Broken Skies

The slam of a door sounds through the house like a shot and then the door to my room opens slowly. Lir pokes his head around, his eyes finding me in the dim room. “Jax?”

I find a weak smile for him and he comes farther into the room, slowly. His eyes take in the tears on my cheeks and he moves to my side. He places a hand on my back, softly, carefully, and rubs it in a small circle. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? I didn’t mean… The dream thing… I’m sorry… I—”

“Stop.” I release the door frame and rest one hand on his chest. “Not your fault.”

“You’re bleeding and you look like you’re about to fall over. The bond is not supposed to be like that. It’s supposed to heal, to give strength, to be a good thing.”

I give him a wry smile. “And we all know how good I am about doing what I’m supposed to.”

He smiles, but it’s nothing more than a simple upwards twist of his mouth, a nervous reflex to my awful attempt at a joke. His hands drop to his sides and he sighs. “My Father would like to speak to you… If you’re not up to it, you don’t have to.”

“But there’s still a Council meeting to get through later, right? Might as well get some practice.”

“He’s just worried about Stella. He’s mad at me, not you. Though it might be prudent to discuss the bond issue with him before presenting it to the entire Council.”

The puff of breath that escapes from my nose is like a near silent laugh. “I’m pretty sure your father’s feelings about me are clear, but he can’t possibly dislike me any more.”

The four of us gather in the living room, Stellan sitting in a chair, Vira perched on the arm and Lir sitting next to me on the couch. I stare at the floor twisting my hands in front of me.

“Now, explain to me why you think this girl is your bondmate,” says Stellan.

“It is something I know, Sir. I’ve linked to her. Met her in her dreams. A severe wound on her leg healed from one dream session that lasted barely five minutes.” That’s what he meant by heal? The bond fixed my leg?

Everyone looks to me.

“Yeah my leg—” My voice cracks and I clear my throat before trying again. “I was bitten by a rattlesnake—”

“A bite she protected me from,” interrupts Lir.

I shoot him an irritated look. I’m already about to climb up the walls, if he wants me to talk then he needs to be quiet. Vira closely watches the silent exchange between us.

Stellan interlaces his fingers and gives me a bored look. “And?”

“The bite got infected and Peter, the guy we were staying with, had to cut into my leg to remove the infected tissue. When I first woke up I could hardly walk, but then…well, look.” I pull up the leg of my pants to show the golf ball sized scar on my calf. “This happened only a few days ago.”

“How were you able to do this when you have no kitu and my son’s was not functional?”

Simple is probably best. “I don’t know,” I say. “I just found out about it myself. Somehow… I don’t need one. But there’s something else you need to know. I—”

“Is that how Steliro has survived with you? Can you help the children?” Hope shines in Vira’s eyes and uncertainty turns in my stomach. I don’t know how it works. I don’t know how to use it and I don’t know what exactly it does. How to explain it to them?

“Yes,” says Lir. I look at him in confusion, not sure what he’s agreeing with and then it dawns on me that he’s answering his mother’s questions. “She linked to Stel last night, Mother.”

Stellan looks intrigued, Vira ecstatic and Lir… I don’t know, maybe apprehensive.

“Link to me,” says Stellan, his voice hard. It’s not a request.

“I—I can’t. I don’t know how.”

“Then how did you do it with Steliro?”

A thrum of panic spreads into my limbs. “I didn’t even know what I was at the time. I just…”

Stellan turns to Lir and up goes the eyebrow. “Steliro?”

“I don’t know, Father…Sir,” says Lir. His gaze stays trained on the floor.

Stellan’s eyes harden and his voice goes quieter. “Then explain to me your theories. You must have at least one.”

“I…” Lir’s eyes come up and I can see the conflict in them. Pain flashes across his face for a moment and I can feel him try to reach out to me through the link, but shying away from it when his gaze catches on my face. He sets his face and Lir the solider, the obedient son returns. “It might be brought about by strong emotions.”

Strong emotions? I suppose that could be true, but why won’t Lir even look at me? I get my answer when Stellan stands, watching me like a hawk. He steps toward me and I shrink back at cold calculation in his eyes, my heart climbing into my throat, choking me. Something cold, hard and sharp pounds at my defenses, battering against my mind. It’s not the subtle, liquid co

Attempting a deep breath only leaves me with short gasping pants in and out of my nose, and a warm stream of what can only be blood drips from my nostril. The booming of my pulse starts to drown out the world around me and a whimper escapes my mouth.

It’s enough to break Lir out of whatever trace or sense of duty that was stalling him. He opens his mouth, but Vira speaks up first.

“Stop it Stellan,” she scolds. “You are scaring her.” Vira reaches my side and pulls my face to look at her, compassion flashing in her eyes as her gaze falls lower. “It is hurting her.” She turns her view back to Stellan. “We will figure this out without tormenting the poor child.”

Stellan gives a curt nod and his body relaxes into a less threatening pose. Vira grabs my arm and, brushing past Lir and her husband, leads me out of the room and into the bedroom I slept in.

Vira sits down on the bed and pats a spot beside her. “Sit,” she says. “Relax.”

I sit. “Thank you.” I twist my hands in my lap and bite at my lip. “I really don’t know how it works. I…”

“Hush now,” she says. “We will figure this out. I realize Stellan may seem hard, but he is really just worried about Stella… about Lir, about us, about the city. My bondmate just takes the world’s problems on his shoulders and he does not always think things through.” She watches as my limbs relax. “My son does not either. He was not trying to betray you in there. Please do not think that of him.”

“I wasn’t.”

“Really? You were quick to believe the worst of him yesterday.” Her words are not unkind, just assessing.

“That was…a misunderstanding. He was supposed to help me find my brother. Not bring me here.”

“Your brother? Is he…like you?”

“Yes. We’re twins.”

Vira’s head tilts and she smiles. “That is wonderful. We do not often have twins, though I know you met Rym and Trel. Do you know which of your parents was one of us? You might have family here.”

Family? The thought had never even crossed my mind. My father was an only child and had never introduced us to any relatives. But I never knew my mother and my father had never mentioned her side of the family.

“My mother,” I say. There’s no way my father, with his ordinary brown hair and eyes could have been E’rikon. “She died. When we were born.” Vira reaches toward my hair, pulling one of the long, deep red strands to her and ru

“Yes, that is a possibility.” She studies me, measuring me with her gaze. “I do not know how much Lir has told you about us, our society, his father’s position here or even his own, but I do see the co

“But…”

She holds a hand up and gently shakes her head. “Even your heritage would not be enough for them. The balance here is fragile and Lir has many responsibilities. Just bringing you here and arranging for a meeting with the Council was a huge risk and the repercussions of that are yet to be determined. My son’s actions were impulsive and I do not wish for either of you to suffer for that.” She pauses and picks up one of my hands. “Please do not mistake my words for harshness, Jax. I wish things were different. There is just too much distrust between our species and Lir ca