Dekkir (Galaxy Alien Warriors #1)(20)

She smiled. “I cannot tell you what powers may be bestowed upon you, but during the adjustment, they will run out of control. If you are telepathic, you will overhear thoughts from all around you. If you are empathic, depending on who you’re close to, you will have similar problems. Other abilities have other side effects. You will have to be watched over and mentored until you adjust.”

“Do you think if I follow what the doctor wanted me to do that it will prove some help in curing the high chieftain? The seers seemed certain I would be useful to you, but so far, I’m not sure how. I know nothing of poisons from my world. I’m an anthropologist, not a chemist.” And I was tired of feeling useless. I was ready to take a serious risk just to get a chance to help make things right.

“This may be what the prescient among them sensed. It surprises me that another human recommended you do this. As far as I know, the doctor never inoculated himself.”

“I see.”

“There are certain other issues that you and Dekkir are facing that this inoculation would help to solve,” she added very gently.

I looked back at Dekkir: big, hunky, brave Dekkir, who kept saving my life and shrugging off pain for my sake. That may be worth it just by itself.

“There would be no additional side effects. You do not have any of the mental or biochemical issues that can interfere with adaptation.”

“Thank you, Neyilla. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

She got up from the desk, smoothing her robes. “I will enter a trance soon to investigate the toxin used on the high chieftain. I am hoping my knowledge is sufficient to effect a cure.”

My head spun as we bowed and left for the room she had given us. Should I take this pill or not? It seemed like the best course of action, but the whole prospect was so strange it left me wary.

Later that night, I woke up to discover Dekkir was getting worse. When I opened my eyes, I saw him lying on the bed across the room, bathed in sweat, his eyes clenched closed and his teeth gritted. His breath came in short pants, like that of a man in a fever. I remembered Elorie’s words and felt a cold finger of fear run down my back. I’m killing him.

I grabbed the pendant and hurried out. I had no time to hesitate. I didn’t want Dekkir to die. If the only thing standing between him and me was my inability to feel what he felt, then maybe it was time I fixed that.

The retreat had been carved out from the heart of a gigantic tree, like a living tower. I found Neyilla meditating in a large round chamber at the very top. I hesitated in the doorway, worried about interrupting something important. But after a moment, she opened her eyes and beckoned me in.

“I have been preparing myself for your journey,” she said simply, shocking me again.

“You knew I would choose to do this?”

“I sensed a strong possibility. It’s Dekkir, isn’t it?” Her smile was soft.

I nodded. “He’s suffering because I can’t feel what he feels. I thought more than once that if there were some way I could, I would do it. Now the opportunity’s presented itself.”

“You are an extraordinary woman to undergo this for the sake of the man who loves you.”

“He’s willing to die for me. He’s proven it more than once. But he shouldn’t have to. This world needs him. And he needs me. You’re really sure this stuff will do the trick?” I removed the capsule and held it up.

“I have little doubt.”

“How will I know if it’s working?”

She just smiled. “You’ll know.”

I swallowed the pill before I could second-guess myself out of it. Then I sat down to wait. I could only hope this was the right call. The idea of gaining psychic abilities intrigued me. And if it meant I would spend the rest of my life mated to an alien, then so be it. Better that than stand by and do nothing while he and his father struggled on the brink of death.

I waited. And waited, my stomach churning with nervousness. After a while, I started to get frustrated. Maybe it doesn’t work on humans after all. I looked up at the healer to ask her how much longer it would take to kick in—and then stared at her.

Neyilla had become a statue of golden light. Her flesh and clothes seemed to have become translucent, like a pale mist, and inside, her whole body was inundated with threads of gold. I looked down at my hands and was shocked to discover they looked almost the same way. In my case, the gold was still spreading, running down my nerve endings and sliding into my muscles and skin. I was filling up with light.

“It’s working,” I mumbled in astonishment.

“Can you sense anything?”

I closed my eyes. After a few moments, I felt my mind stretching out, downstairs, back to my room, where a mass of loneliness, exhaustion, and frustration thrashed on the bed in delirium. “Dekkir. He’s in trouble.” My heart started pounding. I remembered that moment when I had thought the flightless bird was about to bite off his arm. That moment when it felt as if I were screaming in pain for him. “He needs me.”

“Can you walk?”

I got up unsteadily. “I think so.”

“Good. Go to him.”

I had no idea how I made it down the stairs so fast. Before I knew it, I stood at his bedside, looking down at his pale, drawn face.

I smoothed his tangled hair back from his brow, and gentle warmth swelled inside me. Perhaps the bond was not completed, but I could feel it now. And it was time for me to do something about it.