Nikhil(90)

"I know, my love. I know," he said, pulling her into the safety of his arms.

"What did you intend?" Mac asked. "Because from what I have seen you meant to destroy those you once held dear."

"I was in such a rage when I learned what Emperor Berto did to his young female offspring... How others allowed it... I wanted to punish them, make them hurt as much as I did, as those young females had."

"You caused the Great Infection," Mac said quietly.

"They caused it!" she immediately fired back, and then her shoulders slumped. "But I created it."

"Goddess..." Raiden wrapped comforting arms around her. "We can not undo what has been done."

"Why not?" Mac asked. "You are Gods, aren't you?"

"Because the offenses were real and until those that allowed them to happen prove they have recovered their honor, I can do nothing!"

"How does an entire race prove they are honorable?!!" Mac demanded. "That's impossible!"

"It's not about the entire race. It’s about those that caused the original crime."

"Five-hundred years ago?!!” Mac looked at her in shock. "They're dead!"

"But their descendants aren't! It only takes one, from each species, to end what I have wrought!"

"But..."

"I am trying to bring all those together that can do this, but I need your help."

"My help?"

"Yes, you are a caretaker, one that protects the land and what grows on it. The Kaliszians will need you."

"That makes no sense. Nothing grows in the Kaliszian Empire because of you!"

"This is true, but because of you and those with you, I have been able to sow the first seeds of change. I need you there when they begin to appear."

"You're saying life is going to return to Pontus? To the Kaliszians?"

"Yes, but before that happens, I have to correct a great harm. The Kaliszian people need to know they still have True Mates. That I have not forsaken them."

"But how?" Mac questioned.

"You will see." The Goddess touched the braid that held Nikhil's True Mate and Ashe beads. "Love well, Little One. May you find as much happiness with your True Mate as I have with mine."

With those words, the Goddess kissed Mac gently on the forehead and Mac's world went dark.

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Nikhil pressed his forehead against the cool glass of the closed deep-repair unit, wishing he were touching his Mackenzie instead. Luol had taken one look at the bloody mess in Nikhil's arms and rushed them to the unit, activating it to it's highest level.

"She will recover, Nikhil," Luol tried to reassure him. "You got her here in time."

"It should never have happened," Nikhil said. "I have failed her."

"You haven't," Luol quickly denied.

"Her face," Nikhil's voice broke and he turned devastated eyes to Luol. "Her beautiful face. He struck her, Luol."

"I saw that, but you can thank the Goddess that the Zaludians never use Tornian steel in their gloves. The unit will repair the damage. She won't even have a scar. Her skin will be as beautiful and as flawless as before."

"How much longer?" Nikhil demanded, his gaze returning to Mackenzie, struggling to see her through the thick, white vapor that was swirling in the tube.

Luol knew for Nikhil it felt like an eternity since the unit had closed, separating him from his Ashe, but it had been less than thirty minutes. Mackenzie's facial injuries had been extensive, and he wasn't going to rush the unit. He knew Nikhil was struggling with not being able to see her, but Luol had introduced a strong sedative into the unit. He didn't want Mackenzie waking while the unit was still closed. He wanted the first thing she saw to be Nikhil. She would need him as she struggled through the memory of the attack.

"It won't be much longer now," Luol assured him. "She is responding well."

"She'll never forgive me, Luol. I have broken my vow to her."

"What?"

"I vowed to keep her safe, that the Zaludians would never harm her again."

Luol understood Nikhil's concern a Kaliszian warrior never gave his vow unless he meant to keep it. It was a matter of honor. For him to not keep it was one of the few offenses that could destroy the True Mate bond. But Mackenzie was unlike any other female he had ever met, and he did not think she would see it that way.

"No one could have known the Zaludians would be desperate enough to return and attack."

"That does not matter," Nikhil muttered.

"I believe it will to your Mackenzie. She is a very special female, Nikhil."

"She is, but even she has her limits."