The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4) Kurtis Eckstein (psychology books to read TXT) 📖

intently out front to see that Winter was at the gate in the black car. Without hesitation, she climbed out, walked up to the side, punched in the code that I’d only done once in front of her – not that it mattered, since I’d thought the numbers in my head – and then got back in as the gate opened.

Still, it was surprising she’d memorized it.

I mean, it was only a six-digit code, but still.

Too bad I hadn’t noticed just a little sooner, because there was a monitor on the wall next to the door that could display a video feed of who was at the entrance, as well as display a button to tap in order to open the gate from inside the house, or manually force it to stop in the event something was wrong.

Once she pulled up to the house, she got out again, grabbed a duffle-bag out of the back seat and shouldered it while walking up to the front door. Knowing she could hear my thoughts, I didn’t want to invade her privacy, but there was no way in hell I wasn’t going to check what was inside that bag. I had kids in the house now.

In response to my thoughts, she immediately rolled her eyes, stopped where she was, and turned sideways slightly to give me a better view of the bag.

Damn, it was so strange having a mind reader around. Like, one who was actively hearing my thoughts.

When I saw the bag was full of clothes, quite a bit of which wasn’t the black military outfits she kept wearing, as well as a laptop computer, she resumed walking up to the door, and then stood there expectantly. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as well, while I used an astral limb to unlock the front door.

“Daddy, who is it?” Rose asked from my side, having silently moved there when she heard the gate open.

I looked down at her, realizing that the hand holding the bottle had tiny white claws just barely poking out of her tan fingertips. “It’s okay, sweetie,” I reassured her, as our company stepped through the doorway and looked toward us. “This is Ms. Winter.”

Rose had a very serious expression as she held up the bottle for me to grab, taking a step toward the stranger the moment I accepted it. For half a second, I was concerned Rose was going to attack her or something, but then Winter smiled and crouched down to be on her level.

“Hello there,” Winter said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Rose replied, sounding overly polite, especially for her age. She then moved a little closer, her brow furrowed. “You don’t have very many happy thoughts,” she stated matter-of-factly.

Winter frowned. “I’m not unhappy.”

“Everyone and everything has happy thoughts. Because of the people. But you have so few.”

I was confused by their exchange, wondering how it was possible for what Rose was saying to be true, since Winter seemed like a fairly normal and stable individual. Sure, she was kind of grumpy sometimes, but I couldn’t imagine she’d gone her whole life without having happy thoughts.

Winter looked up at me. “She doesn’t exactly mean ‘thoughts’ so much as feelings.” Rose looked at her in surprise, prompting Winter to return the gaze and nod. “Yes, I can hear your thoughts. I hear everyone’s thoughts.”

“Is that why you don’t have your own happy thoughts?” Rose wondered.

My eyes widened in surprise as a new revelation occurred to me. “Winter, are there consequences for you when you use your superpower? Like when you stabilize people’s emotions?”

She frowned and looked away.

“How bad?” I asked seriously.

She sighed and stood to her feet again. “It’s not a big deal. I just feel what others around me are feeling, in addition to hearing their thoughts, especially in certain circumstances, like when I’m latched on. If they’re depressed, or angry...” She paused. “Or traumatized…then part of the process of me stabilizing them is actively sharing the burden.”

Shit.

At least, I felt like that explained a lot, like why she was so grumpy last night. She was experiencing all the shock, pain, trauma, and frustrations of both Heidi and Lexi combined. Meaning, she was probably a lot more irritable and messed up even than she was letting on.

“I told you it’s not a big deal,” she repeated out loud.

I wanted to contradict her, but realized it would be pointless to do so. Because even if it was a big deal, it wasn’t like it made a difference. It was her power, and she would continue to use it how she wanted and when she wanted.

Rose spoke up again. “You smell funny.”

Winter gave her another confused look, only to abruptly begin laughing. “That’s my fur. I’m not used to people being able to smell it.”

Rose’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “You have fur?! Can I see it?! Can I touch it?!”

Winter laughed again, before beginning to unbutton her black jacket, and then taking it off so that she was only wearing a black t-shirt, tucked into her tight pants. Damn, she was skinny. And sure enough, the white fur could be seen on her upper arms. Without hesitation, Winter pulled up on her sleeve to reveal her fur-covered shoulder, two black stripes visible.

Rose was in awe, closing the gap and beginning to pet it gently. “It’s so soft,” she whispered.

Eden began squirming in my arms then, so I decided to sit down in the chair to feed her only for Rose to speak up again.

“Daddy, I want to feed her.”

“Oh, well sorry then,” I replied playfully. “I thought you were busy.”

“Eden is first,” she said firmly, climbing into the chair so I could hand off the baby.

Once she was situated, I stepped back. Normally, if Rose had been a normal kid, then I wouldn’t feel comfortable with her watching a baby by herself, but Rose was Rose. She was still a kid, but at the same time was