Tears of the Fallen Ch. 16

Hope flared brighter within the Vârcolac, his beautiful mate's idea brilliant in its simplicity. He had to dampen it down, had to try to put things in perspective. They were only surmising that they had found a piece of Brandon's psyche. It could be just what it appeared to be, a lone glass bead. However, Liam was sure they were on the right track despite his caution to himself. There had been that briefest flicker of consciousness. He was certain of that.

"I'll take the left and you take the right," he announced, standing up. He imagined a red ribbon tied into a bow against the steel mesh. "If you see this sign, I've been there already."

Reasa quickly imitated him, using a blue bow to mark her passage. They left the glass urn where they'd found the first bead so they would have a clear point of reference to project to if they found others. "Good luck," she said, turning and moving off into Brandon's mind.

*****

"What the fuck?" Karn hissed out the words, drawing Mac's eyes to him.

"What?"

"There's blood on Liam's T-shirt!"

Elina flowed gracefully from her spot before the others could move, reaching to pull up the back of her cousin's t-shirt as gently as she could. Her alert gaze travelled the unbroken skin, a smear of blood being the only indicator that there had been an injury there. As they watched, Liam's skin tore open for a brief moment, and then instantly healed.

Karn's gaze was on Reasa, another hiss escaping as a long jagged cut appear down her left arm. Unlike Liam, she didn't heal instantly. She no longer had vampiric healing abilities.

"Get them out!" Mac ordered, his voice terse as another cut appeared on Reasa's face, scoring down her right cheek.

"No!" Elina blocked him as he moved to shake Reasa, her steely gaze daring him to try to go through her. "Whatever is happening in there isn't life threatening. These cuts are shallow. Liam can heal himself. I will take care of Reasa. If there is any hope of them bringing Brandon back then they must be allowed to continue."

"How?" Mac demanded, fury dancing in his eyes as another shallow cut appeared on the former vampire's forehead.

Elina was unsure if she would be able to help Reasa but she was going to try. They had no idea what Anakatrine has done to her on a D.N.A. level when she stripped Reasa of her immortality. The pack had used traditional healing methods when Reasa had been injured earlier. Elina wanted to try something else.

Leaning forward, she pressed her lips against Reasa's forehead, feeling the other woman stiffen at her touch before she relaxed once more, an absent-minded acknowledgement brushing Elina's inner thoughts. Reasa was focused on what she was doing within Brandon's mind, but she was conscious of what Elina was attempting. Allowing her lips to part, the Vârcolac ran her tongue over the scratch, sealing it in one pass.

"Fuck!" The word ground out of Karn, as if he couldn't contain it.

Elina ignored him, moving to the wound on Reasa's cheek and pressing her lips against it as she had before. She tried to ignore how good the blood tasted... tried to ensure that she was in full control as she healed the other woman's injuries.

Mac moved around them, leaning down to Reasa's left side. He reached for her arm but Elina moved so fast, he was knocked flat on his ass before he could touch her. "Fool!" The Vârcolac hissed, cold eyes flashing with an emotion so feral, Karn took a step back.

"How do you think Liam will react to your scent on his unclaimed mate? How do you think he will react knowing you have tasted her blood?"

Neither of the two males had even remotely considered what a major fuck up that would be. They were both dominant, territorial males, who wouldn't think twice about overreacting should another male touch what belonged to them. Mac had reacted as the protector he was, so intent on helping Reasa he hadn't considered the fallout of his actions.

"Do not touch Thereasa while he is unaware," Elina continued in a more even tone, her feral expression easing as she moved to tend to the arm wound. She ignored Mac as he relocated back to his previous spot, intent on her task. When the wound was healed, she licked her lips with closed eyes, willing her inner demon to retreat to the cage she kept it in.

Seeing no further wounds on Reasa, she returned to her position at the window, aware that both Mac and Karn were staring at her as if she'd just grown horns. An exasperated sigh escaped her lips as she shook her head in cool exasperation. "Liam trusts me and therefore my scent on Reasa will not aggravate him, and neither will my taking of her blood. He knows there is nothing sexual in the act, that it is merely a healing gesture."

She shook her head once more, fighting the urge to roll her eyes at the disbelief on their faces. Stupid males! "Why is everything about sex with vampires? I mean, really, do you ever think above your waistline?"

"Perhaps because the taking of blood is always performed during some kind of sexual activity," Karn snorted, mockery lacing his tone.

"Idiot." Was the only answer he received, before Elina turned her attention back to the couple by the bed. When it became apparent things had settled down with them, the vampires returned to their watching brief, allowing the Vârcolac to call the shots... for now.

*****

Liam turned to his route, scouring everywhere as he walked at a snail's pace. He didn't want to miss anything and the beads were small and easily masked by the steel mesh. Despite his vigilance, he almost missed the next bead; some inner sense halting his footsteps as he walked past the area it was hidden. Turning back, his searched the area to his right more closely until the glass bead appeared within the mesh. It was as dull and lifeless as the first one, but he didn't allow that to dampen his hope.

"Go join the other part of yourself, Brandon." Liam called up his memory of the urn, emitting a small sound of surprise when he saw it already contained an additional two beads. It appeared Reasa had had more success than he'd had so far. With a proud smile, his bead joined the other three in the urn, and Liam turned once more to continue on his journey.

He had no idea that the work would have been so painstaking, so exhausting. Liam felt as if he'd been walking for hours on end when he finally started treading ground Reasa had already been over. Her pretty blue bows showed up sporadically for a while and then it appeared every passage he walked into contained her mark.

"Liam? I think we've completed the maze," he heard in his mind. His hand being squeezed in the real world accompanied the words. "I'm tracking routes you've already travelled." Reasa's mental voice sounded weary and he wondered if his did too as he answered.

"Same here. Let's head back to the urn."

It felt like it took forever to reach the beginning of the maze and the glass urn that was two thirds full of beads that were now glowing brightly. Reasa was already there, staring at the light her expression rapt. "Can you feel him, Liam?" The words whispered out, awe suffusing her voice.

It was only when she spoke that he felt the third presence with them, a distinctly male persona emanating from the urn. There was no conscious thought, nothing that indicated intelligence but there was something there, and it was getting stronger with each passing second.

Dropping to his knees beside his mate, Liam gripped her hand as they stared at the light, watching it pulse to a slow rhythm they weren't party to. It was as if the light was undulating to a beat they couldn't hear... a beat that was slowly picking up pace.

"Brandon?"

The light flared for a fraction of a second, and then it returned to its slow pulsing once more, a feeling of serenity washing over Liam. He could see that same serenity flowing over Reasa, the illumination from the urn bathing her exquisite features in an ethereal glow.

"We found him, Liam! We found him!"

Reasa threw herself into his arms, laughing and crying at the same time, completely overcome with the emotion of the moment. Liam held her close, tears mingling with his own laughter, the emotions mixing with a sense of disbelief that they had been successful at their task. True, Brandon wasn't fully with them just yet, but there was enough of his psyche gathered that, perhaps, with a bit more time, he'd be able to find his own way back.

Exhausted beyond belief, Liam felt his mate's own mental fatigue, and the way her body sagged against his. With a tired groan, he rose back to his feet, pulling Reasa up beside him. "We've done all we can for today. We can come back tomorrow if required. We need to rest, Reasa."

It was a testament to how exhausted she was that she didn't object to him ordering her about. When Liam slipped from Brandon's mind and turned to look at her, Reasa's head was resting on Brandon's bed, her body slumped over with tiredness.

He was instantly concerned for his mate, so much so that it took him a moment to realise that the room was practically empty, Elina and Karn being the only two remaining that weren't monitoring the patients. The room was darker, a handful of lamps casting a pale light around it.

"You're back." Elina's cool words didn't mask her concern. "You've been gone for hours, Liam. We didn't know if we should try to force you to leave or let you be."

"What time is it?"

"Almost midnight," Karn answered, a frown marring his face. "I was all set to make you leave but your cousin here wouldn't let me. Just like she wouldn't let us remove you when you both started bleeding all over the place."

His scowl was for Elina who merely shrugged and turned her gaze to Reasa. She could see Liam was exhausted but he had the strength of being Vârcolac keeping him going; his mate didn't. "Reasa looks wiped out, Liam."

"Wait, what do you mean bleeding all over the place?" Her cousin's concerned gaze turned to Reasa, gently raising her from her prone position and searching her face intently. Her eyes fluttered open briefly, and then closed again as if she was too tired to keep them open. "There isn't a mark on her," Liam breathed, suspicious eyes alighting on Karn.

"Don't look at me," the vampire growled, giving Elina a pointed look. "She ran the whole show today. You want to know why the girl's healed, ask your cousin."

For a moment, Elina really wanted to smack the smug look from Karn's face but she fought down the errant thought, keeping her gaze firmly on Liam in case he reacted unfavourably. She was relieved to see that his initial suspicion was waning, and it was more curiosity than anything else on his face. "We can talk more about it tomorrow," she answered neutrally, giving him the briefest of smiles.

Liam shot her another quizzical glance before his need to take care of his mate overcome his curiosity and he rose, sweeping Reasa into his arms and cradling her against his wide chest. "Where can we rest?"

Karn headed for the door. "You can use the room at the top of the stairs on the second floor. You can have the one to the right of it, Elina." He paused as they passed him, his Praetorian instincts coming to the fore. "Brandon?"

"We did what we could, Karn. The rest is up to him." Liam headed up the second flight of stairs and opened the door to the room they'd been assigned. The last of his strength was waning and all he wanted to do was crawl into bed.

Kicking the door shut, he clutched Reasa tightly and managed to pull down the cover on the bed. He sank down onto the mattress with her, laying his mate gently against the pillows. Fast asleep she was so vulnerable, and his protective instincts surged up within him. He found enough strength to pull off her boots and his own before he wrapped Reasa in his arms and pulled the cover over them.

He didn't care how pissed off she would be when she woke. She was his to protect, and nothing would make him leave her side until she was rested enough to take care of herself. Liam's eyes drifted closed, his heart slowing to beat in tandem with the woman's in his arms.

To be continued...