Page 18 of Griffin Undone
Archai males had basic telepathic skills, some more powerful than others, but actual psychic gifts were the purview of Archai females. The only Archai males with similar gifts were the Aomai. Every Archai of that line, male or female, had the ability to psychically heal, to use their skill to restore the body and mind from the inside as well as out. That’s what made them the perfect guides for females transitioning into their power.
Females didn’t shift, but in a sense, their brains did. Their extra genetics allowed them to form unique neural pathways in areas of the brain humans had no access to, areas that gifted them with stronger, more powerful abilities. “Like a male’s shifting,” the healer explained, “a female should be able to turn her power off. This female is draining her battery by constantly being full-on, like a shifter who can’t stop transforming and can’t drink blood to refuel.” He wiped the red trickle from around her nose again. “When she uses that power, the surge does even more damage.”
Which explained the convulsions earlier. I hadn’t realized my thumb was stroking back and forth along the rapid flutter of Katherine’s pulse until my surprise stilled it. “Why can’t she control it?”
“Blown connections. The trauma of the attack combined with her age, maybe.” His voice faded to a whisper. The hand resting on her forehead gripped her skull gently, completely encompassing the front. “Without help, she’ll simply fry her brain.”
Without help.“So she’s not too far gone?”
“No.” The healer’s words were distant, distracted, as if he wasn’t really concentrating on what he was saying. “Not too far. The question is, does she want to return?”
I found myself shifting closer, my body and my animal crowding forward to protect my…to protect Katherine. “What do you mean?”
The healer’s snort was a direct contrast to the solemnity his cloak gave him. “You’re an Archai, no matter how long you’ve been away from your people. Living is as much a matter of the will as it is of the body. The longer a female remains untriggered, the closer she walks to madness.” He waved a hand over Katherine’s still body. “She’s into her twenties, definitely, the far end of her time. That combined with the trauma she’s endured may ensure she has no desire to return to this plane of existence.”
Since the few clan females I’d been in contact with had either been babies or already triggered, I hadn’t absorbed that bit of knowledge. I rubbed at the headache forming behind my eyes. Chalk it up to me to choose a female who’d rather off herself than stick around when I needed her.
“Of course she would. But she won’t get the chance.”
The healer’s message hit my mind like an electric charge. I jerked my head up. Beneath the cloak, I swore I saw a silver glow flashed my way.
“You both should find somewhere comfortable to be. Somewhere else,” the healer warned as I opened my mouth to protest. “We need absolute calm. Besides, the healing will take a while.”
Sun headed for the kitchen. I stood and leaned over the bed, giving the female one last, long look of inspection. The blood leaking from her nose and eyes was now a constant trickle. Whatever the healer could do, it needed to be done fast.
“Make sure she lives.”
The healer tilted his head, searing me with that unseen gaze. “Don’t threaten me, griffin. She’ll live, butyouI’d have no problem killing. Watch your step.”
My animal gave an angry cry, but I just blinked.Well, hell, aren’t healers supposed to be pacifists?Not that any Archai I’d known was a pacifist, but why did I have to come across a badass Aomai instead of a malleable one? I couldn’t kill the male and still use him.
A suicidal female and a warrior healer. Yeah, just my luck.
Choosing to end the standoff rather than risk everything, I gave the hood a single nod and followed Sun into the kitchen.
ChapterNine
Kat
My head hurt. Not “take a pill; it’ll be over soon” hurt. No, this was more like “kill me now to get rid of the cleaver in my head.” The pain pounded through my veins, through my limbs, until the need to rip my own head off to make it go away overwhelmed me.
Until I felt his presence.
“Shhh, little one, little…Katherine. Rest now.”
“Kat. Call me…Kat.”
Why I said it, I wasn’t sure. I just did. I wanted to laugh, to ask the voice how I was supposed to rest when I felt like I was going to shake apart, but darkness swamped me. When I reached for the voice, nothing was there.
Story of my life, huh?
The taste of something rich and smooth in my mouth woke me next. Instinct had me swallowing, gulp after gulp. When whatever it was disappeared, I whined at the denial, but then the feel of the hot sun searing my skin took over, except the heat was inside me like the pain, inescapable, unwavering, until I begged for relief.
“I’m here, little Kat. It’s your fever. It will pass.”
The words floated along the walls of my mind, washing them like water, clearing out the agony, replacing it with sweet, cool relief.
Concern. I could feel his concern. I was concerned too. I couldn’t take much more, not without finding a long tunnel and a bright white light.
