Dedicated to Guitar Girl...who wouldn't let Adeeana be lost forever. Thank you!
The palace room was dark except for the last bits of sunlight that filtered through the window. The only furnishings were a small inn table, an unused lamp , and a hospital bed. The sound of beeping monitors and the soft clicking of the breathing machine set like war drums in the mind of the child who sat on the bed. His name was Tam but his father called him Mutt, and in his small pale hands he held the hand of his Mother, Nia. He stoked her palm continually as if the act alone would keep her alive. His little tawny head was bent towards her and though he did not verbally speak a word, he sent her every thought of love and hope he could manage.
"The healer will be here soon. Dad went to go get her. He said that she can almost bring the dead back to life Mom, so I'm sure she'll know how to wake you. I take care of him real good, just like you said. I make sure he eats cause he forgets sometimes, and I give him a kiss from you every night before bed. Just come back Mom, I really miss you. Dad misses you even more...I don't think...I don't think he will live if you do not wake."
Tears flowed down his rounded cheeks but fell unheeded. He had cried so much that he didn't even really notice anymore. The door of the room slid soundlessly open and a Man in his late years walked in. His hair was peppered with grey and cut severely close to his head. He wore the scarlet robes of the Human Council with an air of confidence and superiority.
"What are you doing in here boy?" His voice was hard and his lips pursed as he saw the child wipe away his tears.
"I was just telling Mom not to worry...that dad was going to get the healer."
"She can't hear you. You're wasting your time." The words cut like knifes but Tam barely flinched. He knew on some level that his Uncle enjoyed his pain. He had tried to tell his Dad but Merrik hadn't really heard Tam since his mom got sick.
"I wasn't being very loud." He whispered bringing his mother's hand up against his cheek and pressing a small kiss to it. "Even if she can't hear me, it makes me feel better to talk to her."
The smile on his Uncle's face made Tam's skin crawl. "Ahh the selfishness of youth. The Doctors are coming to give your Mother some more medicine. You will have to wait outside while it is administered."
As if by magic the stooped form of his Uncle's private doctor appeared behind him in the door. Tam shook his head, his eyes flashing fury, and walked past them outside. He waited close to the door afraid that if he wondered very far his mom would be in danger. He was too young to realize that instinct was telling him something so instead he chalked the feelings up to being upset. He hated when his Uncle's Doctor gave Mom medicine. Sometimes, between doses, he could almost hear her. Like the slightest brush of a butterfly's wing, but after the treatments there was only silence. His Uncle said that it was to help his Mother rest but that didn't make it better as far as Tam was concerned. He wanted her to wake, not sleep more.
Counselor Kempoe stood at the foot of his sister's bed looking down on her in contempt. She was a sister by marriage only but they had been raised together. Kempoe had been 16 when she was born and had watched her grow up into a stunning beauty. Even in sickness her form stirred his body. He could hear the little brat shuffling outside and wondered how much longer he was going to have to endure his presence. The child looked at him as if he were a substance on the bottom of his shoe. No one, young or old dared to do such a thing! Even Nia who had known him since childhood had the sense to yield to him in all but one thing. Leave it to Nia's little brat to be the only one to think himself above the laws.
"My Lord. It looks like she is still trying to communicate." The doctor said as he viewed the scanner in his hand. "Her brain activity is up 20% despite of the drugs."
"Give her more then." Kempoe said with a careless shrug.
"I'm afraid that would more then likely kill her."
Kempoe sighed. Were she not needed he would have already seen to her disposal and to that of her whelp outside but he feared what Merrik would do if he found out. No, he was at the apex of his plan. Merrik would fetch the healer, Kempoe had already told him that her mate was responsible for Nia's sickness, they would fight for the healer and kill each other and that just left the brat and the women to clean up. Kempoe had given his sister the option to renounce her marriage and destroy her child but she had refused. Even the "facts" that Lycanthrope killed their human mates had not persuaded her. He patted himself on the back for that. It had taken almost thirty arranged instances to get his marriage bans passed. It had taken twelve more to have his newest law brought into action. No Garu/Human marriages would be acknowledged and all half breeds would be sterilized for the "betterment" of both species. It had been so easy. Kempoe hated the Garu, filthy animals, and had been heading up an alliance to have them destroyed ever since he had taken seat on the counsel. Never mind that the alliance had not really taken hold in the human world until after a few of the arranged deaths. Kempoe was sure that he was not the only one that hated them and that he was saving humanity from the taint of the Garu. Those savages had been servants to the humans when they first arrived on the planet. Seventeen generations had seen them in near slavery and then there had been an uprising. The government had been overthrown by the Garu and the supporters of its rights. What rights did those animals really need? The counsel had been established and Kempoe had barely managed to hold his position of power. That was unwittingly because of his sister's choice in mate.
"Raise the dose." Kempoe said his eyes burning with hate.
"If she dies then Merrik will join her." The doctor said, his nasally voice rising with every word. "And if he joins her then there will be nothing to keep the Garu ground troop leader from coming for us!"
"Be quiet fool." Kempoe snapped glancing around as if the walls had ears. "Merrik will kill the Garu to save his mate who will kill him after she has healed my sister. The healer will be destroyed by her guilt and my sister..." Kempoe turned his back on the beautiful girl struggling for life in the bed. "My sister will die for choosing an animal over me."
Merrik clutched the sleeping woman to him, cradling her face to his chest to keep her from being recognized. He thanked the fates that there were too few Garu around to recognize that he himself was giving off the scent of the unconscious girl. He hadn't bothered to ask Kempoe how he had managed to reproduce the scent and he didn't trust the man to have been true to his word but it was the only chance that his mate had and so he had taken it. He had heard of Sheron, who hadn't? And he knew that the Garu's wrath would be unequaled but he welcomed it. He half hoped that the traitor had been in the apartment where he had taken the girl. His mind ached with the emptiness that Nia's absence left so he filled it with revenge. He would take the healer and use her and then he would kill her. He would leave Sheron to the hell that he had lived these past months. The hell of reaching out for your heart and finding only darkness. He had no real hope that she could do what Kempoe had said she could but he would try anyway. If she was successful then Merrik would challenge Sheron in a fair fight. If she was not then he would kill her and wait for her mate to come. He felt a flutter in his mind, one so achingly familiar that it stopped him mid thought.
"Imaria Nia?"
Silence. The flutter was gone and its absence made Merrik almost howl with loss. As it was he barely got into the waiting transporter without dropping to his knees. He tossed the bound healer carelessly to the floor his need for violence over taking him. He tore at the skin on his arms with his nails letting the physical pain surround him. He had to hold on. Tam, he had to think of Tam. At once the pictures of his son flashed through his head. His hair was a mix of blonde and brown and red and his eyes were blue and green and grey. He had been so multi colored when he was born that Merrik had called him Mutt, and though Nia detested the name saying that Tam was the most beautiful baby alive, it had stuck. Merrik let his claws retract and looked down at the deep scars on his fore arm. He had left Mutt at home so he wouldn't see this. The loss of a mate was devastating and had it not been for the fact that the doctors said that Nia might be healed he would have joined her in the dankness. He was not stupid enough to leave Mutt in the care of Kempoe. Unbeknownst to both Kempoe and Nia, if he were to die his family would come for Tam. Merrick looked to where the healer had fallen and lifted her up with infinitely more care then he had deposited her. He felt pity that she was bound to such a monster as Sheron. The poison that had sickened his mate had been meant for Kempoe. A gift of wine that Sheron had sent. It had reeked of the Garu sent when it had been delivered. Kempoe had said that he had tried to talk Nia out of drinking it but she had said that there was no reason for Kempoe's prejudice and had taken the drink anyway. Merrik smiled thinking how very like his wife that was. She trusted everyone, she loved everyone, and for that she had been betrayed. There was an alliance between the Garu and the Human Council since they had established separate governments. Merrik had wanted to challenge Sheron immediately but Kempoe had convinced him that there was a small chance Sheron's woman could save Nia. His revenge would wait.
Sheron rushed to Adeeana's apartment like a man possessed. The occasional passer by was greeted with growls of warning and even Trish and Brom stayed back. The door was opened when he got there. He scanned the room looking for any sign of her or where they had taken her. His mind clamored with the need to touch everything that was hers and the need to destroy it for not being her.
"Breathe my friend." Brom said cautiously reading the madness that threatened. "She is alive. You must believe that."
"Then why can I not feel her?" Sheron snarled turning on Brom in such a way that he pushed Trish behind him. The protective stance broke through some of Sheron's grief. "Forgive me. I can not ask your help in this."
"Then you will have to take it without asking." Trish said pushing Brom out of her way. If she were dead you would know. Can you smell her here?"
"Yes."
