Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (46 page)

“From my bedroom.” Both Sarah and
M
ark looked at
him
and smiled.

Giving up her struggle
,
she sighed. Kara walked up to the table. She used the seat of the chair
Connor
made
,
for a step
stool
. She now stood
atop the table.
His
sister turned and eased herself down and laid her head on the pillows brought
for her comfort
. Sh
e pulled at her dress and told M
ark to keep her legs tied together or else she wouldn’t play nice
with him
when it was over.
He did as ordered
while chuckling
mildly
.

Before long,
Connor stepped back along with his
mate to watch Mark work. He first secured the rope to tie her hands together. As she laid her hands on her full abdomen, Mark securely tied her ankles, knees and thighs together. Finally with her legs straight on the table, Mark wrapped her entire body flat to the table so that she couldn’t move a single inch
and hurt herself
.
His knot-tying capabilities were excellent and done properly. She wasn’t going anywhere
and wouldn’t hurt herself in any way
.

As Mark
stood over her she smiled up at his worried face.
He
said “Don’t you die on m
e,
Sweetheart.”

She smiled again. “I won’t,” Kara
then
turned her head to Sarah. “I always keep my promises.” Then
Kara
winked.

When she looked back at
Connor’s
solemn friend he held a piece of
soft
wood in his hand. Showing it to her he said “You need to bite down on this. Hard! I can’t afford for you to bite your tongue off
and bleed to death
.” Before he gave it to her he gave her one last
quick
kiss. He brushed her hair back saying softly “I love you.” He put the piece of wood in her mouth.

As she adjusted the wood in her mouth to fit perfectly Sarah grabbed
Connor’s
arm tightly and
he
could feel
his
mate
’s entire body
shaking.

Connor
didn’t move.
He
became
her secure pillar.

When Kara finally nodded that she was ready Mark
’
s eyes started to glow. He said “Kara
,
I need to open a wound right here
on you
.” He pointed
just above her breasts. She looked down then nodded as she
rested
her head back on the pillow.

While Mark
’
s
pupils
were glowing
Connor
saw his fingernails turn into razor sharp claws while the rest of him didn’t change
into
any
other
characteristics of his wolf form. With his sharp claws he looked at them for a moment until his eyes stopped glowing. He looked at
Kara
one last time
. “Have you changed you mind?” H
er head shot up. She couldn’t say anything, but her
brown
eyes were throwing daggers. He sighed “Alright
then
.”

Mark took his clawed index finger and swiftly pulled it horizontally across Kara’s chest. She winced, but didn’t make a sound. Mark stood tall again
,
after judging her
bleeding
wound wide enough
.

He took the index finger of each hand and opened a wound across the palms of each
of them
. His ey
es started glowing faintly and Connor
knew that he was forcing himself to keep the wounds open. He looked at his dripping and bloody hands for a
few
moment
s in hopes she
would falter in her resolve
.

She was sure
and wanted this
.

He turned them over. Mark
leaned over Kara
,
looking at her o
ne more time. Then he gently pressed
both of his bleeding palms
in the open wound of Kara’s breast
.
It only took a
single
second for the pain to start. And for Sarah to
immediately
tighten her grip.

Kara’s
eyes went wide with pain. Her back arched
violently
as she screamed through the mouth piece. If the ropes weren’t bound tightly she would have
really
hurt herself. Her face went red as she made another muffled, blood curdling scream from the table. Her eyes shut tightly as her body started to shake
the table
and convulse violently. She screamed again, but she didn’t take in a full breath.

Glancing at Mark
, Connor
saw that his eyes stopped glowing and his hands were no longer dripping with blood. His hands were still red and wet, but the wounds
were no
more.

It was done and they couldn’t go back.

Another shriek brought Connor’s focus back to his
sister and her
excruciating
pain. Kara continued screaming
in agony
and shaking
with all she had
.
It looked like she was being tortured
, but it was a virus doing it all
.

For
over
two hours
she kept screaming
and
screaming
. No one
dared
moved or did anything
in the cottage,
but his
sister.
They
were all too afraid it would only make things worse.
Many times Connor’s lungs burned when he forgot to take a breath. Even blinking had to be forced.
Mark stood over her
,
protectively
,
while
Connor
stood back a few feet in the living room and Sarah’s grasp
on his
arm
didn’t let up
any
pressure
either.

Suddenly Kara stopped moving
completely. Her
shaking and even screaming
were completely
stilled
.
Connor’s
heart froze along with each
and every muscle throughout
his
body.

What just happened?

Mark put his ear down on Kara’s chest quickly. He listened
for what seemed like an eternity
. His head rear
e
d back and he y
elled at the top of his lungs “NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!” His head dropped suddenly. L
ike someone cut
ting
the strings of a marionette
.

Mark collapsed on the floor.

Kara
had lost
the war against the virus
.

She was gone!

Sarah yelled “KARA, NO!
!!
” She released her
grip on
Connor’s
arm and ran around M
ark
’s
crumpled
form,
to Kara’s side as she lay lifeless on the table.

D
eath and Life

Using the
mental capabilities of a Balancer’s
mind
,
Connor
went through every method
and scenario
he
knew of
to save someone.
Especially someone as dear to him as Kara. Connor’s mother Jenny
taught
and instilled him with
many alternatives
and
results
to revive someone
at the edge of death
, but
the cottage
didn’t have any access to the medical equipment
for over half of the training she gave
.
That forced him to think even faster.
I’m not going to let you die on me little sister
.
I swore to always protect you.
Su
ddenly
,
like lightning
,
Connor
had the
exact idea
needed
to bring her back
from the brink of existence
.

In just three seconds Connor
knew
he alone
had the power to save her.

Quickly,
Connor
kicked
M
ark out of
the
way because
he
didn’t need him to be too close.
He needed room to fight
a battle against F
ate. Connor
issued a
command
to his
mate
. “Sarah
.
M
ove to
the other side of the table!” H
er green eyes were filled with tears
and spilled like waterfalls
when she looked up at
him
.
W
aves of anguish
flowed from her
that wouldn’t help this situation. Sarah needed to stop it so he could thin
k
clearly.
“If you keep crying
like that
we won’t be able to save her. Now help me or get out of the way.”

Sarah
quickly
steeled herself and
moved swiftly around the table to Kara’s other side. She
used everything she had and
stopped her tears
and her shaking hands, but
asked
in a quivering voice
“What do you need me to do?”
Connor
knew she would do what needed to be done.

She loved
his
sister too.

Connor
stepped up to Kara’s left side
and saw how frail she
actually
i
s.
Sweat coated every inch of her body and dried blood stained the dress at her breast.
H
er face no longer held that playful smile nor did her large
and excited chocolate
brown eyes
twinkle with mischief
.
She
laid
completely lifeless
, but hopefully it wasn’t going to be too late
.
Connor
knew that
he
could save
his younger sibling. He
spoke
evenly because
they
didn’t have time to panic
and see her permanently slip away
.
“I have a plan, but
first she needs energy
and air;
a lot of it.”

Sarah didn’t need any
further
explanation. She grabbed a knife
from its holder and cut the shoulders
off
of Kara’s dress
and
she
sped down to her feet. S
arah
pulled the end of her dress down because the
securing
ropes were in the way and they
couldn’t cut them yet
. Sarah put
one
of her hands on top of
Kara
’s
chest
,
just above her bra
. The moment her
right
ha
nd
touched Kara’s skin, Sarah’s entire body starte
d glowing brightly. T
he bright energy from Sarah’s hands
began
pouring
and seeping
into
Connor
’
s
lifeless
sister.
She used her left hand to clamp Kara’s nostrils so that no air could escape.
Sarah
then
bent down and
firmly
forced air
down
into Kara’s lungs.
Kara’s chest rose from the external breath
, but not from her own efforts
.