Page 105 of The Hunger
“It’s every mother’s dream to be able to read her daughter’s mind, but I’m afraid that’s not a gift I possess. You’re going to have to explain what you mean.”
“I mean that thing you did in the club to make the humans protect me. I tried doing that to you when you walked in on me and Fenris at your house, didn’t I?”
“No, baby. You gave me a warning that time.”
“What do you mean that time? Was there some other time I did that mind control thing you did?”
“Yes. When you told Adira never to touch Fenris. Baby, you blocked that woman from touching your man for life. I knew you had power, but what you can do goes beyond anything I’ve ever heard of.”
I stopped at the end of the driveway because I was starting to shake.
“I’m trying not to freak out about this, but it’s not working. Mom, I’ve barely come to terms with the feeding part of who I am. I’m not sure I can deal with mind control, too. That’s not who I want to be.”
“Then don’t be that person. Having a gift doesn’t mean you need to use it.”
I took a few calming breaths.
“You’re right.” If only the guilt of my past mistakes would be so easily resolved. “How do I undo what I’ve done?”
“Do you really want to give Adira the ability to take Fenris from you?”
“No. But there are other people I’ve accidentally controlled. Piepen is one of them. I don’t plan on removing the inability to touch himself in my presence, but I said something last night that could have hurt him. If something like that happens again, I want to be able to fix it.”
“You simply need to give a command that overrules the first one.”
“But, I’m not exactly sure how I’ve been giving the commands in the first place.”
“That makes things a bit more difficult. Our ability isn’t something that’s easily taught since it feels different for each of us. For me, when I want to give a command, I have to connect with a part of myself that almost feels like a separate piece of me. It’s hard to reach, and the effort takes so much out of me that I often faint. And when I’m done, I’m hungry.”
“That’s why you were asking how I felt after I talked to Adira.”
“Yes. You’re different, baby. In a good way. You have more control than any other succubus I’ve met, and your hunger doesn’t weaken you. Not like it would for the rest of us. I think your hunger made you stronger. However, that strength doesn’t mean you’ll be able to snap your fingers and suddenly know exactly how to manipulate someone’s mind. You’re going to need to practice, Eliana, so that when you need to fix something, you know you can do it.”
I made a face.
“So I need to mess with people’s heads in order to not mess with people’s heads.”
“I know. It’s not ideal. I suggest practicing on someone you don’t like. It’ll help you feel less guilty if things don’t go as you hope.”
“Yeah, that’s really not helpful.”
She laughed. “You did marvelously well on Raiden when he was here, and no harm was done then. Start small and work up to the bigger things.”
I sighed, not liking the reminder or the option.
“Are you coming over for breakfast?” she asked. “Your father is wondering if he should make another chocolate ganache crepe.”
“No, I’m going to school. It’s the only place I can see Fenris.”
“Raiden is atrocious. I hope he gets rabies.”
“Mom, that’s not nice.”
“That’s the point, Eliana. Neither is he.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, baby. Call me and let me know how your practice goes.”
