Chapter 8 The Cat Conceals and Heals
The Cat Conceals and Heals
DELILAH
Taurus growls low, nipping at my neck as I weave a dirty tale, teasing him with the images in his head. I’m about to bite back when I sense their presence outside of our door.
“Wait, wait. Hold on,” I sigh, giving him a rueful smile. “I think we have company.”
Eyes narrowed, he glares at the door as if it’s offended his ancestor—which, if you remember, is a test tube—and throws up his hands. “Every. Sodding. Time!”
Apparating a filmy purple robe from the closet and a pair of his silk PJ bottoms, I shake my head as he exaggerates. “Now, now, love. It feels important.” I send my primary a mental caress, letting him know that it’s okay to enter now that I’m clothed.
After yesterday, my comfort level with them in my bedroom has dropped to zero.
My primary shuffles in with Talia, both of them looking guilty. I can’t imagine why, but something about her is off.
“Come in. Ignore grumpy face.” I lean against the pillows, stretching out my tired limbs against my spouse. I had an amazing time with my husband on our ‘date night’, but I’m worried about what’s coming. We needed more time; no, I needed more time to process all of this, but they’re here now.
Taurus shifts behind me, narrowing his eyes as he watches them. “What’s this? Kicking us out of our own bedroom wasn’t enough? Were you feeling the urge to do it again in another room?”
Rafe is quiet, and she gives us a nervous smile. “Morning to you, too.”
I sniff, catching a scent and feeling everything in me go on high alert.
Fear—I smell fear and nervousness and guilt.
“No, something’s wrong. I smell it.”
Talia’s expression gets more nervous, tinging on fear, even though she’s trying hard to mask it.
“You don’t smell right,” I insist, closing my eyes. I open the door inside a smidge, feeling through the bonds. It’s easier to do this if I ignore my external senses in favor of a more accurate read.
“What’s with the snake eyes, love? That’s not a normal look for you when you’re not fanged and fucking,” Taurus remarks, taking an opposite tactic than me.
It hits me like a ton of bricks, and I gasp, hand flying to my mouth.
Oh, no.
My husband’s head whips around to look at me. “What? What is it?”
I feel Rafe trying to calm me, but it’s not working. “She’s—she’s—oh, my goddess.”
The snake fades away and she leans against my mate for balance, her eyes not focusing on us at all. Talia looks at us with a sad smile and murmurs, “I’m blind.”
Taurus’ mouth drops open, and he looks like he’s assimilating a million clues we had to have missed last night that would have told us what she was hiding. He thought she was off, and he was right. “Bloody buggering hell.”
“I can see with the snake eyes, but not like normal. It’s all body heat and dark shadows.”
Mind racing, I sit up, trying to work out what I can do.
There must be something; it can’t be permanent.
If I try hard enough, I can think of something, I know it. There’s a wave of rage building in my husband, and it’s distracting me enough for the answer to be elusive. If he loses his temper, it will not help this situation.
“I’m fine. It’s not that bad. I’d like to get fixed, though, if anyone has any ideas?” She’s clinging to Rafe’s arm as if it’s a lifeline, grasping him.
My primary holds onto her, face buried in her hair.
He’s still not speaking to either of us.
I’m not sure if that is out of fear or desperation, but his focus is only on her.
That’s what she wanted. He’s doing it. His touch seems to soothe her and keep her emotions grounded, so I don’t worry about it for now.
Taurus slips out from behind me, stalking over to them in a predatory stance. “You’re only telling us now? That’s not the brightest of plans. I need not ask how or when.” He turns back to me. “What can we do?”
I purse my lips, trying not to give them false hope or overestimate my abilities.
“I think I can fix it. I’ve never tried something like this before, and it might take a lot of concentration and a lot of help from the two of you.
The nerves and things in the eyes are very delicate and small.
I’m still weak from yesterday. I will need some help to attempt it. ”
Turning towards my cabinet, I think about what I might need.
They all stay silent, and I don’t even care because I realized I don’t think I can get through this successfully with how I am right now.
I have to unseal her door. There’s no way I can connect and heal something so delicate and important with that locked away.
Magick is tied to emotions, and with the door closed; I don’t have any for her.
Sighing, Taurus looks at his primary and then reaches a hand out to stroke her hair. “We’ll do whatever we need to do.” His gaze shifts to my mate. “Won’t we, Sampson?”
“We will.” He doesn’t look at my husband, only nods his head and looks at me. “How will you do it?”
Pondering, I study the space and the people.
The added stab in the gut is that I have to get close to her, to touch her, and I feel like I’m going to barf thinking about it.
Maeve gives me a little push, and the roiling in my gut calms. I close my eyes and thank her, trying to focus on the problem at hand.
“Talia, you come to sit on the bed. I have to move closer to work on something this detailed.”
“Love, can you guide me over to her? Without the snake, it’s hard to figure out an unfamiliar room.”
“Not a problem.” Taking her hand, Rafe guides her over to the bed, helping her settle in front of me before stepping back.
She moves a little, then tilts her head as if trying to see me. “Is this good?”
I scoot closer, sitting facing her with my legs draped over the side of the bed. I caress her face, looking more than anything. “I think you’re good now.”
“Yeah, it works for me for sure,” she jokes, laying her palm on my leg.
Trying not to wince, I look over at the boys. “You guys will need to be close. However you want to sit is fine, but you will both have to be touching me somehow. Touch enhances the connection.”
Taurus looks over at my primary but settles himself next to me on the right. Leaning into my back to give me support, he places his palm over the bottom of my feather, stroking a little. “Does this work?”
Nodding, I sigh. That works every day and most of the night, but he’ll stay gentle so he doesn’t distract me. “Uh-huh. Please behave, though.”
Rafe slides into my left side, his fingertips touching the scar on my rib cage. It’s not our mating mark, but it is a powerful reminder of an emotional event, so he’s picked a good conduit.
“What do I do?” Talia asks.
“Close your eyes for a moment.” I turn to look at them one by one. “I need you to open up to me and let me in. Trust that I will only take what I need.”
Taurus opens to me without hesitation, connecting and giving me a soft caress with his heart. ~All I have is for you, love. Always. ~
I smile, my mate’s presence in my soul familiar and comforting. “Thank you.”
Steeling myself against the flood of pain, I pry open the door in my heart. The things I put away flood back and I fight to keep them in check, so they don’t touch the other two. When I get a grip, I open my eyes and look at the woman in front of me. Damn the fates for putting me in this position.
Those bitches are not getting a Yulemas card this year.
I place my hands on Talia’s face and rest my forehead against hers. Closing my eyes so I can visualize inside her without distractions, I dive in mentally. First, I feel around for burned nerves and vessels to work on knitting.
She calms as I touch her and the more she relaxes, the easier it is to use my gifts to see the damage that I need to heal.
I work slowly, as I have not done something so intricate before.
There are places that stubbornly defy my magick, refusing to mend as I coax them, and I draw more from my mates, using the extra power to force the healing to begin.
It must hurt, so once I sense her distress, I speak into her mind to soothe her. I need her to be stationary and compliant or I could screw something up.
~ If you need to, do something to distract yourself— but don’t move your head, please. ~
Her indecision is palpable, so I assume she is unsure what she can do that won’t distract me. It’s a product of having the snake out, I’d bet. If I stay full-on Beast for too long, everything looks like dinner, so I get it.
~If you don’t distract me, you can do what you need to. With the boys, I’m solid. ~
Please don’t let it be—
Fuck. I was right; she was thinking hanky-panky because she dreams up a very sexy scenario in her head.
While she does that, I check in with the boys—only them, because she is not a mind speaker and if I don’t speak to her, she won’t hear it—to see if I can get more help with power. Having them should make it a breeze to force this, but it’s not.
~I’m having a problem. Things are far more difficult than they should be, even with you two helping. It may be because we are not all open to one another—joined rather than you both joined to me. Help me, please… ~
Taurus’ glare burns against my skin, and I know I’ve aggravated him.
I can’t work with them pushing one another away, and he has to know that I wouldn’t force something I didn’t need.
I wait, giving him time to assimilate as I’m sure it annoys my primary.
If I have to swallow my pain, they can get the fuck over themselves and do it, too.
Another moment passes, and I can only assume he’s talking with Rafe in his mind or trying to set me on fire—one of the two—but I feel my husband enter the bond as an open conduit.
The added energy flows into me, and I sigh, the slight strain of working so carefully lifted as their energy bolsters my own.
Within a few seconds, my primary follows suit, everything in him filling the rest of the space, and it’s astounding. There’s a well so deep that I’m glad they can’t access all this on their own. It’s powerful—a myriad of talents and gifts melded into one giant pool of possibilities.
I feel Taurus recoil, and I twist my lips to keep from chuckling.
They may not see the picture that I can of our family’s potential, but what they can do is feel one another’s emotions and powers.
I suppose he’s getting a taste of what’s below the waves with my iceberg-like mate.
Maybe his wife can. They both need to see the hidden depth of his love and devotion, I think.
They will need that when this is all over.
Once she’s healed, I will have to tell them.
Gathering the excess energy, I entwine it with my own.
I start by fine-tuning the most intricate parts of her nerves and vessels, pushing past the stubborn refusal to heal.
I smother the tender connections with soothing warmth and tidbits of emotion until they heat and knit.
People laugh, but feelings help heal physical trauma—you have to know how to use them.
Talia makes a soft sound, letting me know it must have also increased the pain on her end. I know she’s trying, but she’s not strong enough to push this away.
I whisper into her mind, ~ Touch me if you need to ground. I don’t want you to pass out. I need you to be conscious and take part to finish. ~
Her hand comes up to rest on my leg, fingertip brushing the claiming bite.
Not there, Jesus fucking Christ!
Swallowing hard, I have to stop for a moment to fend off tears. Moving past the simple stuff, I push through all the barriers with the help of the boys and settle in to work on the single most important part of this—optic nerves.
If I fail here, it is all for naught. I pull from the well as I approach it, hoping that using everything we have will make this work.
It has to, or I might lose my marbles right here in the middle of the room, and no one will be able to stop it.