” I snapped and he realized he’d made the mistake of making me angry. “Wedding planning is cancelled tonight by the way. I’m practicing late. I think I’m on my way to beating Booth.” I pushed past everybody and walked into Potions sitting in the middle of a crowd but they started to get up when Cole walked in. “You guys stay here. He can find another seat.” I told them. They looked at me worriedly trying to figure out who they feared more but then remembered my show in History of Magic and stayed. I was suddenly glad that Cole didn’t show off because Cole could show me up when I was angry and he was calm headed and keep up when we were both calm headed. After my spell though, I could probably beat him in all of it. I had kept my wall up since I’d cast the spell and I knew he thought I’d just been preoccupied by fighting and stress. I also knew he’d thought this morning had changed things. Our wedding was next week and I was supposed to stop fighting tomorrow I knew that had him relieved and worried. He was worried I wouldn’t and right now I wasn’t sure I would.

After school I kept right on fighting with Booth even though Cole was trying to get through my wall, which was stronger since I’d done the spell, and trying everything he could to get my attention. Finally though Kalila came in and just shook her head taking him home. When he was gone and Booth had beaten me one more time he sat down. “Do you need to talk?” he asked.

“Yes…” I sighed.

“You can’t though?” he asked confused.

“Cole’s a mind reader.”

“Teachers' have a spell to block all powers that would affect the mind. You can’t control teachers’ minds here and he can’t read them.” He assured me.

“See remember this morning about my powers suddenly expanding?” I whispered.

“Yes.” He nodded.

“They expanded because I did a spell to make them expand.”

“Why?”

“I get obsessed with the fight if you haven’t noticed. I knew that if somehow Leo, Piper, Mom, or Dad found out how obsessed I really was they’d try to stop me. My freezing wouldn’t work on Mom or Dad though so I found a spell to multiply my powers by like one hundred.” I whispered even softer.

“You multiplied your powers by a hundred?” he asked worriedly.

“It’s why I’ve been skipping some practices it’s harder to manage than I thought it would be. I knew I had to get it under control without Cole. He’d kill me if he found out I’d let the obsession get this far.”

“Why did you let it?”

“I’m scared of what’s about to come.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have somebody bad about to come after me. Somebody I’ve been fighting my whole life. The one person besides you I’ve never once defeated.”

“Who?”

“Jonathon. My human life was a horrible one. In order to keep me and my sister alive I had to be a mistress. He changed me and then tricked me into changing my sister.” I whispered, “He still expects me to continue on like I did as a human and when he shows up it’s…”

“… just like you’re a little girl again and hopeless I understand.” Booth whispered holding me in a hug.

“How?” I whispered nobody had ever understood how the most powerful vampire in the world could be so terrified of a regular vampire.

“My uncle took me in after my father died…” Booth told me, “… he was very abusive and when I turned seventeen he changed me. I had no idea what had happened only that I was suddenly an excellent fighter whenever I wasn’t around him. When I was with him I could take his abuse and stand up to him but I still couldn’t just make it where he’d leave me alone. I could never take it that far.”

“We molded ourselves into fighters.” I whispered.

“I know I figured that out around my hundredth birthday when I’d been away from him for a while. Your father saved me and I could never repay him for it.”

“That’s why we are the best fighter’s in the world and obsessed. We made ourselves into this it isn’t a talent we were granted. It’s a talent we forced ourselves to have.”

“It’s something we either had to have or die.” He sighed and just held me.

“That’s our connection!” I exclaimed. “It’s not just our love of fighting. It’s our past.” I shook my head.

“It’s something Cole will never understand about you.” Booth whispered in my ear.

“Cole understands it a lot more than you think.” I snapped pulling away from him.

“I’m sorry, Lily. I didn’t mean it like that I just meant it’s a connection you’ll never truly have with Cole that’s why we were brought together. It’s a connection you need right now especially.” Booth begged me to forgive him for hurting me.

“I know it’s just that I already hurt Cole today and it felt like betraying him to admit that I have a connection with you that I can’t have with him.”

“It’s not betraying him to admit that he wasn’t abused.”

“He has to go through a lot from his other half he’s a fighter too.”