Faline

Her blood smells like cinnamon and it's making my mouth and lips tingle. How messed up is that? A thought pops into my head that isn't my own, letting on that the reason for it is all the magic in her blood, which is also trying to heal her.

The reactions she has from Vampire blood are the result of her magic laden body rejecting it, unable to handle it. As a result, her negative feelings get enhanced threefold. Anger, fear, pain, rage. Hence her inner wolf taking over when it all happens. I don't know where the knowledge comes from, but I get the feeling it came from her. It's more or less what Asher had said as well, just more in-depth.

Finally getting a clue as I pull back, she and I are basically going through a blood exchange. The blood I gave her, then her wound producing enough blood to get collected by me and taken into my body, being the equivalent of one.

The hole has stopped bleeding, my saliva sealed the open veins and soothed the flesh. I get a little light-headed as her blood goes through me, as well as the thought that I need to move and stop.

Where her body rejects Vampire blood, hers can become addicting to one. Anthony's blood was everyday Werewolf blood, Silver Wolf blood can become an addiction like no other. You have your blood junkies, but this would be so much more.

Silver Magic.

I swear her inner wolf is imparting information into my head, making things very confusing. Wolf knowledge that she has the reaction she does fills my head; the Silver magic in her blood is a thing of life, so when it mixes with that of one who's dead, results are volatile. But there's also something else. Something both her and I share.

Our mother's blood.

The Silver comes from elsewhere, but the link we have, as well as her body's ability to grudgingly accept my blood, comes from the magic within our maternal family tree.

My mind spins with all this information while my body feels light, her blood making its circuit through mine. Producing a euphoric feeling, doing much of what I hear marijuana does to some people. I fall back onto my rump and watch my sister twitch and tweak in her wolf form while my skin warms.

The large hole in her side is filling in and healing slowly but surely right in front of my eyes. Then things get even weirder; my vision doubles, almost like when I first found my cat. My right side burns like acid, the organs and bones within feeling as if pins and needles are being poked at them, left shoulder throbs in time with my pounding heart, and my abdomen feels as if rug burn was received to the extreme.

Turning my head slowly to see the wall two times over, I'm seeing through her eyes. We've connected again. Curious, I try talking to her through my mind.

"Kie? Can you hear me? Mom will be really mad if you die. Then I'll have to go the rest of my life hearing her peck at me. I'll never be able to leave my room. You really going to make me go through that? I'll be in my eighties and still confined to a child's bedroom."

"As if you would stay in that bedroom anyway."

My screech of happiness is tempered when she whimpers at me. I think I screech, but it was that damn...what was it called? Caterwaul. Orion hears that he'll know instantly that things are alright.

Her voice is soft and kind of thready, far away, but it's there. She's here. I wrap my arms around her neck and try not to strangle her.

"Now you're trying to kill me on purpose."

I gasp out, laughter combining with tears.

"You ruined my sheets."

I snort at her, reveling in that even though she's a wolf, I can still talk to her and get her tart responses. Rubbing the side of my face against hers, I make myself pull back.

"I wish I could keep you to myself right now, but I think there are quite a few others upstairs who find you just as important as I do. Speaking of which, you have some explaining to do, Miss."

Her chuckle sounds in my head, yellow eyes glitter at me as I get images in my head as she shows me each one, and just who they are. The emotion with them is honest and humble, her wish to help each one going bone-deep.

Asher. The black wolf who'd bitten her to help her survive the coming trials. His glimpses of things to come having what saved her life and enabled her to come for me. The burned house we had gone through and poked our noses in had belonged to him and his late wife. He hunts her killer even with his terrible curse. The fondness for the wolf also comes from her dependency on him, relying on him heavily to know what's going on with her. That fondness also leads to more, but she keeps pulling away from it.

Bastion. The little boy she'd saved from a house of horrors, a cage. My breath catches as I get the images of why Anthony couldn't find her, of who had her. My heart stops at the knowledge she learned while there, then the deep satisfaction as I go with her as she tears them up again. The undead heart of mine goes out to the boy as well as I see how she found him. His strength of character. Her love for him amazes me, her determination to keep him safe makes me smile. She's pulled that boy into her small circle and is determined he will live safe and away from any who would harm him.

Jealousy rises as I see how their relationship developed, I can't help it. It gets pushed down when she shares that the reason he does the things he does is so he feels useful and won't be kicked out. She would never do that to him, but that's his frame of mind, even if it is subconscious.

Xavier. The maned wolf who had been contracted to kill her. I choke at that and she sends her laughter. Showing me how they met, the development as he got to know her and realize just who he'd been sent to kill. His humor and his own affection for the boy above. Showing that if it weren't for him, she would not have found me. For that alone, he has my friendship. The mission they went on is laid out for me, how she went out and endangered herself to find any information about me. The moments she shared with him where he'd brought a smile to her face.

Each one had made her smile and laugh. I can't fault her for that, as I had my own support within the bordello. She would go through bouts of self-anger for not doing anything to get to me faster, but there really was nothing she could do. I see that and I don't blame her for not getting to me sooner. I'm extremely happy she got there when she did.

She shares with me her finding out about Ava and Lily, my mouth drops at that one. Even Benjamin, a guy she works with and a workout buddy, is a Vampire. How one of the bars Downtown is owned and run by a pack of Red Wolves. The things we were blind to amazes me when I really think about it.

In return I show her my time at the bordello, leaving some things out as I don't want her to murder me, and the people I counted on. The weird messed up relationship I seem to have developed with Orion, making her laugh as I show her events that ended up happening every time he showed up. The submissive, Avina, who very well could have been the one to save my life there in the beginning.

Maii, the tiny coyote, who had attached himself to my side since I first met him, and Kerry, who I saved from a very bad man. I get the impression of a raised brow, so I show her the whole thing and how it played out.

Her shocked amusement has me playing out the encounter I had with Max and the several I had with Madaline.

"Orion had mentioned a man that you'd taken half the face from, I thought he was exaggerating. I'm proud of you Chickadee, you handled yourself in there better than I was able to out here. The fight I had with a Vamp had very bad results, which led me to running all the way to Wisconsin."

I blink at her, the wolf head moving in a nod even as it's laid down. The shame in her eyes hurts my heart. Even more so when she flashes on her actions when following the scent that led her to being raped. The side trips she seemed to go on with Bastion, then Benjamin with seeking his help with the 'ring', to the neighbors who...

Oh wow.

My eyes widen as I see what she did in that cellar. Two little old people did that? Shaking my head, I go back to what's important.

"That man who's looking for your boy, Bastion. From what you've shown me, I have also come across this same ring."

I can feel her scowl, so I show her. Show her how I met the man, what I did to him, and what I learned from his head. She goes silent, but I know not from my torture of the human. She would have done worse, and we both know it.

"You have images of Orion being involved in this. How exactly?"

I tell her, which gives her hope on finding all the 'taint' to be able to get rid of it. I pause at that, but she's determined. Letting it go and rising to my feet, yellow eyes follow my movements.

"If no one else, Bastion needs to come see you."

She nods, eyes closing. She's no longer panting, breathing a lot deeper, but she's still in pain. I can feel it when we connect.

"Send them all down so I don't have to do that one by one crap."

Her eyes open and glitter at me in humor, I smile and head for the steps. Sunbeams come from just under the door and stop me, what I am once again crashes down and has my heart stopping. Now that I'm home and safer than I have been in weeks, the reality of it all really sinks in. My hands curl into fists at the total bullshit that has led to this point.

"We'll get through this, we're stronger together than apart. Together, you and I are unstoppable, remember?"

Kierra's low voice floats through my head, bringing with it a promise she and I made to each other when we were a lot younger. That as long as we stayed together, nothing could harm us, nothing could stop us. I snort but have to agree, as now we're both equipped in ways to deal with a lot more than we ever could have before.