Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

RETH

"Aymora!" Reth snapped.

Aymora went still, but she still didn't face him. "Now, we wait," she said quietly, mixing something else and not turning to meet his eyes.

"Wait?! For what? She's falling apart!"

Then Aymora whirled. "You think I do not see her pain? You think I do not feel it?! You are not the only one who cares for her, Reth!"

Reth blinked. "Then tell me what we can do!"

Aymora's jaw went tight. "Unless she can shift… there is nothing. Short of killing her, there is nothing left, Reth. Your daughter's head is engaged in her pelvis, and there isn't enough room. She needs to be in the beast. I have given her something to help with the pain so she can think more clearly and perhaps we can help her find it again. But… but this is not good, Reth. And I don't need you barking at me to add to it!"

Chastened, Reth dropped his forehead to Elia's shoulder and made himself breathe, to rest and wait for the drugs to take effect, praying the Creator would help her, that Elia would find her beast again once she was more clear headed. But something about this didn't feel right.

Disorientation and stress usually pushed an Anima's beast forward.

He didn't allow himself to follow the questions that rose in his head at that thought, but lifted his face to watch Elia, breathing easier when, a few minutes later, she seemed less rigid.

Her breathing was still labored, and she still stiffened against moving whenever Reth moved on the furs, but she'd stopped groaning and crying out when Aymora finally approached again and took her hand.

"Daughter… you need to find your beast," Aymora said quietly. "You need to shift. For your own safety, and for Elreth's. Are you… were you frightened? How did you come back?"

Elia's face crumpled. "No," she said. "I felt like I finally understood how to control it, but I knew I needed to stay. I didn't try to come back. Something happened in her body. Something gave way and she just… she disappeared. And now I can't feel her at all," Elia said, her lips twisting towards tears again. "What's happening? Why did she leave?"

Aymora's eyes snapped to Reth's. A chunk of ice appeared in his chest and he pleaded with the Creator that his first thought—and clearly Aymoras—wasn't true.

Because if Elia was that close to death… the link with the beast wouldn't return to her.

Reth shook his head and swallowed hard. "Keep trying, Elia," he said softly. "Keep searching for her. Perhaps when the pain is easier…"

Elia's face crumpled with concentration, but Reth's vision was beginning to blur.

Then Jayah appeared, hurrying into the room and straight for Elia. Aymora huffed out a breath.

"Jayah! Thank the Creator—that tonic that forces the shift—Elia didn't dominate her beast to return. She felt the beast… give way." Jayah's eyes went wide. "Now she's having trouble finding her beast at all. Can we use it to—"

"No," Jayah said, drawing up suddenly, her voice little more than a whisper. "That would be… beyond dangerous."

"Why?" Aymora snapped.

"This late in the labor it would never be wise because we can't know how it would affect the babe. I would use it in this circumstance, but… if she can't find her beast, it won't work. And the risk is that it affects only the babe who shifts, or cannot stop shifting. If her beast link is lost, if she's dy—"

"Do. Not. Say that." Reth snarled.

Jayah went very still, staring at Aymora, then she turned to look at Reth. "I am sorry, Sire. I am truly… my heart… Elia is special to me. I cannot imagine… but you must hear this: If she is dying and has lost her link to the beast, the tonic could kill her. She could lose herself. Her true self. I cannot… you cannot risk it."

"It's okay," Elia breathed and squeezed Reth's hand. He turned back to her, his vision blurring as she tried to smile. "I'll keep trying, Reth. I just… I'm just so tired…"

Reth blinked away the tears that wanted to fall, then frowned. "Aymora… Aymora her skin is changing."

Aymora rushed back to Elia's side to push her hair back and look at her face, then picked up her free hand and looked at her fingernails. She cursed and flipped back the fur Reth had pulled over her. Elia whimpered against the cold, but didn't complain as Aymora gently, gently rolled Elia over onto her other side… to reveal a spreading darkness on the skin of her side—not a bruise, but as if something under the skin was pushing towards the surface.

Reth's mouth dropped open and nausea pushed at the back of his throat. "What… what is that?"

Aymora's eyes closed and her face crumpled. "She's bleeding internally," she rasped, dropping her face into her hands. "Badly."

Jayah gasped. "The shift… something must have ruptured, or… or perhaps even the beast had a problem and that was why she disappeared?"

"I do not know," Aymora said, her voice heavy and dead. "I know only that… that we are rapidly running out of options. Elia… Elia you must attempt to find your beast. There is no other choice," she said, leaning onto the bed, taking Elia's hand in both of hers and pleading with her, as if Elia had to be convinced. "Please, my daughter, you must keep trying. You must find her and give over the moment you do. Your body cannot do this."

Elia's chin trembled. "I'll keep trying," she whimpered.

"Aymora, stop putting pressure on her," Reth snarled.

Aymora stroked the hair back from Elia's forehead and shook her head, refusing to look at Reth. "You are stronger than you think, Elia. Don't give up my daughter. Stay here with us. Find your beast and bring her forward. We will be here. We will help." She nodded at Jayah to close the door. "You close your eyes and rest everything else. But you search with your heart, Elia. I will never ask another thing of you, but that you do this. Please."

Jayah caught a sob in her hand, but got the door closed, and the three of them watched Elia sigh and close her eyes.

"I'll try," she whispered. 

*****

DAY 3 of #12DaysOfGiveaways (For links to the mission books, go to linktr.ee/AimeeLynn and add me as Facebook friend!)

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