Worth It - Lisa Oliver Page 0,19
amulet hanging from his neck. “I’ve missed being able to just stop and watch the grass growing.”
“I’d imagine surviving on the streets was hell on earth and trying to force your brain to comprehend the laws of business and finances wasn’t much better. I did enjoy your drawings. You have a good eye for detail.”
“Thank you.” It was instinctive for Paulie to duck his head on the rare occasions he was complimented, but then he couldn’t see the grass and sky, or watch the breeze play with the trees. “I’ve always drawn, since I was old enough to hold a pencil. My mom used to yell at me about it, saying no artist could ever make a living, but when I could draw things for my brothers and sisters, she let me do it then, because I was keeping the little ones quiet.”
“I prefer sculpture myself,” Ra said with a smile. “I’ll have to show you my great hall some day soon. I think you’d appreciate them. But we do need to talk about your powers today. It’s clear you’ve had some since you were young – your abilities to see beyond the physical world for one thing and shifting with clothes. But most demigods come into their full powers on their twenty fifth birthday, which you said you’ve already had, albeit recently. Letting you go back to those boring classes without knowing the full extent of what you can do wouldn’t be responsible of me.”
“I wouldn’t hurt anyone, would I?” Paulie tucked his hands under his armpits. “I don’t even know what a demigod does.”
Ra chuckled. “Pretty much anything they want to do. There aren’t any demigods in the Egyptian pantheon, but the Greeks are famous for them. Heracles is one and so was Helen of Troy. Lasse and Nereus who are sons of Poseidon are both demigods – they were born to Abraxas, one of Helios’s sun horses. In the Roman pantheon you have Romulus and Remus, and among the Norse gods Loki has had a child, Sleipnir, and Odin is apparently the father of Bragi but it’s always difficult to know with him.”
Perhaps noticing Paulie’s look of confusion, Ra added, “What I’m trying to say is you’re not the first shifter demigod. Odin's been known to ride Sleipnir on occasion - he's an eight-legged horse you know, although Bragi was known as the god of poetry and walked the earth as human. Romulus and Remus were actually wolf shifters, but academics prefer to think they were raised by wolves instead.”
“It’s all very confusing,” Paulie admitted. “I doubt I have anything in common with any of those people.”
“No, you probably don’t,” Ra agreed. “Well, you might because we don’t know who fathered you yet, but you don’t have to be like any other demigod to be one. Being your true self is fine.”
“I try to be true to myself.” Paulie lifted his knees hugging them to his chest. The weight of the pendant was heavy on his neck. “But the fact is, I failed at everything. You know, when I had to leave home, I tried to get a job. First, people told me I was too young, then I didn’t have any identification.” He blew out slowly. It was difficult thinking about harder times. “As I got older, I couldn’t get a job because I didn’t have an address, or a social security number, or anything to prove I was even in the States legally. The odd times I could find someone who let me work for cash, the jobs never lasted. This past nine months is the longest I’ve spent under one roof in years.”
“Well having a roof over your head is one thing you’ll never have to worry about again.” Ra tilted his head over to where Cass and Wes were slumped on the ground, enjoying a post-feed nap. “I think those two would appreciate a couple of pillows, don’t you?”
“I think it’s amazing you can just click your fingers or wave your arm and stuff appears.” Paulie watched where his friends were laying, waiting for the pillows to appear.
“I have a strong suspicion you can do it too. Take a deep breath and center yourself.” Ra sat up straighter, holding his hands in front of his chest.
Paulie did the same.
“Now, think about the pillows and where you want them to go.”
It was hard not to giggle. Paulie couldn’t help imagining Wes and Cass buried under a mound of pillows.
“Now just push out, with your