Enslaved (The Inbetween Novels) (42 page)

“Sorry.”

She closed her eyes and took a few slow, deep breaths. The tension drained from her shoulders. Warmth seeped from Wolfrik’s hands and trailed through her head, down her body, until she was blanketed in it. The warmth spiked in her chest, arm, and head.

After a few minutes, Wolfrik dropped his hands, taking the heat with him. “You’re positive Min did nothing else to you.”

Shayla struggled with the truth. Min told her not to tell Deryck what he’d said, but Deryck wouldn’t know what she told Wolfrik, right? The only way she’d get answers was to be completely honest. “He spoke to me, in my head.”

“He . . . what?”

“Min told me the truth about Deryck’s mother, how he provided for her until her death. He didn’t want Deryck to hear, so he said it in my head.”

“Shayla, telepathy isn’t one of Min’s powers. He can only communicate with blood-kin that way. Even if he was a telepath, the invasion of an other-world voice in a human mind is crippling. The people who end up in asylums, claiming God talked to them, they’re telling the truth. A god spoke to them privately and it drove them insane.”

Uncomfortable with his bluntness, Shayla drew her knees to her chest and hugged them. Like she could protect herself from what he was saying. “What does it mean?”

“Despite the change in your body after carrying a demi-god for eight months, if Min touched your mind, you should be drooling into lukewarm oatmeal inside padded walls.”

“That’s real comforting, Wolfrik.”

“I’m sorry.” He laid a hand on her arm. “Think carefully, Shayla. Are you positive Min’s blood got into the cut you made for the ritual? Picture it. Walk through everything you did. I’m going to slip into your mind and bear witness.”

She closed her eyes and went back to Min’s temple in her mind, remembering the way the dusty air smelled, the moonlight blanketing the stones around them, the concern on Deryck’s face moments before she made the second cut. The warmth of Wolfrik’s power was there with her—a pool of heat vapors out of the corner of her eye. Shayla ignored him and refocused on the memory and played it through until she finished wrapping the cut with gauze.

Wolfrik sucked in a breath. It broke the memory to shards. “It did.” He unwrapped the fresh gauze on her arm. The cut had faded to a pink, glossy scar. “I did not attempt to heal you at any point during our conversation. You’re different now. You’ve heard of Greek and Celtic heroes, right?”

She stared at the scar. The other cuts, those from Harry’s failed ritual, were thin white lines now, barely visible unless one knew where to look. “Greek heroes? Of course I have.”

“The myths are somewhat true. Only a handful of the heroes were from diluted bloodlines, children and grandchildren of demi-gods. Others were chosen to serve as a champion of the gods. They were given an elixir—the blood of the god who needed them.”

“But there are no heroes nowadays, not in the same sense as, say, Hercules.” Shayla rubbed the scar on her wrist. Gods and heroes? She was fine believing in the gods after meeting two face-to-face, but trying to wrap her head around Min choosing her to be his champion in an age when the gods were no longer worshipped as they had been made her head hurt.

“Min did this on purpose. He has indeed given you and Deryck a gift. You will live longer than most humans, be stronger than them. To what extent, I can’t be sure. You may also develop psychic powers along the lines of Min’s.”

“He’s a fertility god.”

“In part. Min was worshipped for numerous reasons. Deryck inherited the ability to quicken a woman’s womb, make her more receptive to a man’s seed. He is completely unaware of this power. Though, with his binding tattoo removed, he will learn of everything soon.”

An idea snaked into Shayla’s mind, making her mildly nauseous. “The power worked on Faye when she dreamed of Deryck.”

Wolfrik nodded. “Yes, I believe it did. His power has been a blessing for many women who were unable to bear children before.”

His reassurance did very little to calm her. “What am I going to do?”

He stood and offered her a hand up. Shayla put her hands in his, noting how easily he hauled her off the ground. Wolfrik wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze. “Enjoy your life—with or without Deryck; that is up to you. There’s nothing else you can do; Min’s blood has changed you for good.”

“And if I develop freaky powers, like being able to make a man pitch a tent in his pants by blinking at him?”

He laughed. “You can always visit me here again. I will help you learn how to control them. Deryck is in the same boat. His powers have been bound for so long, he won’t remember how to use them. You can teach him what I show you. It won’t be easy over the next year, but I have faith in you.”

She turned under his arm and gave him a hug. Wolfrik stiffened, but wrapped his arms around her anyway. “Thank you, Wolfrik. I’m sure you’ll be seeing me again soon.”

“Not too soon, I hope. You are strong, Shayla. You can handle this.” He stepped back from her and waved. Wolfrik vanished, leaving only a pair of footprints in the grass.

Everything went dark. Shayla sucked in a breath and sat up on her elbow. The light from her alarm clock was too bright. It also told her it was far too early in the morning to wake Deryck and discuss what she leaned. She rolled onto her other side and found him lying on his back, one arm tucked behind his pillow, the other holding the blankets. Scooting closer, she rested her head on his chest. They had a lot to talk about when they woke. If she had her way, they wouldn’t get out of bed for at least another four hours. Shayla tugged the blankets under her chin and drifted back to sleep.

The office was small, but not claustrophobic. Its walls were a soothing baby blue with white trim. Shayla thought the colors made it look like her mother’s kitchen and daydreamed about afternoons spent sitting on the counter helping her mother bake cookies. Daydreaming wasn’t why she was there, though. The person sitting on the leather chair across from her deserved her undivided attention.

“Now for the hard questions. Do you believe having a baby together is healthy for your relationship? Are you using the prospect of a child to keep the two of you together?”

“I . . . um . . . that’s a hard question.”

“Feel free to think on it a moment.”

Shayla leaned back in her chair. The soft leather squeaked under her weight. She’d insisted they get a matching set of oversized chairs. It would put their clients at ease, make them equal with her. They weren’t offering serious psychological help. The counseling center opened with the idea of helping people who were going through or going into the rough process of fertilization treatments. And if they happened to find a couple who wouldn’t conceive no matter what doctors did, Shayla and her partner helped things along a little.

The center had only seen five couples in the nine weeks they’d been open. She had faith once the clients showed favorable outcomes; their doctors would refer more of their patients to the center. It had been her idea to open the counseling center. Her partner agreed because, well, Deryck could deny her nothing. He even stayed late at night during their first week in the building to paint the walls of their offices. They’d been industrial beige before—not exactly a color encouraging people to relax and unburden themselves.

Across from her, her client, Theresa, nodded. Her head bobbed in quick jerks. She was obviously nervous. “Any time I look at Steve, I see the future. I’m not talking about dinner next week, but way down the road when we’re taking our kids to the first day of high school—driving them completely nuts with a billion questions about lunch money and a ride home.”

“Does Steve want to have a baby?”

Shayla had no clue what Steve’s stance was on a child. This was the first session where they’d approached the subject directly. They divided the couples. Shayla took the women and Deryck talked with the men. It was easier for them to work their powers on members of the same sex without accidentally arousing them and causing a scene in the office or being accused of taking advantage of people’s misery to sleep with them.

“I catch him picking out baby clothes when we go shopping. When the last round of fertility treatments failed—” A sob caught in her throat.

Shayla slid forward in her chair and laid a hand on Theresa’s knee. “Have faith in your doctors. It takes time to figure out what works for each couple.”

Circumspectly, Shayla pushed her power through her hand and into Theresa. A cyst had formed on one of her ovaries. It hadn’t grown to the point where her doctors were concerned about her health. The cyst did, however, alter her body chemistry. Her body saw the foreign object and shut down the ovary to protect itself. No matter how many times the doctors tried, they wouldn’t be able to make it work. They simply didn’t know enough about women’s bodies, despite all the advances in medicine. Shayla had an advantage with her powers. She sent a wave of energy into her client’s womb. If she lay with her husband at any point in the next twenty-four hours, they’d be guaranteed to have a child.

Next door, Deryck would be assuring Steve was ready to take his wife to bed as soon as possible. At first, Shayla felt weird about using their gifts to make people have sex. Deryck reminded her it was normal. Most of the couples they saw had healthy sex lives despite the stress of trying to conceive a child.

Theresa patted her hand. Shayla pulled it back before her client thought anything was wrong.

“We’ve been trying for so long. I started looking at adoption agencies just in case.”

Shayla nodded. She encouraged all of their clients to consider adoption. It gave them something to focus on and ease their worries while they worked their magic to ensure ideal conditions for pregnancy. “Do you want a boy or girl?”

“I want a healthy child, Ms. McIntire.”

Smiling, Shayla stole a glance at her watch. They still had five minutes, but Theresa’s mind was exactly where it needed to be as far as children were concerned. “We’re almost out of time. Why don’t you see Faye and schedule your next visit?”

“Time flies in here.” She gathered her purse and coat from the coat rack near the office door. “Thank you. These sessions have helped both of us so much.”

“I’m glad. I’ll see you in a few weeks, Theresa.”

Shayla opened the door for her and stood in the doorway, watching Faye scribble down a date and time for the next visit. They’d prescheduled it to take place after Theresa’s next visit to the fertility clinic. If everything went right, she’d visit with the happy news. It would be the second child they helped conceive. Shayla wondered if it would be appropriate to get their clients baby gifts. She’d have to run the idea by Deryck to see what he thought.

Speak of the devil; Deryck stepped out of his office. “We’ll see you in a few weeks, Steve.”

Steve spared a second to smile at Shayla before joining his wife at the reception desk. Faye repeated the date and time of the appointment for him. He tapped the information into his cell phone. Theresa bumped her shoulder into his. They walked out of the office suite with his arm wrapped around her shoulders and hers around his waist. Faye smiled after them.