AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What other explanation is there? Except for the usual fluffy word salad I often hear. Can you shed more light on the subject?”
“Will it stop you from killing me?”
“No.”
“Then why should I help you understand the most powerful force in the universe?”
Ghoika moved wicked fast. Between one blink and another, I found a pistol in my face.
“Can your love stop a bullet?” he said.
“No.”
“Can it stop Iron Hoof from snapping your neck?”
“No.”
“Can it defeat the mighty Changelings?”
“No.”
Ghoika lowered the pistol.
“Then it’s nothing worth learning about,” he said.
He turned to Iron Hoof.
“He’s due onstage in an hour,” he said. “Get him through makeup and costume, and then onstage. I want you to stay with him in case he tries anything heroic.”
Iron Hoof turned me around on the spot and marched me toward the door.
“There’s one thing you forgot when you asked about love,” I said.
Iron Hoof growled and squeezed my neck harder.
“Let him speak,” Ghoika said.
Iron Hoof relaxed his grip and turned me back around.
“Love isn’t alive, not until it comes in contact with a living thing,” I said. “But it’s not very strong by itself. It’s only powerful when it links two living things together. That’s love. And when its linked to more people, it spreads, growing even stronger. Can love stop a bullet? No. But a loved one might leap in front of someone to prevent them from dying. Can it stop Iron Hoof from killing me? No. Unless he loves me, and then he’d never hurt me. Can it defeat the mighty Changelings?”
I smiled and noticed a flicker of hesitation on the Changeling’s face.
“No,” I said, “unless a species loves their homeworld so much they’re willing to sacrifice their lives to reclaim it. That’s why love is so powerful. And that’s why Changelings will never be as strong as us. They’ll always fail when confronted by love.”
Ghoika stood there a moment, letting the words run through his mind. Then he waved a hand, dismissing us. He still hadn’t moved a muscle.
Iron Hoof marched me out the door.
Can Maddy rescue me from my fate? No. But I would take her with me into the afterlife and love her until the end of time.
Tell me if a blaster pistol could do that.
I was rushed through hair, makeup, and costume and led into the green room by my chaperone.
“Can I make a coffee?” I said, motioning to the facilities on a nearby table.
“No,” Iron Hoof said. “Sit.”
