Chapter 36

I was warm. Correction; make that hot. I was burning hot, my screams boiling up my throat and my blood sizzling in my veins. I would've given anything for a drop of water; sold my body and soul for it in a heartbeat. The thought of the cool relief it would provide made me whimper. I would have begged, but I couldn't get words past the desert my throat had become. Then something cold caressed my skin, and I sighed. The cloth skimmed over my body, but as soon as it left, I burned once more.
Someone held a cup to my lips and told me to drink. Heavenly water poured into me; a temporary balm. It doused the flame for only a moment. Like fighting off a lava flow with a garden hose, it merely crusted the surface until the magma moved on and swept it away. My mind was fuzzy; my brain becoming nothing more than stewed meat. I fancied that I saw flames licking at the inside of my closed eyelids. My muscles were clenching and pulsing; desperately trying to escape the inferno.
"He said only he could save her,"a voice echoed through the room; the acoustics sounding strangely hollow. "Would it not be better to let him have her than to let her die?"
"She will not die!"The voice was so familiar that I almost wept. "Teharon will save her."
"No more,"I whispered and heard them move closer.
I forced my eyes open and saw that I was in a cave. The sound of waves crashing echoed around me and the smell of salt filled the air. The men who had been speaking came slowly into focus; two were light-skinned with fair hair, a third was pale with dark hair, and the last was dark-skinned with dark hair. It was the darkest one who approached me, and when I tried to move, the clinking weight of chains alerted me to my situation. Why was I chained to a bed in a dank cave?
"Don't try to move yet,"the dark one said. "I'm here to help you. Trust in me, focus on my voice, and join your eyes with mine."
I looked at him as he leaned over me and realized that I knew him. His name was . . . "Teharon,"I croaked.
A gruff sound erupted from the dark on my right, but I couldn't take my eyes off Teharon. I saw the Indian make a calming motion toward the darkness and whoever it was quieted.
"I'm going to do some healing magic on you, and I'd like your permission to enter your mind."Teharon's hands glided over me with a cool cloth. "The evil has settled there and taken root so I must follow it in to weed it out."
I was about to say yes when I felt the heat rise and a voice that wasn't mine pushed its way out of my throat. "No! You will not have her!"
"He's here,"Teharon spoke as he moved, but I could no longer see him clearly; my eyes were covered by a red haze. "Throw these herbs on the fire, and I'll start the journey."
"Teharon the weak,"that voice was scathing. I couldn't believe it was coming from my throat. Was I possessed? Did I need a priest? Holy cannoli, I always thought all that exorcism stuff was crap. The voice went on, despite my efforts to hold it back, "You cannot fight me, healer. This one is mine, and I'm the only one who can save her."
"Yeah, yeah; we've heard the same routine from you all night. Try something new."
"Don't speak to him, Ull,"Teharon said as he settled his body over mine, and I sighed as it began to absorb my heat. "You give him more to reach out to when you acknowledge him."
My body started to convulse and the red over my vision seemed to spread through me. I would've screamed if I could have made my voice work, but all I could manage was a whimper. Strong hands took mine, and Teharon's heavy body held me down. I heard him chanting above me and the words spread calm through my limbs.
Inside me, I felt a rush of cold as if a glacier-fed river had been released. Water met fire in violent fury; sending searing steam against the inside of my skin. The lava had reached the sea and yet it continued to rage on underwater. This fire could not be quenched by mere water. It called for blood, and I shook my head in denial. I'd let it burn me alive before I gave into that horrifying urge. The effort cost me, and I was panting with exertion when I heard someone inhale sharply.
"Do you see her teeth?"I think it was the one called Ull. "She's growing fangs."
I hissed at him. I was so angry—furious—though I didn't know why.
"Fuck, her eyes are red."
"Teharon,"someone spoke carefully, as if he were about to fall apart, starting with his voice. "Please, I can't fight this battle."
The man above me kept chanting as if nothing else mattered. But he wasn't really above me; he was inside of me. I felt him stroking me from within; searching through every hidden part and soothing as he went. I felt the fire retreat from him. I felt the fresh water of his soul heal and renew me. It may not have been blood, but water's persistence won out over fire's passion in the end. A terrible scream echoed through my head. Then the last ember was extinguished. I took a deep, cleansing breath and opened my eyes.
Everything came into sharp focus and my cooling mind began to make sense of it all. Above me was Teharon; his body still laid along mine and his chest propped up by his arms. On the right side of the bed was Thor and when I met his gaze, his face filled with relief. Beside him, Ull was just lowering his arm from Thor's chest as if he'd been holding his father back. Finally, there was Finn, standing at the foot of the bed, and his face lit up with a bright smile when I met his eyes.
"Aunty Em,"I rasped, "I had the strangest dream. And you were in it . . . and you . . ."I looked from face to face.
Finn and Ull laughed, relief amplifying their voices so that the sound echoed through the cave. Teharon's blue eyes looked into mine with a trace of confusion.
"Haven't you ever seen The Wizard of Oz?"I smiled as best as I could with my dry, cracked lips.
"Maybe you'll show it to me?"He gently kissed my forehead and eased off my body before Thor could do more than growl at him.
I felt energized and tried to sit up, but the chains still held me down. "Hey, I'm all for a little kink every now and then, but the group thing doesn't turn me on. So, either all but one of you leaves, or someone needs to unchain me."
Thor was the only one who didn't find that funny. He stepped over and unlocked my chains with quick movements and then helped me to my feet. His fingertips stroked my forehead gently, and he looked into my eyes as if he could see the healed parts of my mind through them. Finally, he nodded and that's when I noticed his forearms. They were cut deeply on both sides. He looked as if a wild animal had used him for a scratching post.
"What the hell happened to you?"I waved at his arms.
"You did, Vervain."His eyes still held a little of the horror he must have gone through, and I paled as I stared into them.
"What did I do?"I sat back down on the bed with a heavy thump and stared up at him.
"Let's go back to the Hall, and we'll talk there."Thor reached for me, but I shook my head.
"No, just tell me."I held up a warding hand.
"It's nothing. I just haven't had the time to heal myself yet."Thor shrugged it off.
"I can take care of that."Teharon lightly touched Thor's shoulder.
"Thank you."Thor finally pulled his eyes away from me to look over at Teharon. "I owe you a great debt."
"You owe me nothing."Teharon's eyes strayed to me. "I have this odd feeling that I just saved myself by saving her."
For a second, I wondered if the fever was back, but then I realized I was blushing. I was sure doing a lot of that lately. I looked over at Thor and saw the relief back in his face. He hugged the Indian roughly and then turned away, giving us all his back. I thought I saw him wipe at his eyes, but that's just ridiculous. Why would he be crying?
"Well, that must have been one hell of a fever to get you all so worried."I looked around at the surprised faces. "But I still don't understand why you needed to chain me or why I would attack Thor. I must have been delirious . . ."Even as the words left my lips, my eyes started to widen with memory. "Oh, no,"I whispered. "No. It was Blue, wasn't it? That bastard possessed me."
"That's one way to put it,"Teharon said as he crossed his arms.
"Another way would be?"I remembered Blue's voice and the things he'd said to me and had to swallow back the rising bile.
"Another way to put it"-Ull stepped over and sat down next to me—"would be to say he mind-raped you, stripped away your will, and forced his soul into your body."
"I think I like possession better,"I said in a little voice.
Ull laughed and helped me to my feet. "Come on, Vervain, let's get you cleaned up."
Thor returned to take me from Ull, and I saw his cuts again. "Damn it!"I crumpled in misery. "I'm so sorry. I should have listened to Teharon. I never wanted to hurt you."
"Vervain, don't."Thor knelt and wrapped me in his arms as I began to cry.
Hot, frustrated tears poured down my cheeks. I couldn't believe I'd been so stupid, so foolish. Never lose your temper when you're fighting. Lose your temper, and you lose the fight. I'd lost mine and let it push me into action too soon.
"It's all right, darling; they're only scratches. I've had far worse,"Thor comforted me.
"Who else did I hurt?"I pulled back and looked at the others. "Are all of you okay?"
"Thor held you down until I could medicate you,"Ull's normally carefree voice was low and serious. "He was the only one injured. We chained you after that."
"Oh… good,"I said weakly.
"It's going to be all right now, Vervain."Thor picked me up and carried me out of the cave.