Shadowed(142)
“His what?” Liv demanded. “You didn’t tell us all this.”
“It’s kind of complicated,” Nina said. “Honestly, I don’t know how much of what she told me and showed me was true. She showed Reddix a vision where I left him because he couldn’t bond me to him. Of course she neglected to mention that he would be able to bond us together after all.”
“Maybe she didn’t know,” Lissa said darkly. “Maybe she was just crazy. The rumors we always heard about her when I was growing up…” She shivered. “They don’t bear repeating.”
“She did show me some pretty wild things…a baby with red eyes…a man chained by a stream and covered in dust…” Nina shook her head, troubled. “It was so surreal…I don’t even know if it was magic or if I was just hallucinating from the fumes of the weird potion she was making.”
“And what does Reddix think about all this—the idea that he might have a half-brother somewhere?” Maggie wanted to know.
Nina shrugged. “To be honest, we haven’t talked about it all that much. I did get the impression he was going to confront his father about it, but that’s one family discussion I prefer to be left out of, thank you very much.”
“Well, it sounds to me like you healed him,” Sophia said decidedly. “The question is, did you do it on purpose?”
“No.” Nina shook her head. “And I have no idea how I did it. Mehoo-Jimmy—my adopted grandmother—thinks it has to do with the bear being my spirit animal.”
“Huh?” Kat frowned. “I don’t meant to sound dense, hon, but what?”
Briefly Nina explained about how Reddix had always appeared as a bear—an animal with no words and a shadowed face—when she was dream sharing with him.
“I’ve had dreams about bears since I was a little girl,” she told Kat. “So Mehoo thinks I have a special connection with them—with Reddix. She feels like we were meant to find each other so I could heal him and we could make each other whole.”
“That’s so romantic.” Sophie smiled dreamily. “I like that idea. Out of the whole universe, you were the only one who could heal him.”
“Of course it could just be a matter of the right combination of chemistry between us or maybe being exposed to all those emotions on the planet of the Feeling People where we were marooned,” Nina went on. “But I’d like to think I had something to do with it. I wanted to heal him almost from the first moment I saw him—I can’t stand to see someone in pain, and Reddix was in agony when I first met him.”
“You mean when he first kidnapped you,” Liv pointed out. “Now there’s a good story to tell the kids when you have them.”
“No kidding.” Nina laughed. “I think we’ll tone it down just a little though. It might sound better to say Reddix ‘swept me off my feet’.”
“As opposed to saying he threw you over his shoulder like a caveman and dragged you screaming from your job in the middle of the night,” Kat said dryly.
“Well…yes.” Nina nodded, still smiling. “Speaking of my job, I have to go back to Earth tomorrow and give them my official notice.”
“So you’re really going to live on Tarsia with Reddix?” Maggie asked.
Nina nodded. “At least to start with. Reddix wants to be with Saber to support him in his new position as OverChief for at least the first year. After that, we might move back to the Mother Ship or even back to Earth.”
“And what does your grandmother think of that?” Lissa asked.
“She says I’m like a wind spirit—I have to be free to go wherever the breeze takes me,” Nina said. “But I’ve already promised to be home for Christmas so that’s okay.”
“Well, I’m sure you two are going to be very happy together,” Kat said. “And I for one—”
“Hi, girls, brought you a little treat.” Lauren bustled in carrying a tray piled high with cupcakes.
“Am hungry,” Kat finished, getting up at once to inspect the tray.
“Kat woman,” Liv objected. “Finish your thought. You can’t tell me that’s what you were about to say.”
“I have no idea what I was about to say,” Kat said, still eyeing the tray. “And I don’t care. Because, look—cupcakes.”
Sophia and Olivia started laughing.
“Being pregnant by Twin Kindred makes you crave sweets,” Lissa explained to Nina.
“Speaking of Twin Kindred,” Lauren said, frowning. “I just went to visit Becca Malone.”