Rebecca Airies

Chapter One

Safe for now. New city, strong leader. Hopefully, without lies, bigotry, and isolation. All she had to do was part with a little blood and some magic.

Lucia took a deep breath as she stepped into the immense room. Gold, black and blue banners hung on the silver-gray walls. Gleaming objects sat on stands in alcoves. She couldn’t make out exactly what they were, but they probably weren’t decorative.

Her hands shook and her heart pounded. She walked slowly forward with her friends Monica and Jaslyn at her side. With each pace, her heels clicked on the hard, shining gray stone. The sound echoed loudly, the high vaulted ceiling making the noise seem louder.

She swallowed. This was the final step to confirming their citizenship and remaining in the city. If anything went wrong, she might end up back under Jennings’s control again.

The Prime Dux sat in an intricately carved dark wood throne on a red carpeted platform. The blond-haired, sharp-featured man stared, looking a little bored. Lucia tilted her head. Yeah, the monotony of this type of day would get old. They finally stepped forward.

“New citizens Monica Cross, Jaslyn Chase, and Lucia Haven to make their first tithe,” A stocky man standing next to the platform announced. “Welcome new citizens.”

They stepped forward and waited. A young, black-haired man walked toward them from the side, rolling a cart in front of him. He stopped a few paces away.

“Proceed with the blood for the first tithe.” The blond on the throne leaned forward.

The man in front of the tray unwrapped a scalpel and set up a vial, a white cloth, and some bandages. He glanced down at a screen on the tray.

“Monica Cross.” The man looked at them.

Monica stepped forward and held out her hand. The man took her hand and urged her forward. He ran the scalpel in a short line on her forearm, but he drew in a sharp breath. He grabbed for the vial and it filled.

Lucia frowned. Blood flowed. Much faster than it should. It shouldn’t be a deep cut. Just enough to get some blood for both the vial for categorizing their powers to ensure honesty and the cloth they’d use for blood tracking if necessary.

The man pressed a pad to it and taped it quickly. He waved Monica back and cleaned up the area before opening another scalpel and pulling another cloth and vial out.

As soon as Monica stood next to her, Lucia put her hand on her arm. She focused on keeping her heat down and channeling healing energy to her friend. Monica had abilities, but fire resistance wasn’t one of them.

“What are you doing?” The Prime Dux straightened and stared at them.

“Healing her. That was a little too deep. She’s already soaked the bandage, Prime Dux Simenson.” Lucia tensed. She lowered her head in a small nod.

“Who can you heal?” The man’s eyes narrowed.

“Well, I usually try to stay away from those whose abilities would lead to more sensitive skin. It might hurt them unnecessarily, but otherwise, I don’t have a problem with even deep earth talents with their thicker hides if they can stand a little heat.” She tilted her head. Why was he asking? She’d put healer down on her application along with her other ability. Some people’s healing talent only worked on themselves, but that wasn’t her.

“Good, I have need of your talents. I’ll skip the blood categorization for you and your friends. We can take the tracker with a lancet if you agree. Will you come with me?” Prime Dux Simonsen rose to his feet.

“Yes, I’ll help. Where do I need to go?” She straightened and looked around. Definitely, no one hurt here. They had him in another part of the building. If it helped them get the approval of one of the most powerful leaders on the continent, she’d do it.

Prime Dux Simonsen nodded and glanced to his right. “Take the other woman’s sample with a lancet and let her friends wait outside. I’ll take her back and see if she can heal him.”

“You okay with this, Lucia?” Monica put a hand on her arm.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’ll heal him and meet you outside or wherever they have you wait.” Lucia shrugged and smiled at her friends. Not a big deal. If someone was hurt, she’d gladly heal them if meant that idiot didn’t cut anyone else, especially her.

The Prime Dux beckoned her forward. She walked over to him. Damn, he was taller than he looked. And gorgeous, if you were into golden and perfect. A dark-blue shirt set off his wide shoulders. Not her type, but she could appreciate the form.

“Come with me.” He led her around the platform and to a door at the back of the room.

A guard dressed in blue opened the door for them and stepped back. The Prime Dux led the way into the wide hallway. She followed and stayed close. A shiver ran down her spine as she passed through the doorway. Magic rippled over her, light, but there and strong. The hair on her arms and neck rose.

She shot a glance at the door. It made sense. They wouldn’t want strangers or enemies wandering through these halls. Tapestries hung on some of the walls. The brightly colored hangings depicted scenes of battle as well as beautiful landscapes. Definitely different. She’d never been in the inner part of the Prime’s house when she was in Ansarria.

“Just to let you know, you won’t remember anything about this.” The Prime Dux glanced over as they continued down the hallway.

Lucia tensed. This could be bad. “I was sure the spell I felt did something other than send tingles all over my body.”

“That particular spell is not the magic that will do that. We have someone who will take the memory of this visit. The magic you felt in the doorway is a little more brute force type of spell. You only walked in because you are with me. Otherwise, it would freeze you where you stand.” The Prime Dux took another corridor to the left.

“I’m glad I had permission.” She shrugged. There were ways around magic, but it would keep the mere curiosity seekers out of the area.

“I’ve seen your file and watched the video you sent. You could have gone anywhere. Why did you choose Solacia?” He stopped and turned to her.

She chuckled. Individually, he was right. She’d had offers before. “I wasn’t looking for a place to start over on my own. I have friends and there are places that wouldn’t welcome some of them. Since we were all part of the exodus, I’d rather live in a city where I could be close to them. Solacia offered that to us.”

He nodded and walked again, leading them through the long hallways. “I know which ones you mean and for those who don’t know about those abilities, there are some aspects that can cause hesitation.”

Hesitation was an understatement. Some of her friends had rare abilities. In females, rare was feared. Hell, the one those idiots in the other cities feared wasn’t even the most dangerous of them all.

“Here’s the room. We’ll see if you can heal this type of being.” Prime Dux Simenson stopped at a door in the long hallway.

She raised her brows. What type of being? If this person could take the heat, then she should be able to heal him.

He opened it and walked inside. “Hey, Keagan, I might have found someone who can get you off of your lazy ass.”

She bit her lower lip. Well, they were friends whoever this man was. She followed him into the room.

“Funny, Renaud. Who have you brought in and why?” The man sat against the back of the bed with his legs stretched out in front of him.

“I brought a healer for you. As I said, if this works, you can get out of bed and stop waiting for your normally fast healing to kick in.” Prime Dux Simenson stepped over to the bed.

“You know that most healers can’t get through my hide.” Keagan lifted his hand and waved.

“Well, give her a chance. If it doesn’t help, at least we tried.” Prime Dux Simenson shrugged.

Lucia stepped to the side, into clear view of the big, black-haired man on the bed. He was muscular. His black shirt gaped open to the navel, showing a wealth of brown skin. Gorgeous and more what she usually found attractive. And those green eyes. Damn, they were so brilliant that they almost glowed. What was he? He didn’t have any outward markings. No horns or visible spikes like some had.

“She?” Keagan’s head turned.

“Yeah, me. I’m Lucia and I’ll try to heal you. Where are you hurt?” She glanced at his arms and what skin she could see. No visible wound.

“Leg. A lot of healers can’t manage much with my kind.” He tilted his head.

“Well, I don’t know what your kind is. Unless it’s common or something that would pop at random, I haven’t healed one of your kind. I’ve healed plenty of deep earth and the occasional rock talent. If you can take the heat, I can heal you.” She narrowed her eyes on him.

“Keagan. It’s my leg. I have a knife wound running down my calf that won’t close. Normally, it’s not a problem, because my wounds tend to close within days if not before. Tolerating the heat won’t be an issue.” He sat up and moved the dark blue sheet from his leg.

A big white dressing covered his lower calf. Muscles corded his leg. She moved forward and stopped at the side of the bed. From what he said, he might have some fire ability. Fire talents healed fast. Sometimes the fast closure caused even more damage if the wound had something in it and it became infected.

“Do you consent to let me heal you? Or at least see the wound?” She held her hands at her side. Unless it was life or death, she always asked for the injured person’s consent.

“Yes, go ahead and take the bandage off.” Keagan nodded. “I don’t remember a healer like you in the city.”

“Just arrived about a week and a half ago. Still setting up my life here.” She smiled at him and plucked at the adhesive tabs sealing the wrapping over the pad of bandage.

“It’s tithing day?” Keagan tilted his head. “You came for that.”

“Yes.” She nodded.

The spots came free and the wrapping loosened. She unwound it and pulled the padding away from the wound. It was a long wound, but nothing that shouldn’t close on a fire talent. Something on the bandage caught her eye. It looked gritty.

“Well, I think I know why it’s not healing.” She ran her finger over that speck. It scraped against her finger. Abrasive enough to keep the wound from closing. A little gross, but she’d sterilize her hands before she touched the wound. “I’ll need some water and disinfectant to wash out this crap and something to wipe at the wound to get the rest of it out if it’s stuck on.”

“What is it?” Prime Dux Simenson stepped closer and peered down.

“I don’t know, but it’s gritty and abrasive. It’s enough irritation to keep the wound from closing.” She pulled the bandage away.

“Let me have that bandage, please.” The Prime Dux held out his hand. He stepped over to the door and asked someone for what she needed.

She paced over to him and handed him the pad when he returned to the side of the bed. How had that crap gotten into his wound? He didn’t look like an idiot, and it would take a huge amount of stupidity to simply leave stuff like that in the wound. But perhaps she could get an answer without having to ask something with that level of rudeness.

“Who’s looked at your wound? The bandage at least looked professional.” She tilted her head.

“Don’t worry about it. We know who’s behind this and I’ll personally kick his ass until I get answers about why after I’m back on my feet.” Keagan smiled. “So, I’d like you to do your best to heal me.”

“Okay, but when I get the water and antiseptic, cleaning out that wound will hurt. Since it’s already irritated, that pain will be worse than normal.” She met his eyes. It would hurt like someone dug their nails into the flesh and stabbed with hot needles at the same time.

“I expect it to hurt. It’s not exactly painless right now.” He shrugged. “If I’m healed, the pain will be worth it.”

Hopefully, he felt that way after they finished. A young man carried in a basin, a jug of water, and a bottle. He held out the basin. She took it and put it on a nearby dresser.

She grabbed a foot stool and placed it near the bed. All three men stared at her. They didn’t know what she planned. Didn’t matter. As soon as they finished with this, she could be on her way.

“All right, I need you to put your leg off the bed and let it hang over the bowl when I put it here.” She pointed at the stool.

Keagan nodded. He scooted across the bed and settled on the edge. She grabbed the bowl and placed it on the stool. Hopefully, he was ready for the pain. This wouldn’t be easy on him.

“I’ll clean your leg. If we need to, I’ll wipe away the last bits of debris and then disinfect the wound. After the debris is out, I’ll try to heal you.” She held out her hand, and the young man gave her the pitcher. Hopefully, she didn’t have to scrub at the gritty particles.

“I’m ready. I’m tired of being in this bed.” He gripped the edge of the bed as if waiting for pain.

She poured the water over them and slowly. Most of the abrasive debris washed off in the first pass, but some bits clung to expose tissue tenaciously. She drew in a slow breath. Maybe try once more before using the cloth.

His muscles clenched and his entire body tightened. Someone wanted him to hurt at the very least. The wound wasn’t infected, but it was close.

“I’ll try the water one more time. If it doesn’t work, I’ll need to use the more painful routes. It will hurt much worse than just the water.” She glanced at him. The irritation would make any touch more exist. Scrubbing would be agonizing. “As long as it’s done, I don’t care.” He exhaled harshly and rolled his shoulders. “I’d like to get to know you more after this is done.”