Chapter 11 - Kira
Joshua caught her right before she hit the sand.
She gasped, eyes wide. One arm slung instinctively around his shoulders, steadying herself.
Sand was everywhere, in her hair, her clothes.
Joshua’s golden gaze burned as it swept over her form.
Her skin heated under his inspection, her heart skipping a beat.
The feel of his bare skin under her hand was so nice…
Wait.
He wasn’t looking in lust. He was checking to see if she’d been hurt.
Disappointment and embarrassment flooded her in equal measures.
She pulled in a breath, testing out her lungs.
They seemed to expand just fine. It wasn’t that painful, which ironically made her more embarrassed.
Her spell clearly wasn’t strong enough to be effective.
“We need to get you back to town,” Joshua said, sliding an arm under her legs.
Kira shrank back from him, shaking her head. “No, that’s not—”
She coughed, the movement causing a jolt of pain through her lungs. She sucked in a breath, wincing.
“It’s not necessary,” she managed, but she sounded far weaker than she ought to have. Huh. She was breathing well now… except she wasn’t. There was a distinctive wheeze as she exhaled.
Joshua picked her up, cradling her against his chest. Kira tried to twist away and put some distance between them, but the movement caused darkness to swirl in at the corners of her vision.
All of a sudden, she really didn’t feel so good.
Her stomach roiled, and she had to clamp her jaw shut to stop from vomiting all over him.
“My place is closer,” Joshua said as he slid her into the front seat of his car. He buckled her in before it occurred to her she should do it. The pain was getting worse, making her whimper. “Gwen, call the doctor, please.”
His voice was level and calm. Gwen climbed into the backseat, already with her phone in hand.
They were at Joshua’s house quickly, and he carried her inside with Gwen close behind them.
He put Kira on the recliner, ensuring she remained straight.
Her chest ached terribly, but breathing was easier now.
“I don’t need a fuss made over me,” Kira whispered.
Gwen hovered nearby, wringing her hands. “Nonsense. You took a spell to your chest. What were you trying to do? I need to know if I should prepare a counterspell.”
Kira thought about pointing out that her spells didn’t last long enough to still be lingering, then decided arguing wasn’t worth the effort.
She answered, and Gwen quickly grabbed her phone from her pocket and scrolled through the notes she had written down.
Shortly after, the doctor arrived. She sent Joshua out, though Kira said Gwen could stay.
“That’s a nasty bruise,” the doctor said after she had Kira take off her shirt. She tenderly probed the area around the dark splotch covering Kira’s ribs and breasts. “Doesn’t seem like anything is broken, but I’d like you to come in for an X-ray anyway.”
Kira nodded meekly, though her heart sank. She could already imagine what Joshua was going to say. He’d lock her up for sure. If you’re hurting yourself like that, I have no choice. She closed her eyes and grunted. Gwen was here. She wasn’t going to let Joshua lock her up. Right?
Several hours later, she was propped up in the old recliner that had belonged to her mother.
There was no internal damage that the doctor had found, and she’d been released from the clinic.
She received stern orders to look for various signs of worsening condition, but it seemed like all she was was badly bruised.
Joshua didn’t utter one variation of “I told you so.” When the doctor confirmed she could leave, he looked into her eyes and asked, “Where do you want to go?”
As much as she loved Gwen and Lianne, she needed quiet to recover. Joshua’s house was out of the question, too fraught with unwanted possibilities. So she had said the truth. She wanted to come home.
Now, here she was.
Joshua was, too.
“Are you sure you don’t mind me staying?” he asked as he wrapped an icepack in a cloth for her ribs. “Gwen would be more than willing to help you out.”
“Seeing as how Gwen told me that herself, I’m pretty sure I already know that.” Kira managed a strained smile. “I wouldn’t have asked you to stay if I wasn’t sure.”
He laid the icepack on her ribs, sinking into a half-crouch next to her.
His lips pressed together, and his eyebrows knitted together, staring at the icepack.
Kira was quiet as she observed him. It wasn’t an easy situation, this space between them.
His hands were still laid on her, holding the pack in place.
But they were equally on her body, feather-light on the undamaged skin.
And it felt good. Far better than it had any right to feel.
It made heat swirl under her skin, contrasting nicely with the chill of the icepack.
Kira let out a soft sigh, her muscles relaxing against her will.
Even though she had agreed to let him stay, part of her wished she could find a way to kick him out.
She didn’t want to let her guard down and then get her heart broken again.
“Do you need the painkillers?” Joshua asked in that low, soft voice that made shivers run down her spine.
“I just had some.”
Joshua hummed, the sound vibrating between them. His mouth quirked, and Kira wished she could kiss him.
Why can’t I? Oh, right. Because he’s an asshole. A controlling asshole. And I only let him stay because I need someone to make sure I don’t start choking on blood or something.
“Maybe you should make a potion. Something to help you heal faster. You’re good at that,” he said.
Kira tensed. “What do you mean by that? I should stick to potions and not try spells?”
Joshua pulled away. She instantly missed the heat of his touch. “No, I meant that you’re good at potions. There has to be something that you can use to help with your bruises.”
“I’m not supposed to do a lot of bending and moving.” Her voice came out in a snap. That was for the best. Keep him at arm’s distance. “I’m fine. I don’t need you to hover over me. I’ll let you know if I need anything.”
Joshua huffed in annoyance. “Fine. Then, how about I try to make the potion?”
Kira’s jaw dropped. “Huh?”
“My mother had witch ancestry,” Joshua said in a clipped voice.
“She does?” Kira hummed. “Huh. She has a strong wolf, though. So she must not have access to magic, right? Or the demons would have done something.”
Joshua opened his mouth to correct her—he was talking about his biological mother, not Susan.
But for fuck’s sake, she didn’t even know he was adopted!
It wasn’t well-known. Under Rafael’s father, adoption was considered taboo, which was why Susan and Mark kept it under wraps that he wasn’t theirs biologically.
He never understood why there was that attitude toward adoption.
He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to correct her. “I might not have magic, but potions are just recipes, aren’t they?”
“They’re more than that,” Kira argued, but as soon as she said it, she wasn’t sure how they were different.
There were different stages that you had to manifest with, but actually using magic felt much different than those moments.
Could potions be something that anyone could do, but that were locked out of society because of their connotations with magic?
As much as she hated to admit it, that sounded like something that could have happened.
“I suppose it won’t hurt to try,” she hedged. “During the places that are more magicky, I can take over.”
Joshua nodded, a rare smile tilting his lips. “Alright. So where do I start, then?”
“We’ll need the kitchen and ingredients.” Kira frowned.
It would be better to do this at his place, in the potions room he’d made for her.
But did she want to go back with him? She hesitated as she considered her options, then finally gave a sharp nod.
Gwen was only a phone call away, and after his initial freakout, Joshua had pulled back and hadn’t tried to be controlling again.
“Let’s go to your place. You have everything set up in that one room. After we’re done, we can come back here.”
Joshua’s eyes widened briefly, but he nodded at once.
Kira tried to insist on walking, but Joshua wouldn’t hear of it.
Luckily, the doctor had left a wheelchair for her, which she was happy to use.
Honestly, she would have consented to being carried again anyway.
Moving around too much hurt, and she’d only said she’d walk out of sheer stubbornness.
Soon, they were in the spare room at his house, with her tucked into a chair at a small folding table while he worked. Joshua followed her directions, only questioning them when he didn’t fully understand what he was meant to do. It was surprisingly enjoyable, and Kira relaxed into her chair.
“I need to get back to making potions,” she mused aloud. “I always enjoyed it. I’ve been so focused on my magic, trying to get that to a point where I’m useful, that I forgot how nice potions are.”
Joshua took the mixture off the stove and showed it to her. “Is this how it’s supposed to look?”
Kira inspected the potion, directing him to move the pan around in various ways. It was a thick, sludge-like mixture and had turned out surprisingly well. It was maybe a bit paler than she would have liked, but she didn’t think that would affect its use.
“So how do we use it?” Joshua asked.
“It’s an ointment, so directly on the skin. It should help speed up healing while lessening pain. But the downside is that it causes drowsiness,” Kira explained, running her finger along the recipe in the book.
“We should get you to bed first, then,” Joshua said.
Certain images flashed through Kira’s mind, and she shoved them away quickly. “Back to my place, then.”
Joshua frowned, as if he wanted to protest, but nodded.
As it turned out, the drive was a mistake.
By the time they had returned to her house, the seatbelt biting into her ribs made it even more painful.
She couldn’t hide her discomfort, gasping when he helped her from the car.
Silently, he swept her into his arms, ignoring the wheelchair this time.
He carried her right to her best and laid her down, then took off her shoes. He sat on the edge of the bed and tugged up her shirt, starting to apply the ointment.
The soothing ointment, combined with his gentle touch, had her blood rushing to all sorts of places on her body.
Kira bit her lip, trying to repress a shudder as his hand moved along her ribs.
A wild image popped into her mind of him massaging the ointment into her breasts.
She couldn’t let him, of course. She had to maintain firm boundaries.
Boundaries she was already letting him cross by folding the hem of her shirt even high, exposing the undersides of her breasts.
She glanced at his pants, wondering. But there was no bulge. Hmm. That made sense—to him, this was purely a medical experience.
Still, some part of her was disappointed.
Joshua’s fingers pressed on a particularly sensitive spot, and Kira gasped. She grabbed his wrist, stopping him. He froze, his golden eyes lifting to hers.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asked.
Kira took a deep breath, winced as her ribs ached, then nodded. It was the best thing to put an end to this. She took the ointment herself and spread it thickly over the rest of her bruises. Joshua glanced away, his hands knotted on his knee.
“I didn’t mean to reveal your secret to the council,” he said after a moment. “I’m sorry for that. I wasn’t thinking clearly. It just seemed as though nobody was listening to me. I was afraid the demons were going to launch a full-scale attack on you, and it felt like you were ignoring me.”
“I’m still upset about that,” Kira warned him.
She finished putting the rest of the potion in place, then wiped her hands off on the towel he handed her.
It had a sweet, nutty scent to it that was quite lovely.
The ointment sent heat radiating into her skin, seeming to go as deep as her bones.
As the pain started to ease, tiredness swept through her.
She repressed a yawn. “Thank you for your apology, though. I value it.”
Joshua helped her ease back into a more comfortable position and pulled a blanket over her. “I know you’re worried about people’s reactions when they find out. Just direct me to anyone who causes you problems. I’ll make sure that they’re dealt with.”
Kira rolled her eyes, though she smiled at the sentiment. “I do have someone who has been causing me problems.”
“Who?” Joshua leaned forward.
“He’s a pretty powerful member of the pack. Name of Joshua Woods. So maybe you can go take care of him for me,” Kira answered.
Joshua’s lips twitched, but he kept a serious expression. “Ah, yes. I do know him. Handsome fellow. Can be a real asshole.”
Kira nodded her agreement.
“Tell you what. If he gives you more trouble, I’ll steal his wife from him. She’s beautiful and deserves better anyway.”
Her heart fluttered. “Because she’s beautiful?”
“Because she’s kind and sweet and deserves better. I know Joshua rubs people the wrong way. Hell, I don’t even like him sometimes.”
Kira’s eyes drooped. She struggled to keep her wits about her as she yawned. Then she turned over, tugging Joshua’s hand. She was too tired to keep fighting, even though she wanted him close to her. She pulled him to lie beside her, her eyes shut.
“Sounds like that’s something you need to work on,” she mumbled. “He’s not so bad. He just… needs to learn.”
“Learn what?” Joshua’s voice came from far, far away.
Kira didn’t answer. She was already asleep.