Bound (32 page)

Altaria’s eyes pled for Kira to heal her
brother, but Octavion avoided her gaze completely. His focus seemed
more on trying to control his transformation than on what was
happening around him.

“How long do you think you can control your
cravings?” Kira asked. “Can you hold your breath so you don’t smell
my blood?”

His eyes were already on fire and his facial
features had begun to change. “You are
not
cutting
yourself.”

“How long?”

“Not long enough. You will not do this, Kira.
The moment I smell your blood I will be on you. What you saw
yesterday was nothing. I do not have the strength to control
it.”

Kira sat back on her heels and considered her
options. “Altaria, are you strong enough to hold him down? All I
need is a few seconds.”

“I could give you a few, but no more. He is
ten times stronger than me, even when he is injured.”

“That is
not
an option,” Octavion
said. “
You will die
. Do you understand?”

“And if I don’t, you’ll bleed to death.
That’ll leave us to fight them alone. Is that what you want?”

“No, of course not.”

“Listen, I can do it fast. I won’t try to
heal the whole wound, just slow the blood flow. The rest I can do
later. If you can control it for a few seconds . . .” Kira was cut
off by their silence. Altaria had her ruby grasped tightly in her
hand. Octavion’s eyes were locked on his sister’s, his expression
pleading her to listen to his thoughts. She’d never seen them do
that before.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Altaria
finally asked aloud. “There will be no going back. You will be
bound.”

Octavion nodded. “I am sure.”

When Altaria jumped to her feet and took off
through the trees, a surge of adrenaline rushed through Kira’s
veins and goose bumps rose on her arms.

“What are you doing?” she asked, but he
didn’t answer. He leaned his head back against the tree and stared
into the forest. “Octavion!”

He glanced down at the tourniquet he now held
in his hand. “It’s not the smell of your blood I’m worried about. I
don’t know what will happen when your blood begins flowing through
my veins. It may make it impossible for me to resist.” He slowly
changed his focus to Kira’s eyes. “I will
not
lose you.”

“But you want me to sit here and watch you
die?”

Before he answered, Altaria returned. The
small wooden box she held reminded Kira of a pirate’s treasure
chest, but on a much smaller scale. Her shoulders sagged from the
weight as she lowered it to the ground. She threw open the lid and
reached inside with both hands, pulling out a mass of chains and
shackles.

“What the
hell
?” Kira yelled. “You are
not
putting those on him.”

“It’s okay,” Octavion said. “Why do you think
we have them?”

Kira’s imagination raced with images of wild
animals being restrained with heavy chains that cut into their
necks and legs. “What are you saying?”

Altaria wrapped the chains around the tree.
When she brought the first end around and clamped it over
Octavion’s wrist, Kira grabbed it and tried to pull it off.

“No! There has to be another way.”

Altaria pushed her hand away. “Do you want
him healed or not?” She paused with the metal chain draped over her
arm.

“Yes.”

“Then help me with these.”

Kira reluctantly took the tourniquet so
Altaria could shackle his other wrist. When Altaria wrapped the
chain around his chest, the tears Kira had been holding back began
to fill her eyes. She wiped them away before anyone could
notice.

“Please, I can do this . . .
without
the chains.”

But Altaria continued to bind him. When she’d
finished, she returned to her place next to her brother and took
hold of the tourniquet. “You will need to be quick. I will try to
help, but bringing us here has weakened me and your blood will
affect me as well.”

Kira looked at her trembling hands and at the
blood that still flowed from Octavion’s wound.
How did I get
here?
Taking a deep breath, Kira willed her nerves to be calm.
“Will it help if he feeds?”

A confused look crossed Altaria’s face. “Yes,
why?”

“Then go. I can do this myself. If he smells
a fresh kill and has it here to feed on, maybe it will be
easier—for both of you.”

Altaria glanced at Octavion before answering.
“Are you sure, Kira?”

“Yes, now go.”

When Altaria released the tourniquet,
Octavion’s blood gushed out of the wound and spilled onto the
ground.

“Toran, come here, boy,” she called.

“I will be fine. This isn’t his battle,”
Octavion protested.

“Yes it is.”

Toran took his place next to Octavion,
lowering his head across his chest. Octavion sucked in a huge
breath as the muscles in Toran’s neck and back tightened.

Kira grabbed Octavion’s dagger and offered
him the handle to bite. He took it in his mouth and nodded he was
ready. She drew her blade firmly across her palm until she’d made a
large gash. The cut instantly bled and her fingertips went numb.
She pressed her palm to his wound.

Octavion threw his head to one side and cried
out, releasing the dagger from between his teeth. Octavion arched
back and grabbed at the dirt with his fists and claws. He’d
completely transformed.

This time the searing pain from the Crystor
coursed through Kira’s body with a vengeance. As the burning ran up
her arms and into her chest, it felt as if someone had twisted her
heart in his fist. It knocked the breath right out of her. The
burning continued down into the rest of her body and up into her
head.

She was so involved in her own pain she
hadn’t noticed Octavion. When he let out a deafening roar, she
jerked her eyes open and jumped back. He yanked at the chains, his
powerful jaws only inches from her face.

Toran was gone.

Octavion’s leg was healed, but Kira’s torture
had just begun. The burning inside her worsened and breathing
became almost impossible. The skin on her arms tingled, causing
them to itch like mad, but when she tried to scratch, the mere
touch of her fingers felt like razor blades cutting into her flesh.
Every little sound pounded her ear drums and the slightest breeze
burned her face and arms. Even the soft sunlight filtering through
the trees bore into her eyes, causing pain.

Trying to get up, she fell against a tree,
her trembling legs not able to support her weight. Every muscle in
her body ached. She couldn’t even focus long enough to heal the
gash in her palm. She had to get away from Octavion.

“Kira!” Octavion yelled. From what she could
see through her blurred vision, he was almost back to normal
.
But how could that be?

The forest swayed to one side. “Something’s
wrong.” Struggling with every breath, she rubbed her forehead and
pressed against the constant throbbing. “I can’t breathe and my
head . . . my heart.” She grabbed her chest with her other hand as
the pain lashed out with increased force. All she could think about
was how Serena had died of a weak heart. Kira wasn’t ready to die.
Not like this.

“Kira!” Octavion pulled against the chains
with so much force the trunk of the tree shuttered and the roots
groaned beneath the earth. “Unlock these!”

“I . . . can’t.” She tried to look at him,
but her eyes burned. Not with heat, it felt more like frost bite.
“Octavion . . .”

“Kira! Get me out of these chains!” His voice
sounded so strange, like he was in a tunnel.

“I can’t.” She turned away from him and
pushed up by bracing against the tree. She needed to go back to the
clearing to heal her hand and wash off the blood. When she lost her
balance and fell to the ground, Octavion called out again. She
heard the chains slamming against the trunk of the tree as he
fought to get loose.

“Altaria!” he roared, swearing in his foreign
tongue. “Get me out of these chains!”

Kira pulled herself up again and stumbled
back to the clearing, using every tree along her path for support.
She didn’t quite make it to her shelter before her legs gave out,
her energy completely drained. Everything appeared distorted like
she looked through a soap bubble, only she was on the inside. But
what threw her the most was what she heard. Rustling leaves sounded
more like the roar of a waterfall and every chirp of a bird was
like a siren blaring in her ears.

And above it all, she could still hear
Octavion yelling for Altaria, the loud thrashing of chains ripping
into solid wood echoed through the trees. A few seconds passed when
she felt her senses shut down, leaving her in silence.

She recognized Octavion when he appeared in
front of her and her senses began to return. He fell to his knees
in front of her and tried to take her in his arms.

“Don’t touch me,” she begged. “It hurts.”

“Kira, look at me. I need to see your eyes.”
His face was right in front of her, but she couldn’t open her eyes
wide enough for him to see them. They burned so cold, like freezing
fire.

“Kira, open your eyes.”

“I can’t,” she said. “Something’s wrong. I’m
. . . all mixed up. I feel like I’m having an allergic reaction to
something. Even my skin hurts.”

“Kira, it’s important. Please show me your
eyes.” His voice seemed deeper and calmer, pleading her to do as he
said.

Kira raised her chin. Her eyelids felt
swollen and heavy, but she managed to meet his gaze for a few brief
seconds. The color washed from his face as he sat back in the dirt
and looked away.

“What? What did you see?” His blurred image
cleared enough that she could see anguish on his face.

“I am such a fool,” he said.

“What’s wrong? What’s happening to me?”

He leaned forward to take another look at her
eyes. “Kira, I am so sorry. I was so worried about what your blood
would do to me, I did not consider . . . what my blood would do to
you.”

“Tell me what you saw? Are they . . .
yellow?
”

“No, Kira. Do not think that. It is the
color—it is so strange. They are still green, but they look like
cut emeralds. They sparkle when the light hits them just right. Can
you see all right?”

“At first, they burned and I couldn’t focus,
but now . . .” She looked around the clearing. “I’m beginning to
see a little better.”

He let his breath out slowly.

Kira was so involved with what had happened
and his reaction, she’d forgotten about her hand. It was still
bleeding. Why wasn’t he reacting to her blood? She brought her hand
up to examine the wound. She wasn’t trying to heal it, but when she
looked at her open palm, the gaping wound sealed on its own. She
looked up to see her shock reflected on his face.

“How did you do that?” He closed his eyes and
shook his head. “And why did your blood not trigger my hunger?”

“I don’t know, but I need to wash it off
before it does.” Kira’s strength had returned and a dull ache had
replaced the pain in her head—and heart. She pushed herself up and
tried to make her way over to her shelter, but clumsily stumbled
back to the ground.

“Let me get that.” Octavion retrieved the
water jug from its branch and handed it to her.

She took a big swig, poured a little into her
hand to wash away the blood and gave it back to Octavion. “Here,”
she said. “You smell like Gyllrue.”

He made a face before emptying the jug. When
he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, she noticed a small
cut on his arm above the leather cuff. She’d forgotten about his
other injuries. She grabbed the side of the shelter and stood,
using it for support.

“Where else are you hurt?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing. It will
heal on its own.”

“Octavion.”

“You’ve done enough for one day. If it still
hurts tomorrow, I will let you heal it.”

“May I look at it?”

He unlaced the cuff and slid it over his
hand, lifting his arm so she could get a better look. She grabbed
his arm and a jolt of pain ran up her arm and struck her heart. She
let go and stepped back, trying not to react to the pain. She
didn’t want him to see the effect it had on her.

She half expected him to chastise her, but
instead he grabbed his back and rubbed the spot where she’d dug in
her nails the night Lydia was hurt. He looked at Kira like she had
horns growing out of her head.

“How did you do that?” he asked. He turned so
Kira could see his back. The scars had vanished.

She didn’t know what to say. She’d never been
able to heal something without touching it. “I don’t know. I just
tried to heal your arm.”

He started pacing. “I do not want you to heal
for a while. I need to figure this out.” He stopped to look at her.
“Did it feel different?”

“Yeah, it didn’t burn. It was more like when
you touch someone and get a static shock. It lasted a little
longer, but it didn’t really hurt.” It wasn’t a total lie; she just
left out the part about her heart.

He nodded. “That is what I felt, but it shot
through my arm and down my back as if it searched for the
injury.”

“Do you think your blood could have made my
healing powers stronger?”

He looked at her with a grave expression on
his face. “Yes, I do.” Then he closed the distance between them and
took her hand in his, examining her healed palm. He smiled. “And I
also believe
your
blood may have tamed my wild heart.”

“You mean my blood doesn’t affect you
anymore?”

He was quiet for a moment, as if replaying
the last few minutes over in his mind. He briefly examined her hand
again and then his blood-soaked pant leg before returning his eyes
to hers. “I dare not hope, Kira. But one thing is certain. I did
not react to your blood a moment ago and that is a good sign.”