Chapter 16

Rhuyin

I barely had time to catch Luke before he collapsed. One of the medics rushed over to us and helped me lay him gently on the ground.

She rested her hand on his chest for a moment and closed her eyes in concentration as her partner worked on Naya.

"He's okay. Feels like he's just drained," she said, smiling at me as she opened her eyes. "We'll take him to the infirmary until he wakes up."

I nodded. I was still astonished at how he had been able to protect us from the blast.

"Can I—Can I go with him?" I asked hesitantly.

"Of course! We'd never separate a Bonded pair," she said, confusion in her eyes.

"Oh! We're not—I mean, he just—we're—"

"Winnie, we gotta move," her partner called, interrupting us. "I've got most of the bleeding stopped, but she's probably going to need a transfusion."

I realized these two were actually a Bonded pair themselves. Her partner seemed to be a Water Mageia and I saw him magically begin delivering fluids to Naya.

I lifted Luke in my arms. While we were mostly the same height, he was light in my arms. I knew that Mageia in Alexandria had it rough, but I could feel his ribs sharply through his shirt. They had to be borderline starving.

The ambulance was small and only had one cot, so I secured him as best as I could in the seat next to me and kept one hand wrapped around his thin waist to make sure he didn't topple. At least, that's what I told myself. Privately, I could admit to myself that the feel of his magic thrumming over my skin was addictive.

The ride to the infirmary was surreal. Out the back of the ambulance I could see so many emergency vehicles surrounding the damaged building.

"Was anyone else hurt?" Naya asked from her stretcher. The medics had started her on IV fluids and pain medication.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "Luke said he didn't sense anyone else, but it's hard to imagine that something this big didn't hurt anyone else."

She nodded groggily.

"N'one shoulda got hurt. No one supposed to be…" then her eyes closed as she faded into unconsciousness.

The medic, Winnie, looked at me.

"What did she mean by that?"

"No clue. Luke is one of the new Mageia, and he got lost in the admin building. I had just found him when the explosion happened. We found Naya near the boiler room."

"What the hell was the kid doing there?"

I shrugged. Naya hadn't given us any clues, but her drug-addled words made a pit open in my stomach. I truly hoped this sassy kid had nothing to do with the explosion.

As I held Luke, his magic seemed to move fuzzily over me and I found myself absentmindedly stroking his arm.

Winnie adjusted something on Naya's IV then looked at where I was touching Luke.

"Are you guys new?"

"New?"

"Newly Bonded."

"Oh, um, no, we're not Bonded," I said abashedly.

She shook her head at me skeptically, as if waiting for a punchline.

"What? Of course you are," she said in disbelief, her gaze jumping to Naya.

"Seriously. We just met."

She shrugged.

"If you say so. You better Bond that boy pretty damn quick, then. You're feeding him energy even while you sit there. I can feel the magic sizzling between you two!"

I was taken aback because I hadn't realized that was what I was doing. Somas were known to develop healing abilities of varying degrees, but it hadn't been my best subject. I'd done well enough with the theory, but there was no way to practice until you actually found your Mageia.

Our arrival at the infirmary stopped any more discussion.

Naya was taken away to a curtained room, the doctors muttering about surgery. I had done all I could for her, so I decided it would be best if I stayed with the unconscious Mageia.

The harsh light of the infirmary shone on Luke's face. His hair was long, longer than mine had ever been. His honey brown hair was shot through with streaks of copper and gold. I noticed he had a scar over one eyebrow and several on his arms. With Soma healing, we rarely scarred, so it seemed strange to see someone with skin marked like his. I found myself absently stroking a scar on his hand. It was small and shaped like an eight-pointed star and I wondered what had made it. A blade? It felt too thick to be from a knife. Could it be a burn?

Doctors and nurses came and went as Luke slept on, constantly reassuring me about his condition. My eyes closed, just for a minute. I wasn't sleeping, really, just resting my eyes. I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but suddenly I felt someone gently shake my arm.

I woke, my hand still gripping Luke's, and stared into Dagan's face, strain and worry etched across it.

What the hell happened?Dagan signed. Where were you? I've been going crazy trying to find you!

It's a long story,I began signing one handed.

"Well, you can start with why the hell you weren't participating in the Touchpoint line and who the fuck he is," he signed angrily, gesturing at our joined hands.

Shit. I had forgotten about the Touchpoint.

"They disqualified me," I finally admitted.

Dag's eyes narrowed, and I saw him begin to marshal his arguments.

"Dag," I said, holding up my hand as he started to sign frantically. "We matched."

He stopped in shock, his hands mid-word as I gestured at Luke.

"That's great!" he said, rushing over to wrap his arms around me then sat in the chair next to me.

"There's no guarantee. He matched with other people, too, but something happened. When we touched…"

My voice trailed off.

"That's what's supposed to happen when you match, dufus," he said shoulder bumping me.

"No, this was seriously weird. It was like we were both hit by lightning. It threw us across the room!"

Dag looked thoughtfully from me to Luke and back.

"How did he respond?"

I could see the caution written on my friend's face. He had helped me through being rejected three previous times by Mageia I had matched. His caution was warranted.

"He seemed… nice," I ended lamely.

"Nice?" he teased. "It threw you across the room and he seemed nice?"

I laughed quietly at his teasing, shushing him.

"I'm just glad you're okay," he said.

"Where is Deliah?" I asked.

"She and the other new Mageia were pretty shaken up by the attack and concerned about some folks who are missing. I told her I would check out the infirmary and see if anyone was here."

"Pretty sure Luke is one of the people she is looking for. I hope everyone else is okay. Do you know if anyone else was hurt?"

"The damage was pretty bad but seemed to be contained to the administrative offices. I saw a few folks with scrapes and bruises, but nothing too serious."

I awkwardly signed to him the story of how Luke had protected us and gotten us out of the destroyed building. I was confident that no one else knew sign so our conversation would be kept private.

Damn. He must be pretty fuckin' powerful to do that. No wonder he's drained, though.

I nodded. I started to ask him another question when a small, wiry man stormed into the room. He was lean, like Luke, but quite a bit shorter. If he was five feet five I would be surprised, but thoughts of his size were quickly discarded when his eyes locked onto where I held Luke's hand. He charged toward me, the smell of ozone preceding him, as though he brought lightning with him.

"Get your fucking hands off my brother!" He said, slamming into me and pushing me away from Luke.

"Whoa!" I could see Dagan exclaim as he scrambled to his feet, the other man grabbing me by the shoulders and forcing me against the wall.

I saw Dagan reaching for him.

"Stop, Dag! He's just worried about Luke!" I said.

I looked at the man pinning me against the wall. He had black, curly hair with a single thick streak of white. I could see the resemblance to Luke, but where Luke's eyes were green, this man's eyes were a stormy blue.

"How do you know his name? What the fuck did you do to him?" he demanded.

"N-nothing! I swear to the goddess! He saved us from the explosion." I stammered. The fierce glare of the man in front of me left me with no doubt that my lifespan would be significantly shortened if I had harmed a hair on his brother's head.

Just then another man ran in to the room. He was taller than me, with blond hair several shades paler than Lukes flying around his face, as though he had been running his fingers through it.

"Elex! Calm down! It's okay!" I saw him say. His words seemed to have little effect on Luke's brother as he continued to glare at me ferociously.

"He had his hands on Luke," he growled.

I saw a look pass between the tall man and Dagan.

"Not like that! I was just holding his hand!"

Elex tightened his grip on me and something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head and saw coils of power wrapping the man's hands, ribbons of earth, air, fire and water twining around his forearms. Shit! He was a Tesseris Mageia!

"I swear to the Goddess, I just didn't want him to think he was alone," I insisted.

The tall blond man moved up behind Elex and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Stand down, kitty kat. He's a Soma. He would never harm a Mageia."

The stormy blue eyes blinked at me for a moment, then he slowly released his hold on me and stalked to the other side of the bed, his eyes still glaring daggers at me.

I saw him murmuring something to his brother, but I couldn't make out what he said.

You okay?I saw Dag sign. I nodded. Elex hadn't hurt me, just startled me.

"I'm Helios," the tall blond man introduced himself. As he turned, his scars on his face stood in stark relief to the light of the infirmary. I must have made some kind of reaction, because his face that moments before had been open suddenly shuttered.

"I'm Rhuyin, this is my friend, Dagan," I said hastily, feeling like shit that I was the cause of the change. I knew what it was like to deal with an invisible disability in our society. Helios would have had it a hundred times worse.

"Dagan? Are you the one who matched with Deliah?"

Dag nodded excitedly. The two started talking, but my eyes were drawn back to Luke.

I moved closer to the bedside.

"He's going to be okay," I said, trying to reassure Elex. "The medics said he just overdid it getting us out of the building."

I saw Elex speak, but with him turned away from me I couldn't understand what he said.

"I'm sorry, but I can't understand what you said."

He turned his glare back on me.

"I said, he'd better be, or I'll be taking it out of your hide."

I swallowed hard. The ferocity in his gaze made it clear he was deadly serious.

"What was he doing in the Administrative wing?" Helios asked. "Wasn't he at the Touchpoint?"

I paused before speaking, reluctant to share Luke's fear that I had smelled so heavily in the air as we talked. It had replaced the delicious cinnamon smell I'd followed with one acrid and slightly burned-smelling.

"Touchpoints can be overwhelming," Dag supplied for me after a moment.

The awkward moment was interrupted by my least favorite person in the world. Captain Kopanos entered the room, a harried looking Lottie Galanis following him.

"Ah! Elex! And this is Prince Lucien, is it?" Kopanos asked after looking at Lottie's ever-present paperwork, an obsequious smile on his face. "The War Leader has instructed me to make sure you are all well taken care of. You are in good hands now," Kopanos said. He glanced down at where my hand was still entwined with Luke's, and a look of utter contempt filled his face.

"Katastrofis. I should have known you'd be involved in this somehow. You can go now. We have real Somas Prince Lucien matched with waiting to meet with him when he wakes. See if you can find some way to make yourself useful."

I felt the familiar anger build as he dismissed me, then his words finally registered. Prince Lucien. Luke was a prince. A prince of Alexandria? Goddess, he was fucking royalty. There was no way in hell someone like him would be allowed to match with someone like me. Someone who was a liability. I stumbled to my feet and saluted. Despised or not, Kopanos was my superior officer.

"Yes, sir."

I had to force myself to release Luke's hand, the warmth of his magic running over my hand fading away, somehow leaving me colder and more tired than I'd been before. Without a backward glance I left the room, Dag close on my heels. I refused to turn and speak to him as I made my ordered departure. I needed to get the hell out of there.

I didn't run, but it was a near thing. Dag followed me from the infirmary, but hung back for about a block outside the hospital before his patience ran out and he grabbed my arm.

"Rhuyin."

I tried to pull away, but he refused to release me.

You have to fight for this, he signed emphatically. You can't let Captain Jerkface steal this from you.

I shrugged; the taste of bile was thick at the back of my throat.

He's a fucking prince, Dag. There's no way they will let him Bond with a damaged Soma, I signed back in resignation.

You're not damaged, Rhu. You have to fight this! I've never heard of a Mageia and Soma having a reaction as strong as you described! Imagine how powerful you might be together!

I looked at Dag and sighed.

Maybe it wasn't a positive reaction, did you ever think of that? I signed resignedly. Maybe the response was so strong because we weren't supposed to be together. It shoved us apart, after all.

That's bullshit, he signed angrily. And you know it.

Why should it be any different now than it has any of the other times I've matched? Tell me that, Dag. He's obviously important. Powerful. Can you really see Polemos or any of the other Leaders allowing us to Bond?

I saw doubt begin to bleed into Dagan's face.

Look, the whole thing was just a lot. I'd rather be alone right now. Besides, you should be spending time getting to know Deliah, I signed, forcing myself to smile. Fake it ‘til you make it, right? I loved my friend, but I was sure he could smell my sincerity. I really did want to be alone.

We argued for another ten minutes, but Dag eventually agreed to let me go back to my apartment. I think he capitulated in the end only because he had a dinner date arranged with Deliah.

Fuck.I was useless. Too damaged to Bond. Too much of a liability to anyone, I thought as I lay on the bed in my room, bouncing the rubber ball against the wall again. A fly landed on the spot I usually used as my target, so I changed my aim, my eyes landing on the Omada recruiting poster.

The picture of the stoic Soma staring out of the photo, rifle in hand made me pause. Maybe there was a way I could be useful after all.