Touched Read Free Page B

tribe. He said when he saw my mother he was so drawn, he couldn’t overcome it. They mated and I was born. My father was punished greatly for it for ten years, but he never really regretted it. He was always very attached to me. I always thought it was my mom he was attached to -- that I was the link.”
    “At least you were born,” Keira said, looking at him now, so tall, shining, knightly.
    “But once you cross the line, and mate with someone from a different tribe, the system is damaged. Your tribe is also in jeopardy. One way or other, there’s an aberration and it threatens the entire system. But it’s also possible for great beings to be born like that.”
    Keira felt that Cooper was a great being. She wanted to tell him so, too.
    “Most hybrids are completely destroyed early on. My father refused to let me be destroyed. He fought it, insisted I was different. The Shadows listened to him because he was the fiercest one of them all, completely dedicated to the mission. But in secret, I saw him look at the ring.”
    Keira saw how important it was to Cooper that his father and mother cared about one another. Did he still want them to get back together? That wish was so common for humans. Keira wondered if it affected him too?
    Cooper just stared at the ring in his palm. “I’m going to show this to my mother when I find her. It’s our link. She has the jewel for the sixth slot in her possession. It’s been said that when the slots are complete, when the sixth jewel is put in, the ring will bring incredible power to whoever has it.”
    Suddenly it struck Keira that this ring belonged to his father.
    “How did you get this ring?” she asked, open mouthed.
    Cooper looked straight at her then, his eyes gleaming. “I stole it from him when I ran away. I don’t know if he realizes it’s gone yet. But I have it now.
    Keira shivered. “You want the power?”
    “No, I don’t care about power at all. I want to find my mother, to know who she is and who I am. I want to meet the tribe I was born into!” The words tripped off Cooper’s tongue.
     Keira wanted to go over to Cooper, put her arms around him, tell him she cared so much for him, just as he was. But it wasn’t time. His shield was up around him and she couldn’t move any closer. His yearning for home also stirred a yearning in Keira. Did she have a true home as well? Was there some place she could find a real family in? She felt that being with him would bring her closer to finding that out.
    He looked up from the ring and gazed into her eyes then. For a second he broke through the wall between them, sent waves of love towards her. But then he quickly receded back into his world.
    “There is a letter buried somewhere here for me,” he said. “The letter will tell me where to go. My mother’s waiting for me. Then Cooper got up and turned away abruptly, walking out the front door.
    For a second Keira became frightened that he was leaving, that she wouldn’t see him again. She wanted to call out to him. But she took a deep, swift breath. He was going to search for the letter. She had to relax and trust. She had to let him do what he had to, go where he belonged and be who he was. She couldn’t depend on him forever. He had his life and she had hers. What was hers going to be? She had no idea. It was up to her to discover.
    She went to her bag and pulled out one of the few objects she’d taken with her-- her journal. As Cooper roamed the woods outside, she sat there and wrote.
    What am I doing here, and what will become of me? Cooper is searching for his home and mother. What am I searching for? Day by day my powers are growing, and I have no idea why or where they’re coming from. I used to think they came from the indigo light. Now I’m not sure. How I wish the indigo light would come and tell me. For now, it’s left me on my own.
    There are some things I do know though. I know that I love Cooper and that he and I must be together now. But why