by Lea Kirk
“Fight it, Gryf.” Graig spoke the demand next to his ear. “Close your eyes and do not succumb to the desires of your soul.”
Gritting his teeth, Gryf squeezed his eyes shut. The power of his Gift flowed through Alexandra’s body, surrounding damaged organs and making them whole. Neutralizing the rampant drug. Healing her. As long as he kept his soul in check, all would be well.
The subtle shift of his Gift reversing its flow indicated that the trial was almost to an end. He allowed his eyes to open, and his gaze locked with Alexandra’s. The flash of white light and stabbing pain through his head took him by surprise.
Chapter Thirteen
Alex gasped and sat up. Crack! Her forehead connected with something hard and she fell back again, stars flashing behind her closed eyelids. A moan escaped her as she held her throbbing head between her hands. “What the hell was that?”
“My head,” Gryf groaned.
That’s about right.
“Ska, Graig, did it happen?” Now Gryf sounded panicked.
“I would not know.” Even Graig’s voice had an edge to it. “Do you sense Alex’s soul?”
Silence. Then, “I do not.”
What were those two talking about? She opened her eyes again. Flat on my back in a cave? Vague recollections of the last time she lay here awake teased at the edges of her mind. I was sick. But now I’m not. Right. Gryf was going to heal her. That must have happened.
She turned her head. Gryf lay on the rocky ground nearby, holding his head too. She reached out a tentative hand to touch his raised knee. “Are you okay?”
His chin lowered toward his chest and he gave her a grimace. There was a faint dark spot on his forehead where their heads had collided. “I shall be. Are you?”
“Yeah. You healed me again, didn’t you?”
The smile he gave her was full of relief, and warmed her inside. He rolled to a sitting position and scooted over next to her. “Why do you always aim for my head?”
“Habit, I suppose.” She returned his grin. “God, I feel so much better. Am I cured?” Even the stinging cuts and throbbing bruises from her captivity seemed to be gone.
“It is my hope, but I shall allow Dante the final word when he arrives.”
Graig rose to his feet in one abrupt motion, his telum in hand. “They may be here. Someone is approaching.”
With those words, the light-hearted atmosphere vanished. Gryf matched Graig’s motions of a moment before, stationing himself between her and the cave’s rough triangular opening.
Bodie and Duck were on their feet too, cocking their weapons—a handgun and a rifle respectively. If only she had her weapon. But she didn’t. All she could do was sit here, useless, and pray it wasn’t the Anferthians crunching through the snow toward the cave.
A heavily-bundled figure appeared in the opening. “Bata Matir...Gryf,” a woman’s voice breathed. She yanked off her snow-covered hood.
The Matiran woman appeared to be a few years older than Alex, and at least the same height. Short hair gleamed like a golden halo in the lutep light, unbound and wild. But the most beautiful thing about her was the unfettered look of love for Gryf in her tawny eyes. Then she closed the distance between them and he embraced her.
“Blessed Mother, indeed,” Gryf murmured, then pulled back. “I did not think to see you in this life again, Ora.”
Gryf’s cousin gave him a cocky grin. “I am difficult to be rid of, as you know.”
Gryf laughed, deep and clear. “I do, and am grateful for your tenacious determination to remain alive.”
Alex’s breath hitched in her chest. This was the first time she’d ever heard him laugh. Oh, sure, she’d heard him chuckle, but this outright laughter pierced her heart like a flashlight beam through the darkness.
“Alex!” Nicky was suddenly there, pulling her into a fierce bear hug.
“Oh my god, Nicky.” She clutched her brother’s sodden coat, not caring if she got wet.
Dante squatted next to her. “May I run a quick check, Alex?”
She nodded. A moment later, the healer sat back on his heels and gave her a crooked grin. “I was told you were in dire need of a healer. But you are healthy enough to travel to camp. Gryf again?”
She released Nicky and gazed up at Gryf. “Yes.”
Ora lowered herself to the floor next to Alex. “It pleases me to finally meet you, Alex. We have much to discuss once we get back to the camp.” She opened her pack and the delicious aroma of real meat and spices wafted out. “But now, we brought evening meal to share with you. Have you ever had bear stew?”
~ * ~
Gryf cast a surreptitious glance across the cave. Alexandra appeared well rested this morning, but to put her on a horse alone after the events of yesterday?
He bent his head close to his cousin’s ear. “How far is it to camp?”
“Three kilots.”
He made the quick calculation in his mind. About six Terr miles over mountainous terrain. Too far. “I shall ride with her.”
A sparkle lit Ora’s eyes. “As you wish.”
“May we have a few moments? There is something which needs attending.”
“Of course. Bodie and Duck are still saddling the horses, so do not rush. We will wait outside.” Ora nodded to Dante and Nick, and the three of them exited the cave into the bright sunlight beyond.
Gryf turned to Alexandra. What a difference from yesterday. Instead of the waxy pallor of death, her skin seemed to glow in the defused light coming through the cave opening.
Her fingers fluttered around her neck as though attempting to discern how to unfasten the uniform. The high neck and long sleeves were the style worn by engineering maintenance crewmembers. Which of his crew no longer had use for that uniform? Whose parents would grieve for her?
Gryf pushed the somber thought to the back of his mind. “Allow me to show you, compa.”
She nodded, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. Then she lifted her chin, exposing the overlapping material at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Applying gentle pressure, he ran his fingers along the smooth line of the uniform’s seal, and it parted in response to the pressure until she could peel it back from her shoulder.
The soft swell of her left breast was exposed, smooth and unblemished. Gryf’s heart stuttered and he clamped his teeth together. With supreme effort, he lifted his gaze to study her forehead as if it were a rare treasure from which he could not look away. It was a good thing too because she raised her head almost immediately. Lucky for him he still had his mouth curved in a smile. She could not be aware how difficult this was for him.
“It’s gone,” she whispered.
Now he did look down. Her fingertips moved over the pale, delicate skin of her breast. The brutal slices of Kotas’s initials were indeed gone, as they had both hoped. Awe filled Alexandra’s eyes. However small, this was her victory, and for her sake he would banish all thoughts of Kotas and Haesi to the darkest recesses of his mind. It was enough to know that the atrocities committed against her had not included rape, a grievous sin that carried the sentence of death for the perpetrator—as did the use of ithemba. A sentence Gryf was more than prepared to carry out when the time came.
He met her gaze again. She grinned and this time his heart turned over in his chest. “Not very long ago I feared I would never see your smile again, Alexandra.”
A faint tinge of pink highlighted her cheeks. “Thank you for saving my life.”
She averted her gaze and her fingers resealed the uniform. When she looked up again, there was uncertainty in her eyes, and something else. Longing? In that moment, it seemed their breathing synchronized. Alexandra pressed her palms against his chest and nothing in the universe mattered, or even existed, except the two of them. She raised her perfect, pink mouth toward him, and he met her half way. The softness of her lips against his sent his thoughts spinning. There was nowhere else he belonged than here, with Alexandra.
Her lips parted and he deepened
the kiss, exploring her mouth and caressing her tongue with his own. Wrapping his arms around her, he drew her close. Sweet, so sweet.
All too soon, the kiss ended by unspoken mutual consent. Alexandra smiled at him, her mouth a little pinker and fuller than before. “I think I’d like to keep doing that in the future.”
The corners of his mouth pulled upward. “Nothing would please me more.”
A moment later, Gryf followed her out of the cave. Would she accept anim tros as eagerly as she accepted his kiss? And how was he going to tell her? He could not imagine her reaction to their potential roles as fulfillers of the Profeti. Especially since he had yet to come terms with the idea. If only life would stop dropping asteroids on his head. A short time of peace would be appreciated.
~ * ~
Ora’s camp was nothing like Alex expected. All the refugee camps she’d seen on T.V. had been tent cities. But here, there wasn’t a tent to be seen. In fact, there wasn’t much to be seen other than a snowy meadow surrounded by towering pine trees.
Gryf brought their horse to a halt and Bodie appeared near Alex’s foot. “We’ll walk from the meadow. It isn’t far.”
“Excuse me, Jones.” Graig stepped in front of the shorter Earthman, reached up and plucked her from her comfortable perch behind Gryf. She gripped his forearms to balance herself on legs that seemed to be made of rubber. “Steady, sora.”
Over Graig’s shoulder, Alex locked gazes with Bodie. He rolled his eyes and turned away.
A strong arm encircled her waist and gently extracted her from Graig’s support. Gryf. Her entire body relaxed into him, accepting his assistance as they walked toward a path between the trees where Duck was waiting. Nicky followed behind.
“Yer cousin asked me t’ take ya to th’ infirmary while she checks in with th’ crew on th’ transport,” Duck told them as he led them up the path. “Th’ camp’s just up th’ way.”
They emerged from under the branches and Alex gazed up at the towering white granite outcroppings reaching toward the cerulean sky.
Nicky appeared on her other side. “Just like hiking with Mom and Dad. The air’s pretty thin. We must be close to nine thousand feet.”
“Feels like, huh?” Alex glanced at Duck. “I haven’t seen any tents. What does everyone use for shelter?”
“Sister Golden Hair an’ her crew found a catacomb of caves under all this rock.” Duck stomped his booted foot on the hard ground. “They’re all under yer feet.”
Gryf frowned. “Yet, I see people out. Like that group of Terrians and Matirans chopping wood over there. And…are those children?”
“Yep.”
“Has she lost all sense?” Gryf growled. “The Anferthians could fly over at any time.”
Duck’s eyes narrowed. “There are watch posts fifteen miles in every direction, Cap’n. They’re ’n constant contact. Ain’t no ’Ferths gettin’ anywhere near th’ camp without us knowin’.”
“We got by,” Gryf countered.
“How do ya think Bodie ’n I found ya so easily?”
The two men stared hard at each other, then Gryf nodded slowly. “Indeed. Your point is valid.”
A sudden grin creased Duck’s weathered face breaking the tension. “’Course it is. An' so is yer concern. C’mon. We'll go through th’ main cave.”
They followed the grizzled mountain man up a steep, rocky slope and through the wide mouth of a huge, low-ceilinged cave. They crossed the space, which was longer as half a football field.
“Mind yer head, missy,” Duck bent to pass through a low opening and into a tunnel. “Ya just follow them alien lights down a ways. The openin’ ya need will be th’ first one on yer left.”
“Thank you, Duck.” She moved forward with Gryf, his arm slipped from her waist and his hand enveloped hers. The almost constant need for physical contact with him since he’d healed her should be disconcerting, but instead it brought her comfort.
The tunnel was just wide enough for two of them to walk side-by-side, so Nicky fell in behind them. It was like following the yellow brick road...lined with solar-powered Matiran light and heating units. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a great and powerful wizard at the end who’d get rid of the Anferthians?
“That must be medical.” Gryf jerked his chin toward the light pooling on the ground outside an arched fissure twenty feet ahead.
Alex stepped through the arch and gasped. The back wall of the high-ceilinged cavity was lined with wire shelving units filled with medical supplies. Another wall sported mismatched tables serving as counter space, and included three microscopes. Evenly spaced cots filled the center of the long room, which was easily forty feet long.
“Wow.”
“A rousing endorsement, Alex. Thank you.” Dante rose from one of the many stools dotting the room.
She gave Gryf's hand a light squeeze then slipped away from his touch to inspect one of the shelves. Picking up a small vial, she read the tiny print. “Insulin?”
Nicky chuckled from the doorway. “Well, now she’s gone all glazy-eyed, Doc.”
“I do not see the problem, Nick.” Dante’s voice was laced with dry humor. “Insulin was one of the medicines we could salvage, Alex. Many of the Terrian vaccination vials were worthless due to lack of cold storage. The ones that were salvageable are being kept in water tight-containers in the underground cold spring.”
“There’s an underground spring?”
“Two, in fact,” he said. “A cold one off the cave where perishables are stored, and a hot spring behind the horses’ stable. You’ll be happy to know they both test pure at their sources.”
Yes, that was happy news. Refugee camps were notorious breeding grounds for disease.
“But, why keep them at all when you can heal most anything?”
“The ratio of healers to occupants of camp is one to one hundred nine, Alex.” One corner of Dante's mouth quirked upward. “I could use some help.”
“That’s why I’m here.” She returned his smile.
Turning the insulin vial in her hand, she checked the expiration date. The cool glass between her fingertips gave her a feeling of purpose. She was needed here. Useful. Able to do what she’d always wanted to do—help people. That was why she’d become a nurse in the first place.
She returned the vial to the wire shelf. “I can’t believe how well stocked the camp is, all things considered. On the ride here I heard there’s also food, clothing, and arms and ammunition stored in some of the caves. It’s just brilliant.”
“Ora had everyone exceedingly busy prior to our arrival.” Dante gazed at the rows of procured medical supplies with reverence. “The supply runners targeted medical, hardware and sporting good facilities, and it paid off. I am uncertain what a credit card is, but both Bodie and Duck claim to have maxed theirs out before the invasion.”
Credit cards. Now there’s something she didn’t miss. “You’re better off not knowing, trust me.”
“Ah.” Dante nodded as though accepting her words on the topic were final. He reached into the pocket of his uniform and pulled out a slim knife. Without a word, he drew it across one palm, parting his blue skin in a thin line.
Alex stiffened and sucked in a sharp breath.
“Whoa! What the hell, Doc?” Nicky moved quickly to the healer’s side.
Dante seemed unperturbed. “Come take a look at this, Alex.”
She cast a glance at Gryf, but his narrow-eyed gaze was on Dante. All right then. She rounded a cot to stand in front of the healer. Red blood oozed along the slice. Only a superficial cut, which he could heal in an instant. “Okay, what’s up?”
“A very simple test,” he replied. “Place your hand over the cut. Yes, like that. Now, imagine the cut sealing itself closed.”
“Excuse me?” Had she heard him correctly? “You mean like healing? The way you do?”
“That is what I mean.”
“Explain, Dante.” Gryf had moved to stand at her shoulder.
“A the
ory I’ve been contemplating since Alex healed you.”
A snort escaped her. “I didn’t heal Gryf. Graig did.”
“I did not, Alex.” Graig said from the entryway, Simone at his side.
Alex frowned. Somehow she wasn’t surprised by Graig’s sudden appearance. But if he didn’t heal Gryf, then…. “No. I can’t believe you’d even suggest that I healed him, Dante. Humans can’t do things like that.”
“Terrians with Matiran ancestry should be able to, though,” Dante replied. “And I believe that somewhere deep in your family history, you and Nick have at least one Matiran ancestor.”
“You’re shittin’ me.” The stubborn expression on Nicky’s face would be comical if the situation wasn’t so serious.
Dante raised his eyebrows at her brother. “I am not. Your reservations are understandable, Nick. I too have had my own. But it is quite possible that the simple act of your sister allowing me to tap into her strength was enough to awaken her Gift.” His brown-eyed gaze turned back to her. “Shall we at least try before we give up?”
Alex stared at him. It seemed unlikely that his theory was possible, but something weird had happened that night. What if Dante was right? If she could heal like him… Her heart thumped in her chest. She’d definitely love that.
She cleared her throat, squared her shoulders and placed her hand over Dante’s. “Okay. What do I do?”
Dante’s expression turned neutral again. “Imagine the cut in your mind, then imagine the edges reforming. You may say or think the word dex, but the most important part is to imagine part of you is flowing into the cut.”
He made it sound so simple, but it couldn’t be. She stared at the back of her hand and pictured the cut like a self-sealing plastic baggie. Put the two sides together and, zip. A faint white glow surrounded her hand. Cripes, was it really working?
“Stay focused, Alex,” Dante murmured.
In her peripheral vision, she saw Simone move closer. Dex. A gentle tug pulled at the center of Alex’s body, then a subtle prickling sensation ran down her arm and her hand glowed with a soft amber light. A breath later, the tug, prickle and glow disappeared. Rats. She looked up at Dante. “I think I had it, but now it’s gone.”