Page 5 of Pain

“I won’t touch you,” Melissima said softly in her breathy voice. “How bad is it?”

“It’s like a fucking hot poker to the heart,” Maxar said with a grunt. “Is it like this for all mages? Or just because I’m a fire-mage?”

“Well, I’m assuming it’s just more intense because you’re a fire-mage, but all mages experience this before they mate.”

“Fuck.”

I peered around the corner where, luckily, Melissima had her back to me, and Maxar was reclined on a single bed, his eyes closed. She was waving her hands over him, humming softly, but not touching him. It looked like she was performing that Reiki stuff they advertised at the clinic where I used to get my acupuncture. I didn’t believe in it, but … maybe those performing it were all mages, so it actually worked? Up until a week ago I didn’t even know mages, vampires, shifters, or demons even existed. So who was I to think Reiki wasn’t real?

“You should tell her,” Melissima said. “I don’t understand why you are all so stubborn, keeping her in the dark. The vampire is the same way. He’s in agony and it’s all because of his damn pride.”

“I don’t want her to mate me until she’s ready,” Maxar gritted out in frustration. “I just … I just need to avoid being touched by a member of the opposite sex until then. Should be easy enough.” He sucked in a sharp breath, as if in sudden pain. “Ouch!”

“Sorry. My knee bumped your hand.”

Wait, so any time a member of the opposite sex touched Maxar, it hurt him? Since when? Since the lightning strike? And was it only until we mated? Why the hell didn’t he say anything?

And what did Melissima mean about Drak keeping something from me and being in agony because of his pride?

Worry and anger whipped together into a nauseating froth inside of me. I’dbeen kept in the dark my whole life, and here I thought my mates were supposed to be the ones I could trust … yet, a few of them were still keeping shit from me, apparently.

“You tried to cauterize your own wound, didn’t you?” Melissima asked, disapproval in her voice. She clucked her tongue for good measure.

“There wasn’t much else to do in the moment. When you’re under siege, you use what you’ve got. And luckily, I’m not an earth-mage, because conjuring dirt, wind, and squirrels wouldn’t have really helped me in that particular moment.” He grunted again and made another sound of pain. “I just need time to heal. That’s all. It’s not fatal.”

“Maybe not, but I can see your bones, liver, pancreas, and part of your small intestine. It’s not great. This will take a while to heal.”

“Ouch! You touched me on purpose that time.”

“Perhaps. Stop trying to cauterize the damn thing and let me do my job. What I was trained and born to do.”

I couldn’t hear the irritated, cantankerous thing Maxar murmured in response, but it made Melissima chuckle.

I probably shouldn’t have been eavesdropping, but fuck it. If they were going to keep me in the dark, it was my job to strike the match so I could, at the very least, make out the shadows of what I was dealing with.

I stood outside the bedroom, continuing to eavesdrop on their conversation, though it mostly tapered off so that Melissima could work. Occasionally they spoke, but it was mostly her checking in on his comfort.

“All right, just rest. I’ll come check on you in a bit. I need to go see how Gemma is doing anyway.”

“Thanks,” Maxar grunted just as Melissima turned the corner, not appearing at all surprised that I was standing there. A cute little smirk curled up one corner of her cupid’s-bow-mouth, and she tossed me a wink. “You’ve got some stubborn mates.” Her cool hand landed on my shoulder. “But the fact that they’re keeping you in the dark because they want you to want them is admirable—if not foolish.”

My cheeks burned, and more emotions added to the cocktail swirling insideof me. Worry and anger were still there, but they weren’t at the forefront anymore. At least, anger wasn’t.

She removed her hand and floated down the hallway, her flowy skirts trailing behind her. I stepped into the bedroom where Maxar lay on his back, hands at his sides, eyes closed. He didn’t look like he was in pain, and the wounds from earlier had fresh dressings over them, which seemed infinitely better than his garish cauterizing from earlier.

I slipped my hand into his and he moaned, so I quickly removed it.

“No, that feels good,” he murmured, not bothering to open his eyes.

I reclaimed his hand, and he squeezed mine gently.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you can’t touch, or be touched by another woman until we mate? Why would you keep that from me?”

He pried open one amber eye. It was like staring into swirling bourbon, and heat instantly filled that one bright orb. “You’re already dealing with so much. I didn’t want to add to it.”

I closed my eyes for a moment and shook my head. “What happens when someone else touches you?”

His smile was small and seemed slightly forced. “You might think it’s funny, but it’s like I’m being burned from the inside out. It’s excruciating.”

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