Shadowhunter (Nephilim Quest Book 1) (63 page)

All I would need to do was to cut the silver cord, to let go of the damage underneath, shake it off like a piece of clothing, and I would be free.

But the blue energy would not let me go. It cocooned my soul inside it so I could not go. I did not know someone could hold a soul captive. I liked the feeling of the blue energy, so I did not fight. But as soon as it unwrapped itself from around me, I would go, I knew it.

Someone was saying something. No, two voices were talking. One was a young woman's voice...

"Dana, no. It is not your time yet... go back."

Who was Dana?

Then there was another voice, a male voice. The same who was humming into my ear.

"Dana, no... Do not go... Fight it, my love, fight it..."

And suddenly I was inside the damaged body again, and felt huge pain. It felt so heavy and horrible I screamed. But I had heard the words loud and clear. "My love"...
 

And that brought me back to my senses.
 
I opened my eyes to look into Daniel's eyes.
 

He was crying.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

79. Promises

The power that had surged through me had been too strong for my body. My damaged nervous system was in such agony that I was whimpering. I could not see or hear clearly, or even understand what was being said to me through the thick veil of pain.

I don't have any recollection of going back to the Center. Daniel must have carried me. For days I did not know where I was because of the pain. It would not ease, and eventually the doctors decided to give me a strong sedative to force my body into sleep, and I sank into a grey dullness like a coma, where I could only listen to the faint echoes of the throbbing pain. It was there, and I recognized it, but somehow the connection between it and my mind was severed, so I could not truly feel it.

Then, finally, my body began to show signs of healing, and they decided to let me come back.
 

I could hear the beep-beep of a machine, and hushed discussion going on, but I couldn't make out the words, they just floated above me. I spent an eternity like that, simply hearing things, not daring to move, fearing the pain would return.

Eventually I tried to open my eyes. The first thing I saw was Daniel. He was sitting slumped in a chair. I scarcely recognised him, he was so changed. He had dark circles around his eyes, and his complexion was dull and grey. He was leaning his forehead against the palm of his hand, his elbow on the armrest of the chair.

He must have heard or sensed something, because his eyes opened and he looked at me. When he saw my own eyes were open, he gently bent towards me.

"Are you there?" he whispered, searching my eyes.

"Where else would I be?" I tried to reply, but my throat was parched, and no voice came out.

Daniel seemed to hear it, though, and he smiled. It was such a beautiful smile, so full of joy that my heart melted. I tried to smile back, but fell asleep before I could. Normal, healing, restoring sleep.
 

At first I could not even swallow on my own and had to have a drip. I was filled with exhausted frustration at the slowness of my recovery. No visitors were allowed, and the days were spent with the doctors hovering over me, doing tests, and taking my blood. I was too tired to resist, even though I shared Diana's dislike of needles.

Then one day Grandma came to see me. She looked very tired, and Daniel, who had barely left my bedside, reluctantly gave his chair to her.

"My dear girl! What a scare you gave us!" she sighed, and I saw the dark shadows under her eyes.

"Sorry..."

"We did not see that one coming. We had no idea someone would kidnap you and force you to heal a dark one..."
 

"Did he..." I swallowed to moisten my throat, "...heal?"

Grandma nodded.

"He did. He has remained healed."

"Where is... he..." The croak of a voice dried in my throat.

"They are all here, in our prison cells. Reggie's brass bowl music is playing non-stop, so they cannot escape."

"Have you told the Council?"

"No. Not yet," Daniel shook his head. "What they did was against all our laws, but desperation can make anyone break the rules. Besides – if the word spreads that you healed another infected Nephilim, you will be in even greater danger. And that's all down to me. I can hardly believe that I was so stupid as to have spoken about it during the Council. All of this - everything - my fault!"

"Don't blame yourself..." Grandma reached out to pat his hand. "The rumors of Elijah's infection had already spread and you had to assure everyone he was healed. Otherwise they might have turned against Elijah, even kill him. None of us could see this coming."

"But now that it has happened, and there has been another healing, Dana is not safe anywhere. She turned Nephilim too soon, and her body and mind were just not ready yet.
 
They still aren't. Forcing the healing out of her may have caused permanent damage. We haven't had a silver Nephilim in over two thousand years, so how are we to know how the healing thing is supposed to work, to keep her safe while doing it?" Daniel opened his palms towards me. "Just look at her! One more occurrence like that and she could die. And when word gets out about what she has done, there are bound to be others who will have the same idea. We shall have to hide her from possible kidnappers all the time. They won't give a damn what happens to her as long as their loved ones are saved."

Grandma sighed.

"The eternal dilemma of healers. Swamped in requests for healing..."

I said nothing. I remembered myself floating over my damaged body, willing to severe the connection to it. Only Daniel's presence had stopped me. And his words...

I turned my eyes to him, and saw him looking intently into mine. My heart began to sing immediately. A hum... Then I realized others could hear it too. Grandma coughed and stole a sideways glance at Daniel. She knew, I was certain of it.

"I have written to your parents on your behalf." Grandma changed the subject. "They know nothing of this. But you need to call them soon, they have already grown suspicious as to why you haven't done so."

"She can't possibly talk on the phone yet!" Daniel said.

"Not yet, but as soon as she can. We'll say she has a bad flu, which explains why she is too tired to talk much," Grandma said.

"And we need to get her to safety. Away from here." Daniel sounded desperate.

"Where would you go, then? They will find you eventually, no matter where you go," Grandma stated the fact bluntly.

There was a knock on the door. Diana peeked in.

"May I come in?" she whispered.

"Yes!" I croaked before the others had a chance to say no.

"Oh Dana!" She flew to me and hugged me so that my iv-drip almost fell down. "How are you? Are you alive?"

That made me laugh.

"No, I'm just pretending!" I coughed.

"What are we going to do now?" Diana turned to ask Daniel.

"We'll get Dana to safety," he said.

"Where?" Diana asked.

"As soon as Dana is fit enough, we'll follow the original plan. Whoever tries to find Dana, will try to do so here in our time first. No one knows where we are, if we follow our original plan. We need to do it anyway, and I would have left Dana behind, but now we cannot leave her here. As long as no one has told any outsider about where we were going, we should be safe in the past."

Daniel had planned on leaving me behind? Since when? From the beginning or because of this latest episode?

"A lot of people have probably guessed where we were planning on going," Grandma said. "Clothes and coffers have been made, jewelry also, not to mention all the research we have been going through. They all point to ancient Egypt."

Daniel did not like this.

"We'll have to tell everyone to keep their silence," he ran his fingers through his hair like he always did when he was agitated,
 
"and go as soon as we can. Also, just in case, we could start another research project about a different time, to confuse them."

"Perhaps... very well, let us begin looking for Cleopatra the Seventh now, and Alexandria," Grandma suggested, "and make the researchers believe that whatever we were searching for before, was a wrong lead. I'll explain this to Lilith."

Grandma left and Elijah walked in.

"My dear sister," he exclaimed, "how are you? You sure look like you had a bit of a hangover!"

"What?" I asked. This wasn't exactly the greeting I had been expecting.

"Diana, would you mind...?" Elijah asked.

"Erm... well, yes I would, in fact. This seems to be turning into a mighty interesting conversation and I'd like to listen to it," Diana raised her eyebrows, "but OK, OK... I get the message. I'll just listen behind the door..."

She left and I looked at Elijah questioningly.

"What was that sister-thing?" I whispered, cursing in my mind that I still had no real control over my voice.

"My dear Dana – I have now witnessed twice how your vibration matches that of Daniel. You have been locked into each other in a rather intimate way both times, and your wings hum in total harmony. If you two are not clever enough to know what that means, maybe I should enlighten you?"

Daniel opened his mouth, but Elijah dismissed him with a movement of his hand.

"You two are meant for each other. It is seldom that I have heard such total harmony of vibrations in two Nephilim. You have not yet given promises to each other, but when the time comes, and you are of age, Dana, you would be total idiots not to do so. And, as it seems to me you shall be my sister-in-law, I'd better forget any romantic notions about you, and congratulate my dear brother here."

I looked at Daniel, and had to laugh. He actually blushed.

"Now, of course, if you decided not to choose him, I shall willingly oblige and make you a respectable Mrs.," Elijah grinned at me, though there was sadness in his eyes, and for the briefest of moments I saw a vision of that same blonde women I had seen when healing his wings. He did not know I knew about his lost wife.

"I would throw something at you - if I could just lift my hand," I whispered, joining the game.

"I am sure you would," Elijah bowed, "but knowing you can't – yet – makes me feel quite safe. My brother here I can handle."

Daniel glowered at him.

"Oh come on, brother!" Elijah said. "You are way too serious and analytical about this whole thing. It's pretty obvious that you love each other. Why fight it? I understand about the waiting-till-right-age part, but to me it has been quite clear from the moment I kissed the bride-to-be in the desert that I had no chance. If she had been simply driven by her new Nephilim emotions, she would have jumped at me. But she did not. She began to cry, and that told me she had truly chosen you, now matter how new she was. Respect that. Wait as long as you have to, but don't wait forever, or I may come courting."

Elijah turned to me again.

"And now, before my brother starts throwing things at me, I'm on my way. I'll leave you two to each other. I shall collect Diana from behind the door too, and put a do not disturb sign on the handle."

At that, he walked out.

Daniel and I looked at each other. I began to hum again, I could not help it. I was so embarrassed by Elijah's words, but also filled with joy. I would have run and hidden, if I could have moved, but as it was I was at the mercy of the situation.

Then, slowly, Daniel's wings opened, and he stepped to my side and knelt by the bed. His electric blue wings were so beautiful. In response my wings tried to open, but didn't.

"Sssh..." Daniel stroked my cheek, "they are damaged too, and need time to heal."

We forgot ourselves in each other's eyes. His bright blue eyes, with tiny golden dots, caressed mine and again my tears began to fall.

"Sssh..." he said again.

His wings gently bent around me, and then they began to hum, first quietly, then more strongly, until the whole room vibrated. And my damaged wings answered back. I forced them to open, and began to cry for real when I saw them limp by my side, dark grey in color. Only a trickle of silver pulsed in the veins.

Daniel matched his wings to mine, covering them completely. It was not difficult, because I could not open mine fully. The hum of Daniel's wings felt painful at first, and I wailed like an injured animal.

"Now it is my turn to heal," he whispered.

I looked at him, and the hum began to ease my pain. He lowered his head, and kissed me with such tenderness I thought I would lose my consciousness. But this time he did not draw back. His kiss deepened, and I answered it fully. It was an odd sensation, being the object of such love, and not being able to move. Then my body began to burn, and I felt a strong fire light in my heart, spreading all through my body. With great difficulty I moved my hand and touched his cheek with my fingers. We kissed eyes open, drowned into each other, and my wings began to sing for real.

The sound was at first fragmented, off tune, but Daniel's wings balanced mine. Slowly the wings found the same tune, and then they were singing together in total harmony.

Daniel lifted his head, his eyes turned almost black.

"Dana... are you ready for this?" he whispered, searching my soul with his eyes.

I could only nod, tears rolling down my cheeks. I had never been more ready for anything. My whole being yearned for him.

"Then, Dana... we must still wait, but if you choose me, I shall give you my promise. You'll be mine, and I'll be yours, and we will melt into one, when you are of age."

"I choose you, Daniel," I managed to whisper, "and when the time is right, I shall give you my promise."

Now he was crying too, and I could taste the salt in his tears when we continued kissing, eyes closed now, in that place where only true lovers can enter, and no time exists.

CHAPTER EIGHTY

80. Healing

"So no chance for me then, eh?" Jason shook his head sadly and pressed his hands over his heart with a pining expression on his face. "Oh well, I'll take it like a man. I'll just join the queue."