Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Lila
“ T ortured?” The voice has me whirling around to find all three of my grandpas standing at the entrance of the med bay. John is as pale as a ghost, and he wavers slightly, while William puts out a hand to steady him.
“Did you say tortured?” Eric is beet red, and he’s a hairbreadth away from exploding. I hold my hands up.
“Whoa. Wait before you explode. This woman isn’t your wife.” I hope that stops the impending explosion. “Zeydan says her name is Lilessa, and she’s the goddess of life. She was in there, not Grandma Liliana.”
“Zeydan?” That distracts Eric, his gaze moving to the god. His mouth rounds in a silent O.
“Not Liliana?” William tugs John into the room by his arm, both of them approaching the bed with distraught looks on their faces, but when they study the woman, their expressions are replaced by relief and love.
“What are you talking about? This is our Lili. Her hair’s a different color, and she’s a lot paler, but this is definitely our wife,” William says as John picks up her hand, tears streaming down his face.
Eric hurries around to the other side and pushes Zeydan out of the way, taking her other hand as he cries. “Lili. Thank God. I can’t believe you found her for us.”
I exchange a confused look with Link. “This is your wife?” I ask as William leans in and presses a kiss to her forehead.
John nods enthusiastically. “Yes, and your grandma.”
“And you say this is Lilessa, the goddess of life.” I point at Zeydan, who stepped out of the way to give my grandpas room. He has a thoughtful look on his face.
“Yes,” he confirms.
“So how can they be the same person?” I ask, but Link shakes his head.
“We have plenty of time to have questions answered later. The most urgent thing is healing her. Please, can you all step back so Lila can do her thing? It’s downright barbaric to leave her in the state she’s in.” He gestures for me to come forward.
The grandpas don’t argue, but I can see their reluctance to move away. I give John a side hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Not much longer now. You’ve waited this long, so just be patient for a little bit more,” I tell him, and he nods.
“Fix her, Lila. I hate that she might be in pain.” He steps back to give me room, and I take his place. I hold out my hands and allow the Celestian power to manifest in them, unable to stop the sob of despair from escaping my lips. Link is right, just about every bone in her body is broken, and I can feel her pain. It’s indescribable. I have no words. How can anyone cause this kind of suffering to any kind of being? Whoever did this truly has no goodness left in them.
The power expands as I place my hands over the middle of her stomach, sending it out to encompass her whole body. Tears stream down my face. She’s so broken, I’m not sure she is strong enough to come back from this. I am so confused about how this can be both my grandma and the goddess of life. Hopefully once we heal her, she can help us find some answers.
My Celestian magic does its thing. I feel the magic drain out of me as it heals all the damage to her body. Each bone knits back together, and all the internal damage—which Link didn’t mention to save everyone heartbreak—heals. Even the silvery scars seem to fade before our very eyes. As I take a deep breath and cut off the flow, I slump over, exhausted and drained. Saxon flashes to my side and wraps an arm around my shoulders, securing me to his side so I don’t topple over.
“She’s healed,” I tell everyone, breathless and unsteady on my feet.
They all stare at her with hope, but deep down, I know the truth. Despite her beating heart, there doesn’t seem to be any response to my healing.
“I’ve done everything I can. Her body is healed, let’s just hope her mind can heal too. Give it time. She has been through something none of us would probably survive, except maybe Zeydan.” I look at him, and he nods.
“Yes, we are resilient and can withstand much, but this—” He waves his hand at the goddess’s still form. “She should have died from this, but they held her in stasis instead, trapped inside a broken body. I would be surprised if her mind wasn’t as broken.”
It may have been kinder to let her pass and reincarnate once more if she really is the goddess of life, but I’m not sure what that would do to my grandpas if she is also their wife, so I need to pray that she comes through this mentally intact.
John’s sob is loud in the silent room, and it looks like William and Eric are only holding on by a thread.
“Gods can die?” Link asks. I guess Saxon must have filled him in on everything when they returned.
“Yes, we can if enough damage is sustained to our physical form, but we do reincarnate, and all of our powers and memories return as we mature.”
“Someone wanted her to suffer.” Eric’s fists are clenched, and equipment starts to rattle around the room.
“Easy.” William puts a hand on his brother’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze, and the equipment stops rattling.
“No wonder she gave up the location of the orb.” John’s despair floats in the air like it’s a tangible thing. “No one would have been able to withstand that. What about the flower, the one that saved me didn’t we save a petal?”
“We did, but it’s not going to be enough to fix this,” I explain and he sobs.
“If only I hadn’t need so much we could have used it on Lili.”
A siren suddenly sounds, and Bubby’s voice comes through the loudspeaker. “We need to make the jump to hyperspeed. Please strap in so we can do this. This is a five minute warning.”
Link moves over to a console and presses a button, then straps come up and over both Maxsim and the woman on the table, securing them. I’m going to call her Grandma until we get to the bottom of things. I don’t want to upset my grandpas more than they already are.
The rest of us head out into the hallway. “Come on,” I call to Zeydan, who stands by the bed.
He looks reluctant to move but does so, and I show him how to strap in so no one gets hurt on the jump before taking a seat next to him. After strapping in, I remember my can of tuna in the pool below.
“What about Nikos? Is he going to be alright?” I ask, wondering if I can change into my warlock form and teleport down there.
“The pool’s forcefield, which keeps all the water in, actually makes it the safest place for him to be. The water doesn’t move no matter what the ship does,” Saxon explains, and I sag with relief. At least one less person I have to worry about. “Poor Cas has to wrangle the babies into the chairs. Hopefully one of the others is helping him.”
“I’m surprised that Echo isn’t here yet,” Link says, pulling on the strap to make sure it’s secure.
“I’m certain he will be shortly after we jump,” I murmur, watching my grandpas carefully to make sure they don’t neglect their own safety in their grief. The five minutes passes quietly, all of us lost in our own thoughts. The jump to hyperspace goes smoothly, and we all unbuckle before the seats retreat into the walls.
“Why don’t you all go get some rest? I’ll stay here and watch over her, and I’ll let you know the moment something changes,” Link suggests, and I decide not to argue. I’m so tired, I can barely stand. In fact. I feel my Celestian form fade away, and I wobble again. Saxon swoops in and scoops me up before I collapse to the ground in a heap. Thankfully I’m so depleted of magic, the dress doesn’t disappear in the change.
“Whoa, you need blood and rest,” Saxon says, and I see him and Link exchange a glance. I need something else as well. I feel my cheeks pinken, but thank goodness they didn’t mention it in front of my grandpas.
“I’m not leaving.” Eric stubbornly crosses his arms, and I can tell from the look on his face there is going to be no changing his mind. Link must see the same determination, because he sighs.
“Why don’t we start a roster? You can stay while the other two rest.”
William and John splutter their arguments, but Link shakes his head.
“No, John, you have barely recovered from your own ordeal, and there’s no point in either of you staying. You can’t do anything. The best you can do is keep yourself healthy. If she wakes up, she’s going to need a lot of support to recover from what she went through. Get a hot meal and a solid eight hours of sleep and then another meal before I allow one of you to return. You can take eight hour shifts, then she won’t be left alone.” He turns to look at Zeydan, arching one of his perfect eyebrows in question. “Do you want in on this too?”
Zeydan studies my grandpas intently, and I kind of wonder if he’s reading their minds. I try to reach out with my warlock powers, but I’m empty, and there’s a small moment of panic that maybe I overdid it. Can I burn my powers out?
Zeydan’s gaze slides to me. “No, little mimic, you can’t burn your powers out, but you will need to rest and…” He pauses and looks at my grandpas before continuing. “Recharge.”
I release the little breath I was holding, grateful he didn’t mention fucking in front of my grandpas either—not that I think they would notice, since they are so caught up in their worry.
Zeydan gives me a slow wink. “No, I will leave these men to care for my sister. There seems to be some validity to their story, and I have no doubt they have her best interest at heart.”
“Sister?” William eyes Zeydan suspiciously. “Who are you? Liliana didn’t have a brother, only her sister, Vivian.”
Zeydan’s eyes narrow in contemplation.
“Yeah, she’s a real peach,” Saxon mutters under his breath, and I have to clamp my lips shut to stop a snort from escaping.
“There’s a lot we need to fill you in on, but can we do it once I get a nap? I can barely keep my eyes open.” I try unsuccessfully to smother a yawn, and my grandpas are quick to assure me I can catch them up when I wake. They shoo me off, and I worry about leaving Link to deal with the three of them on their own, but he waves me away.
“Come on then,” Saxon says to Zeydan, and then he leads the way to the elevators for us to return to our rooms.
The rocking movement as I lie in Saxon’s arms is soothing, and I find myself dozing on the way to our rooms. I vaguely hear them talking, but I’m so tired, I can’t force myself to listen, so instead, I allow the calming sounds of their voices to wash over me.
“Lila.” Caspian’s voice has me cracking my eyes open, and I smile when I see my beautiful blue kraken peering at me as he takes me from Saxon’s arms.
“Hey,” I mutter, trying to keep my eyes open. He looks down at me with that beautiful smile that makes me want to sigh like a Disney princess.
“Hi, gorgeous. Let’s get you some rest,” he says softly, but I struggle in his arms and look around.
“The babies?” I ask him, and he shakes his head.
“They are fine. They are sleeping. I took them down to swim with Nikos while you were all doing your thing. I think we wore the poor guy out. He was practically asleep when we left, but they all had fun. Xavier helped me put them to bed.” Oh good, at least I know my warlock husband is around. I still need to get to the bottom of his crabby mood, but that can wait until the morning.
“Okay, good. Did someone tell Echo about Maxsim?” I ask, and he nods as we move farther into our suite.
“Yes, you just missed him. He left to go sit with him. He’s fine too, but I’m sure Link will give him a workup while he is down there,” he reassures me, and I relax in his arms.
“Oh, Zeydan…” I try to look back the way we came to see if I can find the god, but Caspian squeezes my thigh.
“He will be fine. Saxon will get him settled. Both Tirrian and Brannock are in the process of moving into one of the spare rooms in here, and I’m sure he can have one of their rooms.”
Everything has happened so quickly, and I don’t know how I feel about the god. He claims I’m his mate, but I don’t know whether to believe him or not. Can a god really have a mate, and just one at that? I mean, he’s fucking gorgeous, and I am super attracted to him, I felt an attraction mark form on my body, but maybe it was a mistake. Maybe he’s disappointed he’s mates with a lower being.
“Lila, stop overthinking things,” Caspian scolds me, and I pout.
“Are you like Xavier now, picking up on my emotions?” I grumble, and he chuckles.
“No, but I know you. You need to rest and recharge, and we can worry about everything else tomorrow. We have a long trip back to Fluxx before we’ll face our next problem. Let’s just conquer one thing at a time.” He reaches my room, and instead of putting me on the bed, he passes it and heads into the bathroom. “Let’s wash some of this gunk off you.” He places my feet on the floor, and I look down my body.
I’m wearing the dress Xavier conjured for me, but the rest of me is filthy. I’m not quite sure how I ended up so dirty. I also hadn’t realized the dirt stayed when changing forms. Black Madovian blood is splattered up and down my arms, and I can’t even begin to consider what my face looks like.
I wince. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I can’t believe Brannock even looked at me twice like this.”
“From what I hear, you were wearing your Aaz’axian form. There is no way he could have resisted that, and we all find you attractive no matter what form you’re in or if you’re covered in blood.” He turns the shower on before stripping the dress up and over my head. I lean against the wall as he removes his shirt before peeling his sweats down his legs. He wraps his arms around me and walks us both under the stream. I moan loudly as the hot water washes over my tired, aching body.
“They don’t have any mating rituals that I need to know about, right?” I ask him, knowing he and Link have discussed all of my possible mates’ needs.
He shakes his head. “Nope, you can mate him the Skarrian way, but before their women started dying, they were a very fertile bunch, so keep up with the birth control unless you want to carry his baby.”
I shudder. “Nope, no thanks. Maybe one day, but I think seven is plenty for now.”
He pumps some soap into his hands before rubbing them together then gliding them over my body. I close my eyes and lean against the wall, letting him take care of me. “Actually, it’s eight.”
“Eight what?” I mutter, loving how his hands feel on my skin.
“Well, Brannock’s daughter makes eight.” My eyes pop open, and I stare down at my kraken who is kneeling as he washes my legs.
“Fuck. I’m going to be a stepmom. What if she hates me?” I bite my lip as nerves prickle in my belly.
He presses a kiss to my thigh before standing up. I feel a slight moment of disappointment that he didn’t kiss anything else while he was down there, but I’m too fucking tired right now to be really upset.
“How could she? You’re amazing. She never knew her mother, remember? She’s probably desperate for some female attention.”
“I wonder if they age at the same rate as shifter babies. She’s supposed to be like four or something, right?” I ask, and he shrugs unhelpfully.
“I think so, but I don’t know. We’ll have to ask Brannock.”
“Ugh.” I bang my head against the wall. There’s so much I don’t know, and I hate the thought of her being trapped with Smith. Thankfully he thinks Brannock is still on his side, so he should be treating her well for now.
“Hey, we’ve got this. We’re a team, you aren’t in this alone.” He cups my cheek and presses his forehead against mine, and I sag into his arms as they wrap around me. “Everything won’t look so big after you get some rest.”
He quickly finishes washing me, leaving me to my thoughts, then shuts off the water. He wraps me in a giant towel before drying himself off. Cas scoops me up, and we return to my bedroom. It’s dark, and when he places me on the bed, I’m disappointed that no one else is here. I know Link, Maxsim, and Echo wouldn’t be and that Tirrian and Brannock are busy and Nikos is unavailable to snuggle, but I thought maybe Saxon and Xavier would be here. Xavier did leave the med bay pretty upset at me, though, and I still don’t know why.
Cas rolls me out of my towel and tosses it to the side before climbing into bed next to me. He pulls the covers over us, and I feel his body shift, and then his tentacles wrap around me in a way that I love, and I let my worries drift away as my eyelids flutter shut.
He presses a kiss to my cheek and whispers, “Sleep well, baby.”