Forgotten (23 page)

“
Behold,” murmured the
Celestial, gesturing with his/her seven fingered hands. “The Pool
of Purification.”

“
It’s not much to look at,
is it?” Kate sounded skeptical. “And where’s the water?”

“
The bio-chelation
chemicals do not flow into the pool until they sense there is one
within in it who is in need of cleansing,” Cerulean explained in a
soft voice. “You must therefore strip and climb into it in order to
be immersed in its purifying waters.”

“
Strip? I have to strip?”
Kate looked at the dark hole in the floor mistrustfully and crossed
her arms over her breasts. “Uh, can’t I have a bathing suit to wear
or something?”

“
This one is afraid that
may not be,” Cerulean said regretfully. “Every inch of your skin
must be bathed in the waters of Purification in order for the
treatment to be effective.”

“
Okay, well…Can I at least
have some privacy? I mean, I don’t need you guys watching me while
I do this for it to work, right?” Kate cast a glance at Rone and he
knew what she was thinking—she didn’t want him seeing her naked.
Never mind that he had seen and touched and tasted every inch of
her sweet, luscious body in the past, she couldn’t remember a bit
of it and so she was shy, all over again, just as she had been when
they first met.

He would have been happy to give her the
privacy she asked for, although it hurt his heart to do it, but he
didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone to get into that
strangely ominous stone hole all by herself. The thing reminded him
of an empty, toothless mouth, just waiting to be fed and there was
an odd, chemical tang in the air around it that burned his
sensitive nose.

The Celestial, however, appeared to have no
such misgivings.

“
This one will be pleased
to grant you privacy,” he/she said bowing obsequiously. When you
have stripped, simply climb into the pool. It will sense your
presence and begin to fill. Remember, though…” He/she leaned
forward and pointed two long fingers for emphasis. “Whatever you
do, you must
not
leave the pool until every inch of your skin has been bathed
and the water has drained, taking the fear toxins it leaches from
your body with it. Do you understand?”

“
I think so.” Kate nodded.
“Take off my clothes, get in the pool, and don’t get out until it
drains. I can do that—I’m a strong swimmer.”

“
Perhaps in water, you may
be.” Cerulean gave her a pitying look. “However the Purification
chemicals are something else entirely. But keep calm and do not let
fear get the better of you and all will be well.”

That sounded ominous to Rone but Kate was
nodding again, clearly eager to get into the pool and get on with
the process.

“
Got it,” she said
confidently.

“
Very well. Then this one
will leave you alone. I will come again later to see how your
Purification went.” Cerulean steepled his/her long blue fingers
together and made a deep bow. Then the Celestial turned and flowed
smoothly out of the Purification Chamber, disappearing through a
small wooden door on the far wall.

“
Well?” Kate looked at
Rone who was standing there. She had her hands on her blouse,
clearly ready to take it off. “Aren’t you going to go
too?”

“
I don’t think so,” Rone
growled, frowning. “I’m sorry if you’re feeling shy, Kate, but
there’s no way I’m leaving you alone to crawl into a strange hole
and be covered with the Goddess alone knows what kind of
chemicals.”

“
I don’t want to take off
my clothes in front of you!” she exclaimed, crossing her arms
protectively over her breasts. “And don’t tell me again how you’ve
seen me naked before—I know you have but I can’t remember it so it
still just makes me really
uncomfortable.”

Rone felt the
hunger
stir in him
again.

“
I haven’t just seen you
naked, baby—I’ve licked and kissed and caressed every inch of your
body,” he growled. “From the crown of your head to the tips of your
toes, there’s no place on you that I haven’t tasted and stroked.
But fine—I’ll turn around. Will that make you happy?”

“
I guess it’s better than
nothing.” Kate glared at him, her cheeks flushed.

For a little while there, when he’d joined
her in the shadowed part of the hall, Rone had almost felt like
they were growing closer. Now he felt the distance open between
them again and sighed inwardly.

She doesn’t trust
me,
he thought.
Doesn’t trust me because she doesn’t know me—not
anymore.

But there was nothing he could do about it
right now. Nothing but try and keep her safe and hope that the
treatment of the pool worked and his mate would remember him soon.
He turned silently, giving her his back, and waited.

* * * * *

Kate waited until he had
turned around, showing his broad back and shoulders, before she
started undressing. God, this was awkward! She kept hearing his
words ringing in her ears—
I’ve licked and
kissed and caressed every inch of your body,
he’d said. Had he really? She supposed that since they were
married he must be telling the truth. But still, it set her nerves
on edge and made her heart pound uneasily to hear him saying it out
loud.

We must have been a really
kinky couple,
she thought to herself as
she shed her clothing.
I wonder what other
things I let him do to me…
Then she
decided that didn’t bear thinking about.

When she was down to nothing but her
birthday suit, she walked over to the lip of the pool. She stood
there for a moment shivering—it really was cold in here without
clothes—and wondering how she was going to get down into it. There
was no ladder that she could see—no way to climb in or out of the
deep stone hole. She had no wish to jump—it looked like a long way
down and she could just see herself twisting an ankle. She supposed
she could scramble around until she was holding onto the lip of the
pool and then just let herself drop but it was still going to be a
three foot drop to the stony floor of the pool below—she wasn’t
looking forward to that.

As if he was reading her mind, she heard
Rone’s deep voice behind her.

“
Do you need help getting
in?”

“
No. No, of course not,”
Kate said hastily. She turned her head and saw that he still had
his broad back to her but his head was half-turned to speak. She
wished she had something to cover her back—she hated having her
scars exposed like this!

“
Are you certain? Don’t
hurt yourself just because you’re too proud to ask for help,
Kate.”

“
Don’t be silly,” she said
defensively, sitting down on the lip of the pool—damn, the stones
were
cold
on her
bare behind! “I can get down all by myself, just fine. And besides,
I couldn’t touch you anyway even if I
did
need your help—which I
don’t
. That’s the whole
reason I need the fear toxins leached out—remember?”

He sighed deeply. “I just thought I could
wrap my sleeve around my hand so that our skin didn’t touch and
lower you down that way.”

Kate thought about it for a moment but then
she imagined herself dangling from his hand, naked and with
everything on display, as he lowered her into the pool. No—she had
no wish to do that. It would be better just to scramble down
herself somehow.

“
No thanks,” she said,
trying to keep her voice light even as she was turning to grasp the
lip of the pool and trying to inch down slowly. “I’ll…be…fine.” Her
voice sounded a little strained since she was trying to get down
into the vast stone hole but she thought she managed it all right.
Finally she was hanging from the edge of the pool with her toes
dangling several feet above the bottom.

Well—here goes.
Letting go of the edge, she let herself fall,
trying to land lightly on her feet.

She did land but not exactly lightly. She
stumbled on the rough stones and went to her knees, scraping them
both raw.

“
Ow!” she gasped
involuntarily.

Immediately, Rone was at the lip of the
pool, looking down anxiously.

“
Kate?
Lalli?
Are you okay?”

“
I’m fine!” Kate stood
quickly and did her best to cover herself with her hands. “Look, do
you mind? I’m still naked here, you know.”

“
You’re not fine.” His
nose wrinkled. “I smell blood—where are you bleeding?”

“
I’m not—” Kate looked
down at her knees. Sure enough, there were trickles of blood
running down her shins—she must have hit the stone floor even
harder than she’d thought.

“
Come back up,” Rone said,
frowning. “I need to heal you.”

“
Heal me? What are you
talking about?” Kate demanded. “Do you have a first aid kit with
you or something that I don’t know about?”

“
No, with my tongue,” he
said impatiently. “I know you don’t want me touching you but it
will only take a few licks to seal those wounds. At least let me do
that.”

Kate frowned. “So you can
heal me just by
licking
me?”

“
Of course. I always
have—you’re my mate. It’s one of a Wulven Kindred’s abilities.” He
looked really upset and agitated. “Please, Kate— I can’t bear to
see you injured.”

“
I’m
fine
—it’s just a couple of scrapes
on my knees.” Kate was still trying to cover her breasts and sex
with her arms. “And besides, I have to stay down here until the
bio-chelation chemicals come up and bathe every inch of
me—remember?” She looked down at her feet. “If they ever come at
all…”

“
I don’t like the idea of
you going through that process with open wounds,” Rone said
stubbornly. “You don’t know what might happen if those chemicals
get into your bloodstream.” He knelt by the lip of the pool and
extended one hand to her. “Come on, Kate—let me pull you out and
heal you first.
Please.”

The worry in his piercing blue eyes was so
intense that Kate almost did as he asked. But then she thought of
taking his hand—touching his skin—and remembered the panicked fear
that had rushed through her when he grabbed her at the mall. Her
heart started pounding and she hung back, not wanting to go through
that awful feeling of being trapped and helpless again.

“
I don’t know—” she began
but just then there was a rushing noise and the stone blocks below
her feet began to bleed water.

At least Kate
thought
it was water. It
was clear and it bubbled and gushed up from the cracks between the
stones as though some hidden jet was forcing it upwards.
It was cold against her feet and before she knew
it, it had surged up to her ankles.

“
Kate, come out of
there—that stuff smells fucking toxic!” Rone was looking even more
anxious than before.

“
I don’t smell anything,”
Kate said stubbornly. “Look, I
have
to do this—it’s the only way to get back my
memory. Don’t you want that?”

“
Not at the price of your
life. I have a bad feeling about this!” Rone raked a hand through
his hair in agitation. “
Lalli,
please!”

“
I’ll be fine,” she
assured him again. “It’s just a little cold, that’s
all.”

Cold was an understatement. The clear liquid
which was now up to her shins, felt like liquid ice. Kate wrapped
her arms even more firmly around herself and tried to keep from
shivering. She noticed with some concern that when the chelation
chemical liquid touched the rivulets of blood running down the
front of her legs, it bubbled and foamed, like hydrogen
peroxide.

What if Rone’s
right?
she thought uneasily.
What if it does something to me? What
if—

Just then the clear liquid reached her
scraped knees—it stung like fire.

Kate inhaled sharply and clenched her hands
into fists. She clamped her jaw shut to keep from screaming. Her
knees felt like she’d dipped them in acid!

“
You’re in pain.” Rone was
still watching her with worry in his eyes. “I can tell
it!”

“
It just…stings a little.
That’s all,” Kate grated out, trying not to show how much agony she
was in. God—it was like rubbing alcohol times ten! She could see
the chemicals bubbling like crazy around her wounded knees, the
bloody foam rising as the liquid level rose as well. And then,
alarmingly, the crimson color of the foam began to spread. Thin,
bloody rivulets began to spiral through the clear liquid, swirling
in strange patterns over the surface of the bio-chelation
chemicals.

“
What in the Seven Hells
is going on?” Rone demanded, clearly noticing as well. “Why is it
turning red?”

“
I…I don’t know.” Kate
shivered as the bloody-red liquid reached her upper
thighs.

“
I don’t like it!” Rone
growled. “Come out!”

Kate didn’t like it either, to be honest.
The liquid in the pool was now completely red—it was like taking a
bath in ice-cold blood. But by now, it was up to her waist and
still rising fast.