Page 42 of Destined for Eternity
Chapter 16
Cori
Cori sat at the kitchen table, attempting to eat her chicken noodle soup. It was starting to get cold. Every spoonful went down like a piece of lead.
For almost an hour, the mating bond between her and Bartol had been sending her pulsing warning signals. He was in some sort of danger. She wished she could go to him, but she was stuck and unable to help. Her stomach kept churning, and she battled nausea as she worried about what trouble he might be facing. It didn’t help that her child was squishing all of her organs so she could hardly get much food down even at the best of times. Apparently, being half immortal didn’t help with acid reflux or other pregnancy-related problems. She was getting more miserable by the day even as she grew excited to meet her baby.
Cori almost dropped her spoon when the tie between her and Bartol changed dramatically. The danger was past, and the warm sensation coursing through her let her know he’d finally returned to Alaska. She couldn’t put her finger on how exactly, but when he was closer, the bond was stronger and she felt more…content. The difference wasn’t as noticeable when they moved closer or farther apart within the same area. But this time, he’d been all the way in California where she could hardly feel the tie between them except when he was in danger. In the past few days, he’d been in a lot of it, but the last hour had been the absolute worst.
Something niggled at her, though. He was home, but he was injured. She could almost feel the wounds on his body and the pain he suffered. Normally, she didn’t sense his injuries except while asleep. Then she could sometimes even watch what happened to him through his eyes like a foggy, terrifying dream. For her to detect his injuries while awake, they had to be bad.
Pushing away the nearly full bowl of soup, she slipped on a pair of shoes and hurried out of her house. It was a short walk up the road to Bartol’s cabin. Normally, she would have run, but it was all she could do to keep from waddling like a penguin these days. Cori also had to watch her steps closely since there were ruts in the road from last winter’s snow. She needed to hire someone to come level it out again—or better yet, pave it.
Not bothering to knock, she rushed into Bartol’s home. She gasped when she found him and his father in the living room. Their clothes were shredded, and they had blood all over them. What had they gotten themselves into for them to be injured this badly?
Cori glanced between them. “What happened?”
There were claw marks across Bartol’s face, slashes along his chest and arms, and his shoulder didn’t look right.
He ripped away his torn shirt. “We found the demons we were sent to locate.”
“I guessed that much, but…” She winced at the raw wounds on his chest, some of them quite deep. “Shouldn’t you have healed by now?”
Bartol glanced down at himself. “It takes longer with the powerful ones, but I’ll heal soon enough. The battle only ended twenty minutes ago.”
“But they look painful,” she said. If she’d been injured like that, no way would she still be on her feet acting like they were mere scratches.
“I’ve had much worse.”
Well, he had a point there, but she’d never seen them this bad on him. “Is there something I can do?”
“No, I’m fine.”
She crossed her arms. “Right, I can see that.”
Raguel cleared his throat. “I will go take a shower and let you two talk.”
Bartol glanced over at his father, and they exchanged a wordless look. Cori had no idea what it meant exactly, but the archangel’s expression was stern. As for her mate, he appeared defiant of whatever his father wanted from him.
“Thanks, Raguel,” she said.
He gave her a respectful nod and headed for Bartol’s bedroom where he stored a small wardrobe of clothing they’d gotten for him after his arrival. For the most part, it was his room now. His son slept on the couch when he stayed there.
Cori took a few steps closer to Bartol. “Want me to pop your shoulder back into place?”
He shook his head. “I can do it.”
“Then why haven’t you?”
“To be honest, I lost feeling in it and forgot.” He ran his good hand through his blood-soaked hair. “It only hurt at first.”
“Yeah, but it can’t be easy to use your arm like that,” she pressed. God, how she wished he’d let her help once in a while. He was like a wounded animal that wouldn’t let anyone near him. She wanted to be the person who he could trust no matter what and let her be there for him.
“As I said, I’ve had far worse and accomplished more despite it.”
Damn Kerbasi and what he’d put his prisoners through in Purgatory. Cori could only imagine how her mate’s severe injuries could seem so minor unless he’d been in far more pain before. From what she’d learned, Bartol had been flayed, whipped, burned, and a number of other terrible tortures. She supposed a few gashes and a dislocated shoulder would seem of little consequence compared to all that.
“Then please fix it.” Cori rubbed her own arm. “It’s freaking me out.”
