Chapter 94: Share

When I woke up, Liam was gone. The afternoon sun was high in the sky, leaving only a glow of light coming in from the windows. My entire body ached. My limbs felt heavy as I moved them across the huge bed and stumbled to the bathroom.
The cold water didn't help when I splashed it on my face. A hot shower didn't help. I felt drained. I felt empty. My ankle was purple and bruised. Every step felt like it would slip sideways again with jolts of pain stabbing up my leg. I hopped around on my good leg after I couldn't stand it anymore. I tried to send energy down to heal it, but I had nothing left. I felt like I could barely function.
I used the wall and the handrails to hop down the stairs. Anton was sleeping on the black leather couch with the huge television on. Everything about him irritated me. I realized he was my half-brother, but I couldn't get over how much of a leech he was. What did he even do all day?
I stumbled forward, catching my balance on the edge of the couch. Anton snored loudly. I could smell his breath. It smelled like cheese puffs. I recoiled. I slapped his face a little trying to wake him up. As soon as my hand made contact, I could feel the pull of energy. I snatched my hand back. I didn't mean to do that. Anton moaned in pleasure.
Oops! I beat a quick retreat limping away. I certainly didn't want to go down that road. Eww. I couldn't stand to stay any longer. I was starving, but I couldn't stay there with Anton like that. Maybe if I looked pathetic enough, someone would make me something down at the bar. I felt pathetic enough.
I hopped down the stairs to the garage. Cole was leaning over the engine of the Hornet.
"Does it have any hope?" I asked.
Cole looked back over his shoulder at me. "Beloved, how are you feeling?"
"Like I was hit with a ton of bricks."
"You slept for two days."
I blinked. "I did?"
He nodded, then straightened and walked towards me.
"I didn't realize. How are the men that were injured?"
"They are doing okay. Mostly all better, thanks to you. More than I can say for you." He indicated my ankle with a nod of his head.
I looked down at it. "It will be fine. I just need some food... and maybe some energy. I can't believe I was out of it for two days. Did anything happen?"
"A few more raids on our territory. Our people are worried. We're doing our best to protect them."
"Our people?"
His brow furrowed. "Of course. We protect the people in our territory from the other factions."
"I didn't realize I was in the middle of a war."
Cole rested a hand on my shoulder. "It is like this in the magical realm. Every city has its factions. There are so many different powers, the strongest control the factions. Without protection, the lower level people get abused, taxed, and terrorized."
"Oh my god. And Matei was in charge of this territory. He was keeping people safe. The protection charges, the cleaning." My eyes shot to the vans. "It all makes sense. Wait, that meant Matei was a good guy."
Cole's expression dropped. "No one is really good or bad. Matei had to make some tough decisions. Not everyone agreed with him, but I didn't envy his position."
"That means you don't envy mine. I'm supposed to succeed him. I know nothing about the magical realm. I'm not a leader. I can't protect a magical territory. I don't know what I'm doing." My voice was getting higher as I grew more frantic.
Cole squeezed my shoulder. "It's okay. We protect you. Liam is taking the lead right now. You'll ease into it slowly."
"You all think I have a lot more power than I do. I'm not like Matei. I don't know how to use it. I'm just making it up as I go along."
"Beloved, stop. You have more power than Matei ever did. He couldn't heal anyone. I've never seen that before. You are so much more than I have ever seen before."
I looked into his blue-grey eyes. He was so sincere. I could feel tears of frustration welling in my eyes, but I blinked them away. "Cherry told me no one here is human. So what are you?"
"I'm part nymph."
"Nymph? Like a wood nymph?"
He laughed. "Not exactly. I think my descendants were stone nymphs."
"So, do you have any special powers?"
He shrugged. "I'm a little empathic. So I know how much that ankle is hurting you and how hungry you are."
I looked away. "I'm okay."
"Yeah, well, you're a terrible liar." He swept me into his arms and carried me down to the barn.
I felt helpless that someone always seemed to be carrying me around. I wasn't one of those five foot nothing waifs, but the men threw me around like a tiny doll anyways. I did appreciate it in this instance. I was exhausted, and my ankle hurt. He planted me on a barstool.
"Bring her a little bit of everything." Cole sat down next to me.
The man behind the bar nodded and disappeared through a backdoor.
Cole held his hand out to me. "Here."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. Any of the brothers would love to be in my place right now." He gave me a wink.
I took up his hand and pulled energy from him. His eyes flickered close. His lips tightened as he swallowed back a moan. The energy felt warm as it trickled in. I could finally move without feeling like I was full of lead. After a few minutes, a spread of fried fish, tater tots, French fries, chicken wings, and various other bar foods appeared in front of me.
"Thank you," I said.
The bartender nodded and went back to his prep work. I released my hold on Cole's hand and started stuffing bits of fried food into my mouth. It was crispy and juicy all at the same time.
Cole leaned back against the chair, enjoying the pleasure I had given him. After I had downed the entire fish basket, he opened his eyes back up.
"You can take more," he said.
"I didn't want to make you do something embarrassing."
A smile quirked at the corner of his lips. "I wouldn't mind. None of the brothers here would." He leaned in closer. "They are jealous that you know me by name."
"I need to work on that," I said between bites of a chicken strip. "I think it's important that I know everyone here."
"That is a good step towards being a leader." His hand crept closer to me. "Please, Beloved. I know you like doing it."
A blush touched my cheeks. "That empathic thing is going to get you in trouble."
His smile was disarming. "It always does."
I had a hard time tearing my eyes away from him. My hand trailed the top of his hand. "What's it feel like?"
"There's nothing else like it. Try it out."
I pulled his energy, but as I did, I started to feel a mounting feeling of love and warmth in my heart. Everything went hazy around the edges like I was looking through a fog. A heat trickled from my heart down low between my legs. Slowly pleasure built until I was having a hard time controlling my breathing. I held my tongue as noises tried to escape. I didn't want it to stop. I kept pulling and kept feeling that pleasure deep down inside me. It mounted higher until it crested, but unlike an orgasm, it held. I was in a state of constant pleasure. I could have stayed like that forever.
Some part of my brain irked at me to stop. If I took too much, the same thing that happened to Mr. Kane could happen to him. I pried my fingers away from Cole. The pleasure stopped immediately. I was slammed back into reality, cold, hard, reality. But the energy was now dancing inside of me. Cole was moaning next to me as his pleasure slowly waned.
His eyes opened. "Do you see what I mean?"
"You shared that with me?"
He nodded.
"That's a cool power."
"Not as cool as yours. Now, if you'd excuse me, I need to go clean up." He shot me a smile and disappeared through the door into the hallway. He walked like a man in a daze.