The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4), Kurtis Eckstein [books to read for self improvement .TXT] 📗

the most important rules of being immortal is not to get on the bad side of another immortal. Holding a grudge has different implications for those who can’t die, and you do not want me to have a grudge against you.”

I held up my hands. “Of course,” I agreed, sincerely shocked they would even divulge such information. But then again, I would have just remained confused as hell had she not explained the gist of it, and Winter’s partial explanation kind of necessitated it. “Sorry,” I added, kind of feeling bad about the situation.

Knight looked at me in surprise. “Sorry? For what?”

Winter chimed in without missing a beat. “He thinks my mother was cheating.”

The blonde’s eyes widened in surprise, as she held up her hands, waving them back and forth. “Oh! No, no, no. We’re all okay with it. My husband is the only man I’ve ever wanted, but I’ve never had a problem with him and Winter’s mother hooking up occasionally.”

Winter spoke up again, anticipating my question – a question I definitely wasn’t planning on asking. “No, my father doesn’t care either. Even though he and my mother are ‘together,’ their relationship isn’t like most people. Certainly not like what you’d expect to see in normal society.”

“It’s because of their superpowers,” Knight added. “It has a heavy influence on how they view the world and relationships.” She then focused on Winter, still speaking to me. “But that’s probably all we should say about it for now.” She then directed her words at her niece, her tone more firm. “I can’t stop you from sharing whatever you want about your mother, but I’d prefer to keep my business out of it. You didn’t have to explain why you’re my niece.”

Winter nodded, still focused on me. “You know me, auntie. Divulging unnecessary information is not my MO. But like I said, if he’s immortal then he’ll find out eventually.” Her already sharp gaze seemed to focus on me even more intently, like she was staring directly into my soul. “Plus, the obvious reason why I’m here – to assess the integrity of this CDS postulant. Obviously, I’ve made my initial assessment. This man does not share unnecessary information with others.”

“Yeah, of course,” I agreed without hesitation. “The only person who might find out is–”

“Ms. Rosetti,” Winter interjected, finally breaking her piercing gaze to look back at the blonde sprite. “But you were already aware of that.”

Mrs. Knight nodded, giving me her attention again. “Anyway, I wanted to say this earlier, but especially now that you’ve received approval from my niece, I’m fine if you want to call me Liz instead of being so formal.” She abruptly held up her finger. “As long as you continue with this respectful attitude of yours. Being disrespectful because I look young is the number one way to get on my bad side. I can’t even begin to tell you how many little shitheads I’ve almost suffocated for treating me like a kid.”

As she spoke, the part of her invisible shield that I could still see began to shift and move, tensing in spots similar to how it had done to stop that agent from punching me when he was showing it off. It immediately caused me to understand her words in a different light, realizing she probably meant she could use her shield to suffocate people, rather than implying the threat would be accomplished with her hands.

“So, you can see it,” Winter commented, sounding like she was speaking more to herself.

“Umm, yeah…” I agreed, still feeling odd knowing she was actively hearing my thoughts, and also kind of wondering why she was only now realizing it, unless she hadn’t been reading my mind right away. “And while I’m thinking of it,” I said out loud. “I just want to apologize in advance, Mrs. Fowler, for anything I might–”

“Miss,” she corrected me. “And Winter is fine. I appreciate the consideration, but it feels weird having someone your age refer to me so formally.”

Lovely, now I felt old. I mean, I knew I was old – way older than most other people alive, including even the oldest people I was about to meet, not counting Mrs. Liz, but still. I’d never really felt my age before, especially when my body still looked like I was about twenty-five.

Surprisingly, for the first time ever, Winter smirked slightly.

It was cute – her smile. And part of me wanted to return the gesture, because I knew she was just teasing me now, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Between my stress and the fact I barely knew these two people, despite the fact that this extremely lean goth girl apparently trusted me enough to share such personal details about her family, I just couldn’t crack a smile.

Even if she felt a little more comfortable with me, that didn’t mean I felt entirely comfortable with her. Certainly, she had determined that she could trust that I wouldn’t share unnecessary information, but could I expect the same of her? I mean, that was kind of why she was here – to discover and divulge my secrets.

Granted, when I really considered it, the information she’d shared really wasn’t that personal in her own perception. She’d grown up her whole life likely knowing that her mom had a unique relationship with her father, Mr. Fowler. And if Mr. Knight was anything like me, then he probably viewed this young woman like his own daughter, or at least some form of family, despite her not being his biologically.

Unexpectedly, Winter burst out laughing, cackling hysterically like she’d lost it, her hands grabbing at her extremely flat stomach.

The behavior was so unanticipated that Liz looked at her in surprise.

“Sorry!” she giggled. “You’re just so respectful. It’s hilarious.” She took a deep breath as she stood fully upright again. “Okay, Mr. Archer, I’ll level with you. But you’ll have to keep this to yourself too.”

I was even more confused.

She smirked, revealing her teeth some, causing me to