Daughter of Destiny by HC Playa

energy inside us and
around us. That's all."
    Katarina thought back to
the alley. No, that wasn't what it felt like to her at all. She
still thought it was magic, just not the Mage kind.
    "Is Naia all
right?"
    "She wasn't hurt too bad
physically, but she's been traumatized. Mom already arranged for
her to see a therapist."
    "Fucking bastard. Excuse
the language Kat, but if the guy wasn't already dead I would
happily do the deed. Naia's got you and your parents. She'll get
past this."
    "I'll make sure she
does."
    Delaney nodded. "You have
any more questions?"
    "Not right now. I still
have to talk to my parents. I better go. Thanks Laney."
    "Blessed be,
Kit-Kat."
    Katarina smiled. "Blessed
be." She disconnected the comm. Every movement felt like moving
through Jell-O as she left her room and headed
downstairs.
    Stepping into the living
room, tears burned at the back of her eyes. All she wanted was to
feel her mother's arms around her, her father's strong hand on her
back. Outside of the kitchen, her parents’ low angry voices carried
in the otherwise quiet house.
    "I told you that damn
telepathy wasn’t going to be the only thing to surface. What the
fuck do you plan to do now, Maureen?"
    "Don’t put this all on me,
Patrick. You knew she might discover whatever abilities she
inherited."
    "You assured me they would
remain dormant. I've risked a lot to protect the both of you. And
for what? She's one of them--fucking demon spawn!"
    "Don’t you dare! She’s our
daughter!"
    "The hell she is! We both
know it wasn't me that knocked you up."
    Katarina made a sound
somewhere between a choked sob and a gasp of surprise, alerting her
parents to her presence.
    "Now look what you’ve
done."
    She turned to flee upstairs
but her mother caught her by the arm. "Kat, honey," her mother
said, pulling her into a hug.
    Katarina jerked away. "Is
it true?"
    Her mother averted her eyes
from Katarina’s accusing stare.
    Her dad stepped forward.
"It isn’t important. What I want to know is what did you do to that
boy? I'm not buying that the drugs killed him. I got a look at his
tox screen. Yeah, he was high, but he didn't have enough of it in
his system to OD."
    Katarina looked at the man
who for sixteen years had been her hero; a man she trusted despite
the secrets he kept. Now he treated her with open disdain. Had it
all been a lie, an act to fulfill whatever objective the Mages gave
him regarding her and her mother?
    "Don't you even care that
Naia was raped?"
    "Naia's a good girl, a
strong girl. She’s been through worse. After the childhood she had,
and the group home we pulled her out of, this will be just another
shitty thing she'll move past. The doctor said she was fine. Now
answer my question."
    Three minutes before she
would have sworn she had nothing left, but as anger built inside
her, Katarina felt power rising up again. She didn't fight it, but
let it suffuse her, allowing her body to absorb the energy, like
recharging a spent battery. Manipulating the energy was as
instinctive as breathing. The energy banished her lethargy and
crystallized her resolve.
    "You know what? Fuck off.
Believe what you want. Naia needed my help, and I did what I had to
do."
    "Don’t you dare use that
kind of language with your father, young lady!"
    Katarina turned from her
father's shocked expression to her mother. "I thought you just said
he wasn't my father."
    "Biology isn't all there is
to being a parent, Kat. You know that."
    "If that were true, then
maybe he'd give a shit about Naia."
    Patrick stepped forward.
"Listen, I didn't mean to sound like I didn't care, but it's not
like she was a virgin, Kat. Her father sold her as a child
prostitute. If she could deal with that, one more dick isn't going
to kill her."
    Katarina looked at the
monster in front of her and gave him a frigid smile. "I'm glad you
aren't my father. Maybe I do have something dangerous inside me.
Maybe I did kill that boy. Maybe I'll just let you wonder about
that."
    She turned