“Suzie, can you get Healer Genia. She’s still weak and resting in her room, but I fear we need her now.”
Evie wanted to help but didn’t know how. The housekeeper looked at her and smiled. “I need some more towels from the laundry. Could you grab them for me?”
Evie rushed to the utility room at the back of the kitchen and brought back a pile of towels. Heath’s skin was starting to take on a bluish tint and she wondered whether Midworlders could die of shock. Tears came to her eyes, and her chest felt as if a hand were squeezing her heart. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but at this moment she believed if Heath died, she would want to die as well. It had to be the bonding, but the thought of living without him was impossible.
Genia entered the room supported by Suzie. She walked over and took the towel off Heath’s chest. She sighed and shook her head, which Evie reckoned didn’t bode well. Then Genia placed one hand on Heath’s forehead and the other on his chest, where it was soon covered in blood. Genia closed her eyes for a moment, but Evie couldn’t see anything different happening, except maybe Heath’s breathing was becoming shallower. These people had wings and super-strength. They were invincible, or so she thought, and yet Heath really looked like he was dying. It all seemed so wrong. He had been talking to them just a moment ago. Suzie whispered something to Genia, and the healer looked at Evie.
“Suzie tells me you have managed to expel this poison stopping him from healing. Do you know how you did it?”
“No. I didn’t even know I’d been cut. I don’t even know what happened to us. I was here at the house with all of you, and next thing I’m flying through the air with Heath.”
“There is a strange power in you, Evie. I believe it is protecting itself by causing your body to eject the poison. If we could get it to do the same for Heath, we might be able to save him. You’re bonded, so it may see it as preserving itself,” Genia offered.
“I’ll do anything to save him, but I’m not sure how.”
“I want you to put your hands on top of mine, and we’ll try to join so we can help him. I’ll be putting up a barrier so you can’t attack me and so your thoughts are aimed at Heath. Because of the bonding, I believe he will be safe.”
“But you don’t know for sure?” Evie asked.
“If we don’t try, I fear he’ll be lost to us anyway.”
“I want to help.” Someone said from behind her.
Evie turned to see her Aunt Georgia standing by the kitchen door.
“I’m a healer with my people, and this is the man my niece has chosen. I want to assist saving him if I can.” Aunt Georgia stood tall and proud, and Evie smiled to see her there.
“I’m happy to take any assistance you’re prepared to give. It seems we’re dealing with many things none of us have seen before. It would be foolish to discount any help,” Genia replied and tilted her head in Georgia’s direction.
Evie placed her hands on the healers and looked at Heath. His lips were blue, and blood was running off his chest and pooling on the table. Even if they saved him, she reckoned he was going to be weak. She wouldn’t allow the thought that she might lose him enter her head. If the darkness in her had saved her, she would use it. After all this time, it was good that it was proving to be useful. Evie could not keep her eyes open, but as soon as she closed them she could sense Genia in her mind. It was as if they were no longer in the kitchen surrounded by people, but floating in an ethereal place where gray mists swirled around them. Heath floated before them, and their hands were held about six inches above his chest.
Evie had never felt so at peace, as if her whole body had become calm. However, when she peered more closely at Heath’s body, the blood continued to drip off his chest and disappear into the mists below.
“Evie, I want you to see if you can control the darkness this time and aim it at his wounds,” Genia ordered.
Evie closed her eyes and sensed the black residing in her heart and in her mind. Looking into the dark at first was like staring into an abyss. With her mind, she imagined a thread of the dark reaching out from her chest and touching Heath’s skin. When she reopened her eyes, she could see the shadow stretching forth. It was fighting her. It didn’t want to give her any control.
Then she could hear chanting and saw her aunt standing beside them. Genia’s thoughts calmed her and made her believe she could go on. The dark thread reached out again, and this time it healed where it touched. The blood sizzled as the scars healed, leaving an “X” marked on Heath’s chest. Where the blood burned, a dark cloud rose above his body and disappeared. Again, there was a foul smell like a dead, rotting body.
The dark thread made its way back into her body and the healer let go of her hands. Evie opened her eyes to see they were back in the kitchen. Before she could get a good look to see how Heath was fairing, her legs gave out beneath her. Tiny was there in an instant and caught her, sitting her down. The housekeeper brought her a glass of water, and Evie sipped as she looked across at Heath. His chest was being cleaned and the wounds were healed. It had worked. Aunt Georgia came across and hugged her. It was wonderful to look around and see smiles on everyone’s faces. Genia nodded to Evie and then glanced down at Heath.
His eyes opened, and he turned his head toward Evie and mouthed the words “thank you” before closing his eyes again.
“I’ll carry him to his room so he can rest,” Tiny said, picking Heath up. Evie stood up to follow, but her legs gave out again as she slumped back in the chair. She looked across to Suzie.
“I want to go with him.” Suzie supported her as they followed the others upstairs. “Will you stay and tell me what happened? I know it’s silly. I can’t be away from him, but I need to know.”
“I’ve never been around anyone who has bonded before, but I heard from Heath that Ridge and Nicole in the States were pretty much like that. She even tried to kill herself when she thought he was gone. They hadn’t known each other much longer than you two.”
“I don’t love him. I don’t even really know him, but it’s a link that’s very real. Maybe when Heath feels better we could talk to Ridge and Nicole so I can try to understand what’s happening to me.”
Tiny laid Heath on the bed, and Evie lay next to him. The past five years, she had slept on her own. Now she wanted to share this bed with him always. He appeared to be sleeping soundly now, so she turned back to Suzie who had pulled a chair up beside the bed.
“There’s not much to tell, really. You were lying on your bed, and the healer was working on removing the darkness from you. Then a black mist rose above your body. There was an awful screeching sound, and we all blacked out. When we came to, you and Heath were gone. We sent out mind messages and realized he was on his way back, so we went to meet you.”
“When I helped Genia in the kitchen, it was like we were in a mist. The shadow came out of me and healed him.”
“It was the same for us here. The shadow came out like a thread from your heart and then snapped back.”
“I’ve always wanted it gone and felt I was cursed. Now it has saved Heath, I’m not sure what to think anymore.”
“I think you should both rest. I’ll watch over you with the others. Whatever’s going on here, I reckon it concerns us all.”
Evie had no intention of arguing with her, as she barely had the strength to lift her head off the pillow. She rolled back over and gazed at Heath. Was she falling for him? It would be so easy, but the most likely outcome of all this was that she would end up dead. She just didn’t want to take anyone else with her.
She reached up and moved the fringe of his hair away so it didn’t cover his eyes. His color was starting to come back, but his face had always appeared slightly gaunt and haunted to her and was now even more so. She lay beside him with her hand on his chest where the scars were as she fell asleep. After what had happened, she didn’t think either of them would even have the energy for mind sex, no matter how good it was. She didn’t know how long this would last, but for now she didn’t want to be anywhere else but here with him.
Chapter 12
A Day at the Beach
The scream left her lips as Evie yelled for joy when the wind blew in her face. Heath drove the motorbike down the motorway and she gripped on tight around his waist. Cars and trucks became a blur as they zoomed past them.
“This must be another dream,” she shouted, unsure whether he could hear her over the roar of the bike.
“Ow. There is no need to shout, Evie. I can hear everything you say. We are in my mind again as you’ve surmised. I picked up from your thoughts you’d always wanted to ride on a motorbike, so here we are.” He sped up and overtook a truck, and she grabbed on even tighter around his waist.
“I don’t want to fall off,” she yelled.