AHealingCaress (2 page)

Training had been hard, but eventually, she had become one of the best pickpockets in the family. If only her face had not been so memorable, she might have been able to remain in the family and to have eventually married. As it was though, Therin had applied to be her husband. They had refused. She was not suitable to breed for the family. They wanted the physically unremarkable to continue in their illegal traditions.

If Tracker had not found her, she had no doubt that she would be dead by now. The brothels were not fond of whores who believed in death before dishonour.

Bren’s life at the Citadel was calm, serene and well ordered. The only thing that disrupted her schedule was the night calls from local farmers.

Other healers were fixated on saving sentient lives, but Bren wasn’t picky. Any life was worth her talent and the fact that it showed was why she was constantly called for assistance with animals that simply could not get back on their feet without help.

Bren’s class was all about healing anything that came one’s way. Her students usually came in with a smug sense that animals were beneath them, but after a few days, most of them came around to the fact that you never ignored the possibility that you may need the same creature that you refused to treat.

With a reluctant sigh, she left her shower and towelled her pale white gold hair. It got in the way when she went out on calls, so she braided it. It was a luxury to be up early enough for it to dry completely, so today, she enjoyed the heavy curtain against the small of her back as she wandered around her rooms.

The com beeped and Bren sighed. With a quick tightening of her towel, she went to answer the call. It was Doctor Tinneer.

“Good morning, Doctor. What can I do for you today?”

He twisted his lips slightly. “We need you in medical. We have an emergency on the way.”

“There are a dozen healers in residence. What can a vet do for you?” His disdain of her talent still rankled.

“I said I was sorry that I called you that.”

She waved away his comment. “What do you need?”

“The patient is refusing to be seen by anyone but you, so we need you here.”

She blinked. “Who is the patient?”

“A member of the Sector Guard. He was injured on assignment and we are closer than his base. Will you come?”

“I am on my way.” She sighed, apparently her hair wasn’t going to have amnesty today either. She shrugged into her gown and robes, stomped into her boots and braided her hair as she walked, fastening it just before she entered medical.

“Doctor Tinneer. When does the patient arrive?”

The doctor jerked as if struck. “His ship isn’t answering, but it is on our monitors.”

Bren didn’t need to hear anymore. She took off for the shuttle pad at a full run.

The robes didn’t lend themselves to easy manoeuvring, but she managed to get to the landing pad just as the shuttle touched down. The seal on the door opened and she vaulted inside before the stairs descended.

She didn’t panic at the sight of all the blood, merely moved toward the pilot area where her patient was waiting. “Tracker. What the hell happened to you?”

Bren caressed his neck, learning his rhythm and the moment that she synched with him, she increased his body’s speed for tissue healing and blood production.

Her talent wasn’t to force her will on the bodies of her patients but rather to bring their bodies back online and use their own energy to heal themselves. It was why she liked healing animals—they didn’t fight her caress the same way that sentients did.

Tracker’s dark eyes fluttered open, his naturally grey skin gaining colour as his body worked to repair its damage.

“Take it easy, Tracker. You lost most of your blood through the punctures on your chest and thigh. Just relax and breathe.” She kept her tone low and he focussed on her, the intensity in his gaze made her his lifeline.

With her left hand stroking his neck, her right moved to his thigh and sped the tissue healing from the inside out.

He licked his lips and smiled. “Bren, you seem to be thriving.”

She laughed. “And you look like hell.”

Bren desperately wanted to check her hair and the fit of her robes as his gaze wandered over her. She had been in the final stages of her adolescence as a twenty-year-old Trinial and in the last four years, she had filled out, her hips had curved and breasts had grown to the point that she didn’t look like a young Tival boy anymore. With the thick, concealing fabric, she was hidden from him, but she wasn’t sure that it was a desirable situation.

Since the first time they had met, he had been the yardstick by which she measured all the men who had tried to get her attention.

“I am feeling better. How has your time at the Citadel treated you?” His smile curved the corner of his lips as his colour returned to normal.

“It is very nice. I have all the food I could want, a safe place to sleep and an occupation I enjoy.”

“You are wearing instructor’s robes.”

She smiled. “Ah, yes. That. I have become a compassion and assessment instructor for the apprentices. I teach them to recognize signs of illness and stress by using small rodents as an analog.”

He quirked his brow. “I thought you would be working in the healing arts.”

She laughed lightly. “My particular talents are not really in demand here at the Citadel. I do a lot of night calls to local farms as my primary duties.”

He smiled, leaned back and closed his eyes. “You were very good with animals and you have a very gentle touch.”

She paused and when his rhythm stuttered, she resumed her stroking. “You are one of the few folks who have said so. Most find my touch unsettling and they stop me before I am done.”

“Their loss. What would you say to switching assigned locations?”

She blinked. “What?”

“There is a position available for someone with your particular skills. One of the Guards on Teklan has a farm and I believe having a vet on premises would be a good thing.”

She drew her hands down him one final time. “There really isn’t a position as a vet on Teklan, is there?”

He opened his dark eyes and looked into hers. “There will be.”

Chapter Three

She paused and smiled. “You had better get checked out at the medical centre. They were not happy that you asked for me.”

He grunted as he unclasped his harness. “Tough. You are my healer of choice. All the other ones I have met hurt like hell.”

She shook her head as she draped one of his arms around her shoulders, taking his weight. “What have you been doing that you need so many healers?”

He chuckled. “I live an exciting life.”

He was moving slowly, but he was moving. Bren supported him as much as she could while not gripping the areas that had been wounded.

If her hands weren’t moving, she wasn’t healing, but she tried to do minor shifts with her fingers while they walked past curious onlookers.

The moment that they stumbled into medical, Bren felt her rage ready to spill the banks of self-control.

Instead of helping her, Doctor Tinneer was speaking with another instructor.

She glanced up at Tracker and saw his eyes narrow. With additional effort, she got Tracker near the scanner and then two other hands were helping her turn him and settle him in the machine.

“Hello, Soul Keeper.” Tracker waved tiredly to the woman who was helping Bren.

“Tracker. What have you been up to?”

Bren looked between the two and felt a surge of unwarranted jealousy. Zeyan was a member of the Citadel and her husband was as well.

“A little of this, a little of that. This is my healer, Brenawyn.” Tracker made the introduction as casually as if she was his personal property.

Zeyan smiled. “I have seen you around, but I didn’t know you were a healer.”

Bren nodded as if it was a normal situation. “You may have heard Citadel folk referring to the vet. That would have been me.”

Zeyan winced. “Yes, I have heard of you, but I wasn’t aware that you treated sentients.”

Bren smiled grimly. “I would, but they won’t let me. Apparently, the effect of my talent is a little unsettling on my patients and so they have only allowed me to practice my skills on animals.”

Dr. Tinneer was close by. “Wait, I haven’t heard of this. I was told you weren’t effective on sentients.”

Bren rubbed her forehead while setting the scanner to analyze Tracker. “Since the patients I was given to work on became upset when my talent aroused them, they did not allow me to complete the healing. This led my supervising instructor to conclude that I could not heal someone to completion.”

Zeyan rolled her eyes. “Men get upset about the silliest little things.”

Bren snorted. “Little is the operative word.”

Tracker cleared his throat so Bren patted his shoulder. “Not you, Tracker, you are nice and proportional.”

He smiled, but it wasn’t a nice smile. “Thanks for that.”

The scanner chirped and with relief, Bren saw that he was simply weak from hunger as well as a little sore from residual bruising.

“You are fine. Come and have breakfast with me and it will set you right.”

She walked to the wall and found a few supplements that she could inject to get him moving. A hand stopped her from loading the hypo. She looked up at the large male behind her and scowled. “You need a little boost to keep you going.”

“I will get it during breakfast. Come with me. We have things to discuss.”

Dr. Tinneer blocked them from leaving. “Bren, I wish to have more details on your talent.”

She sighed. “Doctor, you have had four years to get the details. You didn’t want them. Now, I have to attend to my patient. Please forward the message that my morning class is cancelled.”

Tracker extended his arm and she looped her hand around his elbow, walking past Zeyan with a pleasant wave and heading for the dining hall.

Bren smiled slightly as she realized that it only took a moment with Tracker to set her personality back four years and turn her into the smart-mouthed, young woman he first met.

“You are going to be bad for my temperament. I wonder how I am going to cope with shooting my mouth off after you are gone.” She walked with him while he made his selections from the buffet and carried his tray to a table before she wandered off to get her own snack.

“I am sure that you will cope very well. I am amazed that you didn’t stand up for yourself before now.” He sipped at his tea and started to eat with a ravenous appetite.

“It wasn’t worth it. There are plenty of healers here, one more would not make a difference and frankly, I like the animals better than dealing with some of the folk here.” She drank some water and noted that his blood was still on her hands. Shrugging, she admitted that it wasn’t the worst thing she had had on her hands after a healing.

“So, the Citadel has been difficult for you?”

“No, for the most part, people here leave me to my work and I leave them to theirs.” She shrugged. “The farm folk around here are the ones that I call my friends. Few, if any, of the other folk know that I exist. Even Zeyan had only heard of me as the vet.”

He nodded and kept working his way through his tray. When he was done, he got up and replenished his supply. As he returned and reclaimed his seat, he asked, “What exactly did you do to me?”

“I accelerated your body’s normal healing processes and burned up all of your mineral and vitamin reserves. Since your own body healed the damage, there wasn’t the normal burning sensation experienced with other healing techniques. Your body heals the damage, I just speed up the process a little.”

He nodded. “That explains why my nerves aren’t shorting out like they normally are. My talent is usually completely scattered after a healing. This is by far a more preferable outcome.”

Bren snorted. “I am glad it is working out for you.” She poured water into a napkin and started to gently rub his blood off her skin.

Tracker paused and grabbed one of her hands. He held it until she met his dark gaze. “You are not thriving here. Would you care for a change in venue?”

She sighed and leaned back as far as their connection would allow. “What capacity would you have me in?”

His features shifted slightly to a more interested configuration for a moment before he masked his expression. “I would invite you to be my healer and companion on my assignments and you could do whatever you wished on Teklan when we were not on active deployment.”

She narrowed her eyes. “That sounds suspiciously like a partnership.”

His features took on an innocent cast. “Does it? Imagine that.”

“I have not heard of any active Citadel personnel in the Sector Guard. I believe that you have to be one or the other.”

He shook his head. “It is not always one or the other. Soul Keeper goes on missions with her spouse when she is called.”

Bren grinned. “I hear it used to be the other way around, but Orenn adapted well.”

“I have no doubt that I would adapt with slightly more difficulty, but I have confidence in my ability to be a good partner to you.” His thumb trailed across the back of her hand and she shivered slightly at the sensation that rippled through her system.

“I have no doubt that that would be true, but the fact remains that I am a member of the Citadel and as you know, I cannot opt out.”

He nodded and turned her hand in his grasp, drawing his thumb across her pulse. “Leave that to me.”

The calm determination reminded her of the expression in Tracker’s features she had seen so long ago when he was speaking to the emigration officer on Gwellen. Suddenly, the prospects for her future were looking up.

Chapter Four

Tracker, Orenn and Zeyan were standing next to her in the administrator’s office. Doctor Tinneer was standing in opposition to her leaving and the administrator looked like he was fighting one helluva headache.

“Doctor, you are a wonderful trainer of healers, but this particular one seems to have done just fine without you.” Astothic Neruk rubbed lightly at the bridge of his scaled nose.

Dr. Tinneer frowned. “She is under contract to the Citadel. You can’t just hand her over to the Sector Guard.”