“
It has risks. She’s never used her dentes. She could sever the vein or hit a nerve,”
Nin began.
“
Whatever the risk, the answer is YES.”
Jess cut her off again, not wanting to waste any further time before helping Jorie
“
I get you are willing, Jess, no matter what. Understand I will not throw you in blind, no matter how much you are willing to go.”
Jess watched Enlil and Nin share a secret sad smile.
Realizing she was being chastised, Jess surrendered.
“Okay, fine. What else?”
“
Tapping into the vein of a person with psychic energy is not the same as a regular human, nor is it the same as drinking it once it is removed from the source. Neither of you have any training on the combining of energy you are about to feel. The psychic energy she will receive from you will go toward aiding in her recovery. You, on the other hand, have no outlet for the bombarding you are about to feel. I am inclined to think, due to your talent, that you may actually start to draw additional energies to you, possibly compounding the situation.”
She looked to Enlil who nodded in agreement.
“En is going to draw it away from the two of you and redirect it somewhat.”
“
A storm, right?”
Jess addressed Enlil.
“
If necessary, yes,”
Enlil answered
. “If it becomes more than I can contain. Do you think you can re-direct it into the atmosphere yourself?”
“
I’ve often tried to focus on storms when I’ve felt psychic overload. It always seemed to help. I even thought I had created the storms. Then I would think I was crazy. I wasn’t, was I? Crazy, I mean.”
“
Not crazy at all. You are right. You and I, we siphon energy, not a common talent. It takes practice to control. Focus on sending excess energy into the water molecules themselves. Creating a storm releases far more energy than expanding on an already existing one.”
Enlil smiling at her with pride and acceptance filled her with a sense of belonging.
“
Shanley, when I say, you must puncture Jess’s vein for Jorie.”
Jess snapped her arm up to his face, nearly socking him in the jaw. Grasping it, he caressed the backside of her wrist, attentively listening to Nin’s instruction.
“
Jorie’s lips and mouth will be too dry to make a proper seal on the flesh. You must make sure the skin of her wrist is moist enough for the child to seal against before presenting the vein. If not, you will need to re-moisten the skin and make sure the vein stays flowing, until she can. Do you understand?”
Shane nodded, placing a loving kiss to Jess’s temple. “
Try to make sure that Jorie’s dentes do Jess no damage. Monitor their placement and depth the best you can
.”
Nin began instructing Jorie. “When Jess’s vein is presented, I want you to try to attach to it with suction, constant suction. You have to breath through your nose. Don’t bite down. If you bite Jess, you could harm her. We’re going to roll your head back now. It may hurt to be moved. You ready?” Jorie shivered and gave Nin a hard blink to show she’d heard.
Nin nodded to her brother. Enlil guided Jorie’s head from Jess’s breast, her neck in the crook of Jess’s arm and the back of her head cradled in Enlil’s hand. Jess could see that Jorie was trying to be strong. A soft cry slipped passed Jorie’s lips, tearing at Jess’s heart. Face up, panting through the pain, her cheeks were sunken in and her lips were so dry they were sticking to her dentes. Jess licked her thumb, using it to wet the girl’s lips. Enlil nodded his approval.
****
Shane held out his hand to Jess, swallowing hard as she trustingly laid her delicate wrist into his keeping. Jess met his gaze, her chin lifted, her inner strength shining brightly at him through the most beautiful shade of emerald green he’d ever seen. Her gaze shifted to his sanguindentes when they began to slide into his mouth.
Shane mouthed the words, “I love you.” Her eyes snapped back to his and he heard her swift intake of breath, then a soft sigh. His dentes sank into the tender flesh, filling his mouth with the sweet flavor of Jess.
“
Think of Jorie, Shanley.”
Nin’s voice brought Shane back instantly to the task at hand.
Using the blood already released to moisten the area around the twin punctures, Shane encircled Jess’s arm just below the elbow with his fingers, squeezing gently to slow the flow of blood as he retracted his dente’s, careful to not seal the holes in the process.
Holding Jess’s wrist just above Jorie’s partially open mouth, Shane eased the pressure of his fingers at Jess’s elbow. A few precious drops of blood slid into Jorie’s mouth. “Use the drops to wet your mouth, Jorie,” Nin instructed, realizing what Shane was trying to encourage.
Shane watched as Jorie closed her mouth the best she could with her dentes impeding her. Shane released the pressure again when Jorie opened her mouth for more. This repeated several more times until Nin thought Jorie was ready.
Jess let out a hiss as Jorie’s dentes, too small to line up perfectly with Shane’s, widened the pre-tapped holes. Releasing his grip completely from Jess’s elbow, hoping Jess was safe, Shane watched her blood filling the child’s mouth.
Jorie began to choke. Shane cringed when Jess gritted her teeth against the tearing it caused. He could hear her breathing through the pain. In. Out. In. Out. She gave him a small smile.
“I’m okay.”
Nin’s voice was both soothing and demanding. “Swallow, Jorie. Latch on. Try to breath through your nose. Now. Try.” Jorie struggled under the flow of blood into her mouth but finally managed to swallow shallowly. “Come on. That’s our girl.”
Jorie latched on to Jess’s wrist, and Shane let out a sigh of relief. Prematurely it turned out. Through his bond to Jess he felt a crackling sensation come over her skin. Her stomach cramped up, and her head felt as if would explode. Jess’s pain was excruciating. She bore it without a sound other than her rhythmic breathing. Shane shared in the images Jess began to see of Jorie’s life. He could see images of Jess during her early teens, images that had been seen through Jorie’s eyes while she watched Jess’s visits from the closet.
He could feel the sensation of Jess’s skin being removed by sandpaper, hating that the cause was psychic. If it had been physical he could have alleviated some of Jess’s pain the same way Nin had done. In this he was completely helpless. Jess began to rock with the child.
Suddenly he heard the loud crack of thunder overhead, its power shaking the grain elevator around them. Jess’s head snapped up at the sound, and both her eyes and Enlil’s glowed. She followed Enlil’s lead, sending the pressure into the atmosphere. He felt her relief instantly. Shane was grateful to Enlil in a way he’d never felt for another.
“She’s coming around.” Shane observed that Jorie’s coloring was pink and healthy, her eyes clear and bright. The girl looked up at Jess with hero worship. Jorie was no longer drawing from Jess’s vein, simply swallowing what dripped into her mouth.
Nin took charge again. “Jorie.” The girl’s eye’s shifted over to look at Nin. “Do you want Shane to help you disengage?” It was endearing how concerned Jorie seemed about harming her cousin. She blinked hard in response.
Once again tightening his fingers at Jess’s arm just below the elbow, slowing the flow of blood, Shane rolled Jorie’s upper lip back, breaking the seal at Jess’s wrist. Jess moved her wrist out of Jorie’s mouth, and Shane brought her wrist up to his mouth. Jess flinched, anticipating the tearing sensation, but Shane used his tongue, lapping over the punctures, to seal the wounds with his saliva, mesmerized by the sight of Jess watching him. Aware he should not be turned on by what he was doing; he was unable to help himself. Judging from the heat in Jess’s eyes, he was not alone in the moment.
The intensity shattered when the entry was opened to reveal Gil standing there.
Chapter Sixteen
“The yard is clear, Mom. We’re ready ta get the, ahem, questionings underway.” Gil addressed Enlil next. “Some of ’em are feisty, if ya feel up ta drainin’ them off. Show ’em that lead and platinum ain’t the only things that can contain ’em.”
En shook his head. “I’m going to need blood, which I doubt we are going to find on this farm.”
“We have a couple of coolers full out there,” Gil told him over his shoulder, supporting his weakened mother. “Wait till ya see this place, it’s amazin.’” He reached over to offer Enlil a hand up as well. “Even a ready-made, lead-lined prison. Well, more like a bunker, since it’s mostly buried, but big enough ta fit all of ’em from the yard.”
“Did you notice the little pond beside it?” Jorie asked softly, no longer lying across Jess’s lap. She was instead tucked against her hip on the grain-covered ground, taking in the people around her with youthful curiosity. At least there was no longer pain in her eyes. Jorie found strength and confidence in Jess’s presence, but it never occurred to her that she was a complete stranger to Jess.
Shane stood, reaching both hands out to aid Jess and Jorie in standing. Jess took one and naturally tucked against his side, his arm coming around her. Jorie hesitated and watched Jess’s comfort level with Shane before taking his other hand.
Gil nodded. “Noticed it had a pipe that would fill the bunker with water too. The bunker’s lined with thick sheets of lead. I gonna get the pond an’ the pipe.”
“You may want to steer clear of it.” Jorie tapped her fingers against her chin nervously. “It’s a leech pond.”
Gil’s stared at the girl in stunned silence. No one else seemed capable of speech either. “Yer sayin’ that bunker fills ta the knees with bloodsuckin’ leeches?” He clarified after clearing his throat. “It’s some kinda execution chamber?”
Jorie shrugged in response to the bomb she’d just dropped, and Gil let out a long whistle. “My mom is scary smart,” Jorie stated. “The guy who took her …” She looked from face to face until reaching Nin and holding her gaze. “Did he bite her?”
“Yes. He withdrew after one swallow, probably because she didn’t give him a psychic boost to port her with,” Nin explained. One by one they exited the grain elevator to stand under the cloud-covered sky. The storm had ceased, but it would take awhile for the remaining clouds to dissipate.
Jorie smiled mischievously. “That wasn’t why.” Putting one of her hands in Jess’s and one in Nin’s, Jorie began to tow them toward the house, leaving Shane, Gil and Enlil to bring up the rear. “She probably injected herself. She wanted to test it. I told her I would try it, but of course she wouldn’t let me.”
“What did she inject?” Jess asked
“It’s kinda like the drink you take, but lots stronger, with garlic and sulfur added. Mom always makes sure we have some sulfur in our blood. One time I tried mom’s blood with
concentrated
sulfur in it, bletch.” She shuddered with the memory, sticking her tongue out and shaking her head. “Tasted reaaallyy bad.”
Jess was charmed by her cousin’s animated behavior. The girl was extremely intelligent. “You know what’s in the drink she gives me?” Jess asked.
“Orange juice, almond milk, and lots of grape seeds.” Jorie giggled. “Mom calls it CPT. Stupid name, I know. It’s just what it is.”
“I don’t understand,” Jess said.
Jorie stopped just outside the front door of the house before turning to Jess. “Well, you have too much iron, like mom, so you need” —she ticked off the items on her fingers— “calcium, phosphorus, and tannins. CPT, get it? It keeps you from absorbing the iron from your food. She says you’ll need to fix your diet and be bled, too, after you go through the change. For now the drink helps you enough.” She shrugged, clapping her hands as she added, “I figured out how to grow all three in a type of soil that enhances those characteristics. Do you like plants, Jess?”
Jess was saved from having to admit she was a plant killer by Shane. “So you’re saying that your mom may have given herself an injection of calcium, phosphorus, tannins, and sulfur?” It was obvious he had never heard of anything like that. She glanced around, seeing equally stupefied expressions on the faces of the other three. “Your mom’s created an execution chamber and an Elven repellent. Amazing.” Shane’s face was full of wonder.
Jorie again tapped her fingers against her chin. “Well. She never tested it ’cept for the sulfur on me. Sulfur won’t hurt us, just tastes crappy. If her invention works right, then mom’s blood is chuck-full of natural iron blockers. That way whoever took her blood without her permission wouldn’t be able to absorb the iron they would need to stay strong.” Fingers to chin, tap tap tap. “Plus it will help mom not iron-poison for awhile, even without being bled for a few weeks.” She looked pointedly at Shane. “Trust me, my mom’s inventions always work.”
“Damn, Jorie.” Gil grinned. “Yer mom
is
scary smart.”
Jorie smiled from ear to ear. “I. Know. Right.” Reaching around, she opened the door, bouncing into her home. The others were filing in behind her. Jess was amazed at how quickly the girl had recovered.