by Mikayla Lane
“She told me when she came that some death ritual thing you did enabled her to find you. She said that Joey is special and that she somehow tied your life force to hers and mine,” Emily ignored Koda’s sharp intake of breath and the look of horror on his face. “We’re now keeping your body alive.”
The combined shock of the spectral group was so profound that it felt like an electric charge in the air as Koda staggered to the wall and slid down it, his hands covering his face.
Oh gods, why? he wondered, his mind caught between disbelief and horror over what was happening.
It explained why Emily had been in such pain and why the poor baby had passed out. He was killing them. His final act in his life was going to be the killing of an innocent baby and the beautiful woman who’d risked her life to save him.
This is truly hell, he thought before he ran outside and roared in rage and pain.
He was quickly spun around and faced an enraged Elmer and Tom who stood behind the larger spirit.
“You pull your act together, boy, and you do it now!” Elmer growled, shaking Koda by his spectral collar. “If you ever needed to fight, now is the damn time! I don’t know how that baby did what she did, but I saw that golden wall; I felt that power. If that little one can fight so hard for you, you owe it to her not to let it be in vain.”
“He’s right, Koda,” Tom agreed. “This isn’t the fight of your life anymore, it’s the fight of theirs too.”
I didn’t want to fight it, Koda thought sadly. I wanted to go and face the judgement I deserved.
He looked toward the open door of the cabin and saw Emily feeding oatmeal to Joey while she remained by his body, one small hand on his chest, while the other danced in the air.
Koda drew in a deep breath even though he knew in his mind that this form wasn’t actually breathing. It still made him feel better, and he looked at Elmer and Tom.
“I have no intention of letting anything happen to them. So let’s get in there, pool our knowledge, and find a way to keep my body fighting and alive until my brother can get here,” Koda suggested, determination heavy in his voice.
I won’t let them die, Koda said to himself as he took determined steps into the cabin. Harming them will not be the last thing I do in this life.
*****
Gibly was running through the forest tracking the path of Koda’s pod. The sleek, black animal’s powerful stride carried him over a fallen tree when he felt the massive expulsion of energy, and he skidded to a stop. He closed his eyes as he sent out his senses.
It didn’t take the mysteriously powerful animal long to discover the source of the energy and the reason for the sudden outburst. The power was strong and very familiar to him.
He slowly reopened his eyes, and his heart raced in fear. He was too far from Grai to get him in time and too far to send a message to Ranger. His only choice to help would be to get to Koda as quickly as he could.
With his mind made up, Gibly sent his own message back to the source of the energy expulsion.
“I am coming, light bringer. I can help.”
Then he tore off through the forest as if a life depended on it. Because three lives now did.
Chapter Seven
Koda entered the cabin and refused to be bothered by the chilly reception from Emily and the other spirits. He was determined that they would find a way to keep Emily and Joey alive until Grai could get there. Even though it had taken much longer than he had expected it to, Koda was still confident that his brother would find him.
With their technology, the injuries he’d seen on his body could be repaired while Tristan found a way to sever the connection Joey had made between them. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was the only one they had, and he was determined to make it work.
He knelt down next to Emily and Joey while Elmer and Tom stood behind him in support.
“Emily, I am truly sorry for being the cause of all of this. I had no idea when I got in my ship that day that this would happen. But I promise you, I’m not giving up. I won’t let anything happen to either of you,” Koda said softly, hoping the beautiful and kind woman would forgive him.
Emily sighed heavily, her breath catching several times as she tried to keep from crying.
“I know you didn’t do this on purpose. But . . . she’s just a baby. She’s all I have . . .” Emily said, wiping furiously at the tears slipping down her cheeks.
Even without his beast, seeing Emily so upset shook Koda to his core, and he centered his energy and pulled her close, solidifying his energy enough to hold her.
“My brother will come. I promise you nothing will stop Grai from finding me. When he does, Tristan will sever the connection, and you and Joey will be safe,” Koda promised, willing Grai to hurry.
Emily pulled away from the odd spectral embrace, wondering why it had felt so good instead of creepy like it normally did when she touched a spirit.
“But what about you? Will he be able to save you?” she asked, looking into his sad, dark eyes.
Koda forced a chuckle and a smile.
“You have no idea! In fact, I probably need to tell you about all the amazing things you’re going to see so you’re not surprised,” he said.
Emily snorted and stood to clean the bowl when Elmer snatched it from her hands.
“Hey!”
Elmer shook his head as he headed out of the cabin.
“You’re using enough energy, I think I can handle cleaning a bowl.”
“Thank you, Elmer,” Emily said through her grateful tears as she watched him leave the cabin.
Emily was too tired to think as she sat heavily back in the chair. After a few moments, she looked up at Koda and Gran who was standing by her son looking at him lovingly.
“You two,” Emily said pointing to the two of them. “Have a lot of explaining to do. How the hell can a small baby join our life forces or whatever? What the hell was that . . . thing out there that you crashed in? And how the hell can you still be alive after that?”
Emily ignored the whispering between Tom and Elmer when they came back in the cabin and stared at Koda and Gran, wondering which of the two of them were going to start talking.
Koda cleared his throat, unable to see his mother was fussing around his body, making no effort to hide the fact that she was ignoring Emily’s questions.
“You eat and I’ll explain, and before you argue, you have to keep healthy for Joey’s sake,” Koda said, motioning to the steaming bowl of oatmeal that Elmer and Tom had made for her.
Emily gratefully accepted the bowl from the two men with sudden tears in her eyes.
“Thank you, so much,” she whispered, overcome with emotion.
She hadn’t had anyone care for her since her mother had died, and it was taking an emotional toll on her exhausted body to feel that caring again.
“Eat, please,” Tom said gently as he sat down on the floor and looked at Koda expectantly.
“Where did you find the berries?” Emily asked in surprise when she saw the plump blackberries in the bowl.
Elmer blushed a little and looked at the floor.
“They weren’t far from the cabin. Koda . . .?” Elmer said, trying to get the attention off of him and onto Koda. He wanted to know what was going on too.
Koda sighed and looked intently at Emily.
“You’re going to have to have a pretty open mind about things,” he warned, wondering how he would convince her he was telling her the truth.
Emily laughed and almost choked on a berry.
“You’re kidding, right?” she asked as she gestured with the spoon to the spirits around the room hanging on every word.
Koda laughed and nodded his head.
“Point well taken,” Koda said.
Hours later, Emily was still sitting in the chair staring at Koda as he finished his story. The only reason the bowl wasn’t still in her lap was because Elmer and Tom had taken it from her numb fingers and cleaned it.
Her min
d was whirling with what Koda had told her, and a part of her refused to believe any of it, but the other part of her knew that it explained so much—not just about her, but Joey too.
Finally, she turned accusing eyes to her mother and was surprised at the thunderstruck look on her face.
“You didn’t know, did you?” she asked Sally.
Sally turned haunted eyes to her daughter.
“How could I not know? There were so many clues that your father wasn’t normal . . . but an alien was the furthest thought from my mind! Why wouldn’t he tell me?” she hissed as she sat on the floor and leaned against the wall.
Gran kneeled beside her and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“He may not have known. As Koda said, the hybrids are unusual, and some don’t even know what they are or where they come from. Your husband may not have known,” she explained.
“Your father,” Koda began when Emily held her hand up to stop him.
“Gran covered it. Dad probably didn’t know, and Mom certainly didn’t know,” she said as she stood and walked around the areas of the cabin not occupied by a spirit. She hated invading their space.
“So . . . we’re waiting for your space brother,” Emily said and burst out laughing.
Everyone else laughed with her, even Koda who could not only see the humor from their point of view, but also how much they needed to laugh after everything they’d been through since his spirit wandered up to the cabin.
When the laughter died down, Koda cleared his throat to get Emily’s attention.
“Yes, we’re waiting for Grai to come,” he said.
“And you’re absolutely sure he’s coming?” Emily prodded, needing the reassurance.
“Absolutely positive. He’ll never give up,” Koda assured her, having no doubts in his brother.
Emily crossed her arms over her chest and nodded her head.
“We can do this. The worst of the wounds aren’t bleeding anymore,” she said then looked at Koda. “As long as you keep fighting, we can make it another day or so. You’re sure Tristan can fix this, right?”
“Yes,” Koda said with a smile. “He’s almost seven years old, but he’s the most powerful person I know. He single handedly took out part of a mountain, so this will be easy for him.”
Emily looked at him and rolled her eyes, not sure if she believed him or not, but she had heard the rumblings a few days ago coming from the direction he said the firefight and battle happened in what he called Fiorn’s Folly.
She had never ventured that far west and didn’t know the area he’d been talking about, and she’d assumed the rumbling was a thunderstorm. The mountains were odd, and strange storms popped up all the time, so she hadn’t thought much about it at the time. She’d just been grateful the storm never reached them.
Another thought occurred to her and she turned back to Koda.
“Can Tristan help her learn to communicate with me?” she asked, daring to hope that she and Joey could talk and alleviate some of her loneliness for living company.
Koda shook his head sadly.
“I don’t know. Even Tristan still has difficulty communicating in this realm. I do know that they are more powerful than you can imagine in this realm, even at such a young age. They have progressed beyond your imagination in others,” he explained.
Emily smiled at her beautiful sister.
“I never doubted she was amazing and the smartest one in the room. OK, what do we need to do with that leg? I think it’s the only thing left for us to deal with since we have no idea about any internal injuries. We also have to get some water and food in you,” she said, determination to keep him and therefore Joey alive the foremost thought in her mind.
Emily ignored the others and their suggestions as she listened to Gran, nodding her head the whole time.
“OK, OK . . . I can do this,” she said, refusing to even consider not accomplishing the gruesome task.
“What? Who’s talking?” Koda asked as he looked around, hoping to see his mother at some point even though Emily had already told him he couldn’t.
“Gran says we can’t leave the jagged bone exposed like that, and I need to clean and disinfect where the flesh was charred,” Emily’s tone made it clear she wasn’t happy about doing it.
“I’ll do it,” Elmer offered.
The whole room said a collective “No!” leaving Elmer muttering to himself as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Koda knew his mother was right, and he kneeled next to his body and ignored the shudder that ran through him as he pulled back the blanket laid over him.
“It looks like it was cauterized when it was sheared off. If it’s cleaned and wrapped up it should be fine until Grai can get here. Can you stomach it?” he asked Emily. He’d more than understand if she’d had enough of his gruesome body for one day.
Emily snorted and began gathering the meager medical supplies she’d need. She could do anything if it would keep Joey and Koda alive.
She set everything on the floor near his injured right leg and sat down as Gran started talking her through cleaning the wound thoroughly before covering it up.
“You don’t have to be so delicate; it’s only temporary,” Koda said as he leaned over and watched her make small, precise movements.
Emily stopped and glared at him until he backed away from her. When he was at least a foot away from her, she went back to cleaning it exactly as she had before he stopped her. The room was silent while the other spirits watched her intently.
“Done!” Emily finally said with grin as she held her hands up in triumph. She had to admit, the missing leg looked a lot better with the jagged bone and charred flesh covered up.
Koda had to agree—all things considered, she’d done an awesome job of stitching him back together. All he had to do was hold on until Grai came, and nothing was going to stop him from fighting until then.
Emily tried to stand and staggered for a few steps before Koda and Elmer helped to steady her.
“You need rest,” Koda said worriedly as he looked at the dark circles under her eyes. He knew she hadn’t slept for at least 20 hours and had to be ready to drop from exhaustion.
Emily smiled weakly and shook her head as she moved to wash up.
“I’m going to get some food and vitamins in you first, then when I put Joey down for a nap, I’ll take one with her,” she said as she headed outside to clean up and go to the bathroom.
She checked behind her to make sure she was alone and glared at the half dozen spirits behind her, including Koda.
“Privacy moment, people. Privacy,” she said until they all went back inside the cabin. Koda only turned his back to her, refusing to go farther away from her.
Figuring she’d be far enough away from him, she quickly took care of her business and ran back inside the cabin, throwing a grin at Koda as she passed him. Her smile turned to a scowl of irritation when she entered the cabin and he was standing there grinning at her.
“Elmer, stop teaching Koda all of your tricks,” she said as Elmer chuckled and shook his head at the two youngsters.
She walked to the cabinet and grabbed the rice baby cereal that Joey hated and a few other things.
“What is that?” Koda asked, wondering what she was making to feed him.
“Rice cereal. It’ll go down easily, and I can add vitamins to it,” she said, not getting into the details with him.
“That’s not vitamins,” he accused, looking at the funny drops of liquid and powders she was putting in the slimy looking white cereal.
Emily sighed and glanced up at him before going back to stirring the concoction in the bowl.
“It’s a mix of liquid vitamins and protein powders. You’re a big freaking guy, you need more food than we have in this whole place to keep you alive, but you can’t exactly chew, so I’m winging it,” she admitted, keeping her gaze on the bowl and the unappetizing gruel it turned into.
“That’s nasty! What the hell?” Ko
da accused, making a gagging sound when he looked into the bowl.
Emily slammed the bowl down and grabbed the can of protein powder, turning the nutrition label to him.
“See that? Mega protein! Mega vitamins! All of which you need!” She turned back and grabbed the bag of flax seeds and did the same thing. “Besides, you’ll never taste it.”
Koda nodded and held his hands up as he backed away.
“I get it, all good for me,” he capitulated, figuring if he couldn’t taste it, it didn’t matter.
She was grateful that Koda hadn’t delved more deeply into what she’d put in his food. Although all of it was very good for him, it was also all the stuff that she and Joey didn’t like very much and only used in emergencies. She couldn’t be picky about the things people traded her for the skins and game she hunted.
Emily moved to the other side of his body and looked around for a way to prop him up. No matter how appealing it was to think of choking him once in a while, she wouldn’t take that chance with Joey’s life now tied to his.
She grinned at Elmer when he sat up Koda’s body and held him for her.
“Thanks, Elmer. I don’t know what I would have done without you. But we should probably get back to work when we’ve got Koda fed,” she said, spooning in a small amount of the gruel while she looked closely to see if Koda would swallow on reflex.
She almost cheered when she saw his throat move and she rushed to put another small spoon in his mouth.
“I ain’t going anywhere. I want to see the space brother and his ship,” Elmer said as he shook his head in determination.
A chorus of denials erupted around the room as the other spirits agreed that they weren’t ready to leave yet since they all wanted to see the space brother and the space ship coming to collect Koda.
Emily was overwhelmed with gratitude and had to put the spoon in the bowl and take a few deep breaths to keep from crying over the kind gesture. When she thought she had herself under control, Elmer ruined it.
“I know you probably ain’t never had any of us help you out, but maybe we’re all here for a reason. Maybe you’re helping us the same way we’re helping you. Just say yes, ‘cause we ain’t leaving,” Elmer said with a determined expression on his weathered face.