Page 16 of Pain

“Be safe, Drak. Let me know when you’re back from Hell.”

“I will.”

We disconnected the call, and I closed my eyes, letting the warm wind with the faint scent of cayenne, honeysuckle, and lilac sweep across my face.

I knew she was there before her hand landed on my shoulder. The pain in my stomach instantly disappeared the moment she touched me.

I stowed my emotions and faced her. “Yes?”

“Are you keeping something from me?” It wasn’t anger that shone back in her emerald-green eyes, it was hurt, and that gutted me more than any medieval torture I’d endured through the years ever could.

Swallowing, I regarded her tired face. Dark smudges hugged the skin beneath her eyes, and those eyes were rimmed with red from no doubt a lot of crying over her human friend. But I also knew that fatigue was from a night filled with passion involving Maxar. If I hadn’t heard them from the door, because my own curiosity got the better of me, it would have been easy enough to discern, given how quickly he healed. Sex magic was real, and it was powerful.

They didn’t mate-bond though, which was interesting.

“If you want us to eventually mate-bond, you need to stop keeping secrets from me. And I overheard Melissima talking to Maxar last night. She said the two of you are being stubborn and keeping something from me. Maxar’s secret was that he can’t be touched by another female without experiencing immense pain until we bond. What’s your secret? Is it the same?”

I shook my head. “It’s not the same.”

“So what is it then?” She reached for my hand and gods, I’d never felt anything so wonderful in my life. Melissima’s pills were more powerful than Monjol Fiddleman’s because before, when she was bleeding, I still would have been slightly feral. Now, I was … almost normal. Almost. “Drak?” She probed, squeezing my hand. “Tell me.”

I opened my mouth, not sure if the truth was going to come out or not, when my phone buzzed in my free hand. It was a text message from Howar with thecoordinates of the portal, along with a reminder to send him the coordinates of where Melissima’s cottage was located. “We need to get moving. Howar just sent the coordinates of a portal outside of Reno, Nevada. We need to move.” Then I headed into the house to go rally the troops.

“I don’t want to leave Gemma,” Omaera said, following me back into the cottage. “Why do we have to leave now? Can’t we wait until I see that she’s improving? Until I know that when I get back, she won’t be dead?”

“We can’t waste any time,” I said, ignoring her sentimentality. “We need to get your powers under control and learn how to set a trap for a demon.” We also needed to know sooner, rather than later, if Howar was going to double-cross me. I was setting a trap of my own by deliberately telling him we were further away than we were. We were, at a minimum, seven hours from Reno. Melissima said the nearest city center to us was Eugene, Oregon. I randomly selected Reno as a point of reference for Howar to find me a portal. Now we’d see if he sent anybody there to ambush us, or if he let us cross into Hell in peace.

Melissima had several vehicles that she loaned out to people, or that belonged to those who came to her for help, but were too far gone and perished while under her care. So we planned to borrow the dark-blue Ford SUV parked in the garage behind the cottage. The bear was outside making sure it ran properly and didn’t need an oil change, or new spark plugs, or whatever. The mage was packing up some clothes for everyone, food as well as fresh dressings for his injuries, and the pills Melissima made me so I wouldn’t go completely savage on Omaera while she bled.

“You really shouldn’t go in there,” Melissima said, resting her hand on Omaera’s shoulder as they stood outside the door to the infirmary. “Your magic is too powerful now and could drain Gemma of my magic that is trying to heal her. We can’t risk it.”

“I … I just want to say goodbye,” Omaera protested, her bottom lip wobbling and tears welling up in her green eyes. “Wh-what if I never see her again? What if something happens to us and we can’t get back here from Hell, or … or she takes a turn?”

Melissima’s gaze met mine, sympathy swimming among the different shadesof blue speckled with flecks of white.

I didn’t have an answer. The logical part of me—which was most of me—said that it was impractical and irresponsible for Omaera to go in and see Gemma, no matter how badly she wanted to. But then, if it were Omaera lying in that infirmary, and I knew there was a chance I may never see her again, you’d have to knock me unconscious to keep me out of there.

“What if Melissima goes in and rolls Gemma’s bed to the window so you can see her closer and say goodbye that way?” I suggested softly. We needed to get moving. We had no idea where in Hell the portal was going to drop us. It could be a day’s journey or more to get to Kenvin Jol’s place. And then it could take even longer to convince the grumpy old demon to help us.

“Would that work for you?” Melissima asked her.

Swallowing, Omaera nodded. “I guess, yeah.”

Melissima nodded and stepped through the door while I waited with Omaera on the other side, watching the healer-mage roll the gurney through the sterile hospital room toward us.

“She looks so … weak,” Omaera whispered. “I barely recognize her. Her skin is paler than normal—and she’s a pale little ginger.” She snickered mirthlessly at her attempt to soften the moment with humor. Glancing up at me, tears now blurring most of her eyes, she swallowed. “She’s never going to be the old Gemma, is she?”

“I don’t know.” Agony for my mate’s agony burned like a hot coal in my chest. Before I could stop myself, I was lacing our fingers together, channeling my strength and resilience into her. Her gaze flicked down to our twined hands, and for a moment, I thought she might let go, but she didn’t. She squeezed my hand and hope flooded me. Then we focused back through the window that was half the size of the door and Gemma’s frail body beneath the blankets.

“This never should have happened. She’s hurt because of me.”

“She’s hurt because your uncle is a sadistic, homicidal maniac with an inferiority complex and a penchant for chaos. It’s your love for her that saved her. That kept him from killing her. This isn’t your fault. This isn’t her fault. The fault lies solely with Lerris.”

I had hunches it laid elsewhere as well, but I wasn’t ready to put those suspicions out into the ether by voicing them. Not yet.

Lifting her free hand and pressing it to the glass, she allowed the tears to fall freely down her cheeks as she stared at her sleeping friend. “She’s not in any pain, is she?”

I shook my head. “No. Melissima will have made sure that Gemma is comfortable. The pain would only hinder her healing. And with us out of the cottage, all of Melissima’s energy and magic can be channeled into Gemma so she will heal faster. Even us just being here is confusing her magic and pulling it away from Gemma.”

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