Page 40 of Cheating Fate

Guilt burned my guts that I should leave my younger brother in this state, especially considering I was partially responsible for his wounds. But Gavin was my priority before his soul began to decay. Although it didn’t fix anything, I was at least grateful that, as a Geminate, Vahleryon was able to take the pain away from Rhad, or at the very least share part of it so that it would lessen his suffering. But knowing my twin and how protective he was of us, I knew he would take all of it so that Rhad could be as comfortable as possible until he could be fully mended.

As I ran towards the infirmary, a sharp pain on the right side of my pelvis made me realize I’d also been stabbed by a few rock shards. Without slowing down, I invoked my powers to heal it. The presence of the foreign object slowed things down. But as the severed tissues and muscles rebuilt themselves, they pushed the shard out enough for me to be able to yank it out. The four smaller ones just fell out on their own.

I turned the corner of the hallway just in time to see the broad silhouette of a Braxian entering the infirmary. Even though all of this had felt like an eternity, Rhad and I had barely been gone more than a few seconds when we teleported back to the ship to rescue my mate’s soul. Therefore, it was unsurprising that they had still been on their way to bring him to that room.

I burst inside the Infirmary just as the massive male was laying Gavin down on the medical bed. Skye—another Veredian healer—was already busying herself setting up equipment to put him in stasis as soon as he was revived. Considering the horrible state he currently was in, we couldn’t leave him on standard life support. His body wouldn’t be able to survive without first performing a major reconstruction of most of his organs. We just needed to fix him enough so that his body could receive his soul.

Rushing to Gavin’s side, I nearly knocked the Braxian out of the way so that I could slap my free hand onto my mate’s chest. Tears pricked my eyes as I now got to see the full extent of his injuries both visually and through my powers.

He never should have been able to survive this long…

I knew nothing of the inner workings of the berserker powers. But I could only assume that they were what allowed him to endure what he did this entire time. When things settled down a bit, I would have to examine him through my healing lens to see how his body changed and how that protection worked.

Skye swiftly placed a couple of nodes on Gavin so that we could put him into stasis as soon as we were done, then joined her efforts to mine. She worked on his heart and lungs while I focused on his brain. The damage was far too extensive to be handled in one session. It would take many days, maybe even weeks.

As soon as we got into a state where his body was just over the threshold to be a viable host to his soul, I placed my still fisted hand over his heart, and the mesmerizing light of his soul uncoiled and seeped back into his body. A violent spasm shook him, and he took a loud and raspy breath. The monitors lit up and a thousand alarms went off screaming at all the critical organ failures and grievous injuries.

Skye slapped her hand on the interface of the medical console, and his body instantly went numb. While all the readings on the monitors remained critical, his status shifted to stable, artificial though that was.

Overwhelmed, my knees nearly buckled with a mix of relief, shock, and distress. I pressed my palms on the side of the bed, hunched over as I battled the tears that wanted to well in my eyes. I had not been prepared for this. Nothing could have prepared me for any of this.

“He’s going to be fine,” my father’s voice suddenly said behind me.

Startled, I turned around to find him standing a couple of meters away.

“When you and Vahl were still just toddlers, your Nana brought me back from a similar state,” Dad continued in a reassuring tone. “You saved his life like he saved yours. You did good, Zhara.”

Lips quivering, I nodded, still struggling not to fall apart.

“Rhad has teleported home to get healed. He will come back shortly to take you home to your Nana. Between the two of you, your mate will be as good as new,” he said with a smile.

I opened my mouth to thank him, but different words spilled out.

“I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean it,” I blurted out before tears poured out of my eyes.

“I know, my darling. I know,” he replied gently as I rushed towards him to throw myself into his arms.

He held me tightly with one arm around my back, his right hand gently caressing my hair as he kissed the crihnin on my forehead.

“I’m sorry, too,” he said softly. “All that matters is that you are all safe now.”

It shamed me to be bawling my eyes out like this. I’d always taken great pride in being strong. But I hadn’t seen him since our ugly fight three days ago. Added to the traumatic experience I just went through, I didn’t know how to handle it.

Embarrassed, I straightened and wiped my tears with the back of my hand in a very unladylike fashion while sniffling.

“Is Sohr okay?” I asked.

His face darkened in a way that spelled trouble. “He’s injured but mending. We’ll talk about all of this later. For now, take care of your mate.”

“I love you, Dad,” I said.

“I love you, too, Sahena,” he said with the same infinite tenderness that shone in his purple eyes.

Although I knew beyond any doubt that he had forgiven my cruel words, I would make sure to remind him that I truly never meant them. He had hurt me, and I lashed out in the ugliest way. I never imagined I had such a dark side to myself. It now featured on top of my list of things to work on.

A discreet knock claimed our attention.

“Come in,” I called out.