by Maggie Mundy
“If this is all I’m going to get then you’d better make it a good one.”
She kept her eyes open as he moved closer to her. He ran a finger along her bottom lip and she shivered. Her actions made him want to make love to her and be dammed with the rules. He would adore every inch of her body, caress every curve, but it wasn’t allowed. His lips touched hers, a gentle touch at first then a peck on her lower lip, which caused her to murmur a little moan. She was killing him slowly and he relished every second. Her tongue touched his lip as she placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back on the bed. This wasn’t the way he thought this would go. Nothing with this woman ever was.
She kissed him with such passion she sent sensations through his body as if his nerve ends were all exploding. Her body lay on top of him and the pressure of her hips against him was so sensual, they were a perfect fit. He wanted to rip her clothes of and be inside her making her groan with pleasure. Her lips pressed hard against his and their tongues fought as his hands tangled in her hair. He wanted to devour her, right here, right now. He would never get enough of her. Could she possibly be thinking the same? He had to pull away before he broke the rules.
All they had done was kiss, but for how long he didn’t know or care. They lay beside each other breathing heavily. She leant on one arm and gazed at him.
“You’d better go. We both know it’s not a good idea if we actually get to like each other.”
He had nothing to say. She was right, and Kaylie was a pesky interfering human, and he should’ve known better. He realized too late why she suggested it. He had one hell of a reason to come back, and with the right answers they could do more than kiss. As soon as he walked out of the room he saw Sara. Her look of ridicule made him realize he was deluding himself. Kaylie was another matter.
“Don’t take any notice of her. You go and make them listen,” Kaylie said as she hugged him. He pushed her away.
“Don’t do that. I don’t do hugs.” She ignored him and grabbed him again.
Sara shook her head as he strode from the room and down the corridor to the club. He didn’t keep going straight but took the side stairs. It was cool on the roof and he could see the lights of the Golden Gate Bridge. He liked San Francisco. It suited him. It wasn’t a perfect city and never aspired to be, a bit like him. It was a great place with a different side to it you had to dig to find, but you could belong here, and he had. He was already assuming he would never come back when he heard a door close behind him. He turned to see Nicole.
“I wanted to see your wings again. I thought maybe I imagined them the first time.”
Ridge shut his eyes and they appeared. It was just part of life to him but they made her smile. It gave him a sense of completeness to make her smile.
“I know I’m only human and this is probably a stupid statement, but go careful.”
She ran across and flung her arms around his neck and kissed him once more. He didn’t want to let go of her as his arms wrapped around her waist and held her close. She moved away and he rose into the night sky. He wouldn’t look back or he would never do this. If he gazed at her face he would take her and run, and it would never end well for either of them.
Closing his eyes he sent out his thoughts to Pergor. He needed to be fast. If they had a clue he didn’t have a human awaiting a guardian with him it would be closed. Rising into the night sky he watched as the lights of the city blinked out below. Maybe it was the last time he would see them.
He didn’t know the tall but slight Angelic who met him, but the expression on the angels face didn’t inspire friendship. It was fine with him; he didn’t feel like developing new connections anyway. The main chamber in Pergor was as always stunningly beautiful with its crystal columns. It was also sterile of any sign of character, or did he mean humanity. He wished he had a cigar on him so he could stub in out in the corner and leave ash. The place never bothered him before, but now its perfection irritated him.
“You have no human companion. I assume you have come here to journey home and relinquish your existence. I am obliged to ask you to reconsider your position on Earth, which is important to our well-being. What is your name and Enclave?”
The Angelic spoke with a total lack of feeling and a deadpan expression. Ridge wondered how long it had taken to develop such an appearance. He had an irrational urge to ask for a burger, fries and large coke. For some reason he thought better of it.
“Ridge. San Francisco Enclave, and I didn’t come here to die. I came to get answers.” Ridge stood his ground with arms folded. He had never backed away from anyone or anything in the past and he wasn’t about to now.
“Ridge, I vaguely remember a discussion about you. It seems you failed to save a guardian’s situation. I hear the guardian Mira, is still trying to recover. We are still unsure if her Sym will survive. When I heard of what happened I personally asked for you to be removed as head of the San Francisco Enclave. It appears you still have some support in high places.”
Ridge shook his head as he stood in front of the Angelic. He didn’t get the whole tinkling voice Nicole had mentioned with Mira. He still thought they sounded like they were chewing on gravel. “That’s nice, but I ain’t goin’ anywhere. I came here to find out what you plan to do about the human, Nicole.”
The Angelic paraded back and forth for what felt like an hour. His perfect wings were still folded against his body. His white tunic and leggings might make him appear pure, but there was more of the arrogant attitude of a Demonic about him. Ridge knew patience up here was expected but this was ridiculous.
The Angelic turned and stared. “I should have thought it obvious even to a Midworlder. No Sym will risk being connected to her. She’s flawed. It is not normal protocol, but it was decided she should be terminated. Then word came to us you asked to be paired with her, which solved the problem. We will wait until you blend with her when she will die anyway.”
Ridge couldn’t believe it. “Well they’re comfortin’ words for me to take back. Let me ask another question. How come Sayell and his bunch seemed happy to be connected to her? The only reason I paired with her was so they didn’t get their filthy hands on her. Now you’re happy for her to get wasted?” Ridge wanted to hit one of the pretty crystal columns but it wouldn’t help anyone. Instead he clenched his fists and glared.
“All you need to know is the situation has been rectified with the Demonics,” The Angelic spoke with a dismissive tone and a wave of his hand.
“Sayell’s gettin' bolder. It’s no good you expectin’ us to do our job if you don’t back us up. They don’t care what they attach to humans.” He didn’t want to hit the columns; he wanted to hit this condescending Angelic.
“You would do well to remember where and what you are Midworlder. We do not need you to tell us how to rule our own world, let alone the humans.” The Angelic looked Ridge up and down.
“I know what I am.” Ridge held his arms wide. “This is it, all I’ll ever be, unlike all of you usin’ a race to become somethin’ more, and how come I heard the name of an Elevated mentioned. Liliath, wants Nicole, and wants her pregnant by Sayell. So what would she want with a human? She can’t come to Earth, and a human can only transport through here to get a guardian. Last I heard you have rules about them not bein’ touched while they’re here.”
The Angelic moved up close to Ridge’s face. “You will leave.”
“The hell I will.” Ridge wasn’t going without more answers.
“It is not your choice, Midworlder,” the Angelic replied, then sneered.
Ridge should have kept his big mouth shut, but being subtle wasn’t his strong point. The Angelic put his palm up and Ridge reckoned every rib in his chest cracked. He was sent reeling back across the chamber and slammed into a wall. Being winded was one thing, but trying to get air into his lungs was worse. He tri
ed to move but the agony in his chest was joined by shooting pains spreading up his arms. The Angelic had him spread-eagled with crystal shards through each of his palms.
More burning radiated from his thigh where another shard was embedded. There was something he hadn’t asked before. He could die on Homeworld. Did that mean he could die here?
More crystals flew across the chamber and embedded in his shoulder and hip. The Angelic rotated his hand and the shards twisted within Ridge’s skin. Blood oozed and dripped onto the floor. Every breath was agony. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could take the pain before he passed out. The Angelic laughed.
This was all wrong. This wasn’t the way it had always been. It didn’t seem like it was going to matter as he saw the large shard in the Angelic’s hand. If he didn’t move fast it would pierce his heart. Taking an excruciating breath he wrenched his hands so the crystals impaled in them broke off. It wasn’t going to be enough but he might survive. As the crystal pierced his chest he thought of Earth and Nicole. It was the memory of her smiling, and holding her hand to his cheek before he left. It was a memory of someone who wanted him back, and he only hoped it was enough to get him out of here alive.
Chapter 13
Stigmata
Nicole knew Ridge was back before anyone came and said a thing. He was calling to her to guide him back. He screamed in her head and her body collapsed to the floor with the onslaught of pain surging through him. Pulling herself up, she stumbled across and opened the door to the main room. She soon realized he was protecting her from the full extent of what he was going through.
His clothes were soaked with blood from the crystals piercing his body. Kaylie cleared off the dining table as Carrick gently lay him down. Ridge moaned as Kaylie placed a pillow under his head. Nicole couldn’t move. He was going to die, and she stood frozen with fear at the thought.
Sara came and stood next to her and grabbed her shoulders and stared her straight in the eyes.
“Whatever you did before, you’d better do it and quick. Our sort can heal from wounds down here, but not this. When I tell my body to stop bleeding, it does, but he’s bleeding to death.”
He had called to her, and somehow she had guided him back only to lose him. “I don’t know how I did it. I don’t know how I’ve done anything. I don’t even understand what’s happening to me.”
Peter came and stood next to her. “You can do this. You can save him. They don’t know you but I believe in you. Ridge does as well. He told me so.”
Ridge wasn’t writhing anymore which probably wasn’t a good sign. Everyone moved back as she got closer. Her legs quivered and her hands shook as his pain still surged through her body. She peered at the faces of the other Midworlders and saw fear for the first time in them. This didn’t happen to them and they were lost.
They had cut his clothes off him. Ridge’s skin was pale where it wasn’t smeared with blood, and his chest hardly appeared to be moving. Damn it, Ridge. Why did you have to draw me into your world? Now you know I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Kaylie took her hand. “Try and get in his head, and he’ll allow you into his body. I saw you do it before and I know you can to do it again. His auras growing weaker and I’ll help if I can.”
“Here goes nothing. He’s dead, I’m dead.” Nicole laughed, but the sound caught in her throat like a chicken bone.
Moving her hand next to his face she ran her fingers across his forehead. His body shook as sweat beaded across his brow. She placed her palm on his cheek. Her other hand she placed next to the crystal in his chest. She turned to Sara. “When I say, you pull it out.” Sara nodded in reply.
Nicole closed her eyes. There was nothing. She could feel the warm blood from his wound flow onto her hand but nothing else. Then the pain hammered into her. Her knees buckled and her hands came away from him. Strong hands caught her underneath her arms. Carrick. He was such a gentle giant. He held her upright until her knees stopped shaking.
“It’s okay. I’ll try again.” Carrick moved away as she placed her hands back on Ridge.
Stop, Nicole. It’s too much for you.
If Ridge was trying to protect her by saying that in her head it was too late. There was so much pain ripping through him. If she could share it and take some of the load they might get through this. He had done the same for her. His mind reeled from the agony, and dizziness flowed over her. The shard in his chest was covered in some sort of acid burning its way through his tissues. She couldn’t let them do this to anybody. She had been through suffering and knew you could survive. You’re not the same when you come out the other end, but you survive.
She headed straight for the main source of the torment. Her mind travelled along his nerves to the wound as if she had a TV screen before her eyes. The shard was close to his heart, but it hadn’t pierced it. Pulling herself back to the others in the room she just hoped she could get into his mind again.
“Sara, when I say, I want you to pull it out slowly. I’ll need to try and stop the bleeding as we go.” Ridge’s second in command placed her hands around the shard. If it hurt her to do so she didn’t flinch.
Nicole was back in his mind and body as soon as she closed her eyes. The pain made her body buckle again but Carrick held her steady. She had to go on.
“Now, Sara.”
As the point of the shard moved away blood welled as she knew it would. With her mind she sought out the vessels and sealed them. As she moved through the layers of muscle she rejoined it although it wasn’t as before. After she had hurt him in the car his body had become perfect again. That wasn’t going to be the case now. She fixed his ribs where they were cracked. As they got to the surface of his skin she could see a scar. Opening her eyes life seemed good for the moment. He was breathing, even if he looked like death warmed up.
“Let’s keep going. His shoulder next.”
Sara nodded as she placed her hand around the next crystal. Her palms were red and blistering and Nicole only hoped she’d be able to heal her. For all she knew it might just be a connection thing between her and Ridge.
With each of the crystals removed the pain lessened, but only to the point it was like telling someone having one leg chopped off hurts less than two. His groin was next and the shard was close to another vessel. There was so much blood she couldn’t see where it was torn. Nicole could hear chanting. For one moment the blood cleared and she could see the vessel. Whatever Kaylie did, it worked.
Nicole glanced across at Ridge’s left hand. Sara went to grasp the crystal and gasped. Her hands were raw and bleeding.
“I’ll take over.” Carrick didn’t hesitate and placed his large hand around the crystal.
Nicole smiled at him and closed her eyes again. The wound was easy to heal, and it was the same with his right hand. It was ironic that Ridge would be left with stigmata, but she didn’t have the energy to laugh. She had saved him and opened her eyes. He was pale and still covered in blood, but his wounds were healed.
“Go to them. I will clean him,” Frieda said as she touched her arm.
Sara sat on the couch looking paler than her boss as she didn’t have the benefit of all the blood smeared across her skin. Her hands were red and swollen, and the skin had split open. “I don’t know if I can do this for anyone else other than Ridge.”
“Try,” Sara said between clenched teeth.
“You have to let me into your mind.”
Sara peered across to Kaylie, and glanced back. “Go for it. Just stop this.”
Nicole closed her eyes as she connected with Sara’s body. The process was getting quicker as her mind reached the sight of the injury almost instantaneously. Somehow she was directed to the injury on contact. She repeated the sequence with Carrick. The big bear never flinched. He also picked her up as she collapsed to the floor. They were all safe. S
he had saved Ridge, and had nothing left to give as exhaustion took over.
Chapter 14
Parasite
“Yay, you’re awake,” Kaylie yelped.
Nicole jumped. It hurt. How could thinking hurt? Her brain had obviously been on an all-night bender without her body knowing it. Then it came back. Ridge had been hurt and she healed him. Where on Earth were these powers coming from? Or rather where in space were they coming from? She didn’t want Kaylie to think she was going mushy, but she needed to find out what happened after she passed out. “How is he?”
“Oh that’s so sweet, you’re first concern is for Ridge. No change really, he woke up rude and annoying as ever. A near death experience hasn’t affected his personality. He’s been popping his head in to check up on you since he came round though. I think you two are finally getting a thing for each other. He only left a minute ago because of some stuff going on with that creep Sayell.” Kaylie hugged her.
