Page 38 of Love the Way You Lion
Blade moans, her voice hoarse but insistent. “Stop, damn it.” She tries to lift herself, pain etching a scar across her features, but I press a hand to her shoulder, urging her to lie still.
“Lie back. I only sensed she was off. Nothing more.” I try to reassure my new mate’s primary, so he doesn’t crash out and make everything harder.
He exhales, the cool press of his palm settling on her leg. “Alright.” His tone is curt, but something softens behind the anger. “But I’m going to murder someone if this isn’t fixednow.”
The room seems to shrink, the candle flames flaring as Deli lifts her chin. “Both of you—calm downor I will remove you. I’m not joking.”
She’s definitely serious and I’m not going to mess with a pregnant magical shifter who is here to save my mate’s life—that’d be stupid.
The Cat Makes A Mistake
DELILAH
~Can you help her, baby? ~
My husband speaks into my mind, deciding to take the wiser route of listening to me rather than blustering. I nod, giving him a serious look as I sit back down. I float the poultices and tinctures close enough to reach. “You’re going to want to move back from her while I pull out the drugs. I need some space.” I murmur into his mind, not wanting the others to hear.~I can do this; you have to trust me. ~
~With everything I have, minx. ~His heart touches mine and I sigh, feeling much better now that I know he has faith in me.
“Talia, I need you to drink this. It tastes like ass—sorry. Brace yourself for it to burn. I mean, it will burn like your veins are on fire.”
Talia pushes up on her elbows, taking sips from the vial I’m offering her. She makes a disgusted face and I give her an apologetic smile. I wasn’t kidding about how bad it tastes. She doesnotwant to know what’s in it, that’s for damned sure. The screaming starts and I watch her arch and writhe. I hold a hand up at the mates whoare champing at the bit to move closer. They can’t help and I need them to stay back. This is way more dangerous than I’ve let on and I need to concentrate or I’ll fuck it up.
Ever so slowly, I feel the trickle of ooze coming out of Talia’s pores, invisible to them as it snakes its way into the air. I keep my eyes on it, bidding it to gather in a ball so that I can cordon it off. I have to keep it from escaping into someone else in the room. This is the most dangerous part of the procedure. It could fail and we’re all fucked. I don’t know how long I can hold it, which is why the last part being quicker is optimal. “Your gaze should clear up soon. You’re doing great—only a little more to go.”
Taurus is staring at me, and I know he’s trying not to connect to me. He wants to see what I’m doing and to stop her screaming pain. It’s good that he’s resisting because he would break my flow—which would cause a major problem. Rafe watches me and then Taurus; he nods in understanding at the helplessness I know they both feel right now. The power emanating from me nips at their skin like fleas, trying to get in, trying to soak up their energy. If they stay back, they’ll be fine.
When I feel the last remnants of the drugs leave her system, I smile in relief and reach out for the tiny ball of cordoned energy. I will it to stay that way until I remove it again to dispose of it. Since I haven’t done this before—only read about it—I’m hoping that works. I tuck the ball in the robe’s pocket I threw on before I came and look at Talia. “You okay down there?”
She’s sweating, but she looks more in control. Her face is a mask of pain and discomfort, but I see nothing else that worries me. A brief nod makes me sigh in relief. “Yeah, I think so. If the choice were to go through that again or die, though, let me die.”
Taurus falls to his knees, and I can only guess that the removal of drugs lifted the bond blockage between them. Talia’s pain musthave slammed into him like a freight train. “Christ. The drugs were causing the block. I feel her; I feel all of it now.”
Rafe’s teeth grit, but you wouldn’t know that it hurts if you looked at him. I give him a sad smile. The knowledge of our high pain tolerance and where it came from passes back and forth for a second. I’d take it, but I can’t do that and focus on his mate. His jaw clenches, but he looks calm.
“You’re a bigger girl than that and we both know it. You can handle it. We’re at the tough part now because, um, I don’t know what—okay. The wound is severe. First, I’m going to put this stinky stuff on it, which won’t hurt, but to um, activate it, I have to—well, I mean. I don’t know what you want me to do.” Turning to Talia, I prepare for a struggle of my own. I know what I have to do and she won’t like it. She’s strong and smart and dangerous and beautiful andnot damagedlike me. She doesn’t have the taint of the others like I do. How can I tell her she’s going to have to...?
I have magick, but this isn’t all magick. My mutant shit is part of how I do this, and I can’t activate this poultice without my blood. They have a blood thing, and the amount of me in Taurus or Rafe will not knit organs. She’s too weak to even try it. Okay, Deli, calm down and say it. Stop being a pansy. Fuck. They’re all going to kill me. Stop being a pansy.
“Spit it out, minx,” Taurus growls and I glare at him.
“Don’t be a bully! To heal, it’s not wavy, sparkly magick. It’s me. You know that, baby. I have to mix it in the stuff or it won’t work!”
His eyes widen and I know he gets why I’m stuttering like an incompetent. “Your blood.”
“Yes!” I turn to Talia, looking embarrassed. “So, um, do you have aproblem—I mean.”
She blinks at me and then looks at Taurus and then at Rafe and then at me again. Rafe is giving me a frustrated look, and I’m feeling self-conscious and stupid. I hate that I’m the village bike to them. Hell, it’s so bad that you’d rather die, right? “Look, I want to help, but I don’t want to do something that you’ll get pissed about later.”
“The way I figure it; we’ve already shared blood, albeit roundabout. Do what you have to do.” She grins a little. “But don’t give me a tail and we’ll be good.”
“One time. It happenedone time,” I grumble. “Agoddessdid it, and how’s thatmyfault?” I flick out a claw, trying to get myself into focus because I have more to do. “Do you want to stay comfy and do this the messy way, or should I make it cleaner but harder on you? Either is fine.”
Talia blinks, looking at me for a moment, and then grabs my hand. “You don’t have to do this—none of it.”
“Duh,” I say, waiting to see if she’s going to pass because of the Deli-cooties.
“I’ll heal on my own if you don’t want to do this.”
