Chapter Seven
Farren
“W hat’s the second?” Reaper asks.
But my attention is on Loki. His eyes are on me as if he’s trying to figure something out. I’m not sure whether I want him to or not.
“Control,” I answer this time, “when I come back from the Void, I’m filled with my power, my gifts are completely replenished and released from the binds that I use to keep tight control of them.
You saw what happened, I had to fight Magnus, Storm, and Reaper to get complete control back, and that’s unusual. It normally takes a lot more.”
“That’s why you didn’ t want to go in?” Reaper asks, and I nod.
I’m ready to get this conversation over and done with so that we can get Killian enrolled.
There’s an urgent need that’s riding me hard to get it done sooner rather than later, but before I can make the suggestion, Loki strides over to me.
He gently wraps his arms around me, which surprisingly doesn’t make me flinch and buries his head in my neck before taking a long inhale.
“Wha . . .?” I start to ask, but he pulls back with a dark frown on his face that is so unlike the person that I’ve come to know over the last couple of days that I look to the others for reassurance, only to find them all looking at him just as shocked as I am.
The fact that they also look slightly wary is worrying.
“Loki?” Reaper asks, a cautious note in his voice.
The others all step closer, I know I should be worried, but I’m not.
I instinctively know that he would never hurt me.
I’m more curious than anything. The guys though, they clearly are worried, apart from Killian, who just stands back and watches this unfold like he knows something that we don’t.
To be fair he could, visions are a bitch sometimes.
“Farren,” he starts, his voice betraying an inhuman growl to it that has the guys moving even closer, including Storm.
“Yes?” I reply, my voice steady.
“If the Void heals all your wounds whenever you enter it as you did earlier, then why do I still smell fresh blood?”
“Darlin?” Killian asks, a thread of worry in his voice now, not because of Loki but because I might be hurt.
I decide it’s probably easier to show them, and I’m still wearing a sports bra anyway, so I quickly whip my shirt off and turn around, showing them the long score marks that mark my back.
“I fucking knew it,” Loki mutters, and I turn around, seeing the turmoil and, for some reason, indecision in his eyes.
“Fuck,” Storm hisses.
“What happened?” Reaper asks, concern darkening his features.
I look to Killian, needing some sort of sign that I should proceed with this and not just shut them down, he nods with a gentle smile. That’s all the reassurance I need, at least to tell them this.
“Erm, well, from the couple of things that I let slip when I was stabbed . . .”
Loki and Killian growl at the same time at my words, and I ignore them both.
I also ignore that I found the sound of their combined growls stupidly fucking hot.
Loki’s growl turns into a confused frown, and I look away, I guess I’m not as good at hiding my emotions around these men as I am everyone else.
“As I was saying, you have probably realised that my father is not a great one.”
“He did this to you?” Storm seethes, and once again, we all look at him, slightly shocked at the amount of anger he has on my behalf.
“Yes,” I reply shortly.
“Are you not healing because of that potion he gave you?” Rival asks, proving he was listening before.
“No, that burned out of my system when I went into the Void. Father spelled the wounds on my back to heal extremely slowly, and he used dark magic to do it. They won’t heal for a long time yet. Not even the Void can do it.”
“That’s fucking insane. Why would he do that to you?” Rival asks.
“Because he’s psychotic, he likes control and more importantly, he likes hurting me,” I reply blandly.
“So you’re just going to carry on bleeding and being in pain until it heals?” Loki asks, his voice slightly strangled.
“Yeah, but it’s okay, I’m used to it, and I won’t cause any issues for you guys. I think I proved that I could still fight well enough in combat and weapons class.” I try to reassure them.
“You think we’re worried because your injuries might cause issues for us?” Storm asks incredulously before he shakes his head and starts to pace, muttering curses.
I look at the others, and seeing my confusion, Killian takes over, “Darlin, they’re upset because you’re hurt, and they don’t like that, not because they’re worried that you will cause problems for them.”
I wrinkle my nose in confusion, “Huh?”
“Oh Farren,” Rival mutters a myriad of emotions in his voice that I can’t even begin to decipher.
“You’ll see,” Kilian mutters cryptically and kisses me on the forehead.
I stopped questioning him, and his little cryptic comments after it became apparent that he wouldn’t tell me anything more. He actually can’t, or he risks messing with the timeline and that causes catastrophic consequences.
“Can I try something?” Loki asks, his voice quiet but determined.
“That depends on what it is. There isn’t much I won’t try.” I reply, making it sound deliberately dirty and trying to get him to smile, he hasn’t smiled since this conversation started, and I don’t like it. I miss his smile.
His lips tick up slightly as the others grins grow wide.
“I want to see if I can heal you.” He mutters in a rush.
“What?” Reaper exclaims in hushed shock.
Even Storm’s face is portraying his utter shock, and I know I’m missing something massive, especially since Killian has the same look on his face.
I also sense that this needs to happen. That annoying little flare of intuition rears its head again, and I never ignore my intuition.
For some reason, I don’t think that their shock is because vampires aren’t supposed to have the gift of healing.
In fact, I haven’t heard of a single vampire having that gift, but something that I’m beginning to learn about these men though is that they are all so much more than they seem.
They each have that something that’s a little bit different, and just extra.
I decide that bringing up my shock that he has the gift to heal will be counterproductive here, especially since there’s something else going on, so I just reply instead.
“Sure,” I reply, with a nonchalance that doesn’t fit the current tone of the room, “but don’t be surprised if you can’t, even the Void can’t counteract it, and it has brought me back from the very brink of death.”
He nods once, his eyes filled with determination and motions me towards the couch.
“I need to see all of the wounds, sorry,” he mutters, and I shrug, grabbing my discarded shirt, I hold it up to my chest and then take my sports bra off before lying down on the couch.
It suddenly occurs to me that I trust him.
It’s a new and quite alarming realisation.
My instincts have never steered me wrong, not so long as I’ve been listening to them, so I try to calm my heart.
I turn my head to the side so that I can see Loki.
None of the others have moved an inch as if worried about frightening him or something, and my curiosity roars to life.
He stands there staring at my exposed back, and I swear I can feel the apprehension coming off him and something that is akin to profound sadness.
That should be impossible though, I have only ever been able to feel Killian’s emotions, but I know that these feelings aren’t coming from him or me.
Following a hunch, I send a flood of warmth and reassurance towards him, in a similar way that I send feelings towards Killian.
He jolts, and his eyes snap up to mine, widening in wonder.
Well holy shit, I guess that answers that question.
I watch as he takes a deep breath and then stalks towards me with determination etched into his handsome features.
He kneels down next to the couch and then holds his hands just above my back, close enough that I can feel the warmth radiating from them.
“I haven’t done this for a really long time,” he says softly, “so if it does work, it won’t be completely healed.”
“If you manage even to heal it a small amount, I’ll be grateful.” I reply before deciding to be completely honest with him, “It hurts like a bitch.”
“I never would’ve known that you’ve been in pain,” Reaper mutters quietly as he moves into my eye line.
I shrug awkwardly since I’m lying down, “As I said, I’m used to it.”
“I hate that.” Rival mutters.
“Just lie still, and I’ll try my best to heal it at least a little bit,” Loki mutters, and I nod, closing my eyes to prepare myself for the pain that is sure to follow if he does heal me. It hurts having things stitch themselves back together.
Loki
I take a moment just to breathe as she closes her eyes. I don't know what made me offer to heal her. Actually, that’s a lie. I can't stand the thought of her being in pain, especially when there might be something that I can do about it.
“You okay?” Reaper asks quietly, coming up behind me.
I nod in response. I’m not sure what will come out of my mouth, if I’m honest. They all know what a big deal it is for me to even offer to heal someone, they all know what happened last time.
Dark thoughts try to swarm my mind and drag me into a place that I refuse to go, but before they can sink their taloned hands into me, a small hand on my face has my eyes snapping open and colliding with Farren’s black and teal ones.
I was so absorbed in fighting off my own thoughts that I hadn’t even noticed that she moved.
“It’s okay. Loki, you don’t have to heal me, it'll heal up on its own fairly soon, and then I’ll be as good as new.” She reassures me with a soft smile.