Sold AS The alpha King's Breeder

Chapter 973: Chapter 30 : Visions of Future Past

*Sasha*

I stared down at the packet that had been delivered to me from Amanda. Apparently, it had come to the dorm, but since I wasn't staying there for the foreseeable future, Amanda had decided it was important enough to send to Lucas's.

She was right. Inside the packet was my new assignment from Professor Augustine. Stone Hamline had requested that I be transferred to the capital building project.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling the weight of the decision on my shoulders. The capital building project was a coveted position, one that could lead to a bright future in the world of architecture.

It was an opportunity of a lifetime, one that no one would be able to pass up… except I had to. I had a mission from the Goddess, an orb to find to complete it, and an ornery Lucas Black to deal with.

I shivered. I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night, trying and failing to push the image of Lucas in silk boxers, sporting an erection for me from my mind. He'd taken himself and that erection right to bed next to me–a challenge if there ever was one.

But I'd held my ground. Aside from some kissing and over-the-clothes stuff, I'd stopped him from going any further. I was making my female ancestors proud.

I was also so sexually frustrated I was starting to find reasons to bend.

Sighing in disappointment, I set the packet from Professor Augustine aside and padded down to

Lucas's office to get some paper and pen to write my regretful reply.

Lucas himself had been gone in the morning, leaving a letter that said he was getting supplies for the journey. Phoebe and Brady were gone as well, and I wondered if they'd gone with or if they'd taken themselves off somewhere to be safe from the old priestess and her cronies.

I was left to my own devices, and before the packet had come, had been quite bored.

Now, I had a future to tank.

As I stepped into Lucas's office looking for pen and paper, the first thing I saw was an open duffle bag… with a familiar bit of silk hanging out.

No way....

Forgetting all about my rejection letter to Professor Augustine, and, by extension, Stone Hamline, I crossed quickly to the bag.

Sure enough, there was the orb, nestled in its silk covering.

Excitement thrilled through my veins. Here it was, the answer to all our questions. And all I had to do was touch it.

I didn't want Lucas interrupting me, though, and he surely would if I stayed here in the office. Besides, I wanted a more comfortable place to return to than the office floor.

Careful not to touch the orb yet, I scooped the silk package out of the duffle bag and headed to an

unused guestroom. I closed the door and then sat on the bed and slowly unwrapped the silk around the orb.

There it was, still blue as ever.

Closing my eyes, I placed my hands on it. And....

… nothing.

I peeked one eye open. The orb's color hadn't changed, nor was it pulsing or showing any other signs of magic.

Frowning, I poked and prodded the orb, rolling it between my hands. For some reason, this time, the orb didn't want to take me anywhere.

I wondered if it was channeling Lucas Black's dire warnings.

Thoughts swirled in my head. Just how was I supposed to operate this thing?! Just wait for it to sweep me away at the most inconvenient moments?

Setting the orb in my lap, I waved my hands over it. “Hocus pocus?" I tried. “Abracadabra?"

The orb was unmoved.

I let out a sigh of frustration and leaned back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

I finally just closed my eyes again. I drew on my dream dancer powers, wondering if there was something I could learn about the orb using them.

A strange sensation rippled through me. It wasn't like anything I had ever felt before, like a sudden rush of energy that made my skin tingle and my heart race. I opened my eyes, sat up, and looked down at the orb in my lap.

It was glowing, pulsing with a bright purple light that illuminated the entire room. I could feel the energy coursing through my veins, like a current of electricity that threatened to overwhelm me.

Suddenly, I was in a new place, holding the orb, which was now purple. I stood behind an altar, next to a richly-robed woman–a religious figure, if I had to guess. She didn't see me. Neither did the people assembled in front of her.

The people were chanting, the woman leading them. They swayed back and forth, offering up praise to the Goddess, and prayers, and… pleas?

Sure enough, there was desperation in the air, and it was felt in every corner of the temple. I clutched the orb, wondering why it had brought me here.

Eventually, the woman at the head of the altar held up her hands and the chanting stopped. “Children of the Goddess," she said, looking sad. “We must risk returning through the portal to follow the White Queen to the Realm of the Goddess. We are not safe here."

There was a low murmur that rippled through the assembled. One young man snorted, locking defiant eyes with the priestess. “And how do you propose we do that?"

“Yes, it's impossible," another said, and the majority of the room agreed.

The priestess reached into a pocket of her robes.

And pulled out the orb–white as it had been in the beginning, but still the orb.

“This is the key," the priestess intoned. “We will use it to return to the motherland."

“How exactly is that going to work? Looks like a rock to me. Are we going to chuck it in the air and hope for the best?" the first young man scoffed.

The priestess's expression turned sour. “Ye of little faith. No, we are not going to 'chuck it in the air and hope for the best.' There are those who can wield the power of the Slipstone and use it to bring us back to the Realm of the Goddess. Once we have found one such, we can...."

Sasha!

I felt my whole body shaking. No, Lucas, not now!

“... and then by touching the Slipstone, they will be able to...."

Sasha!

Lucas, no!

“... transport...."

“SASHA!" a final yell brought me back to my senses.

The temple left and reality snapped into place as though someone had thwacked my brain with a rubber band. “Ow," I moaned, rubbing my forehead.

“Ow?! What do you mean, ow?! Where are you hurt? What did it do to you?" Lucas asked, running his hands over me.

I would have been a bit turned on if I didn't have such a throbbing headache and deep disappointment about missing out on the instructions the priestess was giving on how to use the orb. “You couldn't have waited five more minutes?"

“Five minutes? Five minutes?! Your eyes were all glassy and that stupid piece of s**t was glowing purple. I knew it was going to take you away from me," Lucas snapped, yanking the orb out of my hands and tying it back into its silk covering.

“It wasn't. It just gave me a vision this time. It wasn't trying to suck me in," I explained, exasperated. “I was using my dream dancer powers."

Lucas turned nearly purple himself. “You used your dream dancer powers on this thing?!" Content held by NôvelDrama.Org.

“Well, it worked," I grumbled. “I was just about to find out its purpose and how to use it, but then you started shaking me and I missed it."

Lucas shook me again. “What did I tell you about using this thing?! WHAT DID I SAY?!"

I looked away from the pain in his eyes. “You said not to."

“Damn straight I said not to!" Lucas all but roared. Then he yanked me into a crushing hug, and whatever I might have replied was lost on a wheeze. “Do you know how worried I was? You know every time you mess with that thing, you disappear and I have to live a whole day without you… without you ever existing! And then I don't know if it's going to bring you back!" His body shook.

I wrapped my arms around him, feeling a bit guilty now. “But I didn't disappear this time. It just gave me a vision."

“I don't care. I don't care if it sang and danced and learned how to juggle on a unicycle. I don't want you touching it. Please, PLEASE, Sasha," Lucas begged.

“Lucas… you know I can't promise that. It's my mission–" I began.

“f**k your mission!" Lucas yelled.

My heart squeezed, and I pushed him away. “You don't believe I have a mission, do you?"

“I believe, if the Goddess gave you one, she needs to select someone else," Lucas said, taking deep breaths to calm himself. “I can't handle it, Sasha. Honestly."

Tears welled in my eyes. “You don't think I can do this?"

Lucas shook his head and took my hands. “Sasha sweety, you're the bravest, most capable person I know. I know you can do this. I just don't know if I can."

I sighed and crawled into his lap, letting him hold and rock me while I stroked his arm. “Lucas, I feel the

same way about you. I… I understand if you can't do this with me, though...."

“Oh, f**k that and the horse it rode in on. I'm with you until the end," Lucas growled. “Whatever happens."

“But you just said–"

“If I'm not going to convince you to see sense, then all there is to do is go along with it. But I don't want you touching the orb. Please just let me have it looked at or something first," Lucas said.

He stroked my hair when he said this, his voice soothing. I could tell he was deliberately trying to butter me up, but I couldn't say he didn't have a point. We knew so little about the orb, and the 'prophecy,' and all the rest of it. “I'll try not to touch the orb until we have it looked at by your mother."

“Try really, really f*****g hard," Lucas replied sternly.

I snorted. “Yes, master."

“Oh… that gives me ideas...." Lucas rumbled in my ear, and my mouth went dry.

“Still not letting you have s*x with me," I told him primly.

Lucas nibbled along the shell of my ear. “Still not going to give up trying."

“You're bad," I whispered, and turned my head so he could kiss me.

“The worst," he agreed, tangling his tongue with mine.

I moaned against his lips, and I felt him harden underneath my ass. I ground against him, and he hissed.

“Now who doesn't play fair?" Lucas groaned, his kisses growing hungry.

“Me." Unrepentantly, I gave him a little push, and Lucas stopped ravaging me with a sigh.

“We need to talk about what I saw," I explained. “It's important."

Lucas squeezed his eyes shut, his erratic breathing evening out. “Okay, tell me about what you saw."

“Well, like I said, before I was so rudely interrupted, I was about to learn about how to use the orb and what its purpose was...."