Obsidian Souls (Soul Series) by Donna Augustine Page B

world.”
                  It felt like it to me. I didn’t want to be in a world where I was a monster and I said so.
                  “I’m not sure why you look like you are on the brink of a breakdown. It’s not like I just handed you a life sentence. You’re the exact same person you were last week. Just a little less clueless is all. ”
                  “Can’t I get a minute? I’m supposed to find out I’m some sort of crazy demon and who knows what else and I should just smile and be happy? Oh great! Everything I had wanted for my life just got flushed, life’s great!”
                  “What you need to do is take it in and deal with it. Not wallow. If you sit there like a victim, you’ll become one. You no longer have the luxury of feeling bad for yourself. You need to toughen up and do it quickly or they will chew you up alive. I’m not being mean to you. I’m trying to kick your ass into someone who’s a survivor.”              
                  “Go screw! I’ve survived years on my own just fine!”
                  “Survived what? Because you couldn’t get the new shoes you wanted? Your life’s been a cake walk up until now. Your parents probably held your hand all the way through college. You think your tough, but you don’t have a clue. Your world was butterflies and rainbows. You’ve never had a clarifying moment, the kind that tests the very core of who you are.”
                  “How do you know what I’ve been through? You don’t know me!”
                  “Because moments like that change who you are. They strip you down. It hones you or it breaks you. Anybody that has ever really lived can spot it within minutes.”
                  What did he know? He was one of them! I was tough. I had steel at my core…. didn’t I? Why did I even doubt it? Of course I did. A person, or whatever it is I am, was allowed a few moments to adjust. It didn’t mean I was sulking.
                  I might need him now but I wouldn’t always. I would take every ounce of knowledge and skill he had and then get away from him. I would find a way out of this on my own terms.              

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Eleven
     
     
                  “I need you to teach me to fight.” He wasn’t paying me any attention and I had to follow him as he walked to his room the next afternoon. “I’m strong and I have good reflexes!” He wasn’t even paying attention to me let alone taking me seriously. “You think I’m soft? Then help me to be tougher.”
                  He stopped suddenly, and I literally bounced off him. He grabbed my arm to steady me before I fell backward. Finding my footing, I quickly pulled my arm away. I always felt slightly out sorts when he was touching me.
                  “Okay. You haven’t developed yet but it’ll be good to start. It certainly won’t hurt.” Thinking we were finished, he went toward his desk where he started to sort through papers.
                  That was something no one had ever said to me. “I think I’m developed.”
                  He glanced over at me and actually smiled. “That’s not what I meant. You’re going to get stronger, but it hasn’t started yet.”
                  “How much stronger will I get?”
                  “It’s different for everyone and you’ve got other things going on that I have no knowledge of. First being that you’re also a female. I’ve never seen a female Drauth, ever, so I’m not sure if you’ll get as strong as a male. I don’t know when either. It’s different for everyone. Most of the time it starts in the late twenties, but it’s far from an exact science.”
                  “When can we start?”