THESE HIDDEN WINGS

[126] WHAT IF?

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"So he is a bully that likes you,"

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I TOLD HER all about the 'mysterious one' as best as I could whilst keeping it as vague as possible.

Yes, I was quite selective in what to say, keeping to myself the circumstances of our meeting.

I didn't think there was a need for her to know about my accidental drowning or the time that I almost died courtesy of an imaginary fire that Omkara had hypnotized me with.

There was simply no point in stressing her, I reassured myself, though part of me admitted I didn't want her to know just how 'badly' I had been doing, contrary to the picture she had concocted.

I could see her eyes beaming with pride.

I didn't want to take that perception of me away from her, because, despite all the things I had gone through, she was sort of right.

I had been brave- man I had to deal with Harvest, Raskei, and even Daya.

All in all, as I explained it to her, I couldn't help but feel some sense of accomplishment.

I then ended it all with that kiss on the forehead he had given me.

My cheeks heated up slightly at the memory and yet still felt deceived, knowing that once again Harvest had won whatever round of the game we were playing.

I had been winning for just a second when I squeezed some information out of him about his trinket, but a bare second later, he had managed to take the lead, leaving me standing there both confused and embarrassed at the same time.

Despite all my current better judgment, I was starting to think it would have been better if he had kissed me where I thought he would.

At least then I would be confused about something else, and less embarrassed but no- Harvest always played the winning hand, always the last say, always the winner.

I gritted my teeth at the thought of scratching my wrists.

"So he's a bully," Mom stated so causally it caused me to snap back to her, our eyes meeting as she raised an eyebrow at my silence.

This was a simple question to answer and I scoffed at this signing-

'no kidding'

"And what color is he again and what does he do?" she asked, her eyes narrowing down on me as if she was trying to get to something.

I had already explained the colors of Kingsland to her, but of course, it wasn't something you grasped once I guess.

'Yellow. Mind control' I signed slowly.

The light in her eyes slowly dimmed, and she breathed in lowly, "and has he ever tried to use it on you?" she asked, her tone soft, eyes searching mine.

I held in a breath, still stuck in her gaze, my mind shifting back to every minute he had.

Honestly, there were so many times it was hard for me to find a memory where he had not. But even in the instant that he hadn't, his cursed blue eyes had been enough of an intrusion to render me useless.

"He does," She answered her question, her jaw ticking, her lips paused.

My breaths were slow and shallow as I nodded slowly, scratching my wrists.

"As he ever made you do things.." she paused for a moment as if regretting what she was to soon ask, "you didn't want to do?"

Her tone was much more firm and all seriousness was put into it.