Page 70 of Despair

“Oh, we’ve changed.” He flexed his metal hand and Daisy immediately thought of the tight scars down one side of her face.

“I thought so too,” she mumbled. “But… seeing you all, getting to know you again, it feels like…”

She shrugged, unable to come up with the right words.

“Feels right,” he offered.

Their eyes locked and she gave a short nod. “Feels right, but still distant.”

“Master Yoshi always said, fall seven times, stand up eight.” He strode to the weapon’s rack and removed a short shuriken throwing star. He tossed it and caught it. “Keep getting up, Daisy. Eventually you won’t fall.”

“But what if you’re pushed?”

“It matters not how you hit the floor, but what you do after. Who knows, maybe you’ll even fly.” He winked.

“Were you always this obnoxious?”

“You would know.” He held out his palm. “Now, take this from my hand without moving an inch.”

She gestured at his torso. “And you needed no shirt for this activity.”

“I thought we would spar. I changed my mind.”

“Sure.” Daisy glanced outside the door to where Alice stood in the hallway leading to the cell. “The fact your fiancée is watching has nothing to do with it.”

Her brother’s cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink. His mouth opened, closed, opened again. Then he huffed and put his shirt back on and shot her an Are you satisfied look.

“You were right,” she pointed out dryly. “I would know. Nothing’s changed in decades. You’re still the same grandstanding show pony you always were.”

The lion peeked out of Parker’s eyes and Daisy thought she might have taken it too far, and then he scowled knowingly.

“And you’re still trying to use your wit as a distraction.” He waggled his finger at her. “I’ve got your number. Always did. You hated doing the chores and would pick a fight. Being the biggest, I was blamed. For every cuddle you gave, you also had a devious sneak attack.”

She tried to hide her smile but failed miserably.

“Okay. Enough horsing around. Do the hard work, Daisy. Move the shuriken.”

“I don’t know how.” She tossed up her hands and rolled her eyes. There. He had the ugly truth out of her. “I learned by trial and error. I learned by watching martial arts movies. Occasionally I learned with a teacher. But for the most part, Julius tossed me in the deep and told me to not die.”

“Well,” he said stoically. “Now you have us.”

His words settled on her like a warm blanket. He motioned for her to sit cross legged facing him on the mat. He placed the metal throwing star between them and said, “Let’s start with basic meditation techniques.”

“Seriously?”

“As a heart attack.”

And he was. For the next fifteen minutes, Parker guided Daisy through various exercises designed to give her an acute awareness of her body. From her breath to her heart rate to the level of activity in her mind. It was a crash course, but she got the hang of it fast. Her busy mind calmed.

“Now,” he said, voice low and slow. A rumble close to a purr. “Keeping your eyes closed, I want you to remember back to a time you accessed your gift.”

She exhaled and conjured the time she’d stopped the baseball mere inches from her face.

“Think about how you felt intrinsically at that moment,” Parker continued. “Think about the sensations in your arms, legs, heart.”

Her brow puckered. All she remembered was Axel’s smile. She shook her head and thought to another time she’d accessed her gift. The shower—nope. Not that one. All she could think of was his body. His slippery—nope. Start again. The attic window. She exhaled. Now all she could think of was Axel’s calming voice, encouraging her.

“I can’t.” She opened her eyes, frowning. “All I can think of is Axel. I’m worried about him.”