“His care was put in the hands of Dr. Odocoileus. Rafe spent two months in a coma, and there were more surgeries once they were certain he would survive. A rod was inserted into his leg, pins into his ankle, and grafts were started to help close the massive wounds on his hips that went down to the bone,” Dr. Suricata stated, flicking through photos of the surgical scars and the still open sores he dealt with on his flanks. “The orthopedic surgeries failed. His body refused to heal around them, and we had special braces made so he can support his weight on a walker. No one was confident but Rafe that he would walk again, and he surprised us all. His body is aging very rapidly, and we believe that is due to the loss of his dragon. Something that could likely be counteracted with your matebond. The other thing it may help combat is the stage four pancreatic cancer which has metastasized throughout his body.”
“I refuse to seal our matebond,” Rafe said while Aleksander rubbed his hand gently. Afraid to look at him, he kept his attention on Dr. Suricata.
“The reality is, you may have no choice. If you intend to go ahead with any healing by Sorcery D’Vaire, you’ll need surgeries. Magic rebuilds cells, and you have foreign bodies in you including the rod, the pins, and donor graft skin. All of that must be stripped away, and you may lose blood as they try to seal those wounds since we can’t do stitches while the sorcerers are healing you. The best and only donor available to you is your mate because you’re neither human nor dragon but somewhere in between. His beast also isn’t going to tolerate another person’s blood being transfused into you,” Dr. Suricata stated, making Rafe frown. The shifter almost sounded as if she approved of the idea of trying to heal him, which made no sense since she was more aware than anyone how fucked up he was.
“Dr. Suricata is correct. We have no choice in that matter. Magic will cause any foreign bodies to rip through the skin,” Vadimas stated.
“Tell me what ideas you have,” Dr. Suricata insisted.
“We believe the best route is through dark magic. My mate and I would oversee healing Rafe while the other members of Sorcery D’Vaire with warlock, necro, and wizard blood can fuel our wells, which would enable us to help considerably. We have in our possession the only remaining Cwylld stones that nullify sorcery. Our thought was to stick Rafe in a copper-lined room afterward to protect the stones from draining anyone else and allowing them to do their work to limit the amount of swelling. What we need is to figure out a good starting point, which is something we’d like you to suggest,” T’Eirick stated.
“Your plan is to pump him full of magic when you know he’s intolerant? In his condition? You’ll kill him,” Dr. Park argued.
“Dr. Park. He is not quite human, and these sorcerers are some of the best on the planet. They are also all considered D’Vaires. I am confident not one of them would do anything to harm their own High King,” Dr. Suricata retorted.
With a loud screech, Dr. Park shoved his chair back and stood. “I hope you have good malpractice insurance, Dr. Suricata, for when this man dies. He has maybe a few weeks with the way his cancer is raging through him and is in no state to be put under anesthesia for surgeries. This is ridiculous.”
After he stomped out, Dr. Suricata let out a sigh. “I’ve been acquainted with Dr. Park for a long time and while I respect his opinions as a human, he doesn’t know the vast ways in which we differ from them, even those of us that have lost our beast. You’re still stronger than any of his patients, and given what you’ve already endured, I just can’t believe that you wouldn’t find a way to pull through anything. I don’t want you to be discouraged, Rafe. I think we can save your life.”
“Only if you use Aleksander’s blood, and being alive isn’t the only thing at stake here. Show them the recent photos. I want everyone to see what I look like now.”
Dr. Suricata did as he asked, and Rafe was forced to stare at the skeletal man lying on his bed in his baggy underwear, littered with wrinkled, scarred, and still-wounded flesh.
“Considering where you started Rafe, that picture is nothing short of miraculous,” Killian said.
“Agreed, dear. I can hardly believe it’s the same man,” Saura added.
“Given Rafe’s objection to sealing his matebond, I believe we should start with the open wounds that have refused to heal in nearly a year. It will require anesthesia as there are skin grafts that will have to be removed as your magic pushes them outward. I do believe we should have blood available in case it is necessary. I want you to be prepared, Rafe, that if it becomes medically needed, I am going to have you transfused,” Dr. Suricata said.
“How dangerous is the anesthesia for him?” Dra’Kaedan asked.
“The moment we see any drops in blood pressure or anything else, we can stop the procedure. They aren’t healed, so we won’t be making anything worse.”
“Our simulations have given us some information, but I would like to know what kind of swelling we might be able to expect. Since we’re here in a hospital, might I suggest I be allowed to heal something? Perhaps one of the scars on your hand, Rafe? We can record it to add to our data, and you can give us some idea of your side effects so they can be treated. Obviously, the more magic we use, the more the effect will be multiplied,” Saura remarked.
“That’s a great idea. Is there a room at home with the copper lining, so we can see how things go with the Cwylld stones?” Dr. Suricata asked.
Dre’Kariston got to his feet. “I’ll go home and take care of that right now, so he can go straight into it once my mom is done.”
“Rafe hasn’t agreed to having anything healed yet,” Aleksander said softly, his voice rough with emotion.
Gathering his courage, Rafe glanced at Aleksander and had the urge to run on his damaged legs at the fury in his dark eyes. “Uh…I guess losing one scar can’t hurt,” he heard himself say.
“Wonderful, let’s get to work,” Dr. Suricata remarked. She raced over with her phone out. Dre’Kariston and Somerly left while Rafe was surrounded by sorcerers with their devices at the ready. Saura held out a hand, and Rafe lifted his free one to put in hers.
With a wink, Saura shot a dark streak across one of his knuckles. His mouth grew a little dry, but he couldn’t say if it was fear of the situation or the magic entering him. There was no ache in his belly but a strange, nearly itching feeling as if he wanted to crawl out of his skin. “How do you feel?” she asked when she stopped.
“I’m okay,” Rafe remarked. Carefully, he explained the noteworthy things that had happened during the tiny healing. “I could use a glass of water, but that could be my drugs too.”
“There’s a tiny bit of swelling,” Dr. Suricata noted, peering closely at Saura’s handiwork. “But nothing major. We need to get you home to those Cwylld stones since you still have to be teleported home, and we don’t know if it will continue to expand. Take a day or two to think about this, Rafe. I do believe Sorcery D’Vaire may have an avenue to help you tremendously.”
Rafe said nothing and dared not look again at Aleksander as he hobbled out of the room with the sorcerers chatting amicably around him of their ideas of how to broach the wounds on his hips. What the hell had just happened? How was he supposed to feel about Sorcery D’Vaire now? And more importantly, what was Aleksander thinking?
Chapter 38
Aleksander stood in his closet, changing out of his suit and into jeans while wishing he could hunt down whoever had tortured Rafe for five months to slowly peel their skin off, then tear them apart piece by piece. It was a violent image that pleased his beast, since even after seeing the poor condition Rafe was in, he’d never understood just how incredibly brave his mate was. The man Fate chose for him was the most admirable person he knew and had somehow found the courage to survive. All Aleksander could do was thank her for trusting him with such a wonderful soul, and he pledged to always put Rafe first.
Which meant he couldn’t stew in his own space about what Rafe had suffered. Once Aleksander was dressed, he strode out of his room
and ventured into the hall. The almost dragon that was his perfect match was also stubborn, so Aleksander didn’t bother to knock when he got to Rafe’s door and whipped it open. His mate was in the process of stretching on his bed and appeared surprised at Aleksander’s rather rude intrusion.
“Is something wrong?” Rafe asked.
“Nope,” Aleksander responded. Walking over, he planted himself on the other side of the large mattress. “Noir’s going to bring us dinner. How are you feeling?”
“Fine. I can just leave these Cwylld stones on the nightstand, right? I don’t have to put them on my skin directly?”
“They’re fine on the table.”
“You don’t have to keep me company. The D’Vaires are going to miss you at dinner.”
There was a knock, and Aleksander rose to let Noirin and Kendrick in. They were each carrying a tray of what smelled like delicious food, and he got comfortable next to Rafe again. “Thanks, guys.”
“I’ll be right back with a bowl for Mortis,” Noirin promised on their way out
Mortis ran to him and put his face near Aleksander’s hip. “What’s up, buddy?”
“He wants your food, but don’t give him anything. It only makes his begging worse.”
“I’m sure one French fry won’t hurt,” Aleksander remarked, feeding the wolf one—who would have to depart after dinner so he wouldn’t be unduly affected by the stones.
Rafe snagged one off Aleksander’s plate. “Since you aren’t going to share with me voluntarily, and now my wolf is going to drive me crazy, I’m taking one.”
“Keep your paws off my dinner, babe.”
Noirin arrived with Mortis’s bowl, and the wolf raced to shove his face in it. “Call me if you need anything, guys,” she said, then closed them into Rafe’s room.
“I suppose you want to talk about today,” Rafe commented in between bites of his fish.
“Dra’Kaedan believes it’s high time you attend a Sorcery D’Vaire meeting, so I see no reason for us to discuss it much. We’ll go over everything tomorrow afternoon unless you’re willing to talk about your feelings.”
“I was surprised Dr. Suricata though it was a good idea.”
“You expected her to tell them you were a lost cause?”
“Yeah.”
“You aren’t.”
“I want you to know that I will think about it, but under no circumstances do I want a blood transfusion.”
“Rafe, they already told you it might be unavoidable.”
“We aren’t going to seal our matebond. It’s out of the question.”
“This is about having a big party and getting a cake, isn’t it?” Aleksander teased.
“Well, I do love cake. Not that I can fucking eat it anymore.”
“You and Dra’Kaedan both. We’ll get you back to cake eating. But hey, even if you did need a blood transfusion, our bond wouldn’t be fully sealed.”
“I can’t stomach the idea of you succumbing to heartsickness when I die because our bond is sealed in any way.”
“Babe, Marcus nearly lost his beast and died. He and Damian hadn’t sealed shit. It was his feelings for Damian that almost cost him his life.”
“He must’ve loved him already.”
“Don’t make it seem like I don’t have feelings for you, Rafe. I’m in a shit mood as it is, and I’m going to have to fly for about a hundred years to shake off my rage.”
“Why don’t you seem like you’re in a shit mood?”
“Because I’m not going to take it out on you. I will spit fire for a while and find a way to handle what I saw today.”
Their eyes met. “I didn’t know the plan was to show the pictures when I arrived at the hospital. It was embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing, how?”
“I don’t know,” Rafe replied, giving his attention back to the dinner that he was slowly consuming. Aleksander had finished his and nearly licked the plate it was so good. “Mortis, hush.”
“Let me guess. He correctly identified that as a lie.”
“Who needs a wolf sentinel with you around?” Rafe muttered. “Look, I hate what’s left of me, okay? I know you think the scars are valor or whatever, but when I have to see them, I remember how I got them.”
“I’m sorry, that must be very difficult for you.”
“Each one is a reminder of the future that was robbed from me.”
“Unless Sorcery D’Vaire can help you.”
“The best I can tell you is that I’ll think about letting them heal the hip wounds. It would make things easier for me. I have to clean them thoroughly and cover them in bandages. It’s a pain, and it would be nice to no longer have that chore.”
“I want that for you. I hope you do let them mend those sores. Perhaps it’ll allow you to grow confident in their ability to do more for you.”
“Yeah,” Rafe responded, though his tone was disbelieving at best.
“I have a confession to make.”
Rafe glanced up with that scowl that made Aleksander’s belly flop. “If it’s something bad, I’m not sure I want to hear it. I know we were apart and stuff, but honestly…I don’t want to know. I can’t really deal with any more shit right now.”
Aleksander cocked his head, giving Rafe a deadpan expression. “Seriously? You think after six centuries of waiting for my mate and sharing my first kiss with you, the minute you walked out the door, I decided to go find some guy?”
“Well, what the fuck do I know?”
“I love it when you get ornery.”
“Just tell me your big secret, Sander.”
“Answer a question first. You were kidnapped for five months. I stopped hearing from you about four weeks after you left D’Vaire. You were taken then?”
“I’m not sure how much I should tell you,” Rafe said. “The case and everything.”
“You’re my mate. Nothing goes past this room, okay?”
“I probably texted you a few hours before I was taken.”
“That’s what I assumed when I started doing the math at the hospital with how long you were in a coma, in the place where you were kidnapped, and the subsequent surgeries.”
“So, what do you have to confess about any of that?”
“I kept texting you, even though I wasn’t getting any responses. I didn’t understand why you were suddenly silent after all those months of constant contact. I have a text from you that I know now you couldn’t have sent me.”
“You need to give that to the Reverent Knights. Did you keep it?”
“Yeah, and I’m never going to hear the end of it, because Worth told me it was off. You called me ‘Aleksander’ in it.”
“What did it say?”
“You apologized for not responding and told me that you needed time. You asked me to respect your need for space.”
“Well, at least I was polite about dumping you.”
Aleksander reached over and tugged on one of his curls. “Didn’t make it hurt any less. Nor did the things your family told Kendrick.”
“He mentioned he was talking to Sullivan.”
“Sullivan told him you were dating a woman. We even invited him here to visit D’Vaire.”
“I hope the Reverent Knights were told that.”
“I’ll make sure they know,” Aleksander promised. “I’m connecting the dots here Rafe, and I don’t like where my brain is going.”
“You’re a smart guy, so my guess is that you’re figuring out the truth.”
“I want you to tell me I’m wrong and that it wasn’t your family who did this to you.”
Rafe shrugged and set his fork down. Aleksander was happy to note that he’d eaten his entire meal. “I don’t want to lie to you more than necessary.”
“Tell me why the men you love would do this to you.”
“I don’t love them, Sander. I don’t even know who they are. You want to know why they kidnapped me and tortured me for five months?” Rafe asked, their gazes locking. “I told Sulliva
n about us. Let’s just say, they didn’t take my homosexuality well. But I won, because what they wanted was to enjoy hurting me and then killing me. I got out before they managed it.”
Leaning toward him, Aleksander cupped his cheek in his hand and refused to let Rafe shake him off. “Stop moving away.”
“I don’t know what to do about you.”
“We’re going to figure it out together, but right now there are things I need to say to you.”
Rafe’s eyes were wary but he stayed still, allowing Aleksander to stroke his scarred cheek with his thumb. “Yeah, what?”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t owe me an apology for shit.”
“I have no other way of conveying my sorrow over what you endured at the hands of people who were supposed to love you. I’m sorry that our relationship was the reason they chose to do this to you. And, I want to tell you once again how remarkable you are to have made it out alive. But what I’m most sorry for is that I don’t get to personally rip them apart for laying one single fucking hand on my mate.”
“You could. Your dragon is probably a million times more powerful than any of them.”
“Rafe, what happened to yours?”
His mouth twisted into a frown. “I don’t know, honestly. I was knocked out and when I woke up, he was gone. It wasn’t like what you read about heartsickness. I didn’t have any symptoms or feel him sliding away. But it was a terrible situation, and I didn’t know at first how I was going to get away. There were moments when I thought I’d truly lost my mate. I also had a shitty relationship with my dragon. I was forbidden to shift. King Kestle and everyone else convinced me that it was bad showmanship basically, on my part, to eclipse him with my black dragon. It was imperative that I only do it at night and wait as long as possible between flights. I resented my beast for singling me out and irritating my family. I think maybe the loss of his other half just pushed him over the edge he was balanced on since the day I became a dragon.”
Heart of the High King (D'Vaire, Book 19) Page 27
