"In the alley, when you blasted me, what were you trying to do?" he asked. He lowered his hand and took one of hers. As if worn out, he rested his head against the cushions.
"Turn you into a rock."
"You can do that?"
"I think so. I can turn anything into something else the same size, but I'd never tried with a person before." She lifted one of the spare pillows and turned it into a rolled-up blanket. She draped it over him. "Jule, what are you? You're not like me, and you're not like my father."
"It's a long story."
"You're too weak to go anywhere," she pointed out. For the first time since they met, Jule seemed to withdraw for a moment. Yully waited curiously.
"It's not easy admitting what you are sometimes," Jule said.
"You aren't alone in that," she said with a small smile.
"True," he replied and smiled back at her. "I think you put a spell on me, sweetheart. I can't refuse to answer you."
Her face warmed again. He took her hand and pulled her close enough for their bodies to touch. The flow of energy soothed her, and she relaxed against him.
"I'm an immortal who's older than dirt. I don't remember much of my time before coming to this world, except I was expelled. Apparently, I chose a woman over life in the immortal realm."
Yully's disappointment was soul-deep at the mention of a potential wife for the immortal.
"Her name was Cassandra. She was a human who died soon after I came here."
"How'd she die?" Yully asked.
"There was an era called the Schism, where the heavens and earth separated. A lot of people and immortals died during that time. The world was flooded in some areas and on fire in others with still other parts blanketed in outright war." His gaze grew distant. "She drowned. I was with my immortal brothers fighting the Others, the ancestors to your father."
"How awful. Do you miss her?"
"I did for many, many years. That type of heartache is rough, but I came to peace with it and was pretty happy with my expulsion, until a few days ago."
"When you met me," she guessed, frowning.
"You've been the highlight. There is a state of constant struggle between good and evil here on earth and a similar struggle in the immortal world between the Others and another faction called the Watchers. The leader of the bad guys on earth died and was replaced. It sort of wreaks havoc on the balance. All the Guardians, like me and Sean, your bartender friend in that pub where we met, lost our magic."