Gods and Mortals: Fourteen Free Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Novels Featuring Thor, Loki, Greek Gods, Native American Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, & More (302 page)

He looked thoughtful for a moment. “That day on the wharf, you asked me if Mohiri had other powers. You wanted to know if we could heal others.”

“Yes.”

He ran a hand through his hair and I noticed he was wearing the same clothes he had on yesterday. “I don’t know of any Mohiri who can do what you did last night. Is that what you did with those two monsters in that cellar?”

I nodded. “I’ve used it before to calm animals but I had no idea it would actually work on hellhounds.” I thought about the two hounds with a touch of awe. “What happened to them? You didn’t –?”

“They tried to follow you so Chris and Erik had them restrained. They’ll be transported to one of our facilities until we figure out what to do with them.” He smiled for the first time since I woke up. “We couldn’t have a pair of hellhounds running amok around Portland.”

“What kind of facility? I don’t want them hurt.” I could only imagine the tortures those hounds had suffered already in their lives.

“No one will harm them.” Nikolas shook his head and let out a short laugh. “They are yours now. Once a fell beast imprints on a new master they are incredibly loyal. They will only answer to you.”

“That’s what the witch said.” He raised an eyebrow and I told him the Hale witch was in the cellar but didn’t try to stop me.

He rubbed his hand over his jaw and I saw that he needed a shave. I felt the craziest urge to reach out and touch his face but I stopped myself just in time. That healing must have really messed me up.

“A lot happened in that cellar last night. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” I turned my face away so he couldn’t see the horror and revulsion in my eyes. I’d let that
thing
take over my body. All my life I’d kept the demon subdued in a corner of my mind, never knowing what it was or understanding its real strength – until last night. I suppressed a shudder at the memory of how quickly the demon had grown, filling my skin and occupying my mind until I almost forgot I still existed. It was locked behind its walls again but I would never forget how close it had come to imprisoning me instead. I would never let it have that kind of power over me again.

“Every Mohiri struggles with their Mori at some point in their lives. For most it happens when they are younger and lack the training to manage the demon impulses. You have such control over your Mori that it must have been very frightening to let your guards down the way you did. But don’t let your fear make you forget why you did it. You saved those trolls.”

I pressed my lips together tightly and fought the tears that burned behind my eyelids. After Nikolas had wrestled me from the demon, the first thing I saw was Remy kneeling in a corner with his three little cousins in his arms. The gratitude in his eyes and the happy cries of the little ones should have made it all feel worthwhile. I was happy Minka and the others were home safe again and we had prevented a bloody troll rampage, but coming so close to losing myself to the demon had changed something in me. I would still give my life to protect the people I loved but I did not think I could ever give up my mind that way again… for anyone.

“You are stronger than the demon,” Nikolas said as if he could see into my head and read my fears. “I knew that when I met you. But hearing how you fought off the Hale witch and then last night, watching you with the werewolf, I realize you have power I can’t comprehend. You saved more than one life last night. People here are calling you a hero.”

I shifted and stared at the ceiling, remembering how Roland had looked when I walked into that room. “Some hero,” I choked out. “Roland wouldn’t have needed healing if I hadn’t gotten him almost killed in the first place.”

“What happened last night wasn’t your fault, Sara. We found out who was behind all this. His name is Yusri al-Hawwash and he is a billionaire oil sheik who found out two years ago he has Alzheimer’s. He’s been searching everywhere for a cure and he was looking for trolls long before you sold that bile. He’s a desperate man with unlimited resources.”

“But he would have looked somewhere else if I had been more careful.”

“That still does not make you responsible for his actions.” He moved closer. “Look at me.”

I turned my head to meet his insistent gaze. “Yes, you have made mistakes but you are not to blame for the greed and deeds of another. Your fault lies in taking too much on yourself. You have to learn to trust people and stop trying to take on the world alone.”

I sighed heavily. “My life was a lot less complicated a month ago. Maybe now things will start to settle down again.”

It was Nikolas’s turn to sigh. “I wish that were true but after what I saw last night; I think you might be in more danger than we first thought.”

I sat up with my back against the pillows. “What do you mean? We haven’t seen any sign of vampires except those working for the sheik – which I totally don’t get by the way. And the sheik’s witch only tried to grab me to get to the trolls.”

“Think about it, Sara. The young trolls were taken around the same time you were attacked at the rest stop, which means the sheik didn’t need you to find the trolls. So why did they come after you when they had what they wanted?”

The implication of his words hit me just as he spoke again. “You want to know why vampires would risk helping humans kidnap trolls? What if the vampires wanted something and they made an agreement with the sheik – a trade of some kind? You for the trolls.”

“No, the two vamps I ran into tried to kill me, not capture me.” I realized I’d said the wrong thing when his nostrils flared. “Remy and I took care of them,” I added quickly.

“You killed a vampire?” There was disbelief in his voice.

“With Remy’s help. He’s scary good.”

Nikolas looked like he was about to say something but changed his mind. “Even if you are right about the vampires, there is one thing you are overlooking. You have an incredible ability. If word of it gets out, the sheik will be coming after you and he won’t be the only one.”

“It won’t do him any good. I can’t heal humans,” I said, earning a dubious look. “My uncle is in a wheelchair. If I could heal humans, don’t you think he’d be the first one I’d heal?”

“But no one else would know that,” he pointed out. “Last night was just a taste of what could happen. They will keep coming and people will get hurt. And don’t forget, we still have a Master to worry about. He could come after you just to use you against Madeline.”

My stomach tightened. “Don’t hold back. I’m not quite paralyzed with fear yet.”

“You need to hear these things, Sara.”

“You’re trying to scare me, to get me to go with you,” I accused him.

His eyes held mine. “Yes, I am. But that doesn’t make them any less true.”

My heart sank because he was right. This was no longer about my freedom or what I wanted. If I stayed in New Hastings, I would put everyone I cared about in real danger. I might not be able to heal the next one who got hurt. What if they came after Nate? I could never forgive myself. I didn’t want to go to the Mohiri. But for now, it looked like my only option.

I looked away so he could not see the tears threatening again. “I – I need to tell Nate, to explain it to him. It’s going to be hard for him to understand all this.” I had no idea how I was going to even start telling Nate about everything. But I couldn’t just take off.

“We have some things to wrap up in Portland that will take a few days and it should give you the time you need with your uncle. I know this is hard for you but you are doing the right thing.” He got up and carried the chair back to the corner then opened the door. “I swear to you that I will keep you safe.”

He closed the door quietly behind him and I slid down to bury my face in the blankets. Part of me wanted to cry out my misery and another part wanted to scream about the unfairness of it all. I didn’t want to give up everything and everyone I knew and slink away into hiding. I wanted things to go back to the way they were.

Pushing back the blankets, I stood and looked around for my sneakers. I slipped them on and ran my fingers through my tangled hair, wondering where I’d lost my scrunchie last night. I twisted my hair into a loose knot until I could find a hair tie then opened the door. I needed to see Roland before I did anything else.

I knocked on the other three doors upstairs but Roland wasn’t in any of them. Voices carried up the stairs and I thought I heard his laugh. If he was well enough to be up, that was a good sign. I set my shoulders and descended the stairs.

The house had cleared out considerably since last night. In the living room I found Brendan, Judith, Roland, Peter, and Francis. It wasn’t hard to figure out they were waiting for me. When I appeared, all talking stopped and everyone looked at me. Francis’s glare told me he hadn’t forgiven me for getting Roland hurt, no matter what I had done after. The others’ expressions were a little harder to read and I stopped nervously in the doorway, not sure what to say to them.

“Good morning, Sara. How are you feeling?” Judith asked.

“Good… thanks.”

She jumped up and swept me into a tight hug. “Thank you,” she whispered thickly into my ear. Sniffling, she let me go and hurried into the kitchen. I stood there feeling even more self-conscious.

Roland patted the spot next to him. “Are you alright?”

“I think I’m supposed to ask you that.” I studied his face to see for myself that he was okay. He looked a little paler than usual but other than that no signs of illness.

His smile was tired but his blue eyes twinkled. “
That
was the secret you were going to tell us? You don’t like to do anything small do you?”

Brendan cleared his throat. “What you did last night was… incredible. We’ve never met anyone with your ability so you can imagine we’re all very curious. Can you tell us about it? Have you always been able to do that?”

“I found out I could heal animals when I was six.” I told them how I started out healing animals and learned later I could heal nonhumans. I tried to describe how it felt when I used the power but it was like them trying to tell me how it felt to shift. I explained that it always made me tired and how much depended on the extent of the healing. They had a lot of questions and I tried to answer them all.

“So you’ve done a lot of these healings?” Brendan asked.

“More than I can count.”

Roland sat up straighter and stared at me with new understanding. “That time Uncle Brendan’s mare hurt her leg and everyone thought they’d have to put her down. No one could believe it when the vet said the leg was sound. That was you, wasn’t it?”

I nodded. I would never forget that day three years ago when we showed up at the farm to find it in an uproar because one of the horses had lamed itself. I’d run straight for the barn and waited until everyone left before I fixed the fractured bone. Roland had found me asleep by the barn door and teased me about it all night.

“There were other times too, now that I think of it,” Brendan said almost to himself. “My old Lab that got shot out in the woods and that sickly litter of kittens the cat abandoned. I never could understand how any of those animals survived. Now that I remember it, you were here every time.”

“How did you manage to keep this from us all this time?” Roland wanted to know. “How is that no one ever figured out what you could do?”

I lifted my shoulders. “I had to work to hide it. You don’t know how hard it was. Remember when I started volunteering at the animal shelter and you guys couldn’t understand why I quit after a few weeks when I loved it so much? Whenever they brought in a sick dog or cat I had to heal it. I couldn’t help myself. But then someone noticed all the animals suddenly improving. I had to leave to protect my secret. It’s bothered me ever since because there were so many animals I could have helped.”

Peter had been quiet since I came downstairs and I could tell he was still pretty shaken up by last night. He looked at me with a kind of reverence that made me uncomfortable. “So the biggest thing you’ve ever healed is a horse?”

“Yes, but that was nothing compared to a werewolf.”

He grinned. “Well, you turned out to be a good one to have around in a fight. We’re lucky you were here last night.”

“Lucky?” Francis snorted angrily. “If she wasn’t messing with trolls and dragging you guys into her mess, Roland wouldn’t have been hurt in the first place.”

“Francis…” Brendan began.

“I’m part of this pack and I get to say my piece.” Francis looked ready to jump out of his seat at any second. I thought about the animosity that had always existed between us and knew this just added to his reasons to dislike me. The hard part was that he was right. Roland and Peter had both been hurt yesterday because of me. What if Peter hadn’t been able to heal himself? What if Roland had died on the spot or I hadn’t gotten to him in time?

“Last night proved what I’ve been saying for years: we need to stick with our own kind and leave everyone else to their own business. Now we have crocotta coming onto our land, something they have never done before. We have Mohiri hanging around like they own the place and we’ve been dragged into a fight with vampires and goddamn witch doctors over trolls who would rather tear your heart out than look at you. And it’s all because of her.” He pointed at me and I met his contemptuous stare quietly. “You all have always been soft on her because she’s the poor little orphan girl. But she’s not so little anymore and she’s not even human. She’s one of them for Christ’s sake so she should be with them. Since when do we welcome Mohiri into our homes?”

“Francis, that’s enough!” Judith admonished sharply from the doorway.

“He’s right,” I said loudly and everyone stared at me. “Everything he said is true – except about the trolls. Remy’s always been a good friend to me. I should have known better about the bile, and I should have said no when he asked me to use it. Just because he’s a troll doesn’t mean he understands people or how dangerous they can be.” I took in a shaky breath. “I understand if you hate me, but none of this is his fault.”

Roland laid his hand over mine after I finished my impassioned speech. “Sara, no one here hates you. Don’t mind Francis. You know how he is.”