by Sadie Jacks
“Ransom, we need to figure out what’s going on. This will be the easiest and fastest way.”
“No. We need to keep you safe. I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with me. You keep getting hurt whenever you touch me.” And didn’t that fucking suck? “We tried it. Twice, I might add. You got hurt both times.” I shook my head. “No. Not again.”
“I didn’t do any of my rituals. There are things I can do to protect myself, Ransom. Things that will make the…repercussions not so bad.”
“Why did you hesitate?” I studied her face. She couldn’t meet my gaze. The honey tones of her skin looked a little pale. “You’re holding out on me. You know what’s wrong, don’t you?” I could feel the fury start low in my belly.
“No.” She shook her head. “No. I don’t. I don’t know what’s wrong. You’re right, I’m not telling you everything. But that’s because those things have absolutely nothing to do with you.”
My stomach dropped as my throat started to close. I thought she’d trusted me. At least a little.
“I can’t hurt you or help you with the knowledge. It literally concerns only me.” She pleaded with me. Her big pale gray eyes looked on the verge of tears, her lower lip quivered almost imperceptibly.
“Then why won’t you tell me?” I had to know. I’d just trusted her with one of my biggest secrets. Hell, she trusted me enough to try touching me. She should be able to trust me enough with whatever this was. Especially if she needed my help to fix whatever might be wrong with us.
Her face fell as her shoulders slumped. She shook her head and let it drop to her chest.
It felt like I’d been donkey-kicked in the chest. My eyes slid closed at the pain in my chest.
“Healing…” her voice trailed off.
I held my breath as I waited. My belly in knots. She was going to trust me. I opened my eyes.
She cleared her throat. “Healing people like I do has a price.”
I had to lean in, she’d spoken so softly I almost didn’t hear her.
“For every person I heal, I lose six months of life.”
My blood ran cold.
Chapter 22 – Kiema
I was afraid to look up at him. He’d never let me look inside him now. Never let me touch him again. Damn it. It was my body, my choice. I should get to make the decision on how I lived and died.
My resolve hardened. He could take it or leave it, but I was the one in control of my own life. For the first time. Forever. No one else would get to make those decisions for me. Not ever again.
I looked up, determination blazing in my eyes.
He looked like he wanted to kiss me, vomit, and scream at me. All at once.
A giggle escaped me. I slapped a hand over my mouth, eyes wide.
His dark blond eyebrows dropped low over his eyes. “What the fuck did you just say?”
I repeated it. This time, I said it with strength.
I was the master of my own life. I’d heal as many fucking people as I want, and everyone else can just suck it.
“I’m going to FUCKING kill your parents!” He rocketed to his feet, bed sheets waving in the wind. He stomped around the open space like a lion prowls a zoo enclosure. All coiled muscles and growls.
He was muttering under his breath.
My belly was full of bubbles and dandelion fuzz. Falling back onto the floor, I wrapped my arms around myself. Someone finally saw me, really saw me. Knew I had value. Knew I had worth. I was more than just a thing, a commodity.
I was so happy, I could die right now, and it would be okay.
Well, I’d need to make sure Ransom was completely healed first, but then I could die.
“No, no, no, no, no. Not happening. That isn’t happening.”
I tuned back into the room around me. To the big man making plans without me.
I jolted upright, ready to fight. “It’s my life, Ransom. I can do what I want with it.”
“What?” He looked like he’d forgotten I was there. “I’m not talking to you.” He waved me silent.
I felt the buzzing in my head that told me he was talking to his group of guys. I sat on the floor, waiting for him to focus back on me.
**
Minutes turned into an hour. Hours turned into most of the day. Ransom had gone into his room, shutting the door behind himself. At least I couldn’t feel the buzzing of their secret conversations this far away from him.
Those guys talked like a group of old women.
Stretching, I got off the floor and went into the kitchen. While we hadn’t been looking, dusk had fallen, turning the light a warm golden color.
Searching through the stocked pantry, I studied my options. In the mood for carbs, and lots of them, I grabbed a package of pasta and the jar of sauce.
I read the directions carefully on each item before setting about my first foray into cooking.
Ransom made it look easy enough.
As water boiled, pasta cooked, sauce bubbled, I scrounged around for some garlic bread. The cabin was typically stocked with just about every possibility for the week of the ritual. Usually my Seekers were the ones to do the cooking. But since Ransom was still locked away in his room, I figured I could do it. Living on my own was going to bring a lot of changes to my life. Feeding myself was definitely going to be one of them.
I slathered the bread with the golden buttery goodness, drenching it. The pasta was still a little crunchy, but it would do. The sauce was a little scorched, but, all in all, I was pretty pleased with myself.
“Smells delicious out here,” Ransom called, taking a huge sniff as he emerged from his suite.
I looked up from the pans. “There’s enough for you, if you want some.”
“Sure do.” He walked around the kitchen island. Grabbing a plate, he leaned down and planted the softest, quickest kiss on my hair.
I almost dropped my loaded plate.
“What was that for?”
“Because I wanted to.”
I nodded, at a loss for words. The man was going to give me whiplash with his rapidly changing feelings.
“So, we’ve been doing some planning,” Ransom began.
I lifted a hand. “I’m going to stop you right there. Unless you were making plans that didn’t involve me, none of those plans are going to work. I will be at the center of any planning that goes on that concerns my life.” I stuffed my mouth with a big bite of pasta.
Ransom gaped at me.
I raised my eyebrows at him. What did he think? That I’d roll over and let them plan my life? I had enough of that with my parents; I wasn’t about to let virtual strangers do it for me.
He opened his mouth. Shut it. Opened it again. Shook his head. Closed it.
“You’re right. Let me run the plans we discussed by you, and you can decide which works best for you.”
“Better. Not quite right, but definitely better.” I got another bite to eat. Not too bad, if I did say so myself.
“Okay, Plan A is to kill your parents.”
I spat pasta and sauce all over the kitchen island. Coughing and hacking at the pieces that stuck in my throat, it was a couple of minutes before I could speak.
“I’m a little scared of any other plans you idiots might have concocted.”
“We’re not idiots. And the rest are a lot nicer than the first one.”
I snickered. “Thank Gaia for that. Do go on.”
“First, did you know your parents had you declared legally dead at the age of eleven?”
My brow furrowed. “Yeah, but how did you know that?”
He gritted his teeth. “Xander. He’s our hacker. If he can’t find something on the internet, it’s not there to be found.”
“Okay, what does that have to do with the plan?”
“Well, if your parents don’t have a child, then they couldn’t report it to anyone if you go missing.”
I stared at him. That was my plan, damn it. I narrowed my eyes.
“What? Why are you glaring at
me?”
We stared at each other in silence.
Then he laughed. “You were planning to do the same thing?” He clapped his hands together like he’d won the lottery. “If that’s the case, we can work at combining plans, and have you gone and out of sight like last year’s fad diet.”
Chapter 23 – Ransom
Four days later
“Fuck, Ki. You’ve got to stop. I can’t handle anymore.” I fought not to clench my fists; my head thrown back. My chest was heaving as the muscles in my arms quivered.
“Whiner. If you were more flexible, it wouldn’t hurt so much now.” She pushed my hips down against the floor.
“I’ll remember that next time. For the love of Gaia, let me up.”
She sighed heavily. “Fine, but next time we go for at least half an hour.” She stepped back, letting me come out of Cobra pose. “You’ve got to do something. You’ve gained at least thirty pounds of muscle. You don’t keep it stretched out, you’re going to be a hunched old man by the age of thirty-five.”
I collapsed onto the floor. I fucking hurt all over.
Turning, I watched her.
She slung her towel over her shoulder, using the ends to blot the beginnings of sweat beads from her brow. Her long black hair sat in a mess on top of her head. Her bouncy ass cupped like a lover by her pants.
I was fucking jealous of those pants. I rubbed my sweaty head into the thinnest excuse for a mat I’d ever seen.
“Come on, lazy bones. We’ve got more work to do,” she called from the other side of the living room.
The woman was a slave-driver. She didn’t believe in wasting time. If she wasn’t sleeping or eating, she was learning or practicing something. Never an idle moment.
“Ransom,” she whined.
I smiled. She was so fucking cute when she acted like a ten-year-old. She honest to Gaia stomped her foot yesterday when I didn’t move fast enough for her. The woman was certainly unaccustomed to working with others. Her bad social skills cracked me up.
Pushing myself up from the floor, I adjusted the too small boxer briefs under my ripped sweatpants. I’d gotten tired of bed sheets. And at least my too tight underwear helped me during the next session.
“Coming, mother.”
She snorted and laughed.
The sound curled around my body like sin and sex. I was in way over my head with this woman, and I hadn’t even gotten to taste her lips yet. Hell, the last time I’d gotten any kind of action had been in the fucking shower a handful of days ago.
Resisting her was getting harder and harder. I adjusted my crotch. It wasn’t the only thing getting harder and harder. If this kept up, and I didn’t see any sign of it abating, I’d have to jack off in the shower.
“Ready, mistress. Let the torture begin,” I said as I settled next to her on the couch. I was only half joking.
She stuck her tongue out at me. “Shush. I need to concentrate.” She pulled her legs up into the lotus position. Her eyelids fluttered closed.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
The slowest five count of my entire life, and I’d been watching her do it daily for the last four days.
“Seeker, are you ready?” she asked. It sounded as if there were more people than just her using her voice.
“Yes.”
“Open your mind.” I closed my eyes. I didn’t want a repeat of the first time.
She rested a hand on mine. The only point of contact we’d had since the shower. I grit my teeth against the desire to grab her hand and pull her onto my lap. Only the fact that it would set fire to her from the inside out kept me from acting on my fantasies.
Please, Gaia, let this fucking work. I can’t take much more of this.
I felt it. Whatever it was that she did when she merged with me. I felt her inside of me. Like a swirling tornado of peace. Everything bent and bowed in her path. But as soon as she passed, peace like I’d never experienced settled over me.
“Mmm. I think I’ve finally found it, Ransom.” Her voice sank beneath my skin.
“Fix it.” I struggled to get the words out.
A single flame lit under my chest. That was new. I kept my mouth shut.
Soon that single flame turned into a blow torch. Scorching my ribs, melting muscle and sinew. My heart and lungs were next.
“Ransom?”
I couldn’t speak. My vocal cords had been charred. Hell, I could barely fucking breathe.
I grabbed her hand.
“Oh shit. Not again.” Her voice came from the far end of a tunnel.
Something washed through me. Like a great furry beast, it brushed my insides like it wanted some love.
The fuck is that?
“This is what I was talking about.” I felt her words instead of heard them. “Breathe deeply, Ransom. I think this is what we’ve been waiting for.”
It’d better fucking be or there would be hell to pay.
That, or I’d be dead.
I tried to inhale. The fire burned through it before it could reach my lungs.
“Like this, Ransom.” I felt a hand on my chest. The air rushed through my body, but I was fairly certain it didn’t come through my lungs.
As my lungs relaxed, my body followed.
Searing pain ripped through me. No longer just metaphysical, I felt my muscles tearing from my bones.
My head tipped back as an inhuman scream tore from my throat.
Chapter 24 – Kiema
“Shit, shit, shit.” I snatched my hand back and covered my mouth to bury my own scream.
His body thrashed from the sofa to the floor as whatever had been inside him tried to get out. The sounds coming from his body made my stomach heave. Pops, rips, groans. It was a symphony of pain.
I couldn’t leave him to deal with this on his own. I’d done this. I would fix it.
Ripping my psyche open, I found the place that held my magic. Pushing that spark from my chest into my hands, I settled them against his writhing chest.
His body stilled.
“Thank Gaia.” I let out a heavy breath. “Please let this work.” I shoved my magic into him.
Forcing it from my own body, I willed it into his.
It sank into his chest with a sigh.
Just before my vision went black, I thought I heard something.
But that couldn’t have been right.
There were no animals in the house.
Chapter 25 – Ransom
That hurt like a son of a bitch. Thankfully that shit was done. I could finally breathe. Where was Kiema? Hopefully I hadn’t hurt her when I grabbed her. I’d have to check on her.
I stumbled to my hands and knees. How the hell had I ended up on the floor?
Shaking my head to clear it, it dawned on me that something wasn’t right.
I called out, but what came from my mouth wasn’t words.
What the fuck?
“Ransom?” Dr. Atlas called through my brain. “Something just went haywire with the circuitry here on our end. Your implant is going crazy.”
“What the fuck?” At least I still had a mental voice.
“That’s what I’m trying to understand, Ransom. Report your situation.”
“Kiema and I were working on her magic and my healing. Something happened. I just woke up on the floor. When I tried to talk to her, I swear I sounded like a huge cat.”
“We don’t care about your sex games, Ransom. Unless you’re going to share some pictures of Kiema,” Asher butted in.
I snarled. Yup, huge cat of some kind.
“Asher, you’re dead when I see you next.”
“Shut it, Ash. We’ve got bigger things to deal with than your infantile obsession with sex. Ransom, find a reflective surface and send us a mental image,” Atlas ordered.
“On it. I need to check on Kiema, make sure she’s okay first.”
“No. You need to make sure you’re okay, otherwise you
won’t be able to help her.”
“Sometimes I really hate your practicality, Atlas.”
“I’m sure I’ll survive the heartache. Mirror, glass, we need an image. Now.”
I pushed to my feet. Or at least tried.
“Fuck!” I pitched sideways before catching myself on what felt like my hands and knees. I looked down at the floor.
“What’s wrong?”
“I have fucking paws is what’s wrong.” I sent them all a picture of my feet…paws…whatever.
“Those fuckers are huge,” Taryk said. “They look like the size of dinner plates. Full picture, Ransom. Now.”
Another fucking person telling me what to do. I snarled again.
I walked—crawled, whatever the hell it was called—to the windows. Night had fallen once again.
“This can’t be right.” I shook my head. The thing staring back at me mirrored the motion.
The thing that was me had a head shaped like a lion but on the body of a horse. Wings that reminded me of the bald eagle sprang from my back. The scaled tail of a dragon. My front feet were lion paws, and the back two were horse hooves.
“I’ve never seen that combination of animals before in my life,” Taryk said. He sounded equal parts excited and terrified.
“If Dr. Dolittle himself is unfamiliar, then we’re all screwed,” Saint added, the slightest edge of anxiety threading his tone.
“Find Kiema, Ransom,” Atlas ordered. “We need to make sure she’s still…okay.”
I heard the implication. I promise, if I’d hurt her while transforming into this monstrosity, I’d figure out a way to kill myself.
I turned from the window. Something bumped into my…tail. Or rather my tail bumped into something. A crash sounded from behind me. Table and lamp.
No Kiema.
My front paws were silent against the hardwood floors. My back feet were obnoxiously loud with their hooves.
“Use your nose. If you’re an animal, your sense of smell will be dramatically heightened,” Taryk offered.
I closed my eyes. Pulling a deep breath into my body, I flinched at the morass of scents flooding the room. “How had I missed all these scents?”