As Love Shifts (9 page)

“Are you hurt?”

“Yeah, pretty badly.” She scooted around on her knees in the mud, keeping Lash close to her as she lowered him to her lap. Putting her hand to Demetri’s head, she began a slow sweep downward, feeling for whatever injuries were present. When she hit the back of his ribcage, she felt the two broken ribs and flowed energy into them with the thought of grafting the bone back together. It happened quickly and she refocused her mind on feeling him rather than healing. Ever felt the throb of his heart under her palm, the sensation strong and steady. His lungs were filling and emptying just as they were supposed to and she ran her hand down his spine. At the base was a cracked vertebra, the sensation of the crinkle in the bone sending throbs of painful spasms into her palm. She healed the crack, soothing the irritated nerves to help ease his pain.

Demetri groaned. “Oh damn that felt good. I think that my right leg is also broken, but that is minor compared to what you just healed.”

Ever suddenly realized how much pain he must have been in while he was holding the log upward to keep it from crushing her and Lash. It was an amazingly brave and noble gesture. She used her power to heal his leg, the drain on her body making her weary. Demetri sat up slowly, the wind slapping his wet hair against his cheeks. She was very glad that she had tightly braided her hair to keep it under control. “Can you get up?”

“I think so.” Demetri folded his legs and got to his feet. He moved about, seeming to test everything to see if it was working properly without pain. “I’m okay I think. We need to get moving. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but the wind seems to be turning faster.” He held his hand out and Ever took it, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

Lash growled. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“He wrong.”

“Lash, that is Demetri. He helped to save your life when the witch took you. He helped save Mommy’s life by helping her spirit to get back into her body. Demetri is sweet and he loves you. You should love him, too.”

He turned innocent eyes to her, tilting his head. “I should?”

“Yes. He is Daddy D. That’s what your brothers and sister call him.”

Demetri took her hand and began to lead her between the trees. Ever squeezed his fingers, glad for the handhold as nature lashed around them in a fury. Branches were falling all around them,
whirl
winds of fall leaves flying upward to hit them in the face and stick to their clothing. As the clearing came into view, Ever released a small sigh of relief. The door was only a short distance away. She looked at Lash. “Can I trust you not to bite me or anyone else if I take the muzzle off?”

“Yes.”

Ever was actually surprised that he hadn’t already taken it off. That was one of Lash’s tricks. He would turn into a wolf and the minute they put the muzzle on, he would morph back into a human and tear it off his head. He had not done that this time.

“We are going into a place with many people. Daddy Kris and Liam will be there with your brothers and your sister. I do not want you growling or snapping or biting anyone, please. If you would rather be a wolf then fine, but please control yourself. Can you do that?”

He nodded, his tiny eyes looking sleepy. Ever figured that it was the aftereffects of the tea. “I love you, Lash. I have always loved you and I always will.”

“Okay.”

She wanted to trust him and believe that he was better and whole, but wanting it didn’t make it so. With a sense of trepidation, she walked with Demetri to the door and rapped upon it with her foot.

Kris shoved the door open, frowning as she walked down the stairs with Lash in her arms. “What the hell happened to you? It took you forever. We were afraid that you weren’t going to make it. We have been listening to the weather reports and the winds are consistently blowing at seventy miles an hour plus, with gusts up to a hundred miles an hour. The rain is falling at three to four inches an hour and is increasing quickly. The prediction says that by nightfall we will be up to
sustained winds of
over a hundred and twenty
miles an hour
. What took you so long?”

Ever was silently monitoring Lash’s reaction to the high-pitched hysteria in Kris’s voice. He seemed completely calm. “A large pine fell across the road about a quarter mile back. The road was flooding and we had no choice but to drive into a ditch to use my SUV as a bridge. Then a tree fell on Demetri. He saved Lash’s life and mine by keeping it off of us until we could wiggle out from beneath him. Then I healed him and we got back on the walk. Lash called me Mommy.” A brilliant smile lit her face as she said the words, her cheeks bunching up to the point of painful with the intensity of her grin.

He smiled tentatively. “Lash, do you know who I am?”

“Daddy Kris. Mommy said that I should love you.”

“That would be really nice. How about we get you some dry clothing?”

“Okay.” Kris walked down the stairs, opening the inner door and ushering them inside. There were people milling everywhere and she had to think that ninety to one hundred people were probably in the single shelter that was meant to house about forty. It was going to be slightly cramped until the storm cleared and they could go outside again. Kris walked them through the crowd and into the back rooms that had been slated as theirs. The small apartment had people in what was supposed to be the living room and kitchen. The children’s room had eight people spread out between the four beds. She sighed as they walked into their custom-made bedroom with the extra
-large-
king-size bed. The children were sitting on the side sofa, watching a movie on the tablet. Hopefully the solar panels would keep the inner batteries charged so they would have lights and power to charge things. Ever had downloaded quite a few children’s movies onto her tablet in expectation of the storm.

Avia raced up to her, throwing her arms around Ever’s legs. “Mommy. You’re here.”

“Of course I’m here. Where else would I want to be?”

“Daddies were worried.”

“I know, baby.”

“Where’s Lash’s carrier? You didn’t leave him behind did you?”

Ever unfolded her coat, revealing a terrified Lash. He threw his arms around her neck, gazing around in horror. “Is she my sister? She glows.”

“She glows?”

“Yes. Like a candle. You glow, too, but only a little. Avia glows a lot.”

“Avia is a witch like her mother. The only difference is we are witches that use the power we have for good things. I used it to heal Demetri after he saved us from the tree.”

He seemed to examine her thoughtfully. “Is that why Tella glowed dark and angry colors?”

“Yes. You remember that?”

“Yes. Her glow made me angry, but I…had to love her.”

Ever felt so bad for her son. He had an intelligent and analytic mind and he had never been able to express himself before. She went to set him down on the bed and he screamed, wrapping his hands tighter around her neck. “Lash, I was just going to set you down so I can put some dry clothing on. I’m cold.”

He was panting for air, on the verge of hysteria. Ever held him tightly, trying to calm him with her energy. It was not working. Liam took her arm and tugged her shirt off, and then walked around, removing the opposite sleeve. He pulled it up over her head, leaving her in her damp bra as he unzipped her shorts and pulled them off. Lash continued to cling to her as if putting him down was completely unthinkable. She was kind of glad that he was small, because over time his weight would begin to drag on her exhausted body.

Seren walked over with a quizzical expression on his face. He softly touched his brother’s leg and Lash jumped in fear. “Do you remember me, Lash?”

“Yes. You were in the dark place with me.”

“I’m Seren, your brother.” He looked around the room. “You can trust and love all of us. None of us will hurt you.”

“Only Mommy can love me.”

Kris slid one of Errant’s sweaters over Lash’s head and he shivered in fear. “No, Lash. We all love you. We love you very much. You are my second-born son and I will always love you,” said Kris

“Then why have you thought of killing me?”

Kris stared at him, his eyes going wide in stunned surprise. “Why would you think that?”

“Because I have seen it in your eyes.”

Kris sat down wearily on the bed as Liam slid Ever’s robe over her shoulders. It felt good to be warm and dry and he slid his hands up under the fabric and unclipped her bra, allowing him to drag it out through the sleeves of her robe. She sat down beside Kris, taking his hand in her own. “Lash. We live in a world with rules. The clan has a rule. If a child is born who has the ability to turn into a wolf, but that child is dangerous or can’t be controlled, the tribe has an option to take that child from his parents and kill it. It wasn’t that Daddy Kris wanted to kill you, but he is the head of the clan and he has to obey the rules like everyone else. We would have fought for you. We did fight for you, by keeping you safe so that the people of the clan didn’t know that you were dangerous.”

“So you kept me in a glass cage for my safety?”

The question was so adult and so honest that Ever realized that she had to be careful what she said. Obviously, Lash was smarter than she had ever imagined. “Yes, and for our safety. You have bitten most of us.”

He lowered his eyes guiltily. “I know. So how can you still love me?”

“Oh, Lash. Love is not something that is taken away because you make a mistake. We knew that you were having problems reasoning out your emotions because of the spell that Tella cast on you.”

“But now you have cast the same spell, so how can I trust you?”

“Because you were born of my flesh. You are my child and that is a bond that can never be broken.”

“So whose flesh is my father?”

“Mine is,” said Kris. “You are my son.”

Lash shook his head slowly and turned to look at Liam. “His flesh is my father.”

Kris looked as stunned as Ever felt. They had always assumed that Lash belonged to Kris just as Seren and Errant did. It was quite possible that he was Liam’s child as Avia was. “Why do you say that, Lash?”

“Because I know. Avia is my sister. Seren and Errant were born with me, but they are not of the same father. Kris is their father.”

Ever wasn’t sure if she should look at Kris or Liam for a reaction. She had carried the children and given birth to them, but the men had established who belonged to whom. Now they were both being told that they were wrong. Was it possible that Lash was right?

Kris simply shrugged. “It doesn’t matter who your father was, Lash. You are still my son just as Avia is my daughter. You are special and have three fathers, two who helped create you and Demetri because he is a part of our lives and he loves you.”

Ever rubbed his hand. It was the best possible answer.

“But it will matter,” said Avia. “Not now, but in the future.”

“Why is that, Avia?” asked Liam as he sat down beside Ever.

“I don’t know, but it will matter. Demetri needs to have a child with you. It will even things out. You will have two girls with him. They will both be like me.”

Ever was flabbergasted as she looked at her daughter and then at Demetri. He shrugged. “That’s an interesting idea.”

“I don’t think that I can have more children.”

“Of course you can,” said Avia. “It’s just not time yet.”

Since when had her children gotten so old that they knew such things? “Any other secrets that you would like to reveal to us tonight?”

Avia shrugged. “Wanna watch
Madagascar
with us, Lash? The lion is so cute.”

He smiled and looked up at Ever as if for input. “It is entirely up to you. You are safe here and I promise that no one is going to harm you or try to kill you. Okay?”

“I don’t want to die.”

It was a heart-wrenching statement coming from her eight-month-old son. “We don’t want that either. I promise that we love you, Lash.”

“I think that I want to love you also. How do I do that?”

How exactly did you love someone? “I’m not sure how to answer that, Lash. Love is not something that you do. It is something that you feel. It is trust and an unwavering feeling that you want to be with someone because they make you happy and make you feel safe when you are with them.”

“Then how can you love me when you didn’t trust me or feel safe with me? I made you sad and you felt bad for me.”

“I guess that sometimes love makes you sad because you want things for the person you love that you are not sure they can ever have. We wanted you to be happy and be a part of our family. I felt bad because I didn’t know how to help you and set you free from Tella’s curse. Love is not a single thing, Lash, and it is different for everyone. I guess for now the most important thing is that you can trust us. Hopefully in time, you will discover love on your own, just from being with us and knowing that we want the best for you.”

“Is fearing to be away from you love?”

“That is a tough thing to answer. Do you trust me to keep you safe?”

“I guess so.”

“Then that is the start of love I guess.”

Lash tilted his head and seemed to be analyzing the idea. “I would like to watch the movie. I always liked
to watch
movies
from my room
.”

Ever smiled. “I know. Would you like to go sit with your siblings?”

He slowly released her and slid to the bed. Lash hopped down and walked timidly to Seren. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“I know. It gave me a really cool scar. Wanna see?”

Lash nodded and Seren pulled up his shorts to show his brother the white half oval on his leg. Lash touched it gently and shrugged. The difference in him in only a few hours was amazing and Ever silently hoped that the healing would continue.

The children were curled up under their blankets on a small mattress that had been carried into their room before the storm. Demetri was sleeping to Ever’s left and Liam was curled with his head on her thigh. The radio stations had all gone down during the evening, but whether it was due to power outages or that the stations had been torn down, they didn’t know. The last report they had gotten from the emergency broadcast system indicated that the winds were raging at a steady two hundred and seventeen with rainfall as high as six inches per hour.