Eternal Rider - Larissa Ione [67]
“Sarcasm isn’t the way to get me to help.”
“He’s… my horse,” Ares said roughly, and she got it; he was hurting for the animal, and his fear was putting an edge on his already teetering temper.
She’d give him a pass on his less-than-polite behavior. The agimortus tingled, and her healing gift surfaced. Nu-huh. No way. Concentrating, she kept it at bay… worked so hard at it that her blood thundered in her ears and her breath burned her throat. Before, she’d been able to control it, but it seemed like the agimortus gave her gift a mind of its own. Her hands shook as she ran them over the stallion, probing for the worst of the damage. The horse groaned and kicked, and suddenly, blood sprayed in a geyser from his thigh.
“Shit!” Thanatos lunged to cover the gusher, but Cara beat him to it, and his hand came down on hers.
Unbidden, a blast of her healing gift ripped down her arm and into the horse. Instantly, the blood flow slowed, and before her eyes, the most minor of the injuries sealed. Than jerked away from her, and she rocked backward, as shocked as he was. Her ability had never shot through her so strongly before.
Not the healing ability, anyway. The killing ability… she didn’t want to go there.
“I…” She sucked air, giving herself a second to gather her thoughts.
Ares’s eyes narrowed, which must have hurt, given the cut that ran from the middle of his forehead to the base of his left eye. “That’s why the hellhound gave you Hell’s Kiss. You healed him. You didn’t just remove the bullet… you have a gift.”
Thanatos pegged her with those yellow lasers. “You’re a totem priestess.”
“A what?”
“One who communicates with animals.” Thanatos’s voice was laced with what she could only call awe. “I was raised among druidic people, and totem priests and priestesses were revered. Today’s humans call them animal psychics. They sometimes have the power to heal. Can you make it work with nonanimals?”
Oh, it works with nonanimals, all right.
Twenty-six years of buried secrets had built like steam in her chest, and now it was as if a fissure was forming at the epicenter, right over her heart. She’d denied her abilities for so long, even as she’d used them. That there was a name for what she was made it real. Personal. Throat closing up, she leaped to her feet and backed away.
“Cara?” Ares kept his hand on the horse, but his big body twisted around, his gaze tracking her.
“I don’t… I don’t know if I can control it. The agimortus made it stronger and less predictable.” She swallowed dryly. “And it has an… evil side I don’t understand.”
Ares swore, a nasty, base curse. “I don’t give a shit if it’s shot out of the devil’s ass. Battle is in pain and he could die. If you can help him, do it.”
Battle groaned, and her heart clenched. How could she not do something? The argument with herself wasn’t a new one. When she’d been a teen working in her father’s veterinary practice, he’d begged her not to use her ability, for fear that the ultraconservative township would find out and brand her unfairly. And he’d been right.
He’d also been afraid of it, something she knew only because she’d overheard him talking to her stepmother.
“I’ve killed with it.” God, her stomach clenched with revulsion at those words—words she’d never spoken out loud.
“A human?” Ares smoothed his hand over Battle’s shoulder.
“Yes.”
“Huh.” Thanatos shifted, giving her a glimpse of a wicked-looking dagger tucked into his boot. “That was rarely spoken of in my time. Anyone who used the ability to kill was shunned as being evil. In fact—”
“Thanatos…” Ares’s warning tone shut his brother up. He turned to Cara. “I don’t care about the human. Make your choice. Help, or go. Battle doesn’t have time to wait for your mental breakdown to end.”
Harsh. But Ares was right, and it was the kick in the pants Cara needed. With a nod, she went back to Battle, placing herself at his head. His eyes were swollen shut and bleeding, and this was much worse than anything she’d dealt with in the past.
“Hey, boy. I’m going