by Jana Leigh
“Yeah, okay,” Rayne said dismissively. “Have you figured anything out yet?”
Calli shook her head, “Nope, well if you count that we don’t know shit, then yes, but no.”
“Sadie is getting worse,” Rayne admitted.
Cherri sat up and said, “In what way?”
“Fuck, in every way. She is mourning all over again. It is like she is wasting away without her bear, and there is not a damn thing we can do about it,” Rayne said honestly. “If we don’t figure out something soon, I think she is going to die.”
“Have you thought about mating her? Maybe that will give her a connection,” Cherri asked and Rayne nodded.
“Yeah, but she refused, said she doesn’t want to tie us to someone who killed their animal.” Rayne sighed.
“Okay,” Calli said slowly.
“I don’t know what to do,” Cherri admitted. “But we will not stop searching.”
Rayne nodded and turned, Vivi stood there blocking him. He nodded and intended on moving around her when she whispered, “Hang on.”
Rayne stopped and then Vivi stepped around him and Calli looked at her mom, “Ma, what are you doing here? If it is to tell us you can’t help us please, don’t. I have enough frustration going on right now to deal with this.”
Vivi shook her head, she smiled sadly and then reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of paper. She leaned over and kissed her daughter on her forehead and whispered into her ear, “Trust me, one last time.”
Calli pulled back and looked at her mother with a shocked expression. She did trust her mom, even if she argued and insulted her, she trusted her. “Ma?”
Vivi straighten and shook her head, she touched Cherri and Rissa on the cheek and then turned and left as quietly as she came.
Calli unfolded the paper and read what her mother had written, her heart broke as she read her mother’s painful admission.
My Darling Girl,
Over the years I have been hard on you, I know this, hell, everyone knows this and yet I still did it for a purpose. Everything I have done, I did to make you and your friends safe. It was silly to think we could ever keep all of you safe, and the proof is in Sadie. You will never know the regret I feel right now over losing her in the shuffle, but please know, I never, ever would have allowed the captivity to continue if I had known. I would have moved heaven and earth to save her. Alas I failed, and I will live with that knowledge until the day I die, but there is something I can help you with now.
There are two things you need to know. First is, your brother, I know you are going to be pissed about this but there was no other way. If we had kept you together, you would have been found, together you were so powerful your magic was like a beacon to the Rogues, all of yours was. We talked about it and in order to protect all of you we had to separate you, I prayed every single day for both of you to be safe. We trusted in friends of the Denver Pack to do what we couldn’t do. Currently they are all on their way back here since the time has come to fight.
Until they arrive you must heal Sadie, which brings me to the second thing you will be pissed about. Each of you children have always been special in your own way. We didn’t have enough time to make sure you knew this, and then we thought as time went on, your powers had recessed because of the spell. It is not right what we chose to do but please know we had to. Cherri and her mates are wonderful healers of the body, but the mind is a completely different story. When you were young, your brother and you were powerful, you could do things that normal shifters couldn’t do, even though we can heal and our medical people can progress healing, they have never been about healing the soul. You can, my baby, you and Christian share this ability, you can both heal souls differently. Christian can heal anyone but shifters, but you, baby, you can heal shifters and their creatures. Together you can heal anyone, but trust me this last time to know, you can fix this with Sadie and Sabrina.
So, reach down deep, I know you will find the answer, it is right there, but latent, you just need to bring it out. I have overstepped my bounds yet again but I cannot let Sadie suffer anymore. If you need me, I will be here for you, always.
Calli frowned and then re-read it before letting the letter drop to the table. Cherri and Rissa picked it up, unsurprisingly, and read it. They didn’t keep many secrets from each other. Cherri sucked in a breath as she read and Rissa made a noise of disbelief. But Calli was the one who did exactly what her mother told her to do, she looked inside herself. Rayne watched it all in amazement, instinctively knowing something big was going on, something that would help him in bringing his mate back.
When Cherri and Rissa were done with the paper, they set it down and looked at their friend and watched as well. Calli was pushing through her memories, some of them falling to the side but some of them changing and morphing to show her different, that she forgot; the farther back she went the more people she remembered, something which had been holding her back a little broke free, the memories with her brother springing forward. And there it was, Christian and Cassandra, twin siblings of Jo and Tey. She smiled a little as she saw her brother’s face for the first time in years, oh how she missed him. And yes, it pissed her off, but she couldn’t remain mad for long, her mother and father had always done what they thought best.
Calli watched and remembered how her power worked, she needed to connect with the animal, somehow she had to connect with Sadie’s bear to heal her. She wasn’t sure how she was gonna do it, but dammit, this gift had been given to her for a reason, and maybe the gods knew they were going to need it, or maybe not. Either way, she was going to do what she had to do in order to help Sadie out, and heal her.
Rayne frowned when he saw the Alpha male come storming into the room looking around wildly for his mate. He knew this because when his eyes locked on Calli the relief was huge, the large man moved quicker than what Rayne thought possible to get across the room to her.
“Calli!” Kade yelled and she opened her eyes with a frown.
“Yeah, babe?” Calli said, looking a little disoriented and confused. As if she had just woken up for the day.
“What the fuck is going on?” Kade snapped, grabbing her and pulling her up into his arms and checking her over, like literally moving his hands over her to make sure she was okay.
“Um,” Calli said and looked at her friends and shrugged. “I was sitting here with Rissa and Cherri talking about Sabrina when Ma came in and gave me a note. I was just thinking about what she said.”
“What the hell did she say, babe, ‘cause there was a moment there, I completely lost you. Our link had broken somehow, I swear I thought you were gone,” Kade snapped.
“I have no idea,” Calli frowned. “I was sitting right here.”
Kade took a deep breath, “I lost you and the baby for a second. One minute you were there, both of you, and the next gone. I freaked, sorry.”
Calli put her hand to his neck and shook her head. “It’s cool, everyone is on edge right now, I think maybe this is all getting to us. But the good news is that my mom came through yet again. She reminded me of something I completely blocked out.”
Rayne stepped up and said, “Will it help Sadie?”
Calli looked at him with a serious expression and she nodded. “Yeah, give me a few to think this through but I think maybe we can help her. Tell everyone to grab a shower and food, meet back here in three hours, and we will give this a shot.”
Rayne nodded and walked away. Cherri and Rissa both stared at her and she grinned. “Yeah, the moms have been keeping yet another secret. I will explain later, right now, go and get Sabrina ready, not only is she not leaving, she is gonna help me with this.”
“How?” Cherri asked confused.
“I need her bear, and hopefully I can kill two birds with one stone and heal them both,” Calli said and Kade interrupted.
“Baby, you are not a healer.”
Calli laughed, “Yeah, well, if this works not only am I a healer, I may be able
to fix crazy and cure Rissa too.”
“Hey!” Rissa said with a growl.
“Come on, if I can fix your crazy I am so going to,” Calli snorted.
“Bitch,” Rissa said and walked away.
Rayne went back up to the suite, he didn’t know what the hell was going on, but he was willing to try anything. As he walked into the room he felt his cat finally getting excited. Maybe today they can finally move on and get their mate.
Storm looked up when he saw Rayne and the look on his face. He raised his eyebrows in question and Simon stood. “What?”
“Calli seems to think there is a possibility she will be able to help Sadie.” Rayne smiled and Storm stood as well and looked at his twin with a relieved expression.
“How is she going to do that?” Simon said. “As far as I know, she is not a healer, how in the hell is she going to help?”
Rayne shrugged and said, “Not sure, Calli, Cherri, and Rissa were all together, Calli’s mom came and gave Calli a letter and suddenly she said she knew what she needed to do, they told me to make sure everyone was showered and rested and down in the main room in three hours, so I am.”
Simon laughed and shook his head. “Well, if anyone can do it is Calli, Cherri, and Rissa. Those three women are a force to be reckoned with when they are together.”
“Yeah, well, as I was leaving I heard Calli say she could fix Rissa’s crazy,” Rayne said.
Simon frowned. “Oh hell no, she better not, I like my mate just the way she is.”
Storm laughed. “Even though she thinks you are a serial killer.”
“We all have our crosses to bear, and damned if Rissa isn’t worth it,” Simon said and turned and looked at Sadie’s door. “You will see what I mean if this works, there is not one of the Drekinn females that are remotely normal. I hope like hell Calli can fix this, and I hope like hell you two will be sworn into the club of crazy ass Drekinn mates.”
“So do I, man, so do I,” Storm said.
“Why are we going down here again, I thought I told you I wanted to rest,” Sadie said quietly and Rayne shook his head.
“No,” he said. “Calli was adamant about having you down here. She thinks maybe you can help.”
They entered the main room and Sadie paused and almost turned around, both of them could feel her hesitation once again being in a room full of people. It was scary and sad all in one. They could lose her today, they both knew it.
“Come here, Sadie,” Calli called and held out her hand. Their mate hesitated and then sighed and walked to the Alpha female and stood looking at the floor. Calli motioned to the twins to go and sit with Kade. They fought defying her but finally did what she wanted.
In the last few days they had become accustomed to at least the way things worked here and slowly were feeling more and more comfortable with all of them. It was like they hadn’t been separated, and they could only hope Sadie would feel the same way when everything was said and done.
“Okay, listen,” Calli said softly and looked around the room. “I am not sure about all this, I am kinda flying by the seat of my pants here right now, but trust me when I say—I am going to do everything I can to help Sadie. I just need you all to help me out here.”
Pilar smiled and nodded and said, “What do you need?”
Calli took a deep breath and nodded to the door and Sabrina appeared with Cherri and Rissa on either side of her. She wasn’t shackled or restrained, which no one seemed concerned about, Calli noticed. Sabrina, however, looked terrified, especially when she saw Trina whom she had not seen since all this had happened. She had refused, and it hurt Trina a lot, but she understood.
“Okay, I gotta say I was a little surprised when I found out I had some, um, powers I had no clue I had. Apparently some of our gifts were bound when we were younger,” Calli said and everyone listened. They all pretty much knew this, but Sabrina didn’t, which was why when Calli turned to her and smiled and said, “I have the ability to heal souls. Now, don’t ask questions, I don’t know, but if Sabrina is willing to help, I think maybe we can try to bring Sadie’s bear back.”
Sadie’s head snapped up and she said, “My bear? She is dead.”
“Maybe,” Calli shrugged. “Maybe not, see I am betting she is hiding because she is afraid. Killing a shifter’s animal should have killed the human side as well, but you are still here, so I am not sure where she is, but I think we can find her, and maybe heal her.”
“How can I help?” Sabrina asked with a frown.
“Well,” Calli said and then looked around the room and nodded. Cherri brought Sabrina to the middle of the room, while Rissa stood at the door blocking the only exit, unless someone went through a window, which could happen with this group. “If everyone would get into a circle around us.”
Everyone moved and did what she asked. “Okay,” Calli continued. “Sabrina, you have a bear, I know you do, and even though things are fucked up and confused right now, you are also a part-sister to Sadie, you share the same mother and at least one father. So I would like you to call your bear forward and I am going to use the family connection to find Sadie’s bear. Hopefully if I can, I can heal her, but I need you to keep her calm, especially if she shifts.”
Sabrina frowned and looked around the room and all of her friends who were smiling at her. Shit, they weren’t looking at her like she was a freak, which was exactly how she felt. No, they looked at her like they always did and Sabrina felt tears gather in her eyes. She knew they were giving her their trust, she knew what it meant, and damned if it didn’t go a long way to healing what was wrong with her. Maybe she hadn’t lost her family like she thought, maybe, just maybe, there was some light at the end of this nightmare. The last four days had been hell. She had cooperated anyway she could with Cherri and the others to see if they could figure out how the fuck she was even existing. Memories she thought were real suddenly disappeared, it was as if someone had put them in her head and then took them away.
It pissed her off, and she really intended on leaving here, but what if they didn’t want her to leave, what if they actually believed she had no idea and was a pawn in this shit just like the rest of them were. It was almost too much to hope for. The crazy part was, for the last four days she had fought the urge to hurt some of them, and she had shared this with Cherri who assured her they would figure this out, Sabrina had just not been so confident. Even if she actually had to leave, at least she could help Sadie.
Sabrina nodded and Calli smiled gratefully and she was humbled yet again. “Okay, Sabrina, can you call your bear up?”
Sabrina nodded and then closed her eyes and pictured her bear and she felt the shift. She almost laughed out loud because it felt so good being able to shift after the last few days.
Her bear stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by familiar people and sighed. She was happy, Sabrina shook her head and just sat back, her large bear basically flopping down and sitting like it was bored. Calli chuckled a little and then turned to Sadie who was staring intently at Sabrina’s bear.
“Sadie?” Calli said and Sadie looked up at her.
“She is so pretty, and she looks like my bear,” she whispered and Calli sucked in a breath.
“Sadie, there was a lot of shit going down around here, I know you are confused, and so are we, but I promise you if you just hang with us for a few more minutes, I promise, we will sort this shit out. The first step is to heal your bear; the rest will take some time. Are you with me?” Calli asked.
Sadie shrugged and said, “My bear is dead.”
Calli sighed and then said, “Close your eyes. Picture your bear.”
Sadie did what she asked and closed her eyes and pictured her bear, but nothing happened. She waited a few more minutes and still nothing, no matter how hard she tried, her bear was not with her any more. Sadie opened her eyes and again looked at Calli sadly, “I told you she is dead, she is not there.”
Calli frowned and looked at Sabrina who was staring
at Sadie intently. “Sabrina, come here.”
The large bear stood and moved closer, she nuzzled Calli’s hand and Sadie’s hand so they were both resting on her large head. She made a chuffing noise and Calli smiled, she knew the bear wanted to help, she could feel the kinship, they were related.
Calli closed her eyes and pictured Sadie and Sabrina together in their human forms and then focused on the bears, she could feel Sabrina’s. Calli patiently pushed her way into Sadie’s head, she found the horrors her friend faced and relived them all with her, working backwards. Oh gods it was so much worse in person, Calli didn’t even know how she was still alive, let alone sane. She grimaced and felt Kade come behind her, holding her up, he must have felt her pain as she tried to soothe Sadie, because she felt a rush of strength come through her. She sighed, and moved easier. Dealing with the pain was easier with Kade, he soothed her mind and she witnessed the look on Rebekka’s face when she watched Sadie slowing dying, the woman was sick with excitement, it made Calli hate her so much more. But she ignored it for now, working with Sadie to get through what she was seeing.
Then Calli heard Sadie whimper and she turned her head. The day the bear apparently died. She felt Storm and Rayne on Sadie’s side, holding her up, giving her strength to finish this. Calli pushed and watched, she saw when Sadie passed out and fell on the floor thinking she killed her bear. But she frowned and moved back a little, switched angles of the dream and shook her head. Wait, what the fuck?
Calli turned to her mate and whispered softly in her head, ‘Kade?’
‘Yeah, baby?’ Kade answered.
‘Are you seeing this?’ she said and he turned and looked with her as they watched it again. Sadie grimacing once again as the memory played in her head.