Eleven

Waking up to the sound of muttering some time later, Genevieve turned her head and opened her eyes, glaring accusingly at the man leaning against the door. Ethan was glowering as Brandon muttered about having his home invaded and Vivi wasn’t even awake to have company.

“I’m awake now.”  She gingerly tried to sit up and Ethan was immediately at her side to assist.

“Should you be sitting up?” His concern was deeply annoying.

“Unless I’m supposed to be peeing on the sofa, yeah. Back up!” Snapping at him made him grin and that was even more annoying.

“When she gets up, look for her beads. I’ll clean them while she’s in the bathroom and smudge the sofa too.”

Genevieve took her time in the bathroom running cold water over her hands and splashing her face after she’d finished. Coming out she was met with a smouldering smudge stick and made to turn and lift her feet before she was allowed to go back and lay down. Her beads were handed back to her before Ethan sat himself on the floor by her head and looked at her curiously.

“So do those do anything? Or are you going to keep being my kind of girl?” He was needling her deliberately.

“It would figure you like the kind of girl who looks forward to kicking you in the dick.” She started rolling the beads in her fingers again. 

“Vivi!” Brandon’s appalled reprimand was almost drowned out by Ethan’s laughter.

“And the beads work fine as long as I’m not being deliberately provoked.”

“I’m looking forward to you getting back to normal eventually, Vivi. God, you are just awful.”  

“I like it. She’s more fun this way.”

“I told him if he leaves me mean, I can probably take care of myself better.”

“You’d have to, no one would want to be around you!” Brandon snapped at her.

“Obviously, I’d have one friend. Ethan apparently likes to be kicked in the junk.” She was grinning as Ethan shoved her shoulder. “Don’t shove me! I’m a delicate f*****g flower!” 

“If you're a delicate f*****g flower I’m a vegan chihuahua.”

“You could be! I don't know!”

“I don't know what's worse, you being sulky and nasty or you being cheerfully horrible.” Brandon brought over a sippy cup of water. “Don't drink it all at once. This should last a couple of hours.”

“You know, you could just put a pillow over my head and suffocate me for a quicker, more dignified death.”

“I'll keep that in mind, Vivi.” He rolled his eyes and got his keys. “Sage will be here in a bit.”

“Have a good day.” Genevieve lifted her sippy cup in a wave.

“If you decide to murder her try not to get blood on my sofa,” Brandon snidely remarked as he went through the door.

“Everyone's in a bad mood today.” Ethan almost sounded amused as he got up and made certain the door was locked behind Brandon.

“Except you, and as surprising as that is, it's nice.” She took a sip from her cup. “Your energy is better, you're still kind of an a*s but you're playful not prodding.”

“Thanks, I think. What the hell happened to you?” He came back to sit in the same spot.

“I don't know exactly. Brandon said I had a personality change last time I was concussed. But it might also be Remiel’s anger and frustration bleeding over. I haven't been able to feel him the same way since the concussion.”

“You didn't notice the change?”

“Which one are you asking about? I didn't realize how faintly I was feeling him until earlier. And I don't think many people notice when they have a personality change unless it's pointed out. You feel like you to you, if that makes any sense.”

“I guess it does.” He looked at her speculatively and then added after a moment, “I saw the video.”

“Great. Because what I really needed was for him to show that around. Have I been disinvited back yet?”

“Not yet. But you're a lot of creepy trouble in a fragile package. The Alpha wants to find a way to make you stronger and keep you safer.” Ethan watched her carefully and she turned her head to look at the ceiling. “You might need to go visit a pack with some relatively trustworthy witches close by.”

“Uh huh, farm me out. Took awhile for me to come back last time. You might not have to deal with me again for a few years.” There was no keeping the bitterness out of her voice, even though she’d meant to say it lightly.

“You’re not going anywhere until you’re acting like yourself again. No wonder Remi’s losing his mind.”

“I need him to be balanced and calm. Solid. I can’t find my feet.” Putting the cup on the floor she held the bracelet in both hands and rolled the beads, closing her eyes. 

“Pack members are there to be leaned on. He says you can feel things more clearly if you’re touching someone?” Ethan was lifting her feet before she’d realized he’d moved. With her feet in his lap she felt him trying to think solid thoughts.

“When do you feel most like yourself? Most comfortable? Tell me about that.”

“Going hunting. Moving through the woods with my pack, quiet and quick. Bringing down something big… like that?”

“What do you hunt?”

“Elk, deer, bear is fun.”

“My mom had a boyfriend who used to take me fishing sometimes. He’d get drunk and fall asleep after a while usually. But the quiet was nice. I hated actually catching anything. When he’d fall asleep I’d take the bait off my hook and just cast without it.”

“Why’d you hate catching anything?”

“Because he insisted if you caught something you had to eat it. I don’t like fish.” She smiled wryly. “And they looked so… sad somehow on the line.”

“So you just liked to sit next to the water?”

“Next to it, but the boat was the best.” Genevieve opened her eyes and looked down at him, “Mark put me in an inflatable boat once, he’d gotten a couple from a friend. He anchored his and had mine tied to it. Once he fell asleep, I untied myself and just drifted out. It was the best day.”

“Was he mad when he woke up?” Ethan started rubbing her feet idly.

“No, he’d, um, he’d actually forgotten he’d brought me. He was loading into the car when someone freaked out about a kid alone in an inflatable boat out in the middle of the lake.” She stopped and gave a short laugh in her throat. “He managed to convince the people who brought me in that he’d thought I had come in on my own. That was the first and last time I got to go out on a boat.”

“Being alone isn’t something I’ve done much of. The pack is always there, it’s comforting.”

“The way Remiel talks about it, it seems like it must be. I’ve always needed some space though. From mom, from her awful boyfriends…” 

“So the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?” She could tell he wasn’t teasing even though he sounded like it.

“I didn’t date drunks or drug addicts. Once I left that was it, no second chances, none of that on again off again crap. But I did still end up in abusive relationships. I thought I could see the signs, but… The men I looked for seemed strong to me, they seemed quiet. But they turned out to be more like crocodiles waiting in the water.”

“What did Remi seem like?” Ethan asked with a smile.

“Loud, terrifying. I wanted nothing to do with him at first. Once I actually let him talk to me that started to change.” Genevieve thought about it for a moment, “I think once I let him touch me that was it. His touch was… like cool water on a hot day. I needed it. I still need it.”

“How are you feeling?” She could feel he was brimming with curiosity, dying to know if he’d actually helped.

“Yes, you did help. A lot. I feel calmer. You’re good at this when you’re not being an a*s.”

Ethan grinned, “You’re still being fun so I can’t be that good at it.”

“You’ve put me back in a better mood. You might have noticed, Brandon is an a*s too. That seems to be my go to for good friends.” Taking a deep breath, she let the tension she noticed in her shoulders fade out.

“Ruby was supposed to come, but Alpha Germain wanted someone who looked more imposing to help keep you safe after they started looking into the number and the video. Someone is spending a lot of money to look for you.” He paused. “Does your mother know where you are?”

“I doubt it. I haven’t spoken to her since I was fourteen and the court said I didn’t have to.”

“So, not a good mother, then?”

“Ask Remiel about the big burn scar on my back. My mom couldn’t win mother of the year if it was a contest between her and one of those animals that eats its young when it gets hungry.”

“She wouldn’t be looking for you then.”

“Not unless she thought she could get something from me. And since I don’t have anything she could want…” Genevieve closed her eyes again feeling like a weight was pressing down. “Why Ruby? I liked her but why not Maria or Zara?”

“Ruby asked to come. I was trying to get a rise out of you when I-”

“I know.” She cut him off. “I’m not usually the jealous type. It seemed to amuse them and you. I think Remiel liked it, honestly.”

“He won’t like this.” Ethan stopped rubbing her feet and she opened her eyes again looking at him curiously.

“Won’t like what?”

“This. Another male sitting on the couch with his mate, rubbing her feet.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him you’re awful at it.”

His laughter was cut short by the sound of the doorknob jiggling. Genevieve pulled her feet back with a wince as he came off of the sofa. He put himself between her and the door as it opened.

“Brandon said you were sniping at each other, but the laughter sounded friendly.” Sage spoke coolly as he came in.

“Friendly sniping. Ethan is putting up with me better than Brandon was.” She offered as she picked up her cup from the floor and took a sip.

“How much have you had to drink?” Sage came over to look at her cup.

“No booze for me thanks but Brandon keeps the good stuff up in the cabinet over the fridge.”

“Good to know.” Ethan checked the door.

Sage snorted. “He doesn’t have ‘good stuff’, Captain Morgan does not qualify. How much water have you had to drink?”

“This is supposed to last me a couple of hours so I’m sipping slowly. I’ve had two juice glasses of water since I’ve been here.”

“He’s got you too limited. Drink this now, and when was your last Tramadol?”

“Before my nap, just after Brandon came back from shopping. I couldn’t tell you the time.”

“It’s time for another dose and for you to eat something else. He should have taken care of all of this before he left.”

“There’s a reason he hasn’t ever had a pet.” She muttered bitterly as she sipped her water. 

“He should float you out into the middle of a lake and leave you.” Ethan came back to sit at her feet.

“He should, I’d be thrilled.”

Sage rubbed his forehead before bringing the Tramadol. “Why don’t you go out and get her something for lunch, Ethan was it? I’ll give you a twenty.”

“I’ll cook something, I don’t have a car here.” He waited a moment, looking at Sage, before standing back up. Genevieve could feel his distrust.

“You look more like a gym rat than a cook.” Sage smiled faintly. “But it's probably fine, if you’re a terrible cook she can’t taste it anyway.”

“Remi mentioned that. He said to put extra seasoning in her food so she can taste it.”

“Oh god. I’d think tasting nothing would be better than getting a mouthful of pepper.”

“Remiel hasn’t given me a mouthful of pepper yet. The french toast he made was really good. I’d have killed for some pumpkin spice eggnog to wash it down with though.”

“That’s disgusting.” Sage looked at her as if she’d confessed to something vile.

“I can taste pumpkin spice eggnog! A little bit anyway.” She sipped her water.

“You are the reason we can’t have nice things.” He sighed and rubbed his temples.

“Migraine?”

“Coming on, yes.”

“Go lay down. We’re fine out here. I don’t need walkies or my litter box changed. It's all good.” Genevieve smiled sweetly. 

He laughed. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling a little better. I’ll be in the bedroom, keep the volume down?”

“Will do.”

“Oh, before I do, did you give Remi permission to take apart your necklace and have a man’s bracelet made?”

“I did. It’s a gift for a friend who could use the black sapphire more than I could.”

“He should really be asking a jeweler to put it together.”

“You do beautiful work Sage. And you don’t work in gold nearly enough.”

“Well, kyanite beads, gold spacers, he wanted a gold wolf’s head. That’s so cliche but he’s paying… I think I can put the sapphire from your necklace in it and make it look good if I make the wolf’s head myself.”

“I know you can. I wouldn’t have sent him to you otherwise.” She gave him a smile and finished her cup of water.

“She’s back to being nice again.” Ethan sounded almost disappointed as he put something into a pan and it started to sizzle.

“She has a tendency to reflect things back at you, give her calm energy and she’s nice. Usually. Around Brandon she can be a handful.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” 

Sage went into the bedroom and Genevieve got up carefully to go to the bathroom before making her way to the kitchen to refill her cup. Ethan had finished a grilled sandwich for her, putting it on the table with a cup of yogurt and a spoon, as she came to sit on the sofa.

“Thanks for making lunch.”

“You’re welcome.” He paused a moment. “Who’s the bracelet for?”

“A-” She glanced at the short hall to the bedroom before dropping her voice, “Mr. Germain. I asked Remiel to do something nice for him, and when he asked if I had suggestions…”

“What do those stones do? Kyanite and sapphire?”

“Black sapphire. Kyanite is a really useful one. It doesn’t accumulate negative energy and it does so many things that he would want and need. It’s a stone that brings out loyalty and fair treatment, it helps with working through disputes. He’s got businesses so he’d reap the benefits in negotiations and it helps bring conflicting energies into harmony, it makes dealing with people easier.” She looked at his dubious expression. “It’s good for dispelling illusion, anger, even frustration.The light blue I asked for will help deal with grief and letting go of the past, freeing him from guilt, the black will give him some protection and help hide him from enemies.”

“If it’s that useful why don’t you wear it?”

Sighing, she shook her head. “It amplifies things. Connections, the sound of other people's emotions for me. I’d love to be able to wear it, but the world is loud enough as it is.”

“You seem to be doing fine.”

“The people in the next apartment,” she pointed, “have been angry with each other for awhile now, there’s no noise you can hear because they stopped talking to each other. But when they see each other they’re screaming obscenities inside. Underneath of us, he’s worried sick about money. He can’t afford his apartment and he can’t afford his car payment. Above us, she’s got some really perverse sexual stuff going on. The man she brought over a bit ago, can you hear any of that? The things he’s saying? He doesn’t believe them but he’s paid to make her think that he-”

“OK! So… this is basically hell for you.”

“Yep. Kyanite makes it worse. I need space, insulation from people. With the freshly cleaned room and Remiel being under my skin, I couldn’t really hear your” Genevieve paused, “family. I heard them loud and clear when I came in, though. They don’t have anything against me personally, but they don’t like what I am. They didn’t feel that I belonged.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. But the stones… Sapphires are called Stones of Wisdom. It helps with intuition, clarity… self-mastery. Black sapphires are grounding and they deflect negative energy from others. I like it because it helps shield me from all the noise. But it’s good for dispelling doubt and relieving anxiety and sorrow too. I’ll get another eventually.”

“You need that more than he does.”

“Somehow I don’t think so. He’s been strong for a long time. Some support is going to be needed. Something’s…” Closing her eyes she rubbed the base of her skull. “Something’s not right. I don’t feel right.”

“Try to eat.”

It wasn’t the glass. This was almost opaque. She jerked out of it as Ethan dumped her on the bed with Sage. “Something’s wrong. Not right. Not-not-” The shudders shook her and made her side hurt.

“This room has the same crystals like in your room?”

“Yes, it’s muted in here. I shouldn’t be able to hear it or feel it at all. That’s-that’s…” She tried to shake Sage awake but he was unconscious. “It’s not safe here. We have to leave and take him too but I can’t go out there.”

“Get the crystals we’ll take them with us.”

“That won’t work. I move them and the room gets loud. This is like a-a safe room, you can’t just take a wall with you.”

“Remi is coming. So are a half dozen others. Some are going to go to the shop and get whatever you need.”

“Rainbow fluorite and black obsidian. Both are good for fending off attacks. Bring me the sea salt from the kitchen, there should be smudge sticks out there somewhere, and a bucket of hot water.” Genevieve could hear a whispering about a wolf at the door. And she tried to ignore it as he came back in with the plate and sandwich, salt, and a fat smudge stick. “Be careful. Whoever this is, is whispering about a wolf at the door. I don’t understand but it’s not nice.”

Taking a bite of the sandwich before she moved it onto the comforter, she used the plate to put the smudge stick on, grabbing a lighter out of Brandon’s drawer. The smoke from it curled and rose as she tried to light multiple points on it. Ethan brought the bucket of steaming water and she dumped most of the salt in it. “Come here.” She splashed some over his head and Sage’s and over her own before taking the last of the salt and lining the doorway. The water she had him carry to the windows and she flicked it over the glass repeating, “This room is closed. This room is sealed. This room is safe.” For good measure, she did the walls, floor, and ceiling as well while the sage made the whole of the room smoky. It did seem to help, it got quieter.

“Did that do anything?” Ethan was sceptically staring toward the door.

“It’s quieter in here now. But I still feel like we don’t want to stay here. And I think Sage might need a doctor or something. He shouldn’t be out like that.”

“I can’t smell anything other than this smoke. That’s not ideal, Gen.”

“I can’t help you with that. The smoke clears things. It’s helping with the room.” Her side was starting to hurt from standing but she gritted her teeth instead of saying something about it. She really didn’t want to lay down right now.

A loud knocking on the door got their attention and Ethan moved to open it cautiously, stopping before he got within two feet of it and then coming back.

“Walking out of here felt like being drugged.” He shook his head and sat on the edge of the bed.

Grabbing the bucket and lifting it painfully, she poured some of the water over his head making him sputter and look up. “Salt and smoke will keep you clear.” Looking toward the door she shivered. “If whoever this is can hit you that hard I’m going to need some serious coverage. You’re half deaf.”

“Can you smoke the apartment to the door?” He took the bucket out of her hands.

“No, but you could, I don’t know what that would get you though.”

“I’ll give it a try.” Ethan picked up the plate and carried it to the door of the room stepping out nervously. His pace to the door was faster this time and he flung it open without asking who was on the other side. 

Remiel’s wolf was sitting at the door looking agitated and he bounded in directly to the bedroom. Ethan followed leaving the door open. He dropped the plate as he teetered back in, but he made it, mostly. Genevieve poured more of the water over his head and then lifted his feet as Remiel started to drag him all the way in, trying to keep her salt line intact.

She thought she might throw up from the pain in her side. The wolf whined at her and she laid down on the floor, letting him push her shirt up with his nose and lick the painful area.

“Are you ok?” Ethan sounded groggy. 

“I’m hurting a little bit, but I’m fine. Are you alright?”

“Remi says you hurt so bad you want to throw up.” He groaned, “That’s not fine.”

“For a vegan chihuahua your legs are heavy. I was trying to keep the salt line intact.” Pressing her face into the cool of the floor, she tried to put the pain out of her mind when something changed. The pressure she hadn't realized she felt suddenly went away. “It feels like-like my ears just popped. Ethan? Can you?” 

“You want me to stick my head back out and see if they knock it off?” He didn’t sound enthused and she couldn’t blame him.

“Yep. If I knew another way to check… It had to have taken a lot of energy, they can’t keep it up forever.”

There were a few moments of silence, the only sound Remiel’s occasional soft whine and his tongue trying to ease the pain too deep for him to get at. “I still have a head. Let’s go. Someone will have to come back for Sage.” Ethan scooped her up off of the floor and Remiel forged ahead.

As soon as they stepped over the salt line she started to feel drained. Going back into the room would be stupid, but at least Sage should stay safe-ish until someone could get him. Genevieve was almost out of it by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs. 

“Stay awake. Hey, hey, stay awake. C’mon.” 

She shuddered as the glass came down. A blessed relief. The feeling of being drained stopped, replaced by the stillness under the glass. Ethan’s mouth was moving and she just kept watching. His face disappeared from view as she was shoved into a vehicle. It was dark inside and she was pulled into someone’s arms. Remiel was in front of her looking like he might be barking.

Trying to move her hand to touch him made him stop. The movement seemed to make him realize she was still there. He changed back and took her hand, squeezing it so hard she thought he might break it. It looked like he was talking to someone. There might have been the word glass.

The position she was being held in was uncomfortable and Genevieve tried to move herself off of the lap she was on, turning her head when she was prevented. Someone must have guessed the problem because she was adjusted. All there was to do now was to wait. Remiel stroked her face and kept talking. She’d mentioned it was silent hadn’t she? Did he know she couldn’t hear him? Finally, he stroked down over her eyes like Brandon had done. Resting might not be the worst idea as long as the glass was down.