Wind and Fire

by T. J. Michaels

  When his breathing became short and raspy, Rhia had had enough. She stood up on her tip toes and whispered for his ears alone.

  “Listen up, RuArk, because this is your only warning. You’re. Going. Home. Don’t make me take advantage of the situation by having you dragged there.” She softened her demands with a gentle, “Please, don’t be boneheaded about this.”

  He looked down at her, but said nothing. They both knew she’d won this little battle and this time when he hit the ground like a fallen tree he remained unconscious.

  Warriors gathered around the Protector of the Realm, and tried to push past Rhia to gather up RuArk’s prone body. They obviously didn’t realize who they were dealing with. The first warrior who inadvertently put his hands on her landed on his head next to RuArk. The next found himself standing on the toes of his boots. While he tried to get away from the agonizing pain shooting up the arm Rhia had twisted behind his back, her thumb worked a sensitive nerve at the base of his spine that kept him immobilized.

  “All of you step back,” she yelled, then turned to Linc, Dalmore and Osgar.

  “Linc, Dalmore, take him home as fast as you can. Osgar, send someone across the river to the Grandfather, then tell Drefan to double check the security on the gates. All of them.”

  Linc and Dalmore caught RuArk underneath his arms. Their muscles strained under the weight. In the end it took four warriors to get RuArk up the hill to the villa.

  Lunis met them on the front porch with a wicked black fireplace poker in his hand. One look at RuArk and the poker was forgotten, left to clatter loudly on the stone porch as he ran ahead to prepare their bed and get extra linens. Rhia still shouted orders.

  “Lunis, after you help us get him upstairs, send a runner to the Society of Physicians and the Gaian Healers. Have them set up a triage area. Use the security force’s barracks for the more serious cases. Then find Brita and have her bring her medicines up here. Sharyn, too. Tell those women to get their asses up here immediately.”

  RuArk lapsed in and out of consciousness as his skin heated alarmingly. Rhia grew more and more nervous as he approached delirium. There was no way he should have a fever this fast.

  But then this whole business was strange. No Draeman colony, nor any colony’s townships had been attacked since after the wars and reconstruction after the Breaking. Who were those men who’d dared attack her home? And how had they gotten into the township? There hadn’t been anyone in front of or behind her when Drefan waved her through the inner wall’s gates. What the hell was going on?

  Lunis put down a plastic-like material on one side of the bed and placed clean sheets over it. The warriors settled RuArk on top of it, removed his boots and leggings, and then filed out of the bedroom solemnly. Linc stayed behind.

  Rhia threw a towel over RuArk’s groin while Linc removed his under cloths. An already serious expression went rock hard as he helped remove RuArk’s ruined leather tunic.

  The wound was horrendous. The only thing holding RuArk’s shoulder to his body was the bone itself. The slash was deep, but thankfully the cut was clean. So why did it look like this? The bleeding had slowed, but a strange yellow fluid mixed with the blood seeped out of the gaping flesh, bubbling as it came up out of the wound.

  The skin around the cut was a sickly gray that faded to a putrid-looking raw pink. She’d been in endless blade fights and countless skirmishes but she’d never seen anything like this. Rhia stopped breathing.

  His skin was scalding to the touch. She sponged the wound as best she could and then covered him with light linens. Then for the first time in her life, she prayed.

  “His fever is raging, Linc. Please go see what’s taking Brita and Sharyn so long to get up here.” He didn’t move right away, only stood watching her with a stoic expression. Hell, she didn’t have time for this. “What, Linc?” she asked impatiently as she brushed a stray lock of hair back from RuArk’s forehead. Her fingers stilled at the coldness in the First Commander’s voice.

  “I respect your strength and courage, fighting alongside us as you did, but if he leaves this realm, I will never forgive you.”

  “What does this have to do with me?”

  “The Wind Storm refused to have his wound seen to because he was more concerned for your whereabouts and safety than his own life. He continued to fight until he saw you were safe. If you had been where you were supposed to, he would have been under the care of the healers long ago, and much more assured of life than he is at this moment.”

  Linc left the room without another word, and quietly snapped the bedroom door closed behind him. What else was there to say? Besides, he was right. The battle may not have been her fault, but RuArk’s current state of health certainly was. There was no arguing that he would be in much better shape if he’d been treated earlier. Now there was absolutely nothing she could do except comfort him with cool towels and wait for Brita and Sharyn to arrive.

  * * * * *

  The two women had taken two steps through the door into their apartments inside the living room when Rhia’s head appeared in the bedroom door, her blade at the ready. Those bastards had gotten past the gates once and she wasn’t taking any chances. Relieved to see her friends, Rhia dropped her blade with a muffled thud on the thick carpet and blurted out her concerns.

  “Brita, what do I do? What do you want me to do? Linc and I removed his wet clothing and covered him lightly but his fever is so high. The wound looks horrible. How can I help?”

  “You can help by leaving us to our tasks,” replied Sharyn, already marching resolutely into the bedroom toward RuArk’s deathly still body.

  “Are you crazy! I’m not going anywhere,” Rhia growled menacingly.

  “Rhia, nobody said you have to leave, but we can’t tend him if you’re practically on top of him,” Brita said as she joined Sharyn at the side of the bed. She nudged Rhia aside to get a good look at the large flushed body laying much too still. She pulled a steth out of her bag and placed it on his chest.

  “His fever is high but his heartbeat is strong, though a bit erratic. His lungs don’t sound clear. Strange, since the wound is on his shoulder. I’ll give him some meds to stave off infection. When he awakes tomorrow, his fever should have come down significantly.” Brita dropped the steth back in her bag, then snatched two small packets of crushed brown something-or-other from an inner compartment.

  Thank the spirits Brita knew about medicines. It was times like this Rhia wished she’d paid more attention to the woman’s instruction when she was growing up, rather than chasing young boys with wooden swords.

  Sharyn changed places with Brita, closed her eyes and let her hands move about RuArk’s temples. Rhia pulled in a swift breath as goose bumps jumped across her skin. A familiar tingling sensation tickled the base of her skull. She knew Sharyn was using her Gift on RuArk.

  “What are you doing to him, Sharyn?”

  “I am listening to his body. We must determine where to begin the healing before Brita gives him the fever medicine. The wound in his shoulder is...wrong. The yellow substance oozing from it is almost alive with a vile taint. I can sense it. I am afraid it will take both of us to heal him.”

  “Both of us?” Rhia shrieked. “What the hell am I supposed to do? You know I can’t control my Gift yet. In fact, we don’t even know what my Gift is.”

  “Come here, Rhia.”

  She hesitated, unsure and afraid for the first time in ages. “Sharyn, if I screw up, I’ll be responsible for RuArk’s death.”

  “Come here. Now.”

  Even in her concern, Rhia couldn’t keep her brows from flying upward. Sharyn hadn’t raised her voice, but her tone dropped into a deep octave that took the option of refusal off the table. Rhia moved next to her friend and prepared for who-knew-what.

  “You do not have to know how to use your Gift to help him Rhia. Just open yourself to me. My skill and knowledge of my Gift of Healing will join with your innate power, and magnify it.”

&
nbsp; “Then what?”

  “Then we wait. The rest will depend on his strength and will. If he were a weaker man there would be no hope for him, regardless of our Gifts.”

  “Please, just tell me what to do. He’s starting to wheeze. Hurry up!” She was beside herself with worry and didn’t realize she was practically strangling the other woman until Sharyn looked calmly down at the hands clutching the collar of her tunic. Blushing, Rhia quickly removed her fingers and let her arms fall to her sides.

  “Just relax, Rhia and follow my lead. Reach for your Source and allow the Gift to come to the surface on its own. If you open to it, it will come. Once you feel it, let me take control from there.”

  The two women knelt on the top step of the huge platform bed next to RuArk’s body, and placed their hands on his chest and belly with their fingers touching.

  Rhia closed her eyes and opened herself to her Source. She sensed rather than saw a faint light flare to life, then grow brighter as she made contact with her Source. She felt Sharyn gently take control of it, taking Rhia along for the ride. Felt everything Sharyn felt, saw what Sharyn saw. They could see the wound now from inside RuArk’s body. Sharyn probed down through the layers of skin, the fibrous bands of muscle, the veins and blood vessels, everything. Then she zoomed in on the source of RuArk’s distress.

  Poison. Blood poison. Rhia had no idea how she knew, but the knowledge was there none the less. She also instinctively knew it would take an amazing amount of strength to neutralize and remove the taint and heal RuArk’s torn and shredded muscles, nerves and tissue.

  Sharyn spoke into Rhia’s mind. “Rhia, we will remove the poison first, then heal the severed nerves. That is all we can do.”

  “Why can’t we just heal him and seal him up completely?”

  “If our strength fades while we are still linked to RuArk, we can become infected, lost him and kill ourselves as well. We will do what we can, then Brita can mend the torn tissue.”

  Rhia must have sent a message through her mind that she understood for at that instant she felt a tremendous surge of energy rush toward and then through her. It reached into RuArk, who jerked and bucked as they worked. Thankfully Linc had returned in the middle of the healing session and between the three of them, they managed to keep contact with RuArk’s body and each other.

  When they were done, they released their Source with an inaudible whoosh. Rhia promptly collapsed into the nearest cocoon-like comfy chair and willed the bright spots and sparkles behind her eyelids to go away. Linc helped Sharyn up from the spot on the floor she’d crumpled onto.

  Lunis entered with a tray of tea and broth. “Ladies, you should try to eat something to regain your strength.” He sat the food down on the small table between them but Rhia wasn’t sure she could move enough to eat anything just now.

  “Linc, help me,” Brita called from across the room.

  Linc held up the head of a semi-conscious RuArk as Brita slowly spooned a rich broth laced with a pungent medicine to fight the fever. Rhia watched as the woman sewed him up with meticulous care, thankful that he would feel no pain and that the flexible clear surgi-thread she used would dissolve on its own.

  Though the blood vessels and nerves had been healed by Sharyn, the layers and layers of muscle, tissue and skin were mended by hand with the smallest of stitches. When the woman was done, RuArk had a nine-inch length of red, angry skin that oozed just the slightest bit of blood.

  After carefully moving him to the other side of the bed, Linus and Linc changed the linens. Then they all settled in on couches, chairs and even on the floor, unwilling to leave RuArk for a second.

  Also by Author TJ Michaels

  Carinian’s Seeker, Vampire Council of Ethics One

  Serati’s Flame, Vampire Council of Ethics Two

  Hatsept Heat, Vampire Council of Ethics Three

  Seeker’s Solace, Vampire Council of Ethics Four

  Juicy, A Twilight Teahouse Story

  Luscious, A Twilight Teahouse Story

  Succulent, A Twilight Teahouse Story

  Silk Road, Seals of Destiny

  Spirit of the Pride, a Pryde Ranch Shifter Story

  Niah’s Pride, a Pryde Ranch Shifter Story

  Pursuit of Pride and Pleasure, a Pryde Ranch Shifter Story

  Shiftin’ Sassy: Derria Pryde, a Pryde Ranch Shifter Story

  Winter Blues, a Pryde Ranch Shifter Story

  Gathering of the Storms ~ Wind and Fire

  Gathering of the Storms ~ Reckoning

  Just Peachy

  Jaguar’s Rule

  Forever December

  Egyptian Voyage

  On the Prowl

  Entwined Hearts

  Elemental Heat

  Caramel Kisses

  Hide No More

  About the Author

  USA Today and New York Times bestseller, T.J. Michaels, is also an award-winning author of several romance genres, including paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi and urban fantasy romance. Writing like a madman, T.J. hasn’t lost steam. Her mind? Yep, that’s gone, but steam there is a-plenty. A true Taurus, T.J. isn’t slowing down and she’s definitely too stubborn to stop when she sees the fence!

  No matter the genre T.J. is penning, her favorite thing to do is build worlds. To take you somewhere extraordinary. To transport you to a place where you can close your eyes and slip into your fantasy...

  Visit T.J. Michaels online at her Website

  www.TJMichaels.com

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  Did you love Wind and Fire? Then you should read Hide No More by T.J. Michaels!

  Scharsi has spent years hiding from the Amalgamation. They are the definition of evil in her world. Now she must hunt one of their agents who killed the only man who ever loved her. Hand cannons primed, no one will stand in her way.

  Tanil, an Amalgamation officer left for dead by his own crew, must avoid capture. On the run, wounded and weak, he comes upon the one woman in the 'verse he should be running from. But Scharsi isn't what the government claims she is--a born and bred killer.

  Deadly? Absolutely...but addictive, hot. She sends his blood racing with a look. Her touch? Devastating.

  Scharsi clearly doesn't want distractions while on a hunt, but Tanil won't hesitate to prove that a bit of delicious distraction is exactly what she needs.

  Warning: This book contains intergalactic seduction, super soldier sweet tooths, and cyborg beat downs.

  Read more at T.J. Michaels’s site.