Chapter 14

Kat

This gorgeous asshole was a Soma. Fuck me.

I knew V was just as shocked as I was.

"Somas are real?" I heard myself asking, dropping my Air shield in shock. Bad mouth! No talking without permission!

Helios nodded, hastily brushing his hair back into place.

It wasn't lost on me that when my blast of Air had thrown him back against the wall it had revealed horrible scarring on the left side of his face and neck. He had immediately seemed to turn away to try and hide the worst of it. The hoarseness of his voice made sense now. Maybe it had been injured when he got the scars.

"I didn't expect that you had heard of us," he said. "Most people outside Illyria haven't nowadays. You know about Somas?"

Kat and I both nodded.

"Rumors, mostly. From an Illyrian eunuch medic."

"An Illyrian medic? Are they human?" he asked, confused.

I nodded.

"Huh. I wasn't aware we had lost anyone recently."

"How would you know? You're stuck on this island, right? Besides, I don't think it was recent. He-They seem to have been there for some time," I said, shrugging.

"There? In Alexandria?" he asked.

"Yeah, they were serving in a House," I responded.

"A House? You mean a brothel, right? Trust Alexandria to sanitize their brothels under cover of religion," he snorted in derision.

I shrugged again.

"What were you two doing in a brothel? I thought Mageia weren't allowed to roam around in Alexandria," he asked.

Both of us paled, and I clenched my fingers into a fist. Is that what he thought? That we just idly roamed around Alexandria? What a prick.

He must have realized he had hit a nerve because he ducked his head and turned to check the IV he had already checked twice.

"Sorry," he growled. "None of my fuckin' business."

"You're right. It is none of your business," I responded automatically. V shot me a glare and I could almost hear him in my head asking me to stop being a dick.

"So, this eunuch helped you? Do you know their name? I should at least let someone back home know, in case they have any family."

A glance passed between V and I. V shrugged. There didn't seem to be any harm in answering.

"Their name was Kyris," I said.

He froze, and it was my turn to see our rescuer turn pale. He turned to look at me, dropping the pretense of examining the IV. His features so still I knew it had to be deliberate. He focused those brilliant silver eyes on me with burning intensity.

"What did you say?"

"Kyris," V echoed.

"What did he look like?" Hel demanded.

I shrugged.

"Why should I tell you?" I asked. "For all I know, you are working with the Elusians and are just going to use this to punish them."

"Gods! You are so fucking suspicious!" he growled, slamming a tray down on the counter.

"No shit. How else do you think we're still alive?" I asked, stepping in front of the bed where V still lay. No way was I letting him between my brother and I, especially when V wasn't recovered from the snakebite yet.

I saw his shoulders tense and then slowly release as he tried to gain a grip on his temper, his knuckles still white where they clenched the bedside table.

"I am asking," he said very carefully, enunciating each word. "Because my father was a human medic. He disappeared over ten years ago when the caravan my family was traveling in was ambushed by Alexandrians. We assumed he was dead."

He turned those silver eyes to me and blinked slowly before continuing.

"His name was Kyris."

"Kyris is your—father?" Vlakas asked.

Helios shrugged.

"I don't know. We always assumed he and the rest of my family had died during the ambush," he said.

"I'm—sorry," Vlakas said. "They were kind to Kat and me. I'm so sorry about what happened to them, especially if they are your father."

"It's okay," Helios lied. It was obviously not okay, but what he said next just shocked me. "If it's him, we'll just have to rescue him. Once we get him--them home," he corrected himself. "Maybe we can reverse what the Alexandrians did to them."

V and I were both dumbstruck at that statement. He was obviously confused.

"I don't think you understand…" I sputtered. "That's—that's not possible."

Maybe Helios didn't know what it meant for someone to be made a eunuch in Alexandria? Could Illyrians have a different meaning for the word? Helios knelt to pick up some of the things my Air blast had thrown around the room.

"He's been—emasculated," I said.

"I know what it means to be made a eunuch," Helios said, eerily echoing my thoughts before slamming a handful of papers and a tray with empty syringes onto the bedside table, fury evident in his tone. He paused for a moment and took a few deep breaths before continuing.

"Somas are healers as well as fighters. Doctors, even," he emphasized, raising an eyebrow at me, referencing my earlier doubt. "If I can find the right Mageia, a Tesseris Mageia, and bond with them, maybe I can heal them."

My hand started to stray to my hair as I remembered Kyris saying I bore the mark of a Tesseris Mageia. I forced my hand down.

"What, exactly, is a Tesseris Mageia?" V asked, and for once I was grateful for my brother's curiosity. "What is the whole Bond thing? What does it do? How does it work?"

Helios' gazed softened under my brother's questions. He quirked a smile at V.

"Now you're asking the right questions."

Condescending dickhead, I thought.

"A Tesseris Mageia is a Mageia who has the capability of learning how to master all four elements, not just one," he began. V started to interrupt, but Helios stopped him.

"I know, you've been taught it's impossible, but believe me, it's not. One of my best friends would have been a Tesseris Mageia. I've known Dual Mageia, someone who has learned to use two elements, even without being bonded."

V and I exchanged looks. His story was just so fantastical.

"When a Mageia and a Soma are compatible their magic can bond together, releasing additional powers for both," he explained.

He held his hand up, and I watched in fascination, if not a little horror, as the nails of his hand lengthened into razor sharp claws.

My brother's reaction was very different.

"That's amazing!" Vlakas said excitedly, the scientist in him overcoming the last of his fatigue as he scrambled forward on his knees to peer at Helios' hand. "Can I take a closer look?"

Helios nodded, and something in my chest burned oddly as V took Helios' hand in his, turning it over and examining his claws. His examination was cool and clinical, but the burning in my gut wouldn't go away. It wasn't jealousy, dammit. It. Was. Not. The stew must not be sitting well in my stomach.

"Yeah, yeah," I said after a few minutes, unable to sit still any longer and pulling V's hand away from him. "Nice parlor trick. What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

Helios looked at me, his gray eyes flashing, almost like there was a touch of lightning behind them. Surely, he didn't know how my brother caressing his hand was infuriating me.

"That parlor trick, as you put it, is real magic and it can cut through any metal we know of," he said. "Once I find and Bond with my Mageia, I'll be even stronger. I'll be able to take on additional forms, and I'll be able to heal, without medicine. My Mageia will develop the ability to access all four elements, as well as the ability to block the Elusian ability to Suppress Mageia powers."

V and I exchanged looks. This was exactly what Kyris had told me. Which made sense if they were related. I pictured Kyris' face. Their eyes had been the same shape as Hel's, though a different color. Could this be some kind of con? Something set up by the Legion to, I don't know, trick us somehow? It seemed to stretch the bonds of probability that the one person in the world who was kind to me was also related to someone who saved our lives during the Machi.

"So, how do you know if your magic is compatible?" V asked, his face alight with curiosity.

Before he could answer, we all heard my brother's stomach growl. Loudly.

Helios snorted, the tension breaking, and V smiled wryly.

"Sorry!" he said, embarrassed.

"Food first, then we can talk some more, if you're up to it?" Helios rumbled.

"Um, is there a bathroom?" I asked. I needed to use facilities and figured that V did, too. If there was a shower, maybe the sound of the water would let us have a semi-private conversation. Though he didn't mention it, I wasn't forgetting that Mr. Super Hearing had heard us all the way from the other room.

"Yeah, through there," he gestured to the second door he had surprised me by coming through earlier. "There are towels, and I can get you some clean clothes. They should fit you," he nodded at Vlakas. "They might be, um, a little big on you, though," he said, his gaze measuring.

I shrugged. Story of my life.

"I'll make do."

Helios chuckled and checked something in the plastic tubing before he pulled my brother's IV, then put a water-resistant bandage over the wound. V got to his feet, only a little wobbly, and I helped him into the shower.

The facilities were spartan, but we'd made do with worse. The walls seemed to be roughly hewn from the rock, possibly even natural formations. Water drained down a covered hole in the floor. I insisted V take the first turn showering. One of us needed to stay on guard and I wasn't sure if V had enough energy for that yet. Helios seemed to be on the up-and-up, but I wasn't taking any chances.

I still had so many questions about our unexpected savior. How had he come to end up here? How had he survived? The Tagmatarches had said it had been over two years since the "Beast" - I could only assume he meant Helios - had been captured. How had he survived all that time? What had happened to all the Mageia he had supposedly killed? Could he really have eaten them?

"Supposedly," I muttered, a little annoyed with myself. Why did I feel like I could believe this man? He was rude, condescending, and I really wanted to wipe that knowing smirk off his face at times. Preferably with a kiss.

I shook my head in disgust at myself. It had obviously been way too long since I got laid. What the fuck was wrong with me? I'd gone years without real interest in anyone, content with a quick jerk of my own hand for release late at night or alone in the shower. An hour into knowing this guy and I wanted to lick his whole body. Could he have drugged me somehow?

I groaned as my cock filled in my pants and had to force thoughts of Helios away. No way did I want V getting out of the shower and seeing me with a hard on.

I managed to tame my unruly body, and true to his word, Helios knocked on the door just as V was getting out of the shower and handed me some clean clothes for us to change into. They appeared to be simple T-shirts and soft, stretchy pants of some kind.

"They're sweats," he said as I looked at the clothing dubiously.

"Sweats?" I looked at the material. They seemed dry, and not sweaty at all.

"Sweatpants?" he asked. My blank expression must have showed my lack of familiarity with the term. At the Legion, we wore tac pants and t-shirts. If it was cold, we wore long sleeve t-shirts. Why would anyone want to wear sweaty pants when they just got out of the shower?

"Here," he gestured. He unfolded the pants and showed me how they were supposed to be worn, with a tie around the middle to tighten them. "They're the only thing I have that might work for you."

His hands brushed over mine when he handed them back, and that same zap of electricity happened. Dammit! I jerked back and shut the door in his face. It didn't take super hearing to hear him chuckling something about cats and water as he walked away.

I threw the clothes at V as he wrapped a towel around his middle and shucked my clothes, jumping into the shower before he could see the effect Hel's touch had had on me.

The water was blessedly hot. One more explanation I needed from Helios. How the hell did he have hot water? How the hell did he have a shower? I cleaned up quickly. I'd been half tempted to stroke myself to get rid of this problem Helios kept causing me, but my little brother was right there. No way. Eww.

After cleaning up I got out but left the water running so we could talk privately, though I turned it all the way to cold. We might want that hot water again soon. I wrapped us in an Air bubble, suppressing the sound around us as well. I figure if Helios could hear us through my bubble and over the sound of the water, there was nothing I could do about it.

V looked up as the sound of the water disappeared.

"So what do you think? You think he's telling the truth?" he asked.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "Maybe. I mean, it all fits. It just seems too…" my voice trailed off.

"Too good to be true?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "Too easy. What's the catch? What does he get out of this? What if we agree to help him, only to end up a slave on the other side of this war?"

"The devil you know…" V said.

I shrugged.

If they were both devils, it didn't seem to make much difference. Though even with his scars, I couldn't picture Helios as a devil. A fallen angel, maybe.

"So what do we do?" V asked, interrupting my thoughts of our Illyrian companion.

"Well, you need to get something to eat and I'm going to ask our new ‘friend' some questions," I said.

He nodded and stepped outside the door.

I dressed quickly, struggling to figure out how the "sweatpants" Helios had given me were supposed to work. The clothes were way too big for me of course, but I rolled the legs of the pants up so I wouldn't be tripping over them. Fortunately they had elastic around them, so it wasn't impossible. I couldn't figure out how the tie on the waist was supposed to work. I kept pulling it tight, but it kept loosening itself. There were no belt loops, so finally I created Air suspenders to keep them up. Goddess bless the man, he had included dry socks, too! I could forgive a lot for dry socks.

Clean and dry for what seemed like the first time in days I wandered out to the common area where Helios had cooked for us earlier. V was seated near the fire, a bowl of the same stew in his hands. He was eagerly talking with Helios.

"…so healing is part of being a Soma, too? Is that why you're a doctor?" V asked, between shoveling spoons full of food into his mouth.

Helios smiled slightly. My brother's charm wasn't lost on the Illyrian.

"One of the reasons. I had wanted to do something different with my life, but with the war…" his voice trailed off as he saw me enter the room.

"Well, hello, Kitten," he said, his voice a deep rumble.

I scowled at him.

"The name is Kat, asshole," I growled.

"Good to see food and a shower haven't dimmed your shiny disposition," Helios teased.

I ignored him and squeezed V's shoulder before sitting with my back to a wall that allowed me to see both entrances to the room. It placed me closer than I liked to Helios, but if it gave us a more defensible position in case of attack, I'd deal with it.

"So, Soma's gain shape changing and healing abilities, and Mageia gain the ability to use all four elements and block the Suppression?" V asked, shoveling stew into his mouth between questions.

Hel—no! Helios, goddess dammit, nodded.

"So how do you know if your magic is compatible?" V asked.

"You just know," Helios paused. "There's… a feeling. A hum of energy. The stronger the response, the stronger the connection. When a Soma and a Mageia are compatible, they feel this draw toward each other. It's… hard to resist."

Helios wasn't looking at me, but it felt like his comment was directed at me. Fuck, was he saying what I thought he was saying? That this spark between us meant that he and I were somehow… compatible? That we could be Bonded?

"So what happens if you Bond with someone who's a total dick?" I interjected. "Can you break this connection?"

Helios shot a look at me that seemed part anger and part hurt, which seemed out of proportion to everything he had said so far.

"No! No Soma would ever want to break a Bond," he growled, standing, and grabbing some of the bowls and utensils and slamming them into a sink. He stood with his back to us for a few minutes, hands gripping the metal sink, obviously trying to regain his composure before speaking again, much more calmly.

"The magic takes care of most of it. Your magic won't attract you to someone you wouldn't be happy with. The Bond—it usually only breaks at the death of one of the Bonded partners," he said, his back still to us and his voice even more hoarse than normal.

"Did you… lose someone?" V asked.

Hel didn't respond for a long time, then slowly nodded. My brother was freakin' perceptive. He glared at me, and gestured toward our host, as if expecting me to do something to fix this. It was obvious I had hit a nerve with this conversation. Hell if I knew how to fix it, though.

"I'm… sorry, Hel," V said. "Guess we're worried about anyone who might get stuck with Kat, being the total dick that he is sometimes."

Helios chuckled, then turned back to us.

"Not your fault. You guys don't know… well, anything," he said, holding up a hand to me as I started to bristle. "You don't know anything about our society, about our people."

V looked at me questioningly, and I nodded slightly at him.

"We'd like to learn," V said.