It was odd, watching Ashanti’s seemingly endless composure fail. My description of the makeshift hospital, Quinn’s efforts, the Rutherglen’s chaos on the streets, and his master plan had her eyes widening, her lips falling open. A tiny frown formed as I discussed his intent, then her eyes went to Billy. For a moment, she just watched him where he rested against my shoulder and blinked.
“Marlow, you have a light affinity now?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Then it’s past time you started to learn how to use that power to heal. Come here. I’ll direct you. No, don’t pull away, Kira.” Billy wasn’t letting that happen anyway, as with what strength he had, he used to hold me where I was. “He needs you.” Billy nodded in agreement of that, making me shiver when I felt his lips against my neck. Just a gentle press, but somehow, that was more intense than forcing his tongue down my throat.
Because you nearly lost him with your reckless bullshit, I told myself. You nearly lost this.
“Now, healing magic is both simple and terribly dangerous. You’re pouring your magic into Billy, giving his body the resources to heal itself of its injuries.” Her eyes softened when she looked upon my lover. “That you turned out to have the light affinity does not surprise me. Those with it tend to be giving souls and are invested in the health and happiness of others.” Marlow’s eyes met mine, and I nodded. She couldn’t have described him more perfectly if she tried. “It’s not like battle magic, where you risk being struck down by another. Here, the battle is with yourself. When to pull back, conserve your energy, make sure you have enough resources to keep yourself alive. You need to use an anchor where possible. Someone who will pull you out if you start giving too much.”
She held out a hand to both me and Marlow, waiting for us to take them before closing her eyes with a deep breath. We did the same, not really knowing what was about to happen, but she had that effect on people. You automatically did what she did, hoping to achieve the same confident calm.
I am connected to them, I thought, feeling it instantly, sharply. Maybe it was because they were all in the room, because they were so close, because we’d… I felt them, like moths at my window, battering and battering, trying to get at the light inside. I shook my head and focussed on Billy.
It became obvious what had happened. Life is a form of electricity, electrical impulses firing our muscles, our heart, our brains, and what we’d done disrupted Billy’s. He was feeling faint, lightheaded, as his heart struggled to do its job, resting on me as much to keep him upright.
You see it? Ashanti’s voice reverberating inside our heads.
Yeah, I need to—
Yes. Gently now. Just feed a little trickle of energy… That’s it. We need to restore his normal heart rate. Well done. Can you feel it now?
At her words, I felt drawn into whatever was happening. Marlow felt like a cloud of golden light, filtering into Billy’s darkness, making adjustments so tiny, I began to wonder if I imagined them. But something did change. I felt the shift of the others around us, crawling closer as they felt it.
“Fuck, Mar…” That was Johnno.
“That’s it,” Jake said. “That’s the beat.”
Now pull away, Marlow. Let his body take the lead. Marlow?
I felt it—the joyous wrench that came from Marlow that just kept wanting to give. He was the custodian of Billy’s heart, coaxing it, holding it, keeping it beating long and strong, the sense of satisfaction he got from correcting the weird, sick rhythm of before so terribly seductive, it was hard to follow the Mother’s orders.
Marlow.
It could stop beating, such fragile little mechanisms inside our chests, keeping our hearts ticking away. He meshed with it, Marlow, the persistence of Billy’s heart. He felt it like he felt his own, knew if he just wrapped himself around it, kept it safe—
Marlow! Disengage now!
Ashanti’s voice was like a slap to our faces, breaking the connection and yanking us free. The room came back abruptly, and I flinched back from the sights of so many bodies, so many eyes on us. But one caught mine and held it.
There was something terribly warm in Billy’s eyes now, and I didn’t know if I’d ever seen that before. I didn’t look away when I wanted to, holding his gaze right up until the minute he sighed into me, brushing his lips across mine.
“It’s seductive,” Ashanti lectured Marlow. “I told you that. You’re not to try it without a trained supervisor, and you’ll need to undergo training, starting tomorrow.” Her fear came out as a sharp clipped tone that brooked no arguments.
“Yes, Mother,” Marlow replied, his head dropping down, but did I see a rebellious light in those jade green eyes?
“There is no affinity more dangerous than light, my son. It is a curse as much as it is a blessing. It is not what I would have wished for you.”
“Yes, Mother.”
She shook her head slowly, her full lips pursing before she leaned over and pressed them to his forehead.
“Care for your fellow consorts, then come and see me in the morning.” Her gentle eyes came to settle on me. “Keep Billy warm, quiet, and rested. No more explorations of the withdrawal process.” She smiled tightly when she saw me go to protest. “We’ll talk further about it over breakfast.”
“I’m out too.” I looked up to see Luc jamming on his jeans. He looked around for his shirt, but abandoned the effort quickly, raking his hands through his hair. “I’ve got to—” Those eyes, like icy lasers sliced into me. “This was fucked. He could have died. We would have gone with him. I—”
The mask was cracking. I could see the flicker of lightning all across his skin, shifting as restively as he did.
“Luc…”
“I gotta go.”
He strode out of the room moments later, the door slamming on the way out. I raised my head, but Mark shook his.
“Stay. I’ll go talk to him. I’ve seen this happen enough. Having a near miss? It does something to a guy, often something that needs to be exorcised by beer, fighting, and a whole lot of swearing.”
I thought of Lucas’ power and Mark and frowned.
“Are you sure? Maybe take one of the guys with you?”
“I’ve seen plenty of new recruits through this. I’ll be fine.”
I nodded, trying not to feel the wrench when another one of the guys walked out the door. And why should I? There were so many still here. Aen knelt down beside us and said, “Let’s get everyone on the bed, hmm? It’s been a long night for all of us.”
“But it won’t be…?”
The bed hadn’t been big enough to hold us, but it was now. We tried to help Billy up, but he pushed our hands away until he collapsed down onto its surface. He pulled me close when I crawled up next to him, tucking me under his chin and stroking a hand through my hair.
“Gonna take a bit getting used to,” he murmured. “All this bare cock in the same bed. And I swear to Christ, Jake, if you don’t get that thing away from my butt…”
“Skin to skin, Kira said.” Jake’s head popped up over Billy’s shoulder with a grin.
“Well, go and choke the chicken or something. You know my position on cocks against my arse.”