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"What?" Brock's expression fell as he put a comforting hand on Kade's shoulder. "Ah, Jesus. Whatever happened, I'm sorry."
Alex was moved by the true emotion--the tight bond--shared between Kade and Brock, between all of the warriors gathered in the small space of the cabin. It humbled her to see such strong men--men who were, at their core, something far more extraordinary than that, in fact--looking out for one another like family.
Feeling something of an outsider in that moment, Alex drifted into the bedroom where Jenna lay curled up on the bed where Brock had placed her.
Jenna stirred as Alex sat down gently on the edge of the mattress. "Hey," she murmured, her voice groggy, barely above a whisper. Her eyelids lifted the smallest fraction.
"Hey." Alex smiled and swept a bit of hair from Jenna's pale cheek. "How are you feeling, honey?" Jenna murmured something indecipherable as her eyes fluttered closed once more.
"She's been in and out of consciousness since you guys left." Alex turned her head and found Brock standing behind her. Kade and the other warriors came into the bedroom, as well, all of them looking on Jenna with quiet concern.
"She's still weak from blood loss," Brock said. "The Ancient must have been with her long enough to feed from her. She's luckier than most. At least she's still alive."
Alex closed her eyes at that, regret for Jenna's ordeal squeezing some of the air out of her lungs.
"I put her in a light trance to calm her," Brock added, "but something's not quite right. The trance isn't keeping her down completely, which is particularly odd, considering she's human."
"Not a Breedmate?" Tegan asked.
Brock shook his head. "Just your basic Homo sapiens from what I can see." Tegan grunted. "I guess that's good news, at least. What's going on with her?"
"Damned if I know. She's not in any pain, but she keeps drifting awake, mumbling a lot of nonsense. Not even words, just a strange, incoherent rambling."
Alex glanced back down at her friend and caressed her softly. "Poor Jenna. She's been through so much. She didn't deserve this on top of everything else she's endured. I wish I could just snap my fingers and erase everything that happened here today."
"That can be arranged, actually," Tegan said. When Alex pivoted a startled, questioning look on him, he went on. "We can scrub her memory of all of this. It's painless, and it's fast. She won't even know we were here. We can make it so that she remembers nothing of the past day, or two, a week ... longer than that, if necessary."
"You can do that?"
Tegan shrugged. "Comes in handy from time to time."
Alex looked at Kade. "What about me? Can you erase my memory of all this, too?" Kade held her gaze for what seemed an endless moment. "Is that what you want?" There was a time when Alex would have jumped at the chance to toss away all of the awful memories that had plagued her. To be able to blink her eyes and recall none of the loss or grief, none of the fear.
There was a time, not that long ago, in fact, when she would have given anything to forget all of it. Not anymore.
Her past was part of who she was now. The things she witnessed, terrible as they had been, had shaped her life. She couldn't willingly discard her memories of her mother and Richie, not even the memories of the night they were killed. To do that would be just another form of running away, of hiding from the things she didn't feel strong enough to face.
She didn't want to be that person anymore.
She couldn't go back to living that way, never again.
Before she could say as much, Jenna began to toss on the bed. She flexed and contracted her limbs, her face pinched in a frown, breath huffing through her parted lips. She murmured something unintelligible, then her movements became more agitated.
Brock moved up beside Alex and placed his big hand on Jenna's back with the utmost tenderness. He closed his eyes, concentrating as he caressed her, and some of Jenna's distress seemed to ease under his touch.
"Brock," Tegan said, giving a faint shake of his head. "Don't trance her just yet. I need to hear what she's saying."
The warrior nodded but kept his hand on Jenna's back, still stroking her with a light motion. She relaxed on the bed, but her lips kept moving, whispering more of the peculiar ramblings as she drifted into a calmer state.
Tegan listened for a moment, his face growing more grave with every strange syllable that spilled out of Jenna's mouth. "Holy shit. We can't scrub this female's mind of anything. And we can't risk trancing her any more, either."
"What's going on?" Alex asked, worried by the stunned look on the warrior's normally impassive face. "Is something wrong with Jenna after all?"
"We won't know that until we get her back to Boston."
Alex stood up, alarmed now. "What are you talking about? Take Jenna to Boston? You can't make that decision for her. She has a life here in Harmony--"
"Not anymore," Tegan said, his voice brooking no argument. "When we leave here, the woman will be coming with us."
