An agonizing consciousness drew Alora from her serene black well. She fought it, struggling against the persistent awakening pulling her back into awareness and pain.
“Alora. Alora, wake up.”
“Grandmother?” She heard Raelene’s voice, but it must be a dream.
“I need you awake, Alora. That’s right, open your eyes. Don’t you want to save Kaevin?”
“Hospital… We need to go…”
“No! No, Alora! Don’t transport! You’ll take too much from your soulmate bond. Right now, I only need you to accept my strength.”
“The burns hurt so much, and I feel so weak. My head is pounding so hard I can’t keep my eyes open.”
“This is ridiculous! We’re wasting time. We should be on the way to the hospital right now.” A man’s harsh voice spoke from somewhere in the room—a familiar voice—but Alora was too tired to identify him.
“We’ll leave the moment they’re both strong enough to survive the journey.” Grandmother’s terse reply came through tight lips. She turned her gaze back to Alora.
“I’m going to give you a bit more strength, Alora. You need to put that strength into your soulmate bond. I’ve learned much in my studies… too much to explain at the moment. But I know you must somehow isolate yourself from all your hurt and pain. Remove yourself from your senses. Build a wall around your emotions. Think only of your soulmate. Kiss him. Kiss him as if your kiss is the only thing that will save his life… because it is.”
Too weak to answer with words, Alora nodded, though the task seemed impossible. I don’t even have the strength to move. How can I shut out the pain if I’m awake? She felt her grandmother’s gentle touch on her hand. A surge of energy rushed through her veins, along with a renewed clarity of mind and an acute awareness of the ravaged nerve endings in her arms. She felt as if her skin was being branded afresh. A cry escaped her lips and she curled against the agony.
“No, Alora. Don’t listen to the pain. Shut your ears against it.”
“I can’t,” she gasped.
“You can. You have a gift called empathy. You can open and close yourself to pain, both your own and that of others. You can choose to feel it, or share it, or turn it off.”
“I can’t. You don’t understand how much it hurts.”
“I’m starting to feel it. You’re sending it to me.”
Alora could sense her grandmother’s anxiety, and she felt even more desperate as she tried to ignore the pain.
“Alora, you can do this. You’ve always been able to do it, ever since I’ve known you.” Beth’s face appeared in her vision as she knelt beside her. “Remember when we would have those pinching contests? You always won… you never even flinched. You totally ignored the pain.”
“But I could only do it in the snow. I would hold snow in one hand and concentrate on the cold. Then the pinch would go away.”
“Of course! Snow. Water. She gets her power from water.” Grandmother leapt to her feet. “Is there snow on the ground?”
“I’ve got something that might work.” Wesley’s voice receded from the room, returning a few seconds later. “Here… put this in her hand.”
Alora felt something cold in her hand. An ice cube. She squeezed tight, concentrating on the stinging cold.
The searing agony of her burns vanished. She lifted her arms, staring in amazement at the raw, oozing skin. “It’s gone! It doesn’t hurt at all! Nothing. Not my arms. Not my hand. Not even my head.”
A cheer went up in the room, and she smiled, noticing for the first time, she was in Wesley’s house. Did I transport us here?
“Alora.” She turned toward the voice. Jireo sat on the floor on the other side of Kaevin, with red, swollen eyes and tears on his face. “Kaevin’s still dying. You’re both dying.”
“Kiss him, Alora.” Grandmother touched the outside of her ice-filled hand, and she felt another rush of energy, this time without the accompanying pain.
This is awkward. “Would everybody mind
closing your eyes while I kiss him? I don’t really like being watched.”
“No, I’m not closing my eyes while you kiss,” Dr. Sanders huffed. “We need to go to the hospital now. The ambulance is going to be all the way here by the time we get you out to the car. We’ve wasted enough time.” Dr. Sanders gestured with exasperation.
Alora suppressed the urge to laugh at his big-bad-wolf countenance. Everything seemed funny since she was pain-free.