by Lea Kirk
He had done this countless times with Dante as part of his training to become a healer. But never with Sakura. A twinge of guilt plucked at his heart. He’d let both Dante and Sakura down with his little fit just now, but he’d been so pissed, and so scared. The helplessness he’d felt when Storo collapsed screaming in the street…there wasn’t much in his experience he could compare it to, except maybe the day of the invasion.
Sakura took him deep within himself—deeper than he had ever gone with Dante—until he sensed…warmth? With his mind’s eye, he could see the radiant light it produced.
“Kokoro heiwa no moto,” Saku said aloud. “Your Source of Peace. That is what I call it, anyhow. This is where your power to heal originates, Nick. Try moving into it and letting it surround you.”
This was the source of his power to heal? He moved toward it, a moth to a lamp. Then he was in it, surrounded by it, cradled by an immense sense of peace. Total and absolute. It buffeted him gently, going through him, touching his soul. Healing the loss of normalcy, making him whole for the first time since his Gift was loosed within him. This was right. This was what he was meant to be, meant to do. The fight drained from him, leaving him weightless and one with himself for the first time since that fateful day in the alpine meadow of Camp One.
His power to heal had not changed him; it had strengthened him. Like a gift, given to him in faith that he would do his part to close the wounds opened when the Anferthians attacked his home-world. A gift he could use on himself as well. For the first time in over seven years he was at peace. If only he had known sooner.
Something wet and warm escaped from the corner of one eye and rolled down his temple. He opened his eyes. Sakura’s gaze held his, and he smiled up at her. “Lends a whole new meaning to ‘physician, heal thyself’, doesn’t it?”
She huffed a soft, humorous sound and nodded.
“Dante taught you this?”
“No. I discovered it myself,” she replied. “I do not think Matirans can do this. Dante may not even know.”
“But, we have Matiran in our ancestral backgrounds. How would we know but not a Matiran?”
“We are much more Terrian.” Sakura shrugged. “I am not sure how that gives us access, but it would not hurt to ask him sometime.”
“Definitely. I wonder if Alex knows.”
“Maybe. If she discovered it the way I did. She would have told you about it if she had, though, yes?”
It was always possible that his sister had figured it out after he’d left for New L.A. Maybe he should have made a point of visiting her before he’d shipped out to Matir. Nick gazed up at Sakura. Damn, she was beautiful. Not at all the kid he’d convinced himself she was, but a woman. Kind, courageous, and more than a little stubborn.
He reached up and tucked a loose lock of her dark hair behind her ear. “Thank you for saving me from myself.” His fingers slid into her hair and he drew her toward him, lifting his head to meet her halfway. Soft, full, and feminine lips touched his. He gave those lips gentle, closed-mouth kisses, starting from the center and working his way to each corner. When she finally responded, it was with an awkwardness that told him she had not been kissed very often, if at all. The pleasure that came with this conclusion was a very Terrian male reaction. It warred with the learned values he had picked up from the Matiran men in his life.
This was a huge step in their relationship, one he would need to carefully nurture if it was going to go anywhere. Having something deep and meaningful with Sakura held loads of appeal. The last thing he wanted was to scare her off by moving too fast. Especially if another man had hurt her. He pulled back and gazed into dark eyes glazed with desire.
“You are welcome,” she whispered, blinking those fantastic dark eyes.
Okay, maybe he could take it a little further. Sitting up, he took her hands in his, and reclined himself at the other end of the sofa, pulling her along with him. Lying full on top of him, there was a palpable tension in her body. But, she didn’t resist when he drew her head down, guiding her lips back to his.
This time she opened her mouth to him in a cautiously curious manner. He ran his tongue along hers, then explored the warmth of her mouth before he drew her back in, encouraging her to take the initiative. She was so soft and sweet. A very primitive desire to hold her and protect her from anything that might hurt her surged in his chest. She was part of him, in him. And there was no antidote for how she made him feel.
His heart pounded in his ears as he wrapped his arms around her, keeping himself grounded in case he floated off the sofa. A soft moan from her set his heart to pounding louder. God almighty, if he could just lay here kissing her for eternity….
“Nicholaus! Sakura!” K’rona’s voice cut through the amorous haze. The pounding wasn’t his heart after all.
Sakura’s warm mouth abruptly disappeared, ending the kiss. Nick blinked multiple times in rapid succession to clear the fog of pleasure that had settled in his mind. What the hell was going on? Sakura struggled, pulling away from him wild-eyed.
“Oh, no. Oh, no!” She rolled off him straightening clothing and smoothing her hair. “Do I look okay?” Fear, and a trace of guilt laced her words.
Her complexion glowed and her soft lips appeared pinker and slightly fuller than normal. Nick looked straight into her eyes. “You look beautiful.”
“Nick!” She hissed.
Well, she did. And he wasn’t bothering to hide his grin. She had every right to know how happy she’d made him.
K’rona’s fist thundered against the door. “Are you well, Nicholaus?”
Nick gave his head a shake to clear it. “Yes, fine. Coming.” He glanced at Sakura. “Go sit at the table or something. I’ll let K’rona in before she breaks yet another door off its hinges.”
If he didn’t open the door now, the quivering barrier would be in peril of meeting the same fate as B’iha’s door. Yanking the door open, he stared up at the Anferthian woman.
There was nothing that compared to the awkwardness of almost being caught in the act of doing something covertly. Like a kid caught sneaking the last cookie in the jar. The more than three-foot height discrepancy between him and K’rona added a whole new dimension to the situation. A stab of guilt went through Nick. This was exactly how he used to feel when he was a kid and his mom busted him for some infraction.
“What’s up, K’rona?” The slightly higher pitch to his voice totally ruined his attempt at the casual, ‘nothing happening here’ approach.
The Anferthian woman’s nostril’s flared and her gaze raked him from head to foot. Then she glanced over his shoulder and a little knowing smile bowed her mouth. “Sorry to interrupt.”
Dammit. He cleared his throat. “We were just going over medical records.” He tamped down a groan. What a stupid thing to say; the records were in the lab, not the dining room.
“Of course,” she nodded, then her face became serious. “Nero has the first symptoms.”
Closing his eyes, he nearly moaned out loud. Nero and Dacey were to be married next week. “Is Dacey with him?”
“She is,” K’rona confirmed.
“Good. Saku and I will be there shortly.”
K’rona nodded again, then disappeared into the darkness. God, he was a damn fool abbreviating Sakura’s name in front of someone else. K’rona didn’t react, or maybe she didn’t notice, but that was far more familiar than it should be.
Closing the door, Nick turned to say something to Sakura, but she wasn’t there. He found her in the lab a few minutes later, studying the notes on the table surface.
Her hand swept over the files. “I think I found a pattern, sort of. How long ago did Storo collapse?”
“It was about an hour and forty-five minutes ago.”
Recording that, she frowned. “Incubation time is anywhere between four and half days to two months.” She looked at him. “It is like a smart virus, programmed to go off like a time bomb. There is n
o predicting it from person to person.”
An intentionally engineered contaminant? That would have made it a hell of a lot more difficult to link to the atolce injections. The fact that he and Sakura had made the connection was nothing more than dumb luck. Someone out there knew exactly what they were doing when they created this monster.
He reached out and touched the tips of his fingers to her silken cheek. “I’ve changed my mind. We’re going to kick this thing’s ass.”
The corners of her mouth rose and a sparkle he wanted to see more often gleamed in her eyes. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Eleven
Nick’s fingers rested on the keyboard the data device projected upon the surface of the lab table, his gaze staring at the words hanging in the air in front of him. Up to now, writing progress reports to the committee had been a cinch. Today, his mind seemed to wander off to other topics. Related topics, of course, but still.
It’d been two days since Storo and Nero had become ill. Nero was deteriorating much faster, and he and Sakura had no idea why. It seemed all they could do was divide their time between Storo’s cube and Nero and Dacey’s cube, with the occasional trip back to their own cube to do lab work, or sleep. And he’d damn sure gotten precious little of the latter.
They were missing something, overlooking the obvious. At least, that’s what his gut told him. But what?
Lack of sleep mixed with hunger and frustration was never a good combination. But how could he sleep when his mind had become a whirl of questions without answers? Even at its most desperate, life at Camp One during the occupation had seemed easier, solutions more readily available.
Of course, he hadn’t been the one responsible for coming up with many solutions back then. Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Matirans prayed this way. Anferthians placed the pulse point of their wrists over their hearts. Terrians, well there was a lot of variety there, but he had been taught to fold his hands. The one aspect all of them had in common was a head bowed in reverence.
He breathed out a sigh. For all the good praying had done so far. Faith was one of the few things his parents had given him that he still had. It was just precious hard to hold on to it when so much had gone wrong in his life.
What he needed was a place to think, preferably away from the lab and report writing. He pushed away from the table and headed to his room. Bodie’s guitar sat in a corner like a quiet and unassuming friend, a familiar ritual of comfort. The latches smooth and cool under his fingers. With a slight pressure they popped open and he lifted the lid.
Funny how he could still almost hear Bodie working his magic on the instrument. The chords lingering in the air and wrapping around his audience. The memories of the concerts Nick had been to with his father replayed in his mind. Little did he know then that his idol would become one of his best friends.
He lifted the guitar from its worn satin lining and cradled it, his fingers positioning themselves. It wouldn’t be the first time they had their own playlist in mind. Going with it was the tried and true method that had never failed to soothe his soul. His fingers plucked the strings and the first few notes of a song Bodie had been writing for the members of Camp One came to life. A song Bodie had entitled Peace.
Could he even remember the words? He allowed his mind to drift on a nostalgic wave as his long fingers floated over the strings. The words of Bodie’s song rose to his lips, unforgotten even after all these years.
“There are more things in the universe
than you will ever know,
There are more places in the universe
than you will ever go;
Look deep within where you rarely trod
Find your peace, hear the voice of God.
Those who are gone stay in your heart;
For those who have yet to part;
Give them your peace.”
Everything around him shifted, his room seemed to dissolve into blackness as warmth washed over him in waves. His Source of Peace pulsed gently around him. His Gift to heal, an incredible power…a gift to give. Peace.
Give them your peace.
The image of Storo writhing on the ground, consumed by agony rose before him.
Give them your peace.
Holy shit. Could it be that simple? Nick jerked awake, and fumbled to grab the guitar before it hit the floor. Simple, yes. Complicated, definitely. But, it was an idea.
Give them your peace.
His hands shook. Nothing else had worked, but this might. He had to find Sakura. Now. Twenty seconds later, he sprinted out the front door into the brittle afternoon sunshine. His breath caught in his chest. Damn, the temperature had really dropped today.
She wasn’t at Storo’s, but he stopped long enough to peek into the bedroom. His Anferthian friend was unconscious but still breathing. Good.
“I won’t be long, buddy.” Not that Storo could hear his murmured assurance, but it seemed like the right thing to do.
Moments later he’d darted across the street and shoved open the front door to Nero and Dacey’s cube, ducking through before it fully opened. K’rona gave him a quizzical look. “Nicholaus?”
“Is Sakura here?”
K’rona shook her head. “She left a short while ago. Why?”
Strike two. How had he missed her? “How’s Nero?”
She shook her head. “We put bindings on him before Sakura left.”
So not what he wanted to hear. “I have an idea, but I’m trying it on Storo first. Don’t tell Dacey yet, I don’t want to get her hopes up until I’m sure it’ll work. I’ll be back.”
A thousand questions rose in K’rona’s eyes, but there was no time to explain. He hurried back out the door and pounded down the street in the direction of the healers’ cube. “I could use a little help here now, God, Mother, whatever your name is.” His words drew curious looks from the Anferthians he passed, but that was the least of his worries. If they all thought he had taken a long walk off a short pier, then let them. Maybe he had.
He hit the front door of their cube and bounced back. ID reader…it was there for a reason, genius. He slammed his hand into the crystalized reader and the door popped open. “Saku!” There was no response, not even crickets. “Oh, come on!”
The door to the lab opened, and Sakura looked at him, surprise written all over her features. “Are you trying to knock the cube down, Nick?”
God was definitely messing with him now. “I know what to do for the infected Anferthians.”
That got her attention. “You found an antidote?”
“Sort of. Your koko hey ya wanna mojo thing.”
“Kokoro heiwa no moto,” she corrected, as she strode toward him.
“Yeah, that.” He flicked his hand as a brief apology for butchering her language. Taking her by the wrist, he dragged her out the front door and down the street toward Storo’s. “You know how Dante can heal much better with a Terrian involved? Like the silent healers?” He glanced down at her and she nodded. “We need to do that, together.”
“But, we are both Terrian,” she protested. “And we’re both actual healers.”
“And both of us can access our Source, yet, for whatever reason, our Matiran friends can’t.” He stopped. “I wonder if that’s why it took Alex and I half the time to become healers?” And Sakura…she’d be a full-fledged healer soon, too.
“Huh?”
He glanced down at Saku’s beautiful, confused face. “Never mind. Come on.”
~*~
Standing on either side of Storo’s narrow bed, Nick contemplated his next move. Storo had succumbed into unconsciousness hours ago, his body’s way of escaping the pain. It was probably better this way. Knowing him, he’d just question every move and slow down the process.
Hand placement seemed important, but for the life of him he couldn’t say why. It took a few tries to hit on the right combination. “Right hands t
ouching the patient, left hands covering each other’s rights.”
“Okay,” Sakura replied, and they set their hands accordingly. “Now what?”
She so wasn’t going to like his answer. “We have to, um, share our Gifts.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not exactly sure.”
She arched her eyebrows.
“Okay, this is going to sound weird, but I think we need to give our Gifts to Storo. Put them inside him.”
“What?” She gaped at him. Yup, called that one right.
“I told you it was weird.”
The look she gave him brimmed with skepticism, but then she shook her head. “Why not? We have tried everything else.”
He gave her a half-smile and mentally braced himself for her next inevitable question.
“How do we do this?”
The question he’d been asking himself since he’d dropped his guitar on the bed and ran out of the cube to find her. “That’s the problem. I don’t know that either.”
“I thought so.” She sighed. “Time to improvise, then.”
The corners of his mouth twitched upward. “I think I love working with you.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “You are okay too, Nick.” She shuffled her feet, then cleared her throat. “Let us start by centering ourselves. See what comes to us then?”
“Works for me.” He closed his eyes, and willed the tension in his shoulders to ease. A half dozen heartbeats later, a sense of calm washed over him. A sort of balance had been achieved and his Gift was waiting for the next step. He reached deep to touch his Source of Peace, and the power of his Gift surged through his veins until it tingled in his fingertips, ready to be released. So, that was it. They had to go all in.
“Sakura,” he kept his voice soft and steady. “when you feel centered and calm, go to your Source and bring it out.”
A small pause. “I do not know how.”
“Just touch your Source and you’ll feel it happen.”
A moment later she gasped. “I have it. Now what?”
