Page 19 of Son of a Witch

Pascal trailed outside, saying something to Tor, probably offering assistance. He’d been Tor’s shadow these past few days, getting Tor water, a blanket, snacks from the store, comics, whatever he needed. Blame consumed my autistic lover, and he desperately tried compensating by making Tor comfortable. All it did was serve to make Tor feel more helpless, and he wheeled away from Pascal.

“Fuck. I’m losing my Superguy.” I pressed a dusty hand to my forehead, forgetting about the dirt. “We all are.”

Knoxe rested comforting hands on my shoulders, squeezing, kneading the knot in my upper back. “No, we’re not. Just give him some space. Let him sort through his shit. He’s the only one who can do that.”

That was what I was afraid of. Leaving Tor to his own devices equaled anarchy. I couldn’t lose him. Not another lover. Not after having Raze taken from me.

Tor was mine. Hell, I’d stayed in this godforsaken place for him when I could have left with Raze. Abandoning Tor when he needed me the most made me a heartless bitch.

My chest squeezed so hard it felt like I got struck with a heart attack. Staying for Tor also made me break my promise not to take sides with my lover after I’d hidden Raze’s secret.

Protecting Raze had cost us so much. Divided the team, disappointed my men, betrayed them, and caused us a world of trouble with the warden. Daggers pierced my heart at choosing Tor over Raze. Karma, that bitch, was taking them both from me for being unfair.

“Don’t coddle Tor,” Knoxe cautioned, throwing my Superguy a glance. “You’ll push him away. He’s already getting pissed off with Pascal. Just back off.”

Fuck. I’d been so scared to lose Tor, I’d been smothering him.

“Am I’m being annoying? Mothering him?” Shit, that was the last thing I wanted. I’d hoped to be supportive, show him the good he could still do, and not let him sink into dark thoughts. “God. I have been. He hardly touches me. Gets angry at me all the time. Can’t meet my gaze. I’m just trying to help.”

Knoxe brought me in close for a cuddle. “No. You’ve been perfect with him. I just mean you can’t protect him from everything, especially himself. He needs to come to terms with this.”

Knoxe was right. Blunt. Honest. Sharp like the daggers we trained with and just as menacing as he sliced my heart.

I jerked away and raised a pointed, arched brow at him. “On second thought, don’t have a word with Tor. Your pep talks suck.”

Knoxe dragged me back despite my resistance. “Don’t give him hope and put silly ideas into his head if there’s not a spell that can help him.”

I wanted to slap him. Wanted to scream. Drop a damn boulder on his foot for being such a realist. Raze might have died from the Lucan venom, but did I give up?

“I can’t believe you just said that.” I had the power to break down chemical bonds. There had to be someone with the opposite powers in the Guardians or gantii world to reconnect the structure of Tor’s spine and heal him.

Knoxe’s arms squeezed me as if to shake me. “Calm down. I’m trying to be reasonable here. Asking the what ifs.”

I let him lean his forehead to mine and hold me, because,God,I really needed the comfort too. Raze’s departure had shaken me to the core and left me raw. Tor’s injury left me numb and shocked. Pascal’s distance had dropped a wedge between us. All I had was Knoxe, which was a one-eighty from last week when he’d avoided me for a month and broken me.

“There’s always another way,” I said, “and I refuse to believe there isn’t.”

“I just don’t want to see him get his hopes smashed, that’s all,” Knoxe whispered. “That’ll ruin him more than his injury.”

I guess he had a point. Ten failed batches of antivenom for Raze. My chemistry skills needed more work. If I was outside this damn shithole, I could find the perfect chemical compound. My shoulders sagged at the reminder.

The team smuggled in a vial of legit anti venom from the black-market and failed again when the sentries confiscated it. The warden had saved Raze’s ass by using the smuggled product. Everything had worked out in the end, and that was the hope I clung to for Tor. Somehow, we’d find a way.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “I’ll plot and scheme in the background.”

Knoxe chuckled.

I watched as Pascal worked like a machine, part of his Autistic tendencies to get lost in a task, the way I did in the laboratory.

“Astra, he’ll know you’re up to something if you disappear to the lab all the time.” Knoxe’s husky warning made me sink into him.

Classic move from me. I jiggled my knee and smiled. “Nothing wrong with that. As long as he knows I’m fighting for him too. But for his sake, I’ll only let him know if I discover something promising.”

Except, I didn’t know how the lab would serve him unless I researched repairing spinal cord injuries. Stem cell regeneration, perhaps. Shit, I didn’t know the first thing about that. It wasn’t like the Guardians library had a collection or online subscription of medical journals. And, I probably needed a sample of his spinal fluid or bone marrow. Double dammit. I tapped my lips, wondering how to get around that issue.

Knoxe shook his head and chuckled, the noise stoking the low-burning fire that had been put on hold the last few nights due to all the chaos surrounding us. By now, he knew better than to argue with me. I wouldn’t stop until I figured out a solution to our problems, chemical or otherwise.

“I’ll talk to him.” Knoxe dropped a warm, sensual kiss on my lips, but it felt wrong to enjoy it with Tor miserable and Pascal blaming himself. “But at some point, he’ll need to speak to the shrink.”

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