Page 23 of Surviving in Everton

“Wow.” She breathes out and leans back in shock. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. It actually makes total sense.”

“Yeah, it does, but it also means she’s always felt how I was feeling even when I thought I was doing a good job hiding it from her. Actually, the only reason we even found out she has it is because of how emotional I was yesterday when I got back from the doctor. After the guys left, Violet approached me and basically told me I couldn’t hide shit from her and to just tell her what’s going on. I was going to keep this whole mess from the kids, but then Violet told us she can feel my fear and sadness, and argued that it would be easier for her to deal with the emotions she’s feeling fromusif she knew the cause. Needless to say, I couldn’t really argue with that, so Declan and I told her everything,” I admit.

“Wow. That’s a lot to unpack.” She sighs as she shakes her head. “How did she handle the news? I mean you told her herdadspelled you the whole time you were with him. That must have been hard for her to hear. Hell, it must have been hard for you tosay.” She comforts me with a hand on my leg.

“It was. It was a very difficult conversation for me, but she needed to know. Shedeservedto know. If I ever wondered how she was so advanced and mature for her age, I don’t now. I imagine feeling everyone’s feelings like she does would have that side-effect.

“It turns out, she wasn’t surprised when I told her. Of course, knowing what I do now, I should have expected her reaction. It’s not like I was the only person whose feelings she couldfeel.” I sigh and rub my fingers through my hair.

“Oh shit! She couldfeelhim? I mean, fuck, of course she could! But damn… that sucks. I wouldn’t want to feel his feelings. Poor Violet,” she finishes sadly.

“Yeah, I know. I can’t imagine living like that and knowing without a doubt how your own father feels about you and your mother. Of course, that explains why she would still use her magic around him for so long, even though we both told her not to. I wish she would have told me though. I could have done something. Hell, I would have left him in a heartbeat if she would have told me! I don’t care if I was being spelled,” I tell her adamantly.

“I know you would have, hun. I would have helped you. So she wasn’t surprised when you told her he spelled you?” Quinn confirms.

“Not at all. It made a lot of sense to her. She was able to understand why I stayed. God, I hate how much this whole thing has affected her. You know having to deal with her dad’s abuse in silence may have made her resilient, but it also made her grow up much too fast. She’s only five. She shouldn’t be dealing with all of this shit, Quinn,” I tell her.

“I know, sweetie. You’re right, she shouldn’t. But she’s an amazing kid, despite all the shit that douchebag put her through,” she vehemently declares and I nod in agreement. “It could be worse though, she could have mind-reading powers and knew what he wasthinkingall the time instead of just feeling.” She shudders at the thought and I have to agree, that would have been way worse.

“Oh, no! Speaking of mind-reading… you don’t think Logan can read minds like Declan, do you?” I ask in horror. That would be bad, very bad.

“Oh, damn. I don’t know, for some reason I never thought to ask.” She laughs self-deprecatingly. “That would be a good conversation to have with Declan though.”

“Yeah, like as soon as he gets home. I need to know if I need to block my thoughts around him too. Hell, now I need to learn how to block my damn feelings.” I groan.

“What? Why do you need to do that?” she asks, confused. “Ooooh for Violet, right? Duh.” She smacks her forehead and chuckles at herself.

“Well, yeah for her too,” I start, but I’m cut off before I can finish.

“Wait, too? What do you mean for her,too?”

I chuckle and shake my head at her. “Well, we got a little side-tracked when I was explaining the whole soulmate thing.”

Her eyes widen and she shakes her head in disbelief. “Nooo. You’re not trying to tell me you’re not only soulmates with the guys, but they can feel your emotions?!?” she exclaims.

“Well, if you would shut up and let metalk, I’d say what I’m trying to tell you,” I tell her, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Oh. Sorry,” she says sheepishly.

I roll my eyes at her and start over again. “First of all, yes, I do believe I’m soulmates with all of them. But the special thing is, since Declan and I both have extra abilities, we bothgainedone by completing the soulmate bond.” I see she’s dying to interrupt me again so I roll my eyes and sigh as I go on. “We can feel each other’s emotions.”

“Whoa. That must be… awesome! It’s like double the pleasure when y’all… you know.” She wiggles her brows at me and I burst out laughing.

“I mean, yeah. It was pretty fucking awesome, I’ll tell you that!” I admit even though I can feel my face burning. Quinn and I have always been open with each other, but it’s still embarrassing sometimes.

“Oh, man. I can’t imagine. That would be so awesome! But it only happens with soulmatesandthey have to have some special ability? That sucks that I don’t have one.” She pouts.

I can’t help but laugh at her. “Hey, you never know. Maybe you have a latent power, or something less obvious,” I offer and she lights up.

“Yeah! I can totally have some super awesome power that I just haven’t figured out yet or maybe it doesn’t manifest until you’re like thirty-five.” We fall into a fit of giggles at that. We’ve definitely never heard of a power not manifesting until such a late age, but we’re gonna hold on to the hope that she can experience a soulmate bond too.

“Well, it’s not all fun though. He can feel my emotionsallthe time. So with this whole-brain tumor shit, I don’t think he’s going to want to feel those emotions,” I explain.

“Ooooh shit! I didn’t think about that! Yeah, I can see why you would want to learn how to block him then. Damn. But what about you? Can you feel him all of the time now? I mean you have these empathic powers, so I don’t know if you could already feel him. I have no clue how any of this works.” She chuckles with a shrug of her shoulder.

“Well, for one my empath abilities aren’t that strong. Or at least they’re not right now. There’s a possibility that the potion and now the tumor are affecting my abilities, but we just don’t know. I haven’t really spent a lot of time around him since the ability appeared to test it out, but I definitely had no problem feeling hispleasurelast night,” I say with a smirk.

“Girl, I am so jealous right now! Hell, I’d settle for just having someone to experience my own pleasure with!” she says.

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