Chapter 13
Helios
The little Mageia in front of me looked like nothing so much as a wet, spitting kitten, back arched, ready to bite and claw if I rubbed his fur the wrong way. And every way was the wrong way.
He was a good deal smaller than me. I would guess he was only about five foot four or five. I figured he might come up to my chin, though tip toes might have to be involved. Despite his height, there was nothing remotely childlike about him, and nothing weak. His magic had thrummed through me when I had carried him and his friend here after he collapsed. I’d been too worried about them to pay close attention, but there was no mistaking the zing of power when I lifted him to bring him to my lair. The hair on my arms stood on end when I approached the shield he had placed on the door, even weakened as he was from lack of food and the power it must have taken to keep his friend alive.
His body was well-muscled. His dark hair hung in ragged hanks around his face, the white streak disheveled. He’d obviously taken a dunking sometime before his friend was bitten. Their clothes had both still been somewhat damp when I’d found them.
His beautiful blue eyes flashed at me in anger and suspicion, and the look on his face when I had touched his shoulder? Well, if looks could kill, I’d be pushing up daisies.
All told, he was just…adorable. So fierce! And so protective of his friend. Boyfriend, maybe? I felt my eyes narrow as a small part of me reacted negatively to the idea that these two might be partners. I’d never been good with friendships except with Ri. What we’d had had been more than friendship, but we’d never been lovers.
Forcing my thoughts away from the way the man’s pants had hugged his ass as he knelt by his friend’s bedside, I focused on my patient.
I’d seen the venom from that snake kill men much larger than his friend, but somehow this man had managed to keep him alive. I could sense he was an Air Mageia, but if he wasn’t Bonded (which seemed unlikely, since he was Alexandrian according to the logo on his shirt.) I couldn’t figure out how he could have managed to save his friend. The physician in me wanted answers.
He also seemed oddly familiar. I felt like I knew him from somewhere, which was impossible, since he was from Alexandria, so I let it go for the moment.
I realized I’d been silent for too long, so I answered, “I helped you because you needed help.”
He snorted as if he thought I was lying. Maybe he did. Legion Mageia were always so difficult to figure out. Give me an Illyrian Mageia any day, few though they were.
I pulled a pot from a side cupboard and emptied the contents of some stew cans into it, then placed it over the fire. The little Mageia was obviously exhausted, and his friend should be coming around sometime soon. He’d need more food to heal.
“What do you want?” he demanded suspiciously.
“Steak would be nice, but we’ll have to settle for stew,” I quipped, gesturing to the pan.
He looked at the food skeptically for a moment, then his anger seemed to go up a notch.
“I’m not talking about food, asshole. I mean, what do you want—from us?” he gestured from himself to the hallway leading to his friend’s room.
I sighed.
“Patience is obviously not one of your virtues,” I muttered, something warming in my chest. Outside of medical or military personnel, Mageia included, this was one of the longest conversations I’d had with anyone since Ri had died.
He just scowled at me, so I turned and took a seat on the floor across from him. Maybe I’d seem less threatening if I was sitting down.
“Easy, kitten,” the endearment slipped out without thought. Shit. What the hell was wrong with me? “I want you to help me win a war.”
Confusion and curiosity warred on his face.
“I… how did you know… Your accent. Are you… Illyrian?” he asked suspiciously. He didn’t comment on what I called him but seemed utterly confused. Despite the way he struggled to keep his tone neutral, I sensed an unexpected undercurrent of hope in his voice.
“I am,” I admitted, stirring the stew so it wouldn’t burn.
“How are you here?” He asked. “Illyria is hundreds of miles away.”
I reached under my shirt and pulled the metal collar with the medallion dangling from it out and showed him.
The sight of it seemed to make him deflate.
“So you’re stuck here?” he asked.
I shrugged in a non-answer. He didn’t need to know all my secrets. At least, not yet.
“Aren’t you afraid the Elusians will track you?” he asked.
I knocked on the wall. “Solid stone. Hundreds of feet of it. Their tracking devices can’t penetrate it. To their eyes, you just disappeared.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes until the stew was heated. I filled a bowl and handed it to him with a spoon and asked, “What’s your name?”
He stared suspiciously at the stew, then back at me.
“Don’t worry, it won’t bite,” I chuckled. “…but I might.” I teased without thinking.
Fuck, what the hell was wrong with me? Hell of a time to begin flirting. I’d learned to go unnoticed by most people after the explosion. The scars tended to either frighten people or earn their pity, neither of which I wanted.
“What’s in it?” he asked, ignoring my gibe.
“What do you mean, ‘what’s in it’? It’s stew,” I responded. “Do they not have stew in Alexandria?”
“What kind of stew, asshole?” he demanded sharply.
“…Beef?” I drawled, confused. I had rations I’d had shipped in, but I didn’t exactly check the ingredient list. “Why? Are you a vegetarian?”
He shook his head disgustedly at me, but hunger seemed to overcome his reluctance and finally took the bowl from my hand. He sniffed at it suspiciously before the tip of his pink tongue flicked out to taste it hesitantly before finally shrugging and spooning it into his mouth. Again, the comparison to a cat swam through my head, and oh my goddess! The sight of that tongue made my pants really uncomfortable.
I swear he let out a moan as he popped the first full spoonful into his mouth.
“This is good. Really good,” he finally admitted, before pausing and glancing up at me through thick black lashes. “…Thank you.” he said, almost reluctantly.
I nodded in acknowledgement. Baby steps.
“You’re welcome…?” I said, my voice trailing off in question. Something in me made me hold my breath waiting for his answer.
“Kat,” He answered finally. “Kataramenos.”
Ah! So I had been closer than I knew when I called him kitten. Then the actual meaning of his name hit me: cursed one.
“Wow… Your Legion knows how to name people,” I responded, somehow disappointed, though I didn’t understand why. “Guess I was right when I called you Kitten, but ’Cursed’ and ‘Idiot’? You two must make quite the couple.”
He glared at me.
“We’re not a couple, asshole,” he snapped before spooning another bite of stew into his mouth. “He’s my brother.”
“Literal brother? I didn’t think the Legion let siblings stay together?”
“They usually don’t, but he’s my half-brother.”
I handed Kat some bread to mop up the last of his stew. His bowl was already nearly empty. He must have been starving.
“More?”
He shook his head, leaning back and sighing.
“Why did you help us, really?” His bright blue eyes searched mine, his doubt evident. Something in that suspicious look brought a smile to my lips.
“I didn’t lie to you, Kat. I need your help to win the war our people are fighting.”
“But how? If you’re stuck here, how can we possibly help the Illyrians?”
My watch dinged, the noise echoing in the room.
“Questions will need to wait. It’s time to give your brother another dose of antivenom,” I reached into the supply case at my side and pulled out the vial of medicine.
Kat bristled like his namesake and the vial went flying through the air into his waiting hand.
“No way you’re giving him anything without me checking it first.”
He began reading the vial label. I crossed my arms and looked at him. He read the label once. Then read it again. I doubted he had any clue what the medical jargon meant. When he finally looked back at me, I raised an eyebrow.
“If I had wanted you dead, I had plenty of opportunity before now. Does it meet with your approval, Dr. Kat?” I asked.
“I’m not a doctor,” he scowled.
“Yeah, well, I am,” I walked over and plucked the anti-venom from his hands. I swear when our fingers brushed it felt like an electric shock ran through them, from my fingertips right to my groin. I had obviously been alone far too long.
“Let me do my job,” I finished gruffly, more than a little surprised by the contact. My magic seemed to heartily approve of this fierce man.
He stalked behind me as I went back to where his brother lay sleeping.
“You just happened to have the antivenom for that specific snake laying around?” he asked suspiciously, following me doggedly.
I ignored his question, drawing up the dose and injecting it into the IV line. I turned the saline drip up and waited a moment to make sure the line was running correctly.
“No,” I turned to him. “I had cobra antivenom. The snake you killed was a giant banded krait. It’s a relative of the cobra, so I took a chance that the antivenom would be effective for it, too. For what it’s worth, it appears to have worked.”
I fully expected him to start another argument, but his brother chose that moment to open his eyes.
“K-kat?” he whispered hoarsely.
Kat dropped to his knees next to his brother. Seeing them together I could see the resemblance now. They were both beautiful. They had the same nose, same chin, but their eyes were slightly different. Where Kat’s hair was dark black, Vlakas’ was honey gold. Kat’s was longer, and where he had only a slight wave, Vlakas’ seemed to have more curl. I was struck again with the feeling of familiarity as I looked at Kat’s face.
“Hey, adelfos,” Kat said, gripping his brother’s hand. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got bitten by a giant snake,” Vlakas quipped, then coughed.
“I’ll get him some water,” I said, heading back to the main room.
“Who is he?” I heard Vlakas ask.
“He’s an Illyrian, supposedly,” Kat answered skeptically. I shook my head. He had to be the most suspicious man I’d ever met.
“Illyrian? On Crete? Really?” Vlakas responded. He sounded almost hopeful.
I heard Kat help him sit up in the bed.
“Do you think he’s the one Allard mentioned?” Vlakas asked, keeping his voice low, but entirely audible to my senses.
Who the hell was Allard? For a moment I felt guilty that I was eavesdropping on them, but I couldn’t really help it. My hearing was super sharp because of my Soma abilities.
“I don’t know. So far, he just seems to be a gorgeous asshole,” Kat growled.
Silence fell for a few seconds as I filled a water bottle with water.
“You like him!” Vlakas exclaimed accusingly.
“Do not!” Kat responded gruffly.
“You totally do! You think he’s hot!” Vlakas answered. “Aw! You’re so cute when you blush!”
“I. Do. Not. Blush.” I heard Kat say through gritted teeth, then more chuckling came from both.
I felt my heart lighten a bit at the banter. They reminded me of how Ri and I used to tease each other.
I made some noise as I approached the door to stop any other little revelations. When I entered, I saw Vlakas sitting up in the bed, his hair mussed. It looked like Kat had been ruffling his hair.
I nodded at him.
“How are you feeling?”
He looked up at me, glancing at his brother first, then back at me.
“Better, thank you,” he said, taking the water bottle from me and taking a long drink. “I appreciate your help.”
“Welcome,” I said tersely. “I’m a doctor. Can I check you?”
He nodded.
I used a penlight to check his pupils.
“Any pain? Dizziness?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“Heart rate’s steady. Your breathing has normalized. I think if we get a meal or two into you, you’ll be fine,” I said gruffly.
I saw Kat looking at me, his face darkening.
“Get away from him,” he growled, sudden anger suffusing his face.
I looked at the little Mageia in shock.
“What?” I asked, confused by the sudden change in attitude. He’d seemed almost warm for a moment as his brother came around but now he was like ice once more.
He slammed me up against the wall of the room with a blast of Air.
“You’re no doctor,” he snarled.
“The hell I’m not,” I snapped, annoyance starting to creep into my voice. My hair was pushed back and away from my face. Automatically I turned my face away to hide my scars. Years of hiding had ingrained the habit in me.
The fact he doubted I was a doctor, though, was pissing me off. I’d worked hard for my medical training. Adorable or not, he was seriously starting to get on my nerves with his constant suspicion.
“You claimed his heart rate and breathing were fine. But you never checked those,” he said, advancing on me. “I’ve been in enough infirmaries to know those are checked using a stethoscope.” He eyed my neck accusingly, bare of anything except the collar the Elusians had placed on it.
I sighed and rolled my eyes.
“I don’t suppose you’ll accept that I checked them before you woke up?” I rasped.
“Try again,” he growled, eyes flashing.
“Fine,” I huffed. “I don’t need a stethoscope to check his heart and lungs. I can hear them.”
“Yeah, right,” he scoffed.
“Seriously. I can hear them.” I said, tapping the side of my head. “Heightened senses are part of being a Soma.”
I hadn’t really expected them to know what a Soma was, but both looked at me in shocked surprise.
“A Somatophylakes?” Kat asked.
“How do you know the word?”
“How do we know you’re not lying?” Kat demanded skeptically.
“Why would I lie about it? If I really wanted you dead, I could have killed you back when you were using my chest for a pillow,” I said, and was rewarded by seeing a slight blush make Kat’s face glow. “And as far as my senses? Well, let’s just say, your brother’s right, you’re cute when you blush.”
I grinned wickedly at the little Mageia, despite the way I knew it pulled on the scars on one side of my face. I think I had smiled more in the last hour than I had in the last year. He glowered at me, and I saw him reach out and punch his brother’s shoulder without looking.
“Ow!” Vlakas exclaimed, rubbing his arm where Kat had punched him. “No fair taking advantage of the invalid!”
“Invalid, my ass,” Kat growled.
“You seem to have a thing about asses and assholes,” I quipped. “Is this a fetish I should be aware of?”
Vlakas barked out a laugh. Kat glared at his brother, and a flush glowed brighter over his cheeks. He really did look cute when he blushed. But hell, why was I bantering with him? All I needed was to get them into some semblance of health and help me convince the other Mageia who came with them to help.
I stood expectantly outside the Air bubble he had created. Kat watched me for a moment longer before the Air shield finally dropped. At last! Progress.