Chapter 470


    Chapter 470


    Mason


    When Lanie needed to sneak into the hybrid facility to rescue the twins, she’d used a potion from


    the witch Rhiannon to change her appearance.


    When I described that quickly to Ste, she tipped her head back inughter that rang throughout


    the walled garden. When she looked back at me, her eyes twinkled. She patted my hand.


    “I don’t need a potion, Abba! I can ess the powers of a shapeshifter, remember?”


    I shook my head with a chuckle. “Sweetheart, there’s so much you can do that I can’t even begin to


    comprehend.”


    As I watched, Ste’s features rippled. Her eyes turned a dark amber, while her hair faded into pale


    gold. Faint freckles scattered suddenly across her nose and cheeks, which were pudgier than they’d


    been a moment ago. Her smiling mouth changed, too. The effectsted only a few seconds before


    she returned to her familiar face.


    “That’s beyond amazing,” I told her, the hairs rising on the back of my neck. “It’s incredible.”


    “It’s weird,” she said matter-of-factly.


    Iughed again. “It’s not something I think you’d want to trot out in front of people who don’t know


    you, that’s for sure. But it’s still an amazing gift.”


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    “How’s it going to help me, though?” She bit her lower lip with straight, white teeth, then let her head


    hang so her hair covered her face for a moment. Her fingers knotted in herp as she shook her


    head. “Looking like a different person isn’t going to make me into a different person.”


    I thought of Lanie when she’d been Katie. She had looked the same as she did now, but she had


    been different. And why? Because those of us in Stillwood hadn’t known her already. We hadn’t had


    any preconceived notions of how she ought to behave, or anything about her personality at all.


    “Looking like a different person is going to give you the chance to figure out who you want to be. Not


    who the Goddess expects you to be,” I cautioned her. “You’re still discovering yourself, little star.


    You might have every gift a supernatural can have, and you might have all the weight of the


    universe on your shoulders, but so far in your life, have you ever had the chance to truly understand


    yourself?”


    I could tell she had not. Her eyes welled with tears she dashed away with quick swipes of her


    fingertips. She gave me a watery, brave, and genuine smile.


    “I think I’m starting to. I definitely want to,” she added quickly.


    “If you look like someone else for a while, you might be able to put down some of your burden. Just


    for a short time, here and there,” I said hastily when it looked like she meant to protest. “But you are


    not only a Celestial, Ste. You’re more than that.”


    “I don’t know if it’s possible to be more than a Celestial, Abba.” She shook her head. “I’m not trying


    to brag, but Celestials are a pretty big deal.”


    Iughed and leaned forward to hug her with one arm. She leaned against me. “So let yourself be


    ordinary sometimes.”


    She was quiet for a moment or so before she pulled away with a nod. “I think I understand what


    you’re getting at.”


    Excitement edged her voice, and the gleam of tears became a shine of interest.


    “As long as everyone here recognizes me, I won’t be able to do much. I won’t be able to hang out


    with anyone other than people who already know me…which is a very small group,” she said.


    I nodded, letting her put the pieces together, as I knew she’d be able to. “Yep.”


    “But if I change my appearance, I could go out. In public. Anywhere I wanted to go!” She sounded


    even more excited and even pped her hands together a couple of times. “People I meet won’t be


    stuck on the fact that I’m a Celestial. Heck, they won’t even know!”


    “That’s exactly right. It will give you some freedom. You’ll be able to have some privacy, too,” I told


    her.


    Ste’s excitement faded. She frowned. “But…Abba, won’t people be upset with me once they find


    out? It will feel like I’ve tricked them.”


    “That’s possible. But if you make the right sorts of friends, they’ll care more about what’s inside of


    you, the real you, than how you look.”


    “But when they find out I’m Ste the Celestial, they’ll be upset I didn’t tell them already.”


    “Why would they?” I point out. “Unless you straight up lie and say ‘Hi there, I’m absolutely not a


    Celestial, happy to meet you,’ what could they really say?’”


    “Abba,” Ste said with a frown.


    I grinned. “I know it’s splitting hairs. A technicality. As your father, I certainly wouldn’t suggest you


    practice dishonesty as a general rule. But…”


    “But,” Ste agreed after a second’s hesitation. Her grin returned. “Maybe it’s better to ask for


    forgiveness than for permission?”


    I held up my hand so she could fist bump it. “Let’s start with that.”