Page 39 of Bite of Passage
“My ring?What does that mean?The ring from my parents?”
“It was made by my people.”
“That’s impossible.”She swallowed hard.“I’m not from your world.”
“If you refer to the ring Skarde had, then we made it.”There was no uncertainty in the dwarf’s gaze.
“Maybe the ring wasn’t really my mother’s.I don’t know.I never met her.”He had to be mistaken.
He cocked his head and stared at her.As the seconds ticked by, she fidgeted.
“It’s impossible,” she repeated, hugging herself.She’d believed the ring had been her mother’s for as long as she could remember.It made her feel connected to a person she’d never met, someone who might’ve loved her in a way no one had.Perhaps it wasn’t her mother’s?Even if it was, how did the ring end up in her world ?Its very existence suggested others had jumped between this world and hers.
He removed a ring—herring—from his inner shirt pocket and rotated it in the dim daylight to expose the inner band.“That’s our mark.The Everlife Tree.”
She should ask for the ring back, but she didn’t want to touch it.It didn’t feel like hers anymore.“Was it really my mother’s?”
“Are you asking if it belonged to a human woman who was a medicinal?Then, yes.If you’re asking if she was your parent, I can’t answer that question.We lost touch after some time.I heard that she died.”
She squirmed and stared at the birthmark on her wrist again.
No glow from her arm when she rotated it.No lit-up pattern on her forearm.She had no clue what the little guy had done to cause her birthmark to glow in the first place.“What does it mean to be a medicinal?”
His brow furrowed.“They are all gone.Except you, it seems.”
“I don’t understand.”
“All the medicinals are gone.Dead.To be a medicinal is to know in here.”He pushed a finger into her chest between her boobs.“When someone is hurt, you know how to make it better.It can be a physical injury or in here.”He touched his head.“Or here.”He tapped his chest.“You can know what it is and how to fix it.”
“I’m a nurse.I’m trained to take care of wounds.I’m not a doctor.I didn’t have the money to go to school for that long.I’m not specially trained to deal with mental illness or emotional pain.I do seem to attract guys with a lot of baggage who I can’t fix, though.”
“You can understand how to heal anything without training.”He wasn’t looking at her anymore but gazing into the rain.“It’s a prized skill, but it also puts you in great danger.”
“Why would knowing how to help people put me in danger?”
“The powerful want their own medicinal, but when their medicinal fails…” He sliced a finger across his throat.“VanFliet hunted all that were left in the world last year.He eliminated all who failed to help his brother’s mate until that vampire in the rock over there resolved the problem.It needed death.”He nodded in Skarde’s direction.“She was possessed by a demon and not strong enough to handle its removal from her.”
“When he killed Tania?They showed that in the first episode.”A light bulb went off in her head.“They never explained why VanFliet and Skarde hated each other.That’swhy.Tania was special to VanFliet.”She blew out a low whistle.“That girl was messed up big time.I don’t think any medicine in the world would’ve helped her.Not only was she possessed, but also, she started out with a few screws loose.”
“You should keep your talents to yourself, even from him, for now.I don’t trust fang-faces in general.”The dwarf held up his hand in demonstration as if suggesting a vampire had done that to him.“That one over there is different, though.He helped us before when we had a troll after our people.He doesn’t discriminate amongst those he helps, as long as we pay.I’m not sure what he would do if he learns what you are.”He shrugged.“He might not care.”
“Fang-face?”She snort-giggled.“I’m using that in the future.What’s your name?”
“Fontaine.”
“I’m Gemma.I’m not from this…around here.I’m stuck here until fang-face wakes up and helps me figure out how to get home.”
“Thank you for the help.”Fontaine grinned for the first time and held up his hand.“You may think you’re not from here, but the mark means you are.”
You’re kinda freaking me out, Fontaine.Okay, you’rebigtime freaking me out.The glowing arm thing had to be a trick.The ring…well, maybe he’d made all that up.There was no way she was buying that she was from here, had maybe been born here.
How exactly had this world ended up as a TV series?She knew now that it wasn’t a series with actors and actresses, but a view into real life here.A reality only she saw.Well, Val had witnessed it too as a recording.The show on the DVD was a doorway, but it seemed as if the gateway was intended for her.
Dread settled in.Someone wanted her here.
Clearing her throat she said,“Well, um…okay.I hope you feel better soon.That’s a nasty burn.Did VanFliet do it?”
He nodded.
