Chapter Seven

“W hat’s the second?” Reaper asks.

But my attention is on Loki. His eyes are on me as if he’s trying to figure something out. I’m not sure whether I want him to or not.

“Control,” I answer this time, “when I come back from the Void, I’m filled with my power, my gifts completely replenished and released from the binds that I use to keep tight control of them. You saw what happened, I had to fight Magnus, Storm and Reaper to get complete control back, and that’s unusual. It normally takes a lot more.”

“That’s why you didn’t want to go in?” Reaper asks, and I nod.

I’m ready to get this conversation over and done with so that we can get Killian enrolled. There’s an urgent need that’s riding me hard to get it done sooner rather than later, but before I can make the suggestion, Loki strides over to me. He gently wraps his arms around me, which surprisingly doesn’t make me flinch and buries his head in my neck before taking a long inhale.

“Wha . . .?” I start to ask, but he pulls back with a dark frown on his face that is so unlike the person that I’ve come to know over the last couple of days that I look to the others for reassurance, only to find them all looking at him just as shocked as I am. The fact that they also look slightly wary is worrying.

“Loki?” Reaper asks, a cautious note in his voice.

The others all step closer, I know I should be worried, but I’m not; I instinctively know that he would never hurt me. I’m more curious than anything. The guys, though, they clearly are worried, apart from Killian, who just stands back and watches this unfold like he knows something that we don’t. To be fair he could; visions are a bitch sometimes.

“Farren,” he starts, his voice betraying an inhuman growl to it that has the guys moving even closer, including Storm.

“Yes?” I reply, my voice steady.

“If the Void heals all your wounds whenever you enter it as you did earlier, then why do I still smell fresh blood?”

“Darlin’?” Killian asks, a thread of worry in his voice now, not because of Loki but because I might be hurt.

I decide it’s probably easier to show them, and I’m still wearing a sports bra anyway, so I quickly whip my shirt off and turn around, showing them the long score marks that mark my back.

“I fucking knew it,” Loki mutters, and I turn around, seeing the turmoil and, for some reason, indecision in his eyes.

“Fuck,” Storm hisses.

“What happened?” Reaper asks, concern darkening his features.

I look to Killian, needing some sort of sign that I should proceed with this and not just shut them down; he nods with a gentle smile. That’s all the reassurance I need, at least to tell them this.

“Erm, well, from the couple of things that I let slip when I was stabbed . . .”

Loki and Killian growl at the same time at my words, and I ignore them both. I also ignore that I found the sound of their combined growls stupidly fucking hot. Loki’s growl turns into a confused frown, and I look away, I guess I’m not as good at hiding my emotions around these men as I am everyone else.

“As I was saying, you have probably realised that my father is not a great one.”

“He did this to you?” Storm seethes, and once again, we all look at him, slightly shocked at the amount of anger he has on my behalf.

“Yes,” I reply shortly.

“Are you not healing because of that potion he gave you?” Rival asks, proving he was listening before.

“No, that burned out of my system when I went into the Void. Father spelled the wounds on my back to heal extremely slowly, and he used dark magic to do it. They won’t heal for a long time yet. Not even the Void can do it.”

“That’s fucking insane. Why would he do that to you?” Rival asks.

“Because he’s psychotic, he likes control and more importantly, he likes hurting me,” I reply blandly.

“So you’re just going to carry on bleeding and being in pain until it heals?” Loki asks, his voice slightly strangled.

“Yeah, but it’s okay, I’m used to it, and I won’t cause any issues for you guys. I think I proved that I could still fight well enough in combat and weapons class.” I try to reassure them.

“You think we’re worried because your injuries might cause issues for us?” Storm asks incredulously before he shakes his head and starts to pace, muttering curses.

I look at the others, and seeing my confusion, Killian takes over, “Darlin’, they’re upset because you’re hurt, and they don’t like that, not because they’re worried that you will cause problems for them.”

I wrinkle my nose in confusion, “Huh?”

“Oh Farren,” Rival mutters a myriad of emotions in his voice that I can’t even begin to decipher.

“You’ll see,” Kilian mutters cryptically and kisses me on the forehead.

I stopped questioning him, and his little cryptic comments after it became apparent that he wouldn’t tell me anything more. He actually can’t, or he risks messing with the timeline and that causes catastrophic consequences.

“Can I try something?” Loki asks, his voice quiet but determined.

“That depends on what it is. There isn’t much I won’t try.” I reply, making it sound deliberately dirty and trying to get him to smile, he hasn’t smiled since this conversation started, and I don’t like it. I miss his smile.

His lips tick up slightly as the other's grins grow wide.

“I want to see if I can heal you.” He mutters in a rush.

“What?” Reaper exclaims in hushed shock.

Even Storm’s face is portraying his utter shock, and I know I’m missing something massive, especially since Killian has the same look on his face. I also sense that this needs to happen. That annoying little flare of intuition rears its head again, and I never ignore my intuition. For some reason, I don’t think that their shock is because vampires aren’t supposed to have the gift of healing. In fact, I haven’t heard of a single vampire having that gift, but something that I’m beginning to learn about these men though is that they are all so much more than they seem. They each have that something that’s a little bit different and just extra. I decide that bringing up my shock that he has the gift to heal will be counterproductive here, especially since there’s something else going on, so I just reply instead.

“Sure.” I reply, with a nonchalance that doesn’t fit the current tone of the room, “but don’t be surprised if you can’t, even the Void can’t counteract it, and it has brought me back from the very brink of death.”

He nods once, his eyes filled with determination and motions me towards the couch.

“I need to see all of the wounds, sorry,” he mutters, and I shrug; grabbing my discarded shirt, I hold it up to my chest and then take my sports bra off before lying down on the couch.

It suddenly occurs to me that I trust him. It’s a new and quite alarming realisation. My instincts have never steered me wrong, not so long as I’ve been listening to them, so I try to calm my heart. I turn my head to the side so that I can see Loki. None of the others have moved an inch as if worried about frightening him or something and my curiosity roars to life. He stands there staring at my exposed back, and I swear I can feel the apprehension coming off him and something that is akin to profound sadness. That should be impossible though, I have only ever been able to feel Killian’s emotions, but I know that these feelings aren’t coming from him or me. Following a hunch, I send a flood of warmth and reassurance towards him, in a similar way that I send feelings towards Killian.

He jolts, and his eyes snap up to mine, widening in wonder. Well holy shit, I guess that answers that question. I watch as he takes a deep breath and then stalks towards me with determination etched into his handsome features. He kneels down next to the couch and then holds his hands just above my back, close enough that I can feel the warmth radiating from them.

“I haven’t done this for a really long time,” he says softly, “so if it does work, it won’t be completely healed.”

“If you manage even to heal it a small amount, I’ll be grateful.” I reply before deciding to be completely honest with him, “It hurts like a bitch.”

“I never would’ve known that you’ve been in pain,” Reaper mutters quietly as he moves into my eye line.

I shrug awkwardly since I’m lying down, “As I said, I’m used to it.”

“I hate that.” Rival mutters.

“Just lie still, and I’ll try my best to heal it at least a little bit,” Loki mutters, and I nod, closing my eyes to prepare myself for the pain that is sure to follow if he does heal me. It hurts having things stitch themselves back together.

Loki

I take a moment just to breathe as she closes her eyes. I don't know what made me offer to heal her. Actually, that’s a lie; I can't stand the thought of her being in pain, especially when there might be something that I can do about it.

“You okay?” Reaper asks quietly, coming up behind me.

I nod in response. I’m not sure what will come out of my mouth, if I’m honest. They all know what a big deal it is for me even to offer to heal someone; they all know what happened last time. Dark thoughts try to swarm my mind and drag me into a place that I refuse to go, but before they can sink their taloned hands into me, a small hand on my face has my eyes snapping open and colliding with Farren’s black and teal ones. I was so absorbed in fighting off my own thoughts that I hadn’t even noticed that she moved.

“It’s okay. Loki, you don’t have to heal me, It’ll heal up on its own fairly soon, and then I’ll be as good as new.” She reassures me with a soft smile.

She’s only been here for two days, and somehow she already notices when I’m having trouble with something. I don’t know how but I do know that there is no way that we can break the bond between us, the spear has never been wrong, and Storm is just going to have to get used to the fucking idea.

“I’m okay. I want to try.” I tell her honestly.

She studies me for a minute, making sure that I’m telling her the truth. Once satisfied, she lies back down.

Right, enough stalling. As she said, it probably won’t work anyway, but I’ve just got this inkling that I should try. I hover my hands over her back, being careful not to make contact and hurt her and focus on my gift. It has been a decade since I used it even a tiny amount, and I did think that because of that, it would take some convincing to coax it forward. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It rushes towards me with all the exuberance of a puppy, and I can’t help but smile at the feeling of peace and joy that consumes me at being connected with my magic again. As I have always done, I direct the gift into my hands and then open my eyes, unsure of when I shut them. I get a flare of panic when I see that my hands are glowing brightly, gold and green magic swirling around them. That has never happened before. I start to pull back, not wanting to hurt her more, but a reassuring nudge from my magic keeps my hands in place.

“Loki?” Storm asks, a thread of worry in his voice that no one who hadn’t known him for years would be able to hear.

He can act like he hates Farren all he fucking wants, but the truth is he doesn’t, and that terrifies him.

“It’s okay,” I reply, not daring to take my eyes off of my hands.

I can feel them all shuffling nervously around me, but I need to focus on what I’m doing. I don’t have time to reassure them. My eyes widen as a rush of power, more potent than I have ever felt before, flows through me and into Farren, healing her wounds in an instant.

“What the fuck?” Mayhem mutters.

“Whoa, that felt fucking fantastic. I have never been healed, and it not hurt before.” Farren mutters before sitting up and flinging her arms around me in a hug.

My arms instantly wrap around her and hold her tight as my power fizzes through my veins happily.

“I don’t understand,” Kill mutters, and I glance over at him, Farren still in my arms, “have you been practising?”

“No, that’s the first time I’ve used my gift since . . .” I trail off, , they all know when I last used it; they were there.

“Erm, I hate to interrupt, but in my haste to thank you, I sort of forgot that I was topless,” Farren mutters, and I tense slightly as the guys all turn heated gazes towards her.

Oh yeah, we are definitely fucked.

My eyes flicker to her sports bra and top, discarded on the floor by the couch.

“Oh, er,” I start, praying that my attraction to her doesn’t become more noticeable.

Killian chuckles, no doubt guessing my predicament and grabs a throw from off the back of the couch, laying it over her shoulders, smacking his tail away when it tries to sneak under the blanket and makes her giggle.

“There you go, Darlin’. I’m sure the others will be gentlemen and avert their eyes as you get yourself sorted.”

She turns her head, her eyes narrowing at Kill, “I notice that you didn’t include yourself in that.”

“Nothing I haven’t been lucky enough to see before,” he smirks, and I’m surprised to find that instead of jealousy, I have a swirl of curiosity in my gut.

“We’ll look away,” Storm mutters before adding pointedly, “all of us.”

Killian gives a knowing grin that I remember all too well before he looks away, and my eyes move to the ceiling so Farren can cover herself. That grin means that he knows something that we don’t.

I find their relationship shocking and intriguing. Even before he left, Kill was hard, never let anyone close and was utterly ruthless in the way he dealt with everything. It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that he is now running the most deadly group of assassins the fae realm has ever seen, even though he is only twenty-four and shouldn’t be anywhere near those missions yet.

What is surprising though, is the way that he interacts with Farren. He gravitates towards her, adjusting his body if she moves to a different part of the room, and I’m not even sure he realises he’s doing it. More shockingly is that he lets her boss him around and talk to him in a way that I know people have been wounded for in the past. It’s abundantly clear that he is head over heels in love with her and that she is entirely unaware of it or the power that she truly holds over him. I have this nagging feeling that it won’t be long until we all follow in his footsteps, and I’m not sure whether that will make us stronger as a warrior team or be the death of us.

The only thing that doesn’t worry me is that we all seem to be developing feelings for her, even Storm, although I know he’s going to fight it for as long as he can, the stubborn bastard. Multiple partner relationships are normal in our society as they are in most of the realms apart from the Earth realm. They seem to have classed it as something unusual.

“I’m done,” Farren announces, interrupting my thoughts, and I glance down at her. “Thank you so much for healing me.”

“Of course,” I reply. My mind is still trying to pull the dark thoughts forward, but strangely enough with my magic coursing through my veins again and Farren standing as proof in front of me that I healed her, I’m finding it a lot easier to push them back.

“I’m surprised you haven’t asked him about his healing gift, considering vampires don’t have the gift. You just accepted that he could do it,” Rival points out, curiosity burning in his tone.

She smiles, “I may not have known you guys for very long at all, but I do know that you are all more than the standard supernaturals. The fact that it only took two of you to spar with me for me to gain my control back was proof enough, and I don’t even know what Reaper is.” She starts, and he opens his mouth before she interrupts, holding her hand up, “I’m not asking. I sense you aren’t ready to share that with me yet, and that’s more than okay. Tell me when you are or don’t. Either way is good with me.”

“Thank you,” Reaper replies.

“Alright, enough sucking up to Trouble,” Storm, the grumpy bastard, mutters, “let’s get Kill enrolled and find out what team he’s going to be with.”

Kilian lets out a long sigh, and I furrow my eyebrows. Not sure what it’s about, but Farren apparently knows him better than we do though because she pats him on the chest and smiles up at him.

“They’ll be fine without you. We can go back and check on them regularly.” She tells him as he lays a hand over hers holding it to his chest.

“You’re right. You should come. I know they’d like to see you all again. I do need to go back and see if I can get Rhett to look into how one of my assassins got sent after you.” He finishes with a growl.