Fire and Fantasy: A Limited Edition Collection of Urban and Epic Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  “What do you know about me? And why do you say children?” she asked as she popped the handle on the side of the chair, elevating her legs.

  “It is what I do. I am a midwife. I help women through pregnancies and assist during the birthing process. I can tell you are with twins by the way you are carrying. Have you not seen a physician?” I grabbed the white box from Xander’s hands, and told him, “You, sit and I will get you fixed up.”

  “Yes, maim,” he answered and eased back into the softness of the couch.

  “We don’t have any female or shifter physicians in the area. I am on my own with this.”

  “You most certainly are not on your own. I am here with you.” The octave of Xander’s voice rose enough to show his aggravation.

  “I am here as well. At least for the time being. I don’t know if I will still be here when you are ready to give birth. Actually, I am here on what I would consider official business. But I will do what I can to help make you comfortable.”

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned the shifter thing. She is a bear, isn’t she? My sniffer is all kinds of out of whack with the pregnancy. Nothing smells as I remember it should.”

  “What I am does not concern you. That being said, your anonymity and the secrecy of your nature is safe with me. I am not here to harm but to rescue a lost creature that doesn't belong here.”

  What I found in the first aid kit was frustrating. As a goddess, I’d never had much need for such supplies. I thought mortals would keep a stockpile of life saving items on hand.

  “I’m sorry. What did you say your name was? It was very rude of Xander not to introduce us properly.” She sneered at him.

  “Yes, of course. That would be because no formal introductions were made between him and I. He was injured, and we rushed back to the cabin. My name is…” I paused as I considered giving my real name. Xander had already been clear on not being interested in myths and legends. I just so happened to be one and the same. Maybe they had heard of me, or maybe not. Given the circumstances and controversies surrounding Callisto’s death, I thought it best to go with an earthlier name—one that still resonated with me.

  “Selene. You can call me Selene.”

  I took a seat on the wooden table Xander's leg was propped up on, being cautious about how I sat so that my lady parts didn’t show.

  “This is going to hurt. I won't lie about that. Do you have any kind of pain reliever you want to take before I get started?”

  “Not unless you have time to grab me a bottle of bourbon?” he chuckled. “I will be fine. I handle pain well. I am man after all.”

  So tough and strong, he put on a good show of his masculinity. I would have thought it was to impress me before Xena had arrived, but clearly, he wanted to prove his worth to her.

  “Here is the deal. I need to twist the arrow to make sure it’s not lodged into your bone. Once we determine that, I will know best how to get it out with the least amount of damage.”

  “Can’t you just pull it out?” Xena asked.

  “If I do that, I risk a few things. The shaft can break off, leaving the arrow head in his leg. If that happens, we will need to cut a fairly deep and wide incision to locate it. We can’t leave it in there. If not embedded in the bone, it will move around and continue to twist and cut through healthy tissue.

  “If it is lodged in the bone, we will need to make sure we have a low enough hold on the shaft to get the best possible leverage to avoid breaking it. If we twist, and it’s free from the bone, a little extra cutting around the entry wound will allow it to come out more freely.”

  “Wow. You really do know what you are doing. I would have probably poured some alcohol over the wound and yanked the damn thing out.”

  “That may not have been a great move. Not to say that it wouldn’t just come right out, but who wants to risk making it worse?” I arched my eyebrow at him. “Ready?”

  He nodded and closed his eyes.

  I gingerly took the shaft of the arrow and began to twist it back and forth. Instantly, I was relieved to know it wasn’t in the bone. The only other thing to determine was how deep it was, and considering the distance between us was not that great, the odds were against us. The closer he was to my bow when it went off, the more likely the arrow had penetrated deeply.

  “Okay, so good news. It's not in the bone.” Eyeballing the exposed length of the shaft, I felt confident that a small cut would allow me to get it out.

  “What is the bad news?” Xander questioned with hesitation.

  “No real bad news. I just need a blade.” I wanted to pull out another arrow to compare but thought it best if I didn't expose the way I could conceal my weapon.

  “My hunting knife is in my jeans.”

  “Now that you mention it, Xander, where are you clothes? And why on earth are you only half shifted?”

  “Woman, how should I know. I think the injury somehow stunted my ability to shift back. Hence why I have this pillow over my lap. I would prefer to be decent when she pulls the arrow out. You can probably grab a knife from the kitchen as well.”

  “I’ll get it. You keep working on him and make sure he doesn't lose any more blood. I have never seen his skin so pale.” Xena pushed the front of the chair back down with her legs and got up.

  I shouldn’t have let her, but everything happened so fast, and she wasn’t at any real risk of losing the babies. Even if she went into labor now, she was full term. Sensing it wouldn’t change things, and I needed the blade to proceed.

  My presence near him and my breath circulating in his lungs were the only things really keeping him alive at that point. Once I got my arrow out, he would heal at his own pace.

  “Here you go.” Xena handed me a shiny and pointy knife with a very sharp blade.

  The glint of a charm she wore on a chain caught my eye, and I asked, “What is that you have hanging from your neck?”

  “Oh, this old thing. It’s the moon and the stars with a cub sitting on the moon. My momma gave it to me when I was just a baby. She told me, if I felt as if I was losing hope, to look to the stars for guidance and courage. She promised me I was never alone so long as Callisto was watching down over us.”

  “Ah, I see. That is beautiful.” I took the knife and turned back to Xander's leg.

  It would have been much easier to assess the wound if his leg wasn’t covered in an inch of thick fur. I started with the tiniest of slits on either side of the shaft. If we were lucky, that would be all it took to release the projectile. I didn’t have a problem sticking my finger in there to fish it out, but I preferred not to.

  Gently, I tugged on the shaft. It partially slid out before giving me some trouble. I at least knew the resistance was not caused by anything other some flesh. I tried turning it slightly and sliced a tiny bit deeper on each side. This time, I was confident that it would be enough.

  Pulling the shaft with a little more force. I was pleased with the ease in which it popped out of this leg. I quickly poured the alcohol over the wound and pressed a piece of gauze against the hole in his leg.

  “See that.” I held up the fully intact weapon, proud of my work.

  “Nice.” He sucked in a short breath, obviously trying to hide his discomfort. “Do I get to keep that as a reminder of today?”

  “I am afraid not. If I let you keep this, I might have to kill you.”

  Five

  “What is wrong with you people?” Xena did not find the humor in our joke.

  There was something enthralling about the way we could connect over one simple phrase. In Olympus, if someone threated another person, they had better be prepared to put up a fight or fall to their opponent’s hands. Threats didn’t get tossed around so lightly up there.

  Keeping pressure on the wound with one hand, I opened some of the larger bandages. I was glad that Xander had a roll of long, stretchy fabric. It would be very useful in making sure that the bandages didn't fall off if he tried to move around too fast. I didn't
take him for the kind of person who would sit around waiting to heal.

  “I am going to take another look at the wound before we wrap it up. How are you managing?”

  “All things considered, not too bad. The pain has subsided considerably since you removed the arrow. Thank you for helping me resolve this issue.”

  Thankfully, he still hadn’t mentioned I had been the one who’d shot him in the first place. Although, my not wanting him to keep the arrow should have cued Xena to the fact that it belonged to me.

  As I lifted the gauze, the fur on his legs receded back into his skin. I had expected him to shrink down when he fully reverted to his human form, but that was hardly the case. In fact, I think that the power and girth of his thighs were even more evident when not covered in fur.

  “When you are done bandaging, I really need to get dressed.”

  “Of course. Nudity doesn’t faze me, but yes, that would be the appropriate thing to do.” As I gave his wound another thorough cleaning, I could tell that he was already starting to heal.

  The rate in which a bear shifter healed was beyond me, but I was sure that his recovery was in part based on my breath of life. I hope it doesn’t become too obvious that something bigger than him is at work here.

  “This is going to heal up quite nicely. I was concerned you would need to be stitched up if we had to cut too deep. This shouldn’t take long to close up on its own.” I put a new non-stick pad over the hole. The bleeding had subsided for the most part, so I secured the bandage with a few pieces of white tape. “I am going to roll this wrap around your leg to keep the pad in place. I don’t trust the tape.”

  Taking one end of the stretchy brown cloth, I wrapped it around his thigh, working my way away from the center of his legs. My hands slid over the hair left behind, and I was surprised at how soft it was. His skin still felt as silky as could be.

  Touching him felt forbidden and way more enjoyable than it should have been. My gaze drifted up to his, and when our eyes met, it felt as if an explosion of colors went off in my stomach. He held my gaze as if challenging me to look away.

  How could I? His eyes drew me in, and the scent of him suddenly became more noticeable. It was unlike anything else I had ever imagined a man could smell like. Maybe it was the bear in him that gave off a unique woodsy mix of human and animal pheromones.

  “Eh hem.” Xena cleared her throat as she stood over me. “Is there something else I can do to help you with that?”

  “No, I don’t think that is necessary. I am nearly finished here.” How disrespectful of me to make eyes with the father of her unborn children. What kind of person am I? What did Elysia do to me? It was as if I being consumed by humanity.

  Desire for the company of a man was something I’d written off a long, long time ago. There were gods who would have taken what they wanted with no regard for anyone else, least of all a human mortal. Not to say that I wouldn’t take what I thought should be mine, but I wouldn’t do so from a blooming woman.

  “When you're finished, do you need a ride back to where ever you came from? It would be my pleasure to help you with that.” The offer was less than gracious on Xena’s part, and understandably so.

  “I guess it is almost time for me to be on my way. I still have a stag to hunt and only a certain amount of time to do so.” Where she could possible drive me to was beyond me. From my vantage point, I couldn’t see what was around us to even make up a place.

  I much preferred being able to look down on Earth. Between sending Ceryn back to Olympus and finding an eligible man to fall in love with, I had a tight window to make it all happen, but I loved a challenge and a good hunt. A double hunt ahead of me would be a most excellent test of my abilities.

  “Perhaps if you could tell me something, it would help me decide where my hunting will take me next.”

  “I will try,” she stated, bringing over a trash bag for the mess.

  I could tell she wanted to finish her sentence with “whatever it takes to get you out of here.”

  “First of all,” Xander interjected, “you are not going anywhere until you let us repay you with a meal. Xena and I are phenomenal cooks. It is the least we can do to say thank you. You look like you could use a hot meal, and it has been a very long afternoon.”

  “Thanks are not in order by any means, but a hot meal sounds really nice. I am guessing I am far enough from my campsite that I won't have time to fend for myself at this stage of day. I can see the sun is beginning her descent.”

  “What did you want to ask me, Selene? I am still happy to help you find what you are looking for.” She grunted under her breath.

  “A deer. One that is very special to me. He has golden horns and his hoofs shine of bronze. I have to find him by the end of the day tomorrow.”

  “A golden-horned stag? Sure, I don’t know where it is, but I have heard the guys talking about hunting it. They said that the horns would be the prize of a lifetime.”

  “What guys? Guys at the diner, or that low life Borus?”

  Xander nearly got to his feet, but I eased him back with the palm of my hand.

  “Didn’t I tell you to stay away from him and those assholes who hang around him?”

  “You did, Xander. But…”

  “I don’t want to hear it. One of the stipulations of me coming to help you was that he is not part of the picture. You already told me he said he wanted no part of you or the baby. I will find another safe haven for you to raise those cubs if I have to.”

  “He is still the father, and he has a right to see his children. I can’t leave. Besides, this is where we belong, with the other bears. There are no other dens that I know of. At least not in this country. I still don’t understand why you left in the first place.”

  “Xena, the gods won’t be able to save him if he puts a single hand on you or your children. I won’t tolerate it for another second. You are lucky your pregnancy has made it full term. I should have challenged him as soon as I found out how he was treating you.”

  The severity of the situation was sinking in fast. My rage boiled up to the surface as I squeezed the edges of the leather straps hanging from my waist. Xander and Xena’s relationship was unclear at that point, but he obviously wasn’t the father of her babies.

  That wasn’t what enraged me. The thought of a man putting his hands on Xena, especially considering she was bearing his seeds, would not stand in my book.

  My place may not have been with them, or in their town, but I would hunt down that man and shoot him square in the eye if he hurt her again.

  Uncertainty plagued her droopy eyes. I could almost feel her shaking from across the room. Did she love this Bruno or had he manipulated her and forced himself on her and into her life? It sounded as if he’d used his hands on her with intent to harm.

  He better pray that is not the case.

  “Excuse me, Selene.” Xander stood without any other warning, still holding the small pillow in front of his manhood. “Xena, you are my sister, and I will defend you to the ends of the Earth. I am sorry I didn’t know what was going on between the two of you sooner. I would have come back sooner.”

  “It isn’t your fault or responsibility. I do appreciate you coming home and letting me stay with you.”

  “You are always welcome in my home, Xena. We will get through this. I promise you. Just for the love of all things pure and true, stay away from him. He is dangerous and volatile. I love you too much to see you get hurt.”

  “I love you too.” She ran over and was about to hug him when she stopped short and made a face at him as if she had just gotten a whiff of rotting flesh. “You need to go put on some pants. I am not hugging you like that.”

  “Fair enough. You shouldn’t be such a prude. We used to run around this forest naked.”

  “Eww. That was when we were maybe five years old, or when we run as bears. That doesn’t count.”

  I couldn’t help gawking at Xander as he limped and hopped his way to the do
or to the left of the bathing room. One of us should have helped him, but he seemed to manage fine on his own.

  “I am so sorry about that.” Xena rushed over to help me clean up the trash. “Our family affairs are usually kept much more private. This is very embarrassing.”

  Putting a hand over hers as she reached for some of the bloody rags, I stopped her. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, especially not in front of me. No man should ever put his hands on another without consent or mutual agreement.

  “I feel as though I should be staying behind to help both of you now. You with making sure you have a safe delivery, and your brother to make certain that leg of his doesn’t fester.”

  Brother! Her protective and seemingly jealous reactions made a whole different level of sense to me. It must have been very off-putting, walking in to find a nearly naked woman lip locked with her brother as he bled out on the couch.

  “What do you mean by stay behind? Where are you from exactly? Letting an outsider know about us and where we live is very scary. The town folk would not be pleased to know you are hunting in our woods.”

  “I am only staying for two days. I might be able to pull some strings to stay longer and see you through your birth. It would give me great pleasure to do so.”

  “You have to get off work, huh? Probably some executive business lady from one of the big cities.”

  “I wouldn’t say that, but I guess one could interpret where I hail from to have some of those characteristics.” I wasn’t sure where I would say that I would be staying. The fact was, I didn’t even have a camp site or any clothes that resembled hers to change into.

  “Can I ask you a personal question? Are you and Xander twins as well?” Maybe changing the subject would sidestep her questions.

  “How did you know?”

  “Well, for one thing, you mentioned being five together. Also, your names start with the same letter sound, and the connection between the two of you is profound. Almost tangible. Twins and multiples tends to run in a family’s bloodline. Although, maybe it is more common in bear shifters. I don’t know.”