Page 37 of Tormented By Regret

“Shit, she's got a fever.”

“A fever? She's not burning up.”

There was a long pause before he spoke. “Remember how I said my sister wasn’t normal.”

“Yes. I recall the strange conversation.”

“I should have warned you then. Whisper is like my mother. She’s a raven shifter.”

I froze, looking down at Whisper’s innocent face. Her hair continued to give off this ethereal glow and I realized that this was her secret. This was what she’d been keeping from me all along. And this was why she wanted to run away.

“Yeah, you could have mentioned that.”

“Now that you know, are you still willing to protect her?”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. I didn’t know exactly what it entailed to love a bird shifter. I knew Raven was one of them, all of us had heard of the stories but we’d never been in her presence long enough to see it happen.

Whisper moaned and I reached out to touch her, but the cold burned my hand and I hissed, pulling back. “She’s glowing.”

“Yeah, they do that. Are you sure you can deal with this, Powertrain? She’s not easy to handle.”

I remembered how she didn’t like to be trapped, how she kept wanting to run from me any time I showed any type of control. She had this gift and yet she didn’t know what to do with it. I suddenly didn’t care what she was, I just wanted to make sure she’d live through this long enough so that I could show her how beautiful she really was.

“I can do this,” I responded quickly. “Tell me what to do.”

“Ravens run cold; you need to run the hot water. Do everything opposite to what you would normally do. You need to warm her body up. And try to avoid touching her bare skin. She'll give you ice burns.”

“Yeah,” I stared down at the palm of my hand which had already felt the burn.

“Put her in hot water, she'll warm down.”

“This is crazy, man.”

“She's a raven, and my sister Powertrain, you vowed to take care of her.”

“And I will.”

“Good. I want her home safe. Now where the fuck are you?”

“Headed your way.”

“What?!”

“We're a day out. I'll explain when we get there.”

“I swear to God, Powertrain, if something happens to her because of you…”

“It won't. I'll lay my life down for that.”

I stared down at her, shining in the moonlight. She was almost shocking to look at. And she stirred my blood as she lay there, looking beautiful as ever.

She groaned in pain, and I snapped out of the trance and quickly got to work. I wrapped her up like a mummy in a sheet and lifted her into my arms. I could feel the cold penetrate through the layers of cloth as we entered the bathroom. The water was nearly scalding as I lay her in it, it hissed as she sank into its warmth. After a few minutes I watched as her cheeks gained back that healthy, rosy glow. She sighed as I squeezed water into her hair and neck. My hands were being scalded now by the hot water, but I didn't care, I just wanted her safe and healthy.

Her eyes fluttered open as she looked up at me. “Don't be so good to me, Lee.”

“Why not?” I slid the water over her shoulders.

She cradled my face, her touch cold but not scorching. “Because then who's going to stop me from loving you.”

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