The Healer's Kiss: Book Four of the Forced To Serve Series (11 page)

“Now release the rest,” Ania ordered, seeing Malachi quickly recovering.

“No. Not yet,” Rena began, shaking her head, too late registering that it must have been some sort of sign the unholy female had been waiting to see. The Pleiadian had the audacity to whisper the Creators names, followed by the ancient words of restraint that even she could not control.

Rena gasped in shock to discover that she could not move her host body’s arms or lift her hands. She made a frustrated sound that was just short of a scream. “What power lets you restrain me? Do you have any idea what I can do to you or those you care about?”

“Seems to me the Creators don’t approve of your actions towards us anymore than I do,” Ania said with great relish, pacing around her trapped quarry. “I’m not going to ask for what I want so nicely next time.”

“Release me, Warrior of Darkness,” Rena ordered.

Ania crossed her arms.
Warrior of Darkness?
Well, it wasn’t the first name she had been called since she’d merged with Malachi. At least ‘Warrior of Darkness’ sounded respectful rolling off the angry female’s tongue.

“Why should I release you?” Ania demanded, waving an arm at all the frozen people around her. “You refuse to release them.”

“It is for their protection…and Seta’s,” Rena said tightly.

“Yes, what about Seta. She hosts a demon,” Ania said. “Do not lie. Malachi and I are both aware.”

“Yes. But the entity only keeps her alive. It does not serve her like Malachi serves you,” Rena declared.

“Malachi serves the Synars. He does not serve me. Malachi and I are. . .friends,” Ania said with a shrug.

Malachi laughed. “Good to know, especially now that I see the Creators favor you over their own kind,” he said, walking slowly to Ania and poking her with one finger, not stopping even when she looked at him strangely.

“A little busy here for your jokes,” Ania said hotly, yanking her arm away. “Why are you poking me?”

“Why are you not affected by her power?” Malachi asked with a frown. “I made you. You’re the copy, not the original.”

When he would have started poking again, Ania smacked his hand away hard, making him yelp.

“Cease the poking! I do not know why. I bow to the will of the Creators,” she announced fiercely, annoyed further when Malachi laughed harder. She turned her irritation with Malachi’s poking into irritation at the still restrained Rena Trax. “Be truthful. Are you indeed an emissary of the Creators?”

Rena hissed her displeasure. “By what right do you ask me anything? You are not a creature of any world. You are the walking dead.”

Ania narrowed her gaze and turned to Malachi. “That does it. I’m tired of her disrespect. Toss her over your shoulder and bring her along to Dorian’s meditation room. If she won’t answer my questions, I’ll ask the Creators myself. It is not just her energy filling the ship. They are near to us.”

“No. Don’t do that. Please—I was not to interfere with your fate,” Rena said quickly. “Indeed, I am one of their emissaries. I do not understand why they have made one of the walking dead my equal.”

“
Your equal?
” Ania repeated happily, ignoring the ‘walking dead’ insult she was all too used to hearing by now.

Testing Rena’s words, Ania turned and held out her hand towards Dorian. She spoke the Pleiadian words of release. Slowly Dorian resumed moving and looked around, staggering in shock when he saw the others still frozen around him.

“Gwen—
no
,” Dorian choked out in panic, feeling for her pulse and sagging with relief when he found she still lived. Turning to the other moving people in the room, he swore in Siren and started toward the female on the bed, intending to force her to release his mate before she went to meet her makers.

“Dorian—stop! You don’t want to take that action yet,” Ania said, stopping her friend’s stride with a firm hand on his arm. “I can release them whenever I want, just like I did you. I only hesitate because something tells me not to do so yet.”

“Are you sure they all live?” Dorian demanded.

“Aye. I released you because I wanted you to hear this exchange. As my spiritual counselor, I need you to help guide my actions. I can’t afford to misuse the power over this being that the Creators have given me,” Ania exclaimed, squeezing hard to hold him back.

Dorian yanked his arm away and took a calming breath. “Very well. Do you understand her intentions?”

Ania shook her head. “No—I have no idea yet.”

Dorian could tell this was a time to use logic, not emotion, but another glance at Gwen’s unmoving body alarmed him too much to focus on the higher path. “How can you be so calm? Do you not fear for your mate?” he demanded when he could no longer hold all the fear inside. He swore in Siren at his own distress and ran a restless hand through his hair. It wasn’t often that he came so close to a full emotional melt-down.

Ania looked at Synar frozen in a mid-glare and smiled. “No. I do not fear Liam’s fate. Or at least not nearly as much as I fear using this power to evoke that same state in him whenever I wish. It would be a great temptation to me. I’m fairly sure I would prove unworthy to carry this gift for long.”

Malachi laughed behind her and found himself quickly on the receiving end of Zade’s angry glare. “Sorry. Frozen mates are not funny—not funny at all,” he stated firmly, shaking his head and waving his hand apologetically at the worried Siren. “Your mate is fine lieutenant and totally unaware of her state. I swear by the Creators.”

Ania sighed in response to Dorian’s sigh of distress. Playing nice was getting them nowhere, she decided, turning back to the female that had caused the situation. “I have suspected for some time now that this ship is under the greater protection of the Creators. They seem to be having a grand time wreaking havoc with crew members while each is set on whatever personal journey the Creators deem necessary for them.”

“You expect me to believe the Creators
talk
to you
about their will? Your energy is as dark as his,” Rena declared, tilting her chin towards Malachi, who arched a brow.

“Like yours isn’t right now?” Malachi demanded in return. “You thought nothing of causing me pain even though I have yet to take any step to harm you or the sibling of your host body that you seem so fond of deceiving. So tell me, Rena Trax, or whoever you are, which of us is acting more from our dark side?”

“You might have made some changes to your nature, but you’re still a demon,” Rena said firmly, ignoring his logic. What did he know of the burdens she bore? Had he responsibility for the spirits of others? For setting them on their path to redemption? No. He had not.

Ania snorted and crossed her arms. “Your aversion to Malachi makes you a hypocrite. The being you call your sibling, the one you made sure joined our crew, has carried demon number three on board the Liberator. No one could consider that normal behavior for any servant of the Creators. The lesson you seem to be learning is one I accepted long ago. A being only has the power the Creators see fit to grant them—demon or not. Malachi is no different.”

Rena sagged. “I concede to there being some wisdom in what you say about all creatures bowing to the will of the Creators. I agree to cause Malachi no further harm. Now, please—release me. I will not harm your crew. You have my word.”

“Not just yet,” Ania said firmly. “Tell us your story first. For starters, what are you? Explain your origin, and I want the truth of the matter.”

“The body that hosts me was never meant for me. Long ago, so long ago now I no longer recall the time, I allowed the Creators to liberate my energy from my original physical form so that I could serve them as their emissary. As sacred energy, I moved about freely, visiting physical entities and delivering divine help,” Rena explained. “However, I made a miscalculation in performing my last task. To fix it, I had to temporarily become Rena Trax.”

“Yes, but
who
are you really?” Malachi demanded, still wanting to know.

She looked at Malachi and lifted her chin. “Unlike you, I have no name, no identity outside being an emissary, and no lasting attachment to any creature or world. In energy form, those like me are free of the needs of the flesh. The original spirit, called Rena Trax, returned to the Creators and left her physical form behind to rot. I borrowed it out of necessity, but my emissary energy dims a little more each day I remain corporeal. I admit that I fear being trapped in this flesh and forced to serve out a life plan that was never meant to be mine.”

“Okay. That’s your history. Now why are you on our ship?” Ania asked. “You were on the Paladin before us.”

“For several of your Earth years, I have been tracking the demon’s amulet Captain Synar now has in his possession. The demon Seta carries belongs in that amulet. The task to find it has occupied me for too long. I wish to do what I must and be released.”

“What will happen to what’s left of Seta Trax when you take the demon out of her body?” Ania asked. “I can read very clearly that the original female’s spirit is still controlling it at the moment.”

“Seta’s physical form will cease to have any life, as will Rena Trax’s after it has served its purpose for me,” she explained, frowning at the Pleiadian’s disapproving glare.”

“That’s a pretty cold, not to mention selfish, way of looking at things. I know, because I have done that many times,” Malachi said, crossing his arms. “Yet after many hosts, I still mourn some forms and beings. If you have not experienced corporeal life in a while, you may find yourself surprised by the depth of the connection you make to the life you share. Energy connected intimately to flesh is a heady combination.”

Ania listened to Malachi explaining his experiences, but it was the seriousness in his gaze that pleased her most. She knew he was admitting more to the emissary than he had ever shared with Liam or her.

“How did you and the demon come to be in the dual-birth Trax siblings?” Ania asked finally, inserting herself firmly in a conversation that kept leaning towards being a private one between Malachi and the emissary.

“After my. . .mistake. . .I found I could not leave Ethos in energy form. When I was traveling and looking for a solution to my dilemma, I came across the mostly dead bodies of both sisters. I put the demon in the one less damaged, and bound it to only lending Seta Trax life. I put my energy in the other. By leaving their remaining memories intact, the Demon Zorinda and I share what is left of their corporeality. While this situation has lasted much longer than I intended, as Seta and Rena Trax, we have been able to move around where necessary and communicate without causing alarm.”

“Okay—next question. Why not just get another amulet? The Creators could just make a new one. Why is this particular amulet so important?” Ania demanded.

Rena closed her eyes. “Each demon amulet is imbued by the Creators of All with exposure to those things the demon entity requires for its redemption. It was my fault the Demon Zorinda’s amulet was misplaced. For punishment, I was forced to meld the demon’s energies with mine to carry it around. The darkness was unbearable. I don’t know how you live with it or why you would tie yourself to it permanently.”

“Let’s leave my life choices out of this,” Ania said firmly. “Your snide disapproval just makes me more resistant to your tale.”

“I am merely sharing my own aversion to demon energy. To continue my story, I had to resort to certain measures to make my actions seem as natural as possible. Each time I tried to use my powers to hasten making our way to the amulet, the way was either blocked or the amulet changed hands. I have used Seta’s service on each ship to bring me ever closer to its location. During a recent meditation, I was told that a demon master had found it and that it was now safe. When Synar contacted Seta for work, I suddenly knew where it was and that the Creators had guided us to it. Now, at last, I am here.”

Ania shook her head. “I don’t know if I trust you. You could have just told Synar the whole story and asked for the amulet.”

“Would your mate have aided me if he knew Seta carried its demon within her?” Rena asked.

“I agree it would have been a challenge to convince Liam to let another demon stay on board,” Ania said sincerely. “But you didn’t have to torture Malachi just because you could. That’s not representing your cause well.”

“I took the same protective actions with him that I take with every demon,” Rena said, frowning at the Pleiadian’s harsh judgment of her actions.

“I have never harmed a creature on this ship. And Ania can tell you I’ve been compelled to fix every bleeding-heart female I run across. Does this seem like normal demon behavior to you? I am not normal. Being hosted in Ania has changed me,” Malachi insisted, walking close enough to her to peer into her gaze and make sure the emissary was hearing him. “It is not comfortable, nor easy, but I have adapted. You might be best served to study me instead of trying to harm me. Perhaps you could answer the questions I have not been able to discern about my fate. I do not yet know why I am now ruled by compassion.”

He told himself not to care about the entity’s opinion of him, but it could not be helped. Behind him, Ania sighed.

“Let us cease debating my past actions and Malachi’s changes,” Ania said. “Neither addresses my current concerns, most of whom are still frozen behind me. The emissary and I will talk with Synar privately about the amulet’s return. There is no reason any of the others need be told specifics yet.”

“So you plan to forfeit the remaining life of both host bodies?” Dorian asked, daring to speak directly at last to the creature he now despised instead of revering. It was an exceedingly sad moment in his life to realize it.

Rena nodded, the Siren’s empathetic response tweaking her guilt at last. “Yes. It was not fair of me to extend them as I did, but I was compelled to go into this physical form. I do not like being corporeal.”

“Though these forms are indeed fragile, as you reminded me with your painful gut cramps, there are many positive things about them as well. Release her, Ania,” Malachi ordered. “I wish to show her one.”