Damon and Talia were in bed, with him hugging her from behind.
Talia felt his breath fanning her hair, and his arms were around her while her back pressed to his chest. After a round of carnal pleasures on the floor, they moved to the bed, and now they were both sated and naked, breathing as one. Normally, she would sleep after all that, but this time, Talia had too many things on her mind.
"Damon?" Talia called.
"Yes, kitten?"
"The thing that happened with the necklace… I will do it again."
"I know."
Talia turned to face him. "You do?"
Damon smiled a little. "I know that you are curious about those things for more than just because they could resist the powers of the Guardians."
Talia was glad they didn't need to argue about this. And he was right. Her curiosity went beyond Keith's necklace with the ability to resist Gregory's restrictions.
"My necklace," Talia said. "Don't you think it looks like something that could come out of that chest?"
Damon's eyes fell on the necklace Talia was wearing. "You think your mother had something to do with the Guardians?"
Talia was not sure, but… "I need to find out the truth about this necklace and about me. I am tired of secrets and ambushes." And she didn't want anyone else to die in front of her, because of her. "I need to know who is after us and what I can do. I don't want to hide, Damon. They have already come after me more than once, and I'm confident they are planning their next attack. By staying in the packhouse, they will know where I am, and they will hurt my friends in order to get to me. I… what happened to Lulu…" Talia choked on her words.
"Shh… it's OK." Damon said.
Talia shook her head. "It's not OK. What happened to Lulu, I can't go through it again. I hate this feeling of waiting to see from where the next enemy will come. I want to fight. I want to be ready when they come next time, or even better, I want to attack them before they can. I want us to fight together. Will you support me?"
"Always."
"We can do this, Damon. I know we can. With my power and yours, and with the help from our friends, we can do this."
Damon puffed his cheeks, and Talia felt that his mood had dropped.
"What?" She asked.
"Don't you think I should have an ability also?"
Talia blinked. "What?"
"You marked me. Don't people get an ability when someone from the Midnight Guardians pack marks them? Meg can blow up stuff, Sandy can see the spirits, and what about me?"
Talia realized what he meant. Damon was powerful already, and he was not a greedy man, but considering their situation, he needed more. If their roles were reversed, she would be impatient to get a power boost also. Unfortunately, those things couldn't be rushed. She remembered Axel telling her that some people spent decades without discovering their ability.
"Have faith in the Moon Goddess, Damon. She gives us what we need, when we need it the most. I am confident you have an ability, and it's fantastic. She gave you Sapa when you needed guidance."
Damon smiled a little. "She gave me you when I was on the verge of giving up."
Talia nodded in agreement. "And she gave me you, when I hit an all-time low, and I thought all hope was lost. As for my powers… I didn't know I could heal until you were hurt. I didn't know I could put up a shield until I needed one. I guess what I'm trying to say is, when your power is needed, it will manifest itself."
Damon smiled dreamily. Her words made sense, and her confidence told him that his kitten had grown again. How much more magnificent can she get? "What would I do without you?"
Talia pressed her lips into a line. What would he do without her? "You would have fewer problems."
"Don't say that, kitten. Nothing related to you is a problem. You are the best thing that ever happened to me."
Talia could feel he meant it, and it was all it mattered at that moment.
Talia and Damon were back in a lab with Cassandra and a chest of ancient relics.
Seeing that Cassandra was arranging her colorful crystals on the stone table, Talia asked Cassandra to leave in case something else blew up.
Cassandra refused. "I spent a lot of time on these relics without results. Your ability to affect them is a breakthrough I was waiting for. Please, let me stay and observe. If anything happens to me, I won't blame you."
"I am only concerned about your safety," Talia said.
Cassandra smiled. "Your concern is noted and appreciated, Alpha. But I choose to stay."
"Suit yourself," Talia said, and she turned to Damon.
"I'm not going anywhere," Damon said stiffly.
"I know," Talia responded. "But please don't throw stuff away unless Cassandra gives you a sign that something explosive is about to happen."
Damon threw a side-glance at Cassandra, and then he looked at Talia.
"I don't trust her." Damon didn't bother using the mind-link.
Talia didn't trust Cassandra either, but… "You should trust in her self-preserving skills. If things are taking a wrong turn, she won't sit still and wait for death."
With that, Talia squatted to pick a relic from the chest. None of them stood out. "Cassandra? Do you have a suggestion with which one to start?"
"What are you trying to accomplish?" Cassandra asked.
"I was thinking about this. It doesn't make sense that only people with powers like mine could use these items. There are too many of them, and if there were many people with powers like mine, we would hear about them."
Cassandra nodded at Talia's words. "The necklace your guard used worked on its own."
"Did it?" Talia asked. "You said you carried it with you, but it never worked. If not for your visions, you wouldn't know it can repel magic. Only when Keith faced the Guardian, the necklace was activated to break the restriction."
Damon thought Talia was onto something. "Do you think some strong energy is needed to activate them?"
Talia confirmed. "Either strong energy or a specific type of energy. But the fact is that all these are sitting here because no one knows how to use them, yet I can easily make one blow."
"Others carrying them for emergency would make sense for defensive items, but it would make offensive ones useless," Damon mused.
"I doubt these are offensive items," Cassandra said before explaining, "Alpha took a long time to charge that necklace. Assuming that the necklace was designed to explode, even a human could escape when they saw Alpha charging it."
Well, that made sense also.
'Why is she talking like she knows everything?' Liseli growled at Cassandra's words. She didn't like that the Oracle was underestimating them. 'We just went slowly because it was the first time.'
'We can do it faster?' Talia asked.
'Hmph! Pick one, and let me show you.'
Talia took a golden necklace with little red stones embedded in it. "Let's start with this one."
After throwing an assuring gaze at Damon, Talia took a deep breath and started channeling energy into the necklace.
Damon's frown deepened as he saw Talia's hand lighting up.
In about a second, Talia's hair turned silver, and the necklace in her hand started pulsating in silvery light.
'ZZZzzzZZZzzzZZZ'
Damon blinked, and his stomach dropped when Talia disappeared.
"TALIA!"
