by Shea Balik
Paytah smirked at him. “Yet you still keep coming whenever I call, don’t you?”
This just couldn’t be real. Bodhi closed his eyes, hoping when he finally opened them again the man would be gone. He lifted his eyelids once more to find the giant red-and-orange man was standing there glaring at Paytah as if the Fire Mystic were a bug he wanted to squish. Damn, the man was still there.
“One of these days, mortal, I’ll teach you a lesson you may not survive.”
Mortal?
What did that even mean?
Paytah looked at his fingernails as if he wasn’t concerned about the man’s threat. “I’ll take my chances. Now these three here don’t believe you stupidly created a new race. They also don’t believe you were dumb enough to use me to communicate with the Alliance.” With each insult, the man’s color seemed to change from a mix of orange and red to mostly red, but that was impossible, wasn’t it?
People didn’t change the color of their skin. Of course, he’d never known anyone to be orange and red either, but Bodhi wasn’t willing to think about that too closely. He was still hoping when this was over, he’d be able to retain his sanity.
Paytah ticked off each item on his fingers and was up to three. “And they’re pretty sure only a nitwit would create a new race that could change the course of the war and not tell us where they were.”
The man’s blazing red eyes looked from Paytah to Bodhi. The rage that had been there when the newcomer had been listening to Paytah turned to shock as he stared at Bodhi. As if unable to believe what he was seeing, the man Paytah called Ryrmar stepped closer to Bodhi. “We didn’t think any of you survived.”
“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?” Paytah asked. “How do you know Bodhi?”
Bodhi had never been so happy to feel his mate’s arm as it wrapped around him from behind. The wall of muscle against his back helped even more. There was something there, something in Bodhi’s head that was trying to warn him to leave before he couldn’t change what was to happen, but he couldn’t figure out why.
The strange man never took his eyes off Bodhi as he said, “Creating a new race isn’t exactly easy when the balance must be appeased. Before the twelve were made, we tried once before, except nature intervened in a way we hadn’t thought of.”
Warning bells were ringing madly in Bodhi’s head. He knew he didn’t want to hear the rest of this, yet, like watching a disaster about to happen, he couldn’t turn away. It felt like his feet were glued to the floor as he waited for the words that would seal his fate.
“We thought they had all died on the day of their birth.” Ryrmar’s hand came out to touch Bodhi’s temple. “We hadn’t realized what would happen when nature forced them to use their abilities upon birth. The effort caused a bleed in their brains that killed them instantly.” The odd-colored man tilted his head. “How did you survive?”
Suddenly Bodhi understood. The warning bells were drowned out by the rush of information that was suddenly dumped into his brain. Images cascaded like a never-ending waterfall as he saw everything—the past, the present, and the future. But it was knowledge of what was to happen in the next five minutes that had him crying out.
The pain of so much data being forced inside of him was agonizing. He pushed his hands against his temples, trying to stop the throbbing. He was sure his head was about to explode.
He could hear Kai screaming his name, but Bodhi couldn’t comprehend what else he was saying. Blackness closed in on him until there was nothing.
* * * *
A tremor shook Bodhi’s body in Kai’s arms. A moan of pain soon followed.
“Bodhi, are you okay?”
Concerned when his mate didn’t answer, Kai spun the man around to find pain etched into his lavender eyes.
“Little butterfly, talk to me. What’s wrong?” Fear took him by the throat, shaking him to the core when blood started to drip from Bodhi’s nose. “Bodhi.” He knew his voice was louder than necessary, but Kai was terrified. “Bodhi, answer me.”
His mate’s hands came up to clutch at his head, pushing against his temples. The whites of Bodhi’s eyes turned blood red.
Kai could hear his friends shouting all around him, but all he knew was his mate was dying. He could feel it in his soul. His coyote howled in his head, demanding Kai do something to save him. But what? He didn’t even know what had happened.
Ryrmar said something about Bodhi being part of the new race…Ryrmar. Lifting his mate’s slight form in his arms, Kai turned on the God. “Fix him.”
It was there in the God’s red eyes. He couldn’t. Kai refused to believe it.
“Fix him,” he demanded once more.
“I can’t.” There was regret in the God’s eyes, but Kai didn’t give a damn how Ryrmar felt.
Kai was going to do everything in his power to save his mate, and if that meant beating the fucking God to a bloody pulp, Kai would do it. He didn’t care what he had to do as long as Bodhi lived. “I don’t care what you have to do. Fix him, damn it,” he roared at the God.
Still Ryrmar just stood there with that same look, the one that said he wasn’t going to save Bodhi. The need to punch Ryrmar was strong, but his need to continue holding Bodhi was stronger. Kai just knew his mate didn’t have much time, and he wasn’t about to let his mate go.
As if to prove him right, his entire world tilted on its axis. Bodhi stopped breathing. All his training as a soldier kicked in. Setting Bodhi on the floor, Kai went to work breathing life into his mate. He wasn’t going to let Bodhi go. If he had to breathe for the man for all eternity, Kai would, but Bodhi wasn’t going to die.
All around him he could hear his friends shouting once more, arguing with Ryrmar to save Bodhi, but the God continued to repeat he couldn’t. Kai didn’t care to listen to his excuses. He had a mate to save.
He placed his lips over Bodhi’s, breathing two puffs of air into his mate’s lungs, when his soul screamed out. Bodhi’s heart stopped beating. Their connection was severed. His coyote let out a mournful howl, but Kai refused to give up. His hands went to Bodhi’s chest, and he started chest compressions.
Basil was suddenly next to him with some sort of equipment. “On the count of three, take your hands away.”
Kai wanted to scream at the man that he couldn’t or his mate would die. A large hand on his shoulder stopped him. Kai looked up, never once pausing in his chest compressions, to look up at Wyatt.
“Basil can help, but you have to do as he says.”
Logically, Kai knew that, but logic wasn’t a part of this. All he knew was Bodhi was dead. Their mate connection was gone. All Kai had was the physical connection, and he was afraid if he stopped touching, even for a few seconds, he’d lose that, too.
Basil’s hands flew as he readied everything. The next thing Kai knew, he heard the doctor say, “One…two…three.”
Wyatt shoved Kai away from Bodhi, forcing him to stop touching. “No,” he shouted as the severed physical connection cemented what he knew in his soul. His mate was dead.
His coyote took over, forcing Kai to shift as his beast went crazy with grief. Kai felt nothing. There was nothing to feel. His mate was dead. As far as Kai was concerned, so was he.
Chapter 12
Harsh white light shone in Bodhi’s eyes, making him wince. Disoriented, he stayed perfectly still trying to figure out where he was. That’s when he felt it, the tattered remains of the mating bond. A rush of memories crashed into him.
Bodhi had died. Kai was lost to him. His soul cried out for the man who’d come to mean so much to him in one day. He never should have doubted Kai. If he’d just believed his mate and his crazy story about the Gods, Paytah wouldn’t have called Ryrmar, and Bodhi would be alive.
Wait a minute.
Bodhi was dead. So where was he?
Cracking his eyelid open, he did his best to block out the blinding white light. But it did no good. It was just too bright to keep his eyes open.
�
��Oh, sorry about that. I forget you mortals can’t stand bright light.” A melodic voice to the right reminded him of the strings of a harp, light and airy. “Okay, you can open your eyes again.”
Bodhi was tempted to shut his eyes once more when he saw the purple man standing next to him. The rustle of cloth to his left had him turning his head to find a man with skin as dark as dark could be. He would say the color was black, except it was so dark it almost appeared to be devoid of all color.
“It’s about time you woke up.” The dark man’s voice sounded raspy, like it had been rubbed with sandpaper. “You mortals are so much weaker than we intended.”
His brain struggled to keep up, but Bodhi was having a hard time accepting what was going on around him. First he found out the Gods had created twelve children that could potentially change the outcome of the Paranormal War. Then he found out Cynthia might be one of those children.
If all that wasn’t hard enough to deal with, one of the Gods shows up and tells Bodhi he was technically supposed to be dead. But none of that was as horrible as being separated from his mate.
A choked cry was forced from his body as he thought about Kai. All he wanted was to feel his mate’s arms around him, holding him, calling him “little butterfly.” As much as he hated being called little, or being compared to a fragile butterfly, Bodhi actually loved it when Kai called him by the nickname. It made him feel special…loved.
The need to see his mate again was all he could think about. “I want to go back to Kai.”
“That’s not going to happen,” the God with the dark skin said. “I’m Tular, God of death. I’m here to usher you into the afterworld.”
“The hell you are.” Bodhi wasn’t going anywhere but back to his mate. “I’m going back to Kai.”
Tular turned to the purple God. “I told you we shouldn’t have created mates. They’re nothing but trouble.”
The purple guy just rolled his eyes, then turned to Bodhi. “I’m Assiri, God of creation. As much as I would like to help you get back to your mate, I’m afraid that isn’t possible. You died, and unlike popular belief, that’s not something we can change.”
“I don’t care what you think you can and can’t do. I’m going back to Kai, and nothing you do will stop me.” To prove his point, Bodhi got off the table he’d been on and walked to the door.
Yanking it open, he stepped through it, only to end up right back in the room next to where Tular stood. What the…
Bodhi tried again. This time when he opened the door, he stuck just his head through to see what was on the other side, only to find himself staring at his own ass from across the room.
“As amusing as this is, it’s time to get you on your way.” Tular’s expression didn’t appear to be very patient, but Bodhi still wasn’t about to go anywhere with the man.
Since the door didn’t work, Bodhi closed it and looked around the room for another way out. But there wasn’t anything else in the room. It was completely white and completely devoid of anything but a bed and a door.
Bodhi crossed his arms, standing his ground as he faced the two Gods. “I’m not going anywhere except back to Kai. There is no way I’m letting anyone take me away from my mate.”
Tular smirked. “Death doesn’t require permission. It just…”
Soft fur brushed along Bodhi’s arm, jolting his gaze away from the mean God. A glance to his arm showed nothing was there, but Bodhi still felt it. Closing his eyes, he let his senses just feel.
“You can’t do that,” Tular shouted from across the room.
Bodhi didn’t know or care what the God was saying. He knew the fur he’d felt was his mate’s. The connection might be broken, but Bodhi would know Kai’s touch anywhere.
* * * *
Kai’s coyote whined pitifully as he brushed up against Bodhi’s lifeless body, just trying to get a little bit closer to their mate. He lay down next to Bodhi, putting his head on the man’s chest.
An ache formed in the hole where Kai’s heart used to be as he looked down on the man who was his whole world. It seemed unreal to think he hadn’t even known Bodhi twenty-four hours ago, yet he already couldn’t imagine a life without his little butterfly.
He let out another whine, wanting so badly to just hold his mate, Kai shifted back and gathered Bodhi into his arms. Pressing his lips against the soft strands of hair, Kai released a sob that shook him to the core.
“I never got to tell you how much I love you,” he whispered into his mate’s ear. “We may have only had a few hours, but they were the happiest hours of my life.” His body rocked back and forth as he held the most important person in his life. The person he was supposed to protect, to keep safe at all costs. Kai had failed Bodhi. “I’m so sorry, Bodhi. I should have kept you safe.”
Pain filled every cell of his body, demanding to be released. He threw his head back and roared his grief to the heavens. Hating that his mate had been taken from him, he cursed each of them, not caring that one of them was in the room and could strike him down for his words. At least if he died, maybe he could be with his Bodhi again.
He glared over at the God he considered responsible for Bodhi’s death. “You.” He aimed all his rage at Ryrmar, hoping to anger the God enough for him to kill Kai, for without Bodhi, there was no point in living. “You did this. You killed my mate.”
He never thought he’d see a God on his knees, yet that was exactly what Ryrmar did. He knelt in front of Kai. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea one of them was alive or that seeing me would trigger his death.”
It wasn’t enough. “Bodhi is dead because of you.” He gave his mate one last kiss to his forehead before gently setting him back on the floor. He let the rage build inside of him as he turned back to face Ryrmar once more. “For that I will make you pay.”
“Kai, no,” Talon called out. His friend stepped in front of him, trying to stop Kai from attacking the God.
But there was no stopping Kai. He wanted to be with his mate, and this would be the easiest way to get there. Kai never took his eyes off Ryrmar as he shifted back into his coyote. His beast was in complete agreement in joining their mate, and if they could injure the God responsible for taking Bodhi in the first place, all the better.
The touch of a small hand on his fur stopped Kai just as he was about to attack the God. “Please don’t, Kai.”
He tore his gaze from Ryrmar to stare into Cynthia’s violet eyes. He wanted to reassure her he was going to be with Bodhi once more, but he couldn’t talk in his animal form. So he settled for nuzzling her cheek instead, hoping one day she would understand he couldn’t be apart from his mate.
“Bodhi is going to need you,” she whispered.
Her words made no sense. Bodhi was dead. How could he need Kai? Her fingers curled into his fur, grasping the strands tightly. He watched as she laid her other hand on Bodhi’s chest, a part of him wanting to rip it away. No one but he should touch his mate.
But as much as he didn’t want her touching Bodhi, Kai couldn’t deny Cynthia the chance to say good-bye to the man she considered a brother. Those violet eyes looked at him once more.
“Don’t move,” she whispered.
Before he could process her demand, searing pain burned a path through his body. The very blood in his body felt as if it was on fire, boiling as it pumped through his veins. His coyote whined loudly but did as Cynthia asked and stayed put, even though every instinct in his body was screaming at him to get as far away as possible.
Shouts rang out all around them as his friends tried to pull Cynthia away, but every time they came close, something would throw his friends across the room as if they were nothing more than toys.
A fresh wave of agony pulsed into him, but Kai did his best to fight it. He didn’t know what Cynthia thought she was doing, but his coyote trusted her, so he sat there and took it. Well, his coyote did a lot of whining and growling, but considering it felt like an army of fire ants was crawling through his veins, taking a bite wi
th every step they took, Cynthia was lucky he wasn’t chewing her hand off where she gripped his fur.
“No.” A voice that sounded a lot like thunder shook the room. “You can’t do that. There will be consequences.”
Kai watched as Ryrmar strode toward them. Unlike the others who’d been thrown across the room, Ryrmar didn’t seem to have the same problem. He came right up to Cynthia, his hand reaching out to stop her.
Kai growled low and menacing. He’d let Ryrmar kill his mate, but he’d be damned if he let the God touch Cynthia. Still the God’s red hand reached out. Kai lunged, biting down on the colored flesh.
At the same moment, Cynthia’s hand released his fur, her small body collapsing on top of Bodhi’s in a heap. Not being held back, Kai continued to attack the God, not caring if Ryrmar killed him for the transgression, just so long as no one else died at the God’s hands.
But Ryrmar didn’t fight back. He just shook Kai off his hand as if he were no more than a nuisance. “Oh, Cynthia, you don’t know what you’ve done.”
Not sure what the God was talking about, Kai turned to see the little girl lying so still across Bodhi’s lifeless body. He wasn’t sure he could take losing both of them. To have failed one was bad enough, but both?
Shifting, Kai went over to Cynthia and felt for a pulse. He wept the moment his fingers touched her vein and felt a strong thumping. She was alive.
“Is she…” Talon didn’t finish his question.
“She’s alive.” Gently he picked her up and laid her down on one of the couches. Basil rushed over to check her vitals, but it was Ryrmar Kai focused on. “Touch her, and I don’t care what I have to do, but I will find a way to end you.”
The God shook his head. “She has no idea what she’s just done.” Ryrmar looked back to where Bodhi’s body still lay. “There will be consequences, severe consequences. Nature will never allow such an imbalance.”
