Chapter Sixteen
I am so proud of how well I’ve kept my shit together.
Lucian and I woke up early and we made it to the cave as the sun was just beginning to peak over the treetops. We made a plan, and I even kept to it.
Mostly.
I might have tripped a little.
But we were still able to take down a decent chunk of the beings. Granted half of them left before the fun started. Now those aren’t terrific odds as we will still have to deal with that chunk of them, but they aren’t terrible odds either.
Then I saw Blake and all of my composure went to shit.
The blood drained from my face, while my heart broke into a million tiny pieces.
Surrounding him in a pool, almost completely covering his left hand where it lies limply on the ground and dripping steadily from the stump at his wrist, is blood.
So. Much. Blood.
His blood.
It’s a miracle he hasn’t bled to death because I can feel the magick-dampening bindings from here. His healing abilities must be fighting hard against them to keep him alive. When I look back at his face and notice that he has passed out.
That’s probably for the best right now.
My legs finally respond to my brain, and I surge forward. Dropping to my knees beside Lucian, who is checking Blake’s vitals, I pull out my blade and start cutting through his bindings. The ropes are thick, making it an incredibly slow process, but they finally drop away, and the dampening dissipates.
Biting my cheek, I look at Lucian and put on my brave face. “Is he going to be okay?” I ask him. I don’t know anything about reattaching limbs or even if that sort of thing is possible, so I am glad to have Lucian and his many, many years of knowledge with me.
“I can help him, but it will be painful. With the dampening binds gone, he may wake up.” He looks at me to gauge my reaction to his next statement. “I can carry him, but we need to bring his hand.”
Meaning... I need to carry his hand.
Gulping hard, I give Lucian a nod.
Looking down at his hand, I demand my stomach stop being such a bitch. Blake is literally in two pieces. I will not let some stupid tummy ache prevent me from helping him.
Reaching into my pack, I pull out a cloth that was wrapped around some of the food Cordelia sent. It should work to help avoid contamination. The last thing I want is any cultist blood from my hands mixing with Blake’s. I don’t even want to think about what that would do.
Lucian picks up Blake like he weighs nothing and carries him outside gently. Holding onto my resolve, I reach down, using the cloth as a glove, and pick up the hand. Thankfully it isn’t warm, or I feel that would have been the end of my stomach contents.
Hand in–well, hand I suppose–I start to stand when I pause to consider the blood all around me. Blood can sometimes be used for curses and bad magicks. Factoring in the beings we are dealing with, and I decide it would probably be best to cleanse the area.
After I deliver the hand, of course. I don’t want to keep Lucian waiting since I have no idea what type of prep work he needs to do with this thing.
Turning around, I take a step forward when my clumsy superpower shows up to play. I end up tripping over my own feet and face-planting on the cave floor. Only the face plant doesn’t exactly happen because Blake’s hand is nice enough to cushion my cheek in the fall.
Seriously? Like seriously ?
What are the fucking chances of this shit happening??
To me? One-hundred percent.
To anyone else? At most... fifty.
I quickly spring up and away from the hand to get my composure and heave a little without fear of getting sick on it. After a couple of seconds and a good pep talk, I snatch up the hand in the cloth again and head outside to my guys.
Wow.
My guys.
That sounds weird as fuck.
A little over a month ago, I hadn’t even thought about a single guy. Let alone the years I spent without sex and thus not even thinking about anyone at all. That sounds sad. I think my vagina even called me a loser there. Although she is still sore as hell from all the–
I have to stop thinking of sex so much. It has to be because I haven’t bonded with Blake yet.
Once outside, I spot Lucian a short distance away. He rested Blake against a log and is holding his arm up to get a closer look. I walk over and stand there, awkwardly holding the hand and not quite sure what to do with it. Lucian is busy, but I am not just going to stand here all day.
“Uhmm… here is the… hand.” I thrust it in his direction, and he doesn’t even turn.
“Thank you. Please set it down and hand me your water. He needs to drink a little, and I need to clean this.” Without any further instruction needed, I set the hand down and pull out two of my water bottles.
One has only a small amount, so I pass that to Lucian so he can clean the wound. After he pours a little, Blake’s eyes pop open, and he yells, shoving his body forward. Lucian must have expected that because he already has his knee pinning Blake’s chest in place. Blake’s screaming breaks my heart, and I try to calm him down.
“Hey, it’s okay. He is trying to help.”
His head snaps immediately in my direction. He seemed a little shocked by my voice at first, almost as if he didn’t realize I was there. It’s quickly replaced by a look of obvious relief before transforming again into a cringe with a growl as Lucian pours more water over the wound.
Blake turns his head towards me again and raises his right hand to cup my cheek. I lean into his touch instinctually. “I thought you were gone.” he croaks.
I pop the top off my water bottle and hold it to his lips, letting him take small sips. “You can’t get rid of me that easily,” I tell him with a smile. He tries to smile back, but it’s missing his normal spunk.
He looks at Lucian, who has a knife and a branch and appears to be carving something. “Who’s the fae giant?”
I give him a smirk before answering. “He’s…” I stop for a second, not sure that now is the best time to break the news that I have not one soul-bond but two and that I may have already confirmed the bond with one. I finally settle on a mostly true answer. “He’s here to help. You can trust him.”
Blake responds with what I can only describe as a “yuck” face. You know? Like what you make as a kid when your mom tries to get you to eat a veggie you can’t stand.
Anyways, he grimaces something fierce and looks me dead in the eyes. “You have got to be kidding me! This not-so-jolly, or green, but ruggedly handsome giant is your other soul-bond mate, isn’t he?” The last part is phrased as a question, but he’s almost glaring at me.
I purse my lips and chew on my cheek a little. He can’t be mad at something out of my control, but why am I so nervous to answer this? My head stays down, but my eyes flick to Lucian for just a brief moment, and I notice that he is clearly listening to our conversation. I look back up at Blake and take a deep breath. Steeling my resolve.
If this is what breaks us, then so be it. I can’t force Blake to accept anything, and I refuse to ever let Lucian go. So I just have to have hope that Blake’s love for me is enough.
“Yes. His name is Lucian, but he is not a giant.”
Blake groans and casts his gaze upwards. “Why? Why did he have to be so huge? I mean, look at him. I can’t compete with that.” He almost sounds as if I had rejected him. “He’s fae, so I can’t compete with his magick. And now…” he looks down at his left wrist and snarls. “He’s whole. You don’t need me, Forsythia.”
My hand snaps up to grasp his chin, and I try to swallow the anger that bubbles up inside of me from his words.
“How dare you,” I growl, and his face shows clear confusion at my obvious irritation. “You don’t get to decide that! The Gods decided I needed two strong mates to have my back. One of those mates is you, Blake. If you truly don’t want me, that’s one thing. But don’t you dare ever say that I don’t need you or act like you aren’t enough? As terrifying as it is to admit, I do need you, Blake. And more importantly, I want you.“ My hand drops from his chin at my admission, and my eyes drop to my lap with it.
Maybe he truly meant he didn’t want me?
Nerves flood my mind for the briefest moment, and my heart beats painfully in my chest. He slowly grabs my hand in his and swipes his thumb across my knuckles, leaving tiny shocks of electricity in its wake. I look at his face and see his signature smirk firmly in place.
“You said you wanted me. I knew I was irresistible to you, little nymph.“ He finishes with a waggle of his eyebrows, and I don’t even fight the groan.
“Oh Gods, are you going to be like this all the time, or is this just because we haven’t had sex yet?” As the words leave my mouth, he grasps my arm and pulls me close to him.
I don’t even fight the urge or try to stop myself from leaning in closer. So close I can feel his breath. Just a little closer until our lips are–
“You said yet ,“ he whispers.
I roll my eyes, but he uses the distraction to his advantage and captures my lips with his. It isn’t anything like our first kiss. This one feels desperate. Like Blake is still trying to convince himself that I’m really here. I let him keep his hold on my arm but gently break the kiss.
“You felt it, didn’t you?” He doesn’t respond, but the twitch in his cheek is answer enough. “I’m sorry about that. I promise to fill you in on everything as soon as we get things sorted out here. Okay?”
Again, he doesn’t respond verbally but manages a nod.
Lucian comes back over to us, and Blake lets go of my arm, only to grab hold my hand gently in his. We both look at Lucian, who is holding a strange little chunk of wood in his hands and does not seem at all excited about what happens next.
“His abilities have stopped the bleeding, and the wound is clean. However, what I have to do next will be painful.” He looks at me with an apology shining in his eyes, and I give him a little smile and nod to encourage him.
“Forsythia, can you please move behind the log and hold his shoulders back? Do not let him move.”
Blake reluctantly lets go of my hand, and I move behind the log, grasping Blake’s shoulders and pinning him back against it.
“I almost want this to be something kinky,” he murmurs under his breath. I can feel the nervous energy pouring off of him in waves.
Lucian holds the wood in one hand and Blake’s hand in the other. Before I can blink, Blake’s hand ignites and quickly turns to ash. Blake tries to protest, but it happens so quickly that there really is nothing to say. The hand is gone. Replaced by a tiny pile of ash. Now he will just have to trust that Lucian knows what he is doing.
Lucian leans in and blows the ashes. They slowly rise off his hand and swirl around the wood before being absorbed into it. As the last of the ashes disappear into the wood, it’s clear to see that the wood has transformed into a carving. Lucian’s humming changes tone, and he grimaces and grunts as a tiny speck of copper light transfers from his hand into the wood as well. The speck resonates with Lucian’s magick, and I know he has just given a tiny piece of his life force to help my other mate.
I barely manage to hold back the tears. How the hell have I gotten so lucky as to have the most loyal and caring mate either of our worlds have ever known?
When Lucian brings it closer, we can see that it is a wooden replica of Blake’s hand. He looks straight into Blake’s eyes and explains what will happen now.
“Your hand was dead. There was no saving it. I will give you this in its place.” He holds the wooden hand closer for Blake to inspect before continuing on.
“Once it is fully healed, it will look and move like yours did. You will have feeling, but it will be less. It will also not bleed or hurt if injured but takes much longer to repair. If any part is severed, it cannot be remade.” He pauses for Blake to respond, but Blake just continues to stare at the wooden hand.
“Attaching it will hurt. A lot. Probably more than losing the old one. However, once I start, I cannot stop. Do you agree to have me do this?”
Lucian waits patiently for Blake’s response, but I can’t help the anxiousness bubbling inside.
If what Blake felt when he lost it is anything close to what I felt, this is going to be horrible.
You would think attaching a limb would be less painful than losing one, but Lucian wouldn’t sugar-coat the truth.
So yeah... this is going to fucking suck.