Page 48 of Nexus
Rather than starting the game, mom put her handset down. “Tell me everything,” she ordered.
I’d already intended to spill the beans and told her about our conversation. “Drake wants us to keep this quiet, but I wasn’t about to leave without telling you where I was going,” I said when I was done.
Tears glistened in mom’s eyes. They were from a mixture of pride and fear. “I won’t tell a soul,” she vowed, knowing how bad it would be to get on the wrong side of a dragon shifter. “When are you leaving?”
“In a couple of days, probably,” I said with a shrug, trying to hide how nervous I was. “He’s arranging for us to become his envoys. I’m not sure what that’s going to entail.”
“He’ll need a plausible cover story for you two to visit the underworld,” she figured craftily. “I’m glad he’s starting to see your true value.”
“It wasn’t like he knew I was the chosen champion,” I said in his defense. “No one did. Especially me.”
“I knew you were destined for greatness,” she reminded me.
“You suspected I was,” I corrected her. “If you’d been sure, you would have told me about the prophecy and the omen you saw years ago.”
“I was waiting for you to be old enough to tell you about it,” she protested. “I didn’t want to freak you out.”
“I’m twenty-one, mom,” I pointed out. “How long were you going to wait to tell me I might have to save our world?”
“Soon,” she said vaguely. “Maybe on your twenty-fifth birthday.”
I rolled my eyes at her obvious lie. “It doesn’t matter now. The cat’s out of the bag and I’m going to have to step up and do my duty.”
Neither of us were particularly happy about that, since I was going to be in mortal danger. “I wish I could go with you,” she said wistfully. “But I’m not the chosen one, so you’ll have to go alone.”
“Ruen will be going with me,” I reminded her.
We both grimaced at that idea. “He’ll be next to useless,” mom predicted.
“Drake took his restrictions off him. He’ll be able to maim, kill and feed off anyone who attacks us. You should have seen his eyes light up at that news. It was hilarious.”
I snickered and mom smiled unwillingly. “I guess it’ll be good that someone will have your back, even if it is just a vampire,” she conceded.
“Lord Gilden thinks we’ll change forms once we cross to the underworld,” I said. “I wonder what I’ll look like?”
“Our blood is so mixed that it’ll be impossible to guess,” mom figured. “I don’t even know what species your father is.”
“Can’t you remember what sort of supernatural beings were there during the orgy?”
“The spell muddled my mind,” she reminded me. “You have no idea what it was like to be surrounded by so many naked people.” Her expression turned slightly dreamy at the recollection
“Maybe I’ll organize an orgy if I survive my trip to the underworld,” I joked.
Our mood instantly turned somber at the possibility that I wouldn’t make it back at all. “You’ll survive,” mom said in determination. “Fate and her consort chose you for a reason. You’re the only one who has the skills to retrieve the fragments of the spell.”
“They didn’t really choose me, though,” I mused. “Fate set this all up two thousand years ago and now she’s stuck with me. What if I don’t measure up? What if my skills aren’t good enough?” Fate had warned me that not all of her champions were successful in their missions to save their worlds.
“That’s enough self-doubt from you, young lady,” mom said sternly. “I raised you to be a strong, confident woman. You were born for this, so suck it up and do your duty!”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said obediently. No one argued with my mother when she spoke in that tone of voice. There were too many objects at hand for her to throw at me if I disobeyed her. Almost as strong as me, her aim was just as deadly.
“Let’s get this game started,” she said to change the topic now that our discussion had come to an end. “We’ve got a lot of zombies to kill and time’s wasting.”
It wasn’t easy to settle into our usual routine and we were both more subdued than usual. If I didn’t make it back through the gate, this could be the last time we would ever game together.
Our session came to an end an hour before nightfall. Mom gave me a long hug, holding me tightly before letting me go. “Call me to warn me before you leave,” she ordered.
“I will,” I promised, fighting back the tears that were trying to rise. “I’d better go home and get changed, just in case a job comes up.”
