Rayne's Return (Hearts of ICARUS Book 3)

by Laura Jo Phillips

  “What can you do?”

  “She’s been bleeding internally for damn near an hour and her injuries are catastrophic,” Blake said, his voice heavy with regret. “Her internal bleeding and shock have been so severe for so long that she’s already in almost complete organ shutdown. She doesn’t have enough time left for me to do anything. A minute or two. No more. I’m sorry, Landor.”

  “What do we do?” Con asked, more frightened than he’d ever been in his entire life.

  “Link with her,” Salene said sharply. “Right now. Hurry!”

  “She’s right,” Landor said, already stepping closer to the head of the bed.

  Blake’s eyes widened in surprise. He’d figured out from the conversation he’d overheard while treating Princess Salene that the woman now on the medi-cot beside him was Princess Rayne. He certainly hadn’t known that she was the Bearen-Hirus’ berezi, but the knowledge gave him instant hope. “You need to do this fast,” he said urgently, turning back to the scans.

  “But…,” Ari began. Landor cut him off sharply.

  “Get in place, right now,” he barked, brushing the hair from Rayne’s neck with trembling fingers. Ari nodded and reached for Rayne’s right wrist while Con went around the medi-cot and picked up her left wrist. They pushed the sleeves of her sweater back, then waited for Landor’s signal.

  “Now,” he said softly, then lowered his mouth to Rayne’s neck and bit down gently, sliding the needle sharp mating fangs into her soft skin. Con and Ari bit into her wrists at the exact same moment, and they all waited, barely breathing as their serum flowed from their fangs into Rayne’s sluggish blood stream. They all raised their heads at the same exact moment, and licked the tiny wounds they’d made, sealing them.

  “Step back from the medi-cot,” Blake ordered as soon as they were finished. Landor looked up at Blake in surprise, but stepped back and gestured for Con and Ari to do the same. As soon as they were clear, two IV bags rose from the sides of the medi-cot. Blake tapped at the buttons on the panel in front of him and a moment later two computer guided needles entered the veins in Rayne’s wrists. Blake turned to check the needle placements and made sure the fluid was entering her body. “She’s lost so much blood that I was worried the serum wouldn’t spread fast enough,” he explained as he turned back to the computer. “The fluids will help.”

  “Good thinking, Blake, thank you,” Landor said, his voice shaking as he stared at the shallow rise and fall of Rayne’s chest. “I don’t understand how we missed this.”

  “Will you please tell me what’s happening?” Salene asked quietly. “I heard what you said about her not feeling pain but I don’t understand it. How could such a thing happen?”

  “While she was a prisoner of the Doftle, Rayne underwent eleven months of experimental invasive procedures,” Con said. “Without anesthetic. They drugged her so she couldn’t move, and they cut her vocal cords so that she couldn’t scream.”

  “May the Creators have mercy,” Blake said, feeling sick to his stomach.

  Con opened his mouth to continue, but couldn’t seem to find his voice. Landor placed one hand on his shoulder and squeezed, then picked up the story. “When the Tigrens healed her, they told us that they suspected she had pain dissociation to some degree and that it was dangerous. We promised to keep an eye on her. But we failed, obviously.”

  “Why do you say that?” Salene asked, ignoring the tears streaking her own cheeks as she watched Rayne breathe.

  “We didn’t scent any pain coming from her,” Landor said. “We assumed that even if her brain didn’t register the pain, her body would still react to it and give off the scent we associate with pain. But from what we just saw, Rayne doesn’t have a reduced pain sensation. She has no reaction to pain at all.”

  “Then it’s a damn good thing you guys are here to link with her,” Salene said. “From now on, her inability to feel pain will be a little less dangerous, thanks to you three.”

  “You’re being awfully kind,” Ari said from where he stood beside Rayne, never taking his eyes from her chest as she breathed, just like Salene was doing.

  “No, you’re being too hard on yourselves. You’re not to blame for what the Doftle did to Rayne. The Doftle are.”

  Landor nodded, then took a long, deep breath in an effort to loosen the tightness in his chest. “Blake, do you think that linking will fix this dissociation?”

  “I don’t know, Landor,” Blake said. “But my guess would be no.”

  “Yes, that’s what the Tigrens said too.” He turned back to Rayne. “We should have checked her. I should have checked her, rather than believe her claim that she was fine. It was careless and foolish not to.”

  “It’s not your fault, Landor,” Con said, trying not to think of the internal injuries Blake had described. “None of us could have foreseen this. I’m certain that Rayne doesn’t realize it herself.”

  “I know, and we have to tell her,” Landor said. “But we still should have checked her ourselves to make sure she was all right. We didn’t. If she dies, it will be our fault. My fault.”

  “She’s not going to die,” Ari said. “Look, her breathing is better all ready.”

  Landor and Con both stared, watching her breathe in and out for a full minute before allowing themselves to relax a little. “Blake, scan her again, please,” Landor said.

  Blake entered a command on the control panel and a moment later the scanner lowered from the ceiling. They waited tensely, barely daring to breathe.

  “The tear in her lung is almost healed, her kidneys are repairing themselves, her liver is nearly back to normal, her spleen is almost completely reconstituted, and general organ function is returning,” Blake said, his voice thick with emotion. He’d known the Bearen-Hirus his entire life. Aside from his mother, they were the only family he had, and he not only respected them, he loved them. He understood fully how important this woman was to them. He cleared his throat. “The bleeding has stopped and her blood pressure is climbing.”

  “That’s a lot faster than I expected,” Landor said, moving closer to the medi cot so he could touch Rayne’s hand.

  “She’s going to be all right?” Salene asked.

  “Yes, thanks to you, she’ll be fine,” Landor said, looking over at Salene. Her bald head and pale face reminded him all too clearly of what Rayne had looked like when she’d first returned to them.

  “I didn’t do anything,” Salene said.

  “You told us to link,” Con said. “Personally, I was too close to panic to think clearly. We might not have thought of it until too late.”

  “He’s right,” Landor said. “You have our eternal gratitude, Highness.”

  Salene’s cheeks turned pink when Landor, Con, and Ari all bowed to her. “Thanks, but since you’re about to be my brothers, no more of that highness jazz if you don’t mind.”

  Ari grinned. “You sound just like your mother.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Salene said.

  “You should,” Ari said. “That’s how it was meant.” Salene smiled, forgetting the deep burn on her cheek. She winced at the pain it caused, took one more look at Rayne, then let her head drop back to her pillow.

  Landor returned his attention to Rayne, surprised to see that she had some color in her cheeks. He looked up as the scanner over the bed began moving again. After waiting for the scanner to complete its pass, he waited another minute to give Blake time to read the scan. He was just about to ask Blake to tell him what the hell was going on when the IV needles slid out of her skin. Then Blake turned to face them with a big smile. “She’s doing wonderfully,” he said. “Her blood pressure is normal, her temperature is a little high, but that’s to be expected given the amount of healing her body is doing. Her lung and liver show no signs of injury at all and the kidneys as well as all the other internal traumas are improving. At this rate, I’d say she’ll be fully healed in another fifteen to thirty minutes. Even though I expected it, it’s still am
azing to see.”

  “What’s amazing?” Rayne asked weakly.

  They all looked down at her in surprise. Lander brushed a strand of hair from her cheek with trembling fingers. “Your body is self-healing,” he said, then swallowed hard. “We almost lost you.”

  “What?” she asked, confused.

  “You heard me right,” Landor said. “If you hadn’t passed out right here in the infirmary you would have died.”

  “From what?” she asked, trying to raise one hand to touch Landor’s face. When her arms refused to obey her, immediate panic gripped her.

  “What’s wrong?” Con demanded as her eyes dilated with fear and her breathing became shallow and rapid.

  “Why am I tied down?” she demanded hoarsely.

  “You’re not tied down, Kisu,” Landor said, reaching for one wrist and raising it high enough for her to see. The panic in her eyes receded. “Your body is just really weak right now, but you’re healing fast. Give it a few minutes and you’ll be able to move just fine.”

  “Sorry,” she said, embarrassed.

  “Don’t be,” Ari said, rubbing his thumb back and forth over her right wrist. “You have good reason for your reaction.”

  Rayne tried to relax but knew that until she could move again, it wasn’t going to be easy. She needed a distraction. “Salene?” she asked. “Where is she? How is she?”

  “She’s right here and she’s better off than you at the moment,” Salene said. Rayne turned her head and smiled with relief when she saw her sister, then looked back at Landor, Con and Ari.

  “Why am I here? What happened?”

  “When Weeble attacked you with his metal legs he caused serious damage to your internal organs,” Ari explained. “One kidney was nearly destroyed, the other seriously damaged, your liver ruptured, your spleen wrecked, not to mention a tear in one lung. You were seconds from complete organ shutdown.”

  “I don’t understand,” Rayne said, frowning. “I felt a little tired and weak, and there was some dizziness, but I thought I’d just pushed myself too hard. There was no pain at all.”

  “How long has it been since you’ve felt pain?” Landor asked.

  Rayne frowned. “That’s an odd question.”

  “Please, bear with me, Kisu,” Landor said. “Think back. Can you remember the last time you felt pain?”

  Rayne did as Landor asked and took a few moments to think back. Finally she shook her head. “I’m sorry, I just can’t remember. What difference does it make?”

  “Try this,” Con said. “Think back to when Weeble attacked you. Do you remember what you felt when he kicked you?”

  “Well, the first time he kicked me I hit my head on the wall and was afraid I was going to pass out,” she said, speaking slowly as she thought. “That’s when I dropped my shield. One kick knocked the wind out of me and I had a hard time breathing for a few moments. I felt weak, and dizzy, I remember that. I couldn’t get my shield back up and that’s never happened to me before but I was panicking, so I’m sure that’s why. I couldn’t seem to stand up, either. I kept trying but he’d kick me again before I managed it. Then you guys were there.”

  “When we got back to the Armadura, did you feel any pain or discomfort at all?” Ari asked.

  “No, just tired and weak, like I said. A bit dizzy a few times, but I didn’t want to tell you because I was worried you wouldn’t let me see Salene before carting me off to bed.”

  “Is that all? You didn’t feel anything else?” Landor asked.

  “No, I didn’t,” she said, frowning. “But with injuries like that, I suppose I should have. Shouldn’t I?”

  “Yes, Rayne, you should have,” Con said.

  “How is this possible?”

  “You experienced a lot of pain when the Doftle did their experiments on you. Your mind found a way to dissociate itself from that pain, which probably saved your sanity.”

  “After healing you, the Tigrens warned us that your ability to feel physical pain was greatly reduced,” Landor said. “It never occurred to any of us that it was completely gone. We assumed that if you were in pain, we’d be able to smell it, but we didn’t. That assumption damn near cost you your life.”

  “I’m still not sure I understand,” Rayne said, frowning.

  “Rayne, you have no reaction to pain at all,” Landor said gently as he stared straight into her blue green eyes. “None. Your brain doesn’t recognize it, and neither does your body. If you’d been bleeding externally we would have known you were injured sooner, but since your injuries were all internal, we had no idea, and neither did you.”

  “We’re going to have to be much more careful with you from now on,” Ari said. “And so will you. You’re going to have to remember that you don’t feel pain as you should.”

  “How could I not be aware that I don’t feel pain?” she asked. “That’s just…stupid.”

  “No, it’s not,” Landor said. “Give yourself a break, Rayne. You went through hell. Not being able to feel pain isn’t a good thing, but it could have been so much worse.”

  A faint smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “As Wolef said, I could have gone completely round the bend,” she said, imitating the dragon’s accent. “So um, how did you manage to save me?”

  “We began the linking,” Landor said. “I’m sorry, Rayne, but it was the only way.”

  “Please don’t apologize for keeping me alive. You’ll make me think you don’t want me.”

  “You know better than that,” Con said. She smiled up at him.

  “Maybe you should take the rest of this someplace a little more private,” Salene suggested.

  “That sounds like an excellent idea to me,” Landor said. “Blake?”

  “Let me scan her again,” he said, already pressing buttons. “Just to be safe.”

  Rayne remained perfectly still as the scanner passed over her body, but she wasn’t worried. She might not be able to feel pain, an idea she was having trouble accepting, but she could feel herself growing stronger by the minute.

  “The healing is still progressing at a remarkably fast rate,” Blake said. “Go ahead and take her, but no exertions for at least another half hour, keep a close watch on her, and let me know if you see any signs of deterioration. And um…congratulations.”

  “Thanks, Blake,” Landor said, sliding his hands beneath Rayne and lifting her from the medi cot.

  “I’ll be along in a minute,” Con said. “I want to get a direction from Salene first, but call me if anything happens.”

  “I will,” Landor promised, then carried Rayne from the infirmary with Ari leading the way.

  Rayne rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes as they walked at a normal speed down the corridor. “Now, tell me the part you were holding back in there, please.”

  Landor sighed, but he didn’t try to put her off. “We didn’t want to talk about your shield in there, so we held back the fact that we told the Tigrens, under strictest confidence, that you were able to hide your scent and your emotions behind a shield. Because of that, they assumed, as did we, that you felt at least some pain, but that you were hiding it. If we hadn’t told the Tigrens about the shield, they might have figured out right away that you don’t feel pain at all.” They paused in front of the elevator and Ari pressed the call button. Once they were inside and the doors slid shut, Landor looked down at her again.

  “I’m so sorry, Rayne,” he said. “We knew that creature kicked you. We should have checked you for injuries right away.”

  “I wish so much that you’d stop blaming yourselves. I didn’t know I was injured. I’m not sure how you were supposed to know.”

  “We have enough Water magic to have discovered you were hurt,” he replied with an edge in his voice. Rayne opened her eyes and looked up at him, then raised one hand and placed her palm against his cheek.

  “What else?” she asked. “What’s the other thing worrying you right now?”

  Landor started to
deny that anything was bothering him, but one look down into her blue green eyes stopped him. “You’re a witch, aren’t you?” he said, the corners of his mouth kicking up in a tiny smile. “Of all the things we learned about you these past years, no one ever told us that.”

  “We witches keep our secrets well,” she said. “Tell me, please.”

  Landor stepped into the elevator and waited for Ari to press the button for their deck and the doors to close. “We had to begin the linking process to save your life, and I’m not sorry for that. I’m just worried that once you have time to think about it, you’ll wish we hadn’t.”

  “Why would I wish that?” she asked, surprised.

  “We’ve attempted to bring the subject up,” Ari said. “When we spoke about tri-phase. Do you remember?”

  “Yes, I remember,” Rayne said with a soft sigh.

  “You made it clear to us, in the nicest way possible, that you weren’t ready to discuss it.”

  The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. Landor and Ari stepped out and walked up the corridor toward the master suite in silence. Once they were inside and Landor set her down on the bed, she’d decided they deserved to know the truth. Before she got the first word out the door opened and Con stepped inside.

  “That was fast,” she said in surprise.

  “I was in a hurry,” Con said.

  “Do we have a direction?” Landor asked.

  “Yes, we do,” Con replied, as he took in the solemn expressions on everyone’s faces. “She pointed us to Onddo, and that’s where we’re headed. She’ll let us know if there’s a change. What’s going on here?”

  “I just told Rayne that we were worried about her reaction to us starting the linking without her consent,” Landor said.

  “You’re upset about it?” Con asked her.

  “No, I’m not,” she said. “In fact, I was going to ask you three if we could link today anyway.”

  “You were?” Ari asked.

  “I don’t understand,” Landor said. “Don’t be offended, but are you just saying that to make us feel better, or do you really feel that way?”