by J. T. Bock
“In the kitchen,” Kerbasi replied. He was very proud of the fact he’d kept his tone even and polite.
Lucas grimaced. “Tell me she is not cooking.”
“Cori is in charge. We should all survive the night without any lasting digestive issues.”
“For once, you have good news, guardian.” Lucas headed off toward the kitchen.
Kerbasi let his shoulders relax. Perhaps he could pull this off. He straightened the silverware and busied himself around the dining room. Kariann was the final arrival, but she went straight to the kitchen to chat with the others.
Soon they came bearing the last of the dishes and everyone took their seats. He was positioned at the opposite end as Lucas with Hunter’s father—who was also somewhat of an outcast at the moment. He’d sided with the werewolves last summer when they’d pushed for a change of leadership, which they’d won in the end. His son hadn’t followed that path and chose Emily above all else. Kerbasi hadn’t really cared one way or the other. It was all the same to him.
As soon as everyone began piling their plates with food Sable came wondering into the room. She’d shifted into the form of a black jaguar. This frequently occurred during mealtimes. A small lynx could only hope to get a few small table scraps, but a jaguar could beg for much larger portions. He had no idea where it all went after she sized back down.
She came to Kerbasi first. He didn’t like the feline shape-shifter all that much but she’d chew on his shoes if he didn’t give her what she wanted. He took a piece of turkey off his plate and plopped it into her mouth. She moved on to her next target.
He kept quiet during the dinner, fearing he’d say something inappropriate if he didn’t. Kariann didn’t eat human food—being a vampire—but she sat next to him on his right and sipped at a glass of wine. Every so often she’d sneak a hand under the table and give his leg a squeeze. He wasn’t certain whether this was for moral support or to take the opportunity to feel him up. With her it could be either or both.
“Okay, who wants pie?” Melena asked.
Everyone had finished eating and begun chatting with each other.
“Gifts first,” Emily said.
Melena shook her head. “You can wait a little longer.”
“Come on, Mel. If we do gifts now we’ll have more room for desert later.”
Kerbasi had to admit, the teenager had a persuasive argument. He wasn’t sure he could eat much pie at the moment after two platefuls of dinner. Even immortals had their limits.
Melena looked at Lucas. “What do you think?”
“This is our first Christmas together.” He rubbed his chin. “Why not do as she suggests?”
Kerbasi had forgotten Lucas was confined with him the last time this holiday had come. He and Melena were so close now it seemed as if they’ been spending Christmas together for years.
“It’ll set a precedent,” she argued.
The nephilim kissed her so deeply it made Kerbasi blush.
“But it’ll be our precedent, sensor.”
“Fine. “ She looked between Lucas and Emily. “You two win. This time.”
The teenager squealed and raced for the living room. Hunter followed close behind her with the adults trailing behind him. Kerbasi wasn’t sure how welcome he’d be and started gathering dishes instead. No one noticed.
It was better if he gave them all their space. This was what he told himself as he made multiple trips to the kitchen. He could hear how happy everyone was and didn’t want to ruin it. Not tonight, anyway.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, Hunter,” Emily’s voice carried over to him.
Kerbasi glanced into the living room and saw her holding a new iPod.
“I already put a playlist on there. Just songs that make me think of you,” he said, accepting her hug.
“What a sap,” Kariann whispered in his ear.
The vampire had snuck up on him.
“I was thinking something similar,” Kerbasi replied. She had no idea how hard it was for him to keep quiet through all of this.
Emily jumped up. “I’m going to play it now. We could use some music anyway.”
She set the iPod on a nearby dock that had speakers connected to it. The first song filled the room. He rarely cared for the teenagers’ musical choices, but something about the lyrics to this one caught his attention. Pulled at his gut and made him think of Edan.
“What song is that?” he asked Kariann.
She blinked at him. “What makes you think I know?”
She usually preferred rock music, which this most certainly wasn’t, but there was a familiarity in her eyes that said this might be an exception.
“Do you?”
She shrugged. “It’s NSYNC—God Must Have Spent a Little More Time On You, but don’t tell anyone I know that.”
Kerbasi listened for a minute longer, but that was all he could handle. He headed for the front door, needing some fresh air. Cori wasn’t far behind him. She all but flew out the door and didn’t stop until she was halfway across the lawn. Her black hair fell forward as she bowed her head and he wondered if he should talk to her. He wasn’t going to invade her mind again, but he suspected this had something to do with her daughter.
When she continued to stand there with no sign of moving he decided to take a chance.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said, coming to stand next to her.
“What?” She jerked her gaze toward him.
“It’s clear you lost someone at Christmastime. I’ve recently discovered that it is not an easy thing to handle. It leaves a…” He thought about it for a moment. “It leaves a heavy mark on the soul.”
Kerbasi was careful not to reveal how much he knew or she’d never talk to him again.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She looked away.
“Perhaps not, but that does not lessen the pain.”
“Nothing does.” She dug a silver flask out of her leather jacket pocket and drank deeply from it. “You just keep going because what else can you do?”
He was beginning to realize how insulated he’d been in Purgatory. There were only two kinds of people there. Those who’d already died or those who couldn’t because they were immortal. He’d never experienced the pain of loss or much of anything else. After having a taste of life on earth he could see why so many humans ended up in his realm—or the worst one.
“I used to think I knew the answer, but I’m not so sure anymore,” he replied.
“Yeah, life in the mortal realm sucks.” She took another swig.
“Then why do you humans keep going?”
She gave him a self-deprecating smile. “We like to think its hope. That eventually things will get better. After what that bastard did to my…well, I don’t have a lot of hope. Just anger.”
“Is that bastard still alive?” He was trying really hard not to push into her head and find out for himself.
Her lips thinned. At first he didn’t think she would answer, but then she shook her head.
“Nope. I tracked him down and spent some time making him regret what he did. He begged me to kill him in the end, but I dragged it out a little longer before finishing him off.”
Kerbasi mulled that one over. “Who was he?”
She tightened her hands on her flask. “My husband.”
He scooted a step away from her.
“I just want you to know I have no interest in ever having a relationship with you,” he said, wanting to diffuse the tenseness of the moment.
She barked a laugh. “Good.”
“Thanks for the talk.” She patted him on his shoulder. “You’re not quite as bad as they say.”
She headed back to the house, leaving him standing there alone. Melena passed Cori along the way, but the women merely exchanged a greeting. It appeared the sensor was coming for him and holding his gift in her hand. His body tensed as he waited to see what she thought of it.
“This came as a surprise.” She held it up.
It was a woo
d carving he’d made months ago with her likeness. Emily had received one that looked similar to her own visage. Kerbasi could only make so many animals before he turned to other familiar subject matter. It had been difficult to gift them, considering the women might take them the wrong way, but he hadn’t been able to think of anything else that would have shown his wish to make amends.
“If you do not like it, I’ll understand.”
She stared at him and he wondered what she was thinking. He couldn’t get inside her head even if he wanted to due to her immunity to magic.
“Actually, I do like it. No one’s ever made something like that for me before.” She pulled him into a hug. “Thank you.”
He gave her an awkward pat. “You’re welcome.”
“You might want to avoid Lucas for the rest of the night, though.”
“Why?” He’d thought things went well enough at dinner.
“He gave me a diamond necklace and some other fancy jewelry so he got rather annoyed when I showed more enthusiasm for your gift.”
“Ah.” That warmed Kerbasi’s belly. For once he’d gotten the upper hand with the nephilim since coming to earth.
“Yeah. I had to stop him from racing out here to throttle you.” She grinned.
“Are they done opening gifts in there?” he asked.
“Pretty much. There were just a couple left when I decided to come out here.” She pulled some of her hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything.”
“I’ve given you no reason to think I would have accepted it,” he said, attempting to be magnanimous.
“If there’s anything you need or want, let me know. Maybe I can get it for you.”
He shifted from foot to foot. “There may be something.”
It had been in the back of his mind all evening.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I would like to see Edan tonight.”
Her face fell. “Kerbasi, there’s something you should know. Tricia called me this morning and said Edan has fallen into a coma. The hospice nurse who checked on him said he probably won’t come out of it before he…you know.”
His body turned cold. “Are you certain he’s still alive now?”
“Fairly certain.” She nodded. “Tricia promised to call me with updates.”
“I must see him now.” He gripped her shoulders. “Please.”
“But he won’t be awake or know you’re there.”
“I don’t care about that. Just take me to him,” he begged.
“Okay. Let me get my keys and tell everyone where we’re going. It won’t take five minutes.”
“Please hurry.” He prayed he wasn’t too late.
Chapter 8
Kerbasi drummed his fingers on the passenger door armrest all the way to Edan’s house. Melena drove faster than usual, but it still didn’t feel fast enough. He couldn’t flash to their destination, either. That would have been beyond their half-mile limit and her immunity to magic prevented him from taking her along.
At least the traffic was light. It helped that at almost ten in the evening on Christmas Eve most people were settled in their homes—or at the bars drinking. As soon as they pulled up to Edan’s home Kerbasi hopped out of the Jeep.
“Wait,” Melena called. “What am I supposed to tell them?”
He paused halfway across the lawn. “I will take care of it.”
She rushed to catch up with him as he made his way to the front door. The porch light was on and the glow from the living room lamp showed through the edges of the curtains. He’d hoped Edan’s mother and aunt would be awake. It would make things simpler.
Kerbasi knocked on the door. And waited.
This was taking far too long for his liking. He flashed inside and found both women on the couch in their night clothes. They jumped up and screeched when they saw him. Kerbasi caught their gazes.
“You are tired and wish to go to bed. Tomorrow morning you’ll wake up and not remember me being here,” he commanded, putting the compulsion on thick.
The women headed for their respective bedrooms. No questions asked.
He turned and unlocked for front door, letting Melena inside.
“Well, that was one way of handling it,” she muttered.
“Time is of the essence. I cannot waste it trying to mollify them with lies.”
He spun on his heels, leaving her to shut the door. The light was off in Edan’s room, but he didn’t bother to flip it on. Instead he opened the curtains to allow the moonlight to filter inside. The boy lay deathly still on his bed and his breathing was even shallower than the week before.
Kerbasi pulled a chair up as close to Edan as he could get it. For what he was about to attempt, it would be better if he was not standing and could focus all his energy elsewhere. He sat down and put his hands on the boy’s chest.
“What are you doing?” Melena asked, coming into the room.
“I’m going to attempt healing him.”
She stood by the bed and looked down at Edan. “Do you think you can?”
“I don’t know. I’ve healed injuries before but not diseases. There is a strong chance this won’t work.”
“I’ll stay out of the way. If you need anything let me know.” She moved back toward the doorway.
He lowered his head.
Using his second sight, he infiltrated the boy’s body and went deep into the marrow. It went faster this time than before since he now knew where exactly to go. As he’d feared the blast cells were even more numerous than before and the white blood cells almost non-existent. If he was to have any chance of success this would take four phases of healing.
The first was to remove all the cancerous cells to make room for healthy ones. Kerbasi focused his mind into a beam of light and began obliterating everything that shouldn’t be there. Unfortunately, at this stage there were a lot of bad cells to destroy. So many he couldn’t comprehend how the boy was still alive.
He created more beams and shot them out in multiple directions, racing them through Edan’s body and training them on what to kill. It wasn’t easy and rather more complicated than it sounded. His beams were like lasers and needed his guidance or else they might cause more harm than good.
Long minutes passed and his head began to ache. Kerbasi ignored it. He had to keep working hard and fast. Edan could still die while he was on this phase or even in the next ones. He zapped over and over, destroying the blast cells until their numbers began to thin. Then he destroyed more until it became hard to find them. They were surprisingly adept at hiding.
Sweat poured down his forehead and still he located the occasional one lurking about. If the disease hadn’t been killing an innocent boy he might have admired its tenacity and ability to reproduce. But it was hurting Edan and he had to destroy it. He let out a heavy sigh when he was certain he’d found the very last one.
A wet cloth touched his neck.
“It looked like you needed this,” Melena said, pulling his long hair away and cooling his skin.
Under any other circumstance he would have protested vehemently against her touching him. Not now. His body ached and he was only partway through the healing process.
“You have my appreciation.” His voice came out gruff.
It was time for phase two. He needed to speed up the creation of healthy cells. There were so few of them left that Edan was only heartbeats away from dying. He had to admire the human spirit that he fought on even now.
Kerbasi’s hands glowed as he pushed a different kind of light into the boy’s body. This one was a blanket of power designed to give Edan a boost. He desperately needed healthy marrow and blood cells. Kerbasi’s light helped increase the rate at which he could get back to stable levels. He didn’t have time to get them all the way normal, but enough that Edan could replenish the rest on his own in the coming days and weeks.
This took nearly as long as killing the cancer cells had taken. By the time he allowed himself another brief br
eak he had to rest his head on the bed and drag in deep breaths. He was shivering and sweating at the same time. Melena still stood close by, but she didn’t touch him.
“The pain I sensed from him is gone. Are you finished yet?” she asked.
“No,” he croaked out. “If I stop now it might come back later. I must prevent that from happening. He’s also got a great deal of damage to his organs from your human medical treatments. I fear his heart may not function for more than five years as it stands now.”
He’d seen that during his previous examination, but it hadn’t been the biggest concern then.
“You’re almost tapped out, Kerbasi. I don’t see how you can do much more.”
Melena was looking at him with a worried expression. Her senses could pick up his power levels, though he didn’t need her warning to know they were low.
“It is my inexperience that has caused such a drain in the first two phases. I won’t need quite as much energy for the rest. I can do it,” he insisted.
A bright flash of light entered the room. Kerbasi turned his gaze downward.
“Dammit, Ariel,” Melena cursed. “Can’t you dim that down a little? Geez.”
Only the sensor could talk to an archangel in such a fashion and get away with it. Kerbasi would be punished severely for such an offense. He forced himself to lift his head and look at Ariel now that she’d phased fully into the room and the bright light had left.
“Perhaps if you weren’t encouraging the guardian to perform illegal miracles, I wouldn’t have had to blind you,” Ariel said, holding her hands primly in front of her.
Kerbasi could just make out the edges of her white wings where she’d folded them close behind her back. She wore her usual flowing robe and had braided her brown hair so that it hung over her shoulder. All archangels were beautiful, but she was the most stunning of them all—and one of the scariest. Primarily because she was unpredictable. Ariel could be as kind as she could be harsh.
“What do you mean an illegal miracle?” Melena put her hands on her hips.
Kerbasi had known he might get in trouble over this. He just hadn’t cared.
“The guardian does not have permission to use his healing abilities for saving lives and hardly the skills to do it.”