Occhiolism

(Image by inarizoo at morguefile.com)

With a container of left over stew and a box of strawberry cheesecake pie I headed for their front door. I slung my medical kit over my shoulder and my hand has just reached out to the door knob when Wyatt placed his hands on the door on either side of me. He was very, very careful not to allow our bodies to touch. I still felt the heat of him against my back. The tiny hairs on the nape of my neck raised as goosebumps sprinkled all over my body.

“Sarah…” He rasped my name softly, in a low seductive tone. I fought the full body shiver that it caused me. He leaned his head forward, nuzzling the hair on the side of my head. Still he didn’t touch my body with his. Only his lips whispered, grazing over the shell of my ear as he spoke, “I’m not your enemy, Sarah. I would never, ever hurt you. I wish you could see that…”

His hot breath against my ear made me shiver in a way I couldn’t fight. Caused heat to pool low in my abdomen. My breasts felt like they were swollen, but it was just the nerves becoming aroused. I closed my eyes and lowered my head. I had nothing to say to that.

His lips didn’t quite touch my skin but they trailed downward, his hot breath lathed against my sensitive nerve endings along my neck. His chin brushed my shoulder. He spoke softly, “I can’t get you out of my blood, Sarah. And I know you still want me… Give us another chance.”

I shuddered and opened my mouth, what would I say? Desire made my head foggy. I desperately wanted him to touch me. Wanted to push my hips back, press myself against him. Before I could do or say anything that would get me in trouble his mom’s voice broke the spell.

“Junior!” She called from the direction of the kitchen, “Get your butt back in here! You’re on kitchen duty tonight!”

He used his hands to push off of the door and the heat left with him, leaving me feeling cold all over. I gave a shake of my head and turned the door knob. I stepped back to pull the door open and stepped through it, putting the door between us.

I looked over my shoulder at him and said, softly, “Physical desire is a terrible basis for a relationship. I can’t trust you, Wyatt. And you know why.”

I pulled the door closed on his face, blocking his stormy expression from my view. I leaned back against the door for a moment, gulped in refreshing bursts of air. I gave a little shake of my head and stepped down off of their porch. I made it toward my car and carefully stowed my bag and the left over food into the passenger seat.

My car was a little electric car that I had to have a charging station installed at my house to charge it. There was no where else to charge it out here in the country. But I didn’t want to pollute the air with a gas car. So I ate the cost of having a charging station installed in my garage and the cost that drove my powerbill up.

It was worth it. The car started right up and I backed out of their driveway. Anxiety pooled in my stomach now. Had William gone to my house to look for the angel? Did he find anything? I would find out soon enough.

I pulled out onto the old, dirt country road and made my way back home. Saya would have guarded the angel for me. And she was the best guardian dog a woman could ask for.

---

I got home to find the light on in my kitchen. It hadn’t been on when I left. I was particular about my utility consumption. Lights and water usage were only for what was needed. I pulled into the driveway and then off to the side of my garden. The gate was closed but it wasn’t locked like I had left it.

Fuck. I thought to myself.

William had definitely been by. Or maybe it had been Winston when he had left relieve William. I didn’t like the idea of any of them in my home without my permission. I shook my head and went inside. Unsurprisingly the door was unlocked. Another thing I hadn’t done. Whoever had been in my home had been lazy and unexperienced at breaking and entering.

I pushed open the door. My home wasn’t ransacked, thankfully. At least whoever had been here had been smart enough not to do that. Saya barked from the back of the house but with a strange echo to it. I made my way toward the sound.

Saya? I called out through our mental link.

Trapped! Intruder trap! She sent back along with of the bathroom. She was scratching at the door now. Fury lit a fire in my blood. How dare they! I raced through my bedroom to the bathroom and pulled the door open.

A ball of fluffy white fur hit me in the chest like a canine homing missile. I almost fell but braced myself at the last second. I huffed a breath out and hugged the dog to me. She squirmed a second later and I let her go, running my hands through her body to see if she had any injuries.

Not. Hurt. Saya sent with irritation through our link. Intruder jerk! Good man now bad man! Intrudered!

I stopped running my hands through her fur and headed back to where the hatch to the secret basement was. Saya followed on my heels grumbling with growls and snarls, but also muttering through our link. She sent me a mental image of the intruder. I understood why she was so upset.

It had been William. The Wattson brother that she had liked the most, because he had always been polite and friendly with her. Winston had been standoffish with the dog, and Wyatt had never taken much interest in her. William on the other hand often bribed her with treats.

That was probably how he managed to get it. Bribing her with a treat. The rug that been left over the hatch was dragged off, flung against the wall. Fury simmered in my blood more. My basement was my sanctuary. I pulled the hatch open and started down the stairs. Softly I called out, “Camael?”

In the corner near my private library he was sitting on the lone chair in here. A book in his hand. It was a paper back. The front had a woman in a corset that was being tugged open by a man who no shirt to conveniently show off his ripped chest and abdomen.

“Oh my sky!” I gasped out, staring at him, “You’re reading a bodice ripper!”

“Is this how earthborn believe fornication with a skyborn works?” He asked me, his blue eyes settled on my face.

“Ew.” I looked closer at the cover the book he was reading. The man without a shirt, that showed off an unrealistic amount of muscles had wings. Black wings, of course. They blended in with the background color of the cover. I missed them because of the colors. I wrinkled my nose at him, and said, “Please don’t say fornication, it gives me the ick.”

He raised an eyebrow at me and asked mildly, “What should I say instead?”

“I don’t know.” I said with a shrug of my shoulders, “Make love, have sex, hell fuck?”

“Alright. Is this how earthborn believe fucking a skyborn is like?” He said, staring straight in my eyes. The unwavering eye contact and the vulgarity of it sent a bolt of lightning to light a fire in the pit of my stomach. I felt my inner muscles clench of their own accord. He continued on to ask, “Do people really believe a skyborn can fly with their back to the ground so that their partner can ride them like a quote ‘skypony’?”

The mental image that conjured up was both hot and ridiculous. Mostly ridiculous. I gave a shake of my head and said, “No. I don’t believe anyone with common sense believes that is particularly possible. That book you are reading is a fantasy, written by a woman who sells fantasies.”

He set the book aside and said, blandly, “Having sex in the air is typically impractical. Especially if one partner is earthborn. The higher up you go the colder it gets, and it can be difficult to keep your wings moving at the correct pace when you are aroused.”

Heat tingled through my nerve endings when he said the word ‘aroused’. I bit down on my bottom lip. This was all Wyatt’s fault. He breathed on my ear and nuzzled my neck, and now I was horny and thinking inappropriate things about this poor, injured angel. I shook my head violently and tried to force my own arousal away. It wasn’t working very well.

“Right, yes. I think most people would realize it’d be a recipe for disaster to try and, uh, have sex in the air.” I said, pulling on the collar of my shirt with one finger. When had it gotten so hot down here. “Anyway… Someone came to the house and locked Saya in the bathroom. Did they find you? I’m guessing not since you’re, y’know, fine?”

He smiled and set the book aside, letting the topic of sex with skyborn go. He nodded at my words and said, “Yes, someone came by. However, I have the ability to use glamour. He came down here but he could not see me. He poked around in your things but eventually left.”

Relief flooded through me and I said, “That’s handy. I’m surprised though, usually it’s only members of the Elihoem royal angel family that has the ability to glamour. You must be strong.”

He just looked at me, his eyebrows lifting at me faintly. His gaze shifted over my face as if he was waiting for me to come to some conclusion. The look is what did it. Horror flooded me when it hit. He was a member of the Elihoem royal family.

“Fuck.” I swore, lifting my hands to my face.

I should have left him the hole that was my strawberry patch. This would only complicate my life in ways that I didn’t want it to be complicated. I ran my palm over my face, staring at him in silence as I tried to figure out how I would keep him silent about seeing me. It would depend on how high up he was.

“Yes.” He answered my unspoken question, “I am crown prince Camael Elihoem. My memories returned while you were away. Ironically, it was that terrible book that triggered them. They have everything that one can get wrong about skyborn society… Well, wrong.”

“Fuck!” I swore louder and took several steps away from him. Horror and fear flooding my veins and making me want to run away from him. It drowned out his words on how his memory returned. I would have found it funny, if my life wasn’t about to explode. There was only one reason he was here. Only one reason a member of the Elihoem royal family would be here. Everything was going to collapse. My carefully constructed life was over. My peace. My farm. My dog. Were all at risk now. I hadn’t rescued a random angel. I had rescued the enemy.

He was in my home.

“Sarah.” He said in a calm, voice. He rose from his chair and raised a hand a toward me.

My anxiety pitched up higher. Was he going to try and glamour me? Was he going to try to capture me? Maybe imprison me down here until he could report back? I had to get away from him. I had to flee right now.

I whirled when he took a step toward me and raced toward the stairs. My heart pounded in my ears, making me want to scream. Pure and unadulterated terror took over my brain. I caved to the irrational need to flee from this man, this royal angel.

I made it to the bottom step of the stairs leading up out of the basement. Then he had an arm around my waist and he was pulling me backward. He jerked me off of my feet and away from the stairs. My toes skimmed the floor as he snagged me against him. The air was knocked out of my lungs and my hands reached for the railing, my fingernails scraping against the wood as I tried to get purchased.

“No no no!” I cried.

Above me up the stairs Saya set off in a storm of furious barking. She growled, barked, and danced back and forth. She was too afraid to come down the steps but she barked in fury at Camael for grabbing me. She went insane through our link as well.

“Hush now.” He told both of us, dragging me back deeper into the basement.

I kicked my feet backward, squirmed and bucked my hips. I clawed at the arm holding onto my waist. I tried to break free. But he was skyborn. He was stronger than I was. I writhed in his grasp until all of my energy was spent. He held me still until I didn’t have me to fight anymore.

Unwanted tears started to sting my eyes. They dripped hot down my cheeks cooling as they slid down over my chin. A sob broke out of my throat and I let myself become dead weight. My life was ruined. It was over. I had been found.

“Sssh.” Camael whispered in a soft, comforting tone. “Be still, be calm.”

He murmured gently, he turned and walked us back to the chair he had sat in earlier. He eased down into it, holding me against him and partially in his lap. He removed the arm around my waist to stroke his palm up and down my back as I sobbed.

“It will be alright, Sarah.” He told me. His hand was tender, almost loving as he continued to try and comfort me. Like he was soothing a terrified animal.

I balled up my hands and pummeled them against his chest. How dare he tell me it would be ok? It wouldn’t be ok! My life was ruined. I twisted in his lap and glared at him. The tears still coming unbidden.

“It isn’t ok!” I sobbed, “You’re going to take me away from my life!”

He was silent for a long moment, just gently stroking my back until my tears dried up. I went slack in his arms again, only to lift a hand and wipe away my tears. I frowned up at him and asked, “Is that what you were doing out when you fell? You were looking for me?”

He stared at me in silence still, looking down in my eyes. His blue ones full of mystery. I wondered what he saw in my own green eyes that were now probably bloodshot and watery looking. I licked at my dry lips, running my hand underneath my nose to wipe away snot as well.

When he remained silent I grew angry again. The heat of my anger in my voice when I demanded, “Answer me!”

He let out a sigh and gave a small nod of his head. His voice was soft as he said, “Yes, Sarah. I was looking for you. You’re needed.”

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to keep the memories at bay, but they flooded up all the same. A beautiful golden haired woman with my green eyes, kneeling before a five year old me. Her voice unbearably beautiful as she told me: “my little Sarah, you’re needed.”

The memory of needles, the memory being poked, prodded. The experiments. The blood transfusions. They bone marrow grafts. The spinal taps. I shook my head at him and told him, in a hot angry voice, “No! I am not needed! Find another person to harvest blood and bone from!”

He lifted his good hand, cupped my jaw. His thumb stroked oh so gently across my face. He was still trying to comfort me but it only made me angry. How dare he touch me with such tenderness when he was asking me to go back to being tortured on the daily. I shoved his hand away from my face, then I put my hands onto his chest and pushed away from him.

I got my feet on me and stood up. He allowed me to. He could catch me if I tried to run away again. He didn’t need to remind me of that. He tilted his head up to look at me.

“You are needed, Sarah.” He insisted, his voice gentle as he said, “I’m sorry to ask this of you. I know you would rather stay here with your farm. But we need you. You are the only one who can help.”

“Why?” I demanded, my hands going to my hips. I didn’t want to hear it. I had been told I was special, I was a savior, I was needed my entire life. But no one had ever thought about the toll it took on me to be a special, to be the savior. No one had ever cared about my pain. About my suffering. “There are other skybloods out there. You don’t need me.”

“No.” He said softly, “We do need you. The other skyblood are different. They don’t have your gifts.”

I closed my eyes and dipped my head. Why did it have to be me? Why did it always have to be me? I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. I ground my teeth together and shook my head at him once more. “No. I refuse. Find some other way. You don’t need to harvest from my body to fix whoever it is you are trying to fix.”

He stared right into my eyes. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t turn away. He just stared into my eyes and said, gently, “I won’t force you to do this. But I have to ask you to. It isn’t just anyone that is sick. It is all of them.”

I raised my eyebrows at him and asked, “All of who?”

He was silent for a moment, but I saw a mixture of fear and sorrow in his expression. It was just a glimpse until it faded away. But his voice still contained that same mix of sorrow and fear when he said, “Our children, Sarah. All of them.”

I reared back, taking a step back from him. The horror of it was too much to comprehend at that moment. My lips parted, my jaw unlocked. No sound came out. I just stared at him for several long moments.

“Every single child under the age of ten is sick, Sarah. As for the babies? Those under a year?” He gave a small shake of his head at me. “The babies have it the worst.”

“Sick with what?” I asked, frowning at him.

“We are calling it the Lung Plague. Our scientists call it angelopneumoni virus.” He said, frowning at me. “The children struggle to breathe. Their lungs filled with fluid.”

I closed my eyes. Unwanted the image of a NICU came to my mind. Poor little babies with nubs where their wings would grow, all swaddled in tight blankets, crying and wheezing as they tried to breathe.

I couldn’t take the idea of that. I lifted both hands and ran them over my face. This was horrific. It was a nightmare. I understood why they wanted me. Why they would want me to come back. They believed I would be a panacea. They believed that my blood would be a cure-all.

“That isn’t fair.” I told him, uncrossing my arms and dropping them again. A frown settled over my mouth and I said, “It isn’t fair to ask me this. How can I say no to children? How can I sit back and tell anyone that I’m going to let their babies die because the procedures are too painful?”

He did look away now, his gaze drifting over my library of books. It was split in two sections. One for all my romance novels and one for all my medical books. My shoulders sagged, pain settling into them once more. Two bright spots of pain that I usually ignored but tonight it was too much for me. I rolled my shoulders as I stared at him, trying to work out the pain under my shoulder blades.

“You know it isn’t fair!” I said, anger in my voice, “Why can’t they find someone else! There are other skyblooded people in the world! I’m not the only one. I can’t be the only one!”

He turned his gaze back to me and frowned slightly, “I’m sorry, Sarah. We’ve tried other skyblooded people. None of them have the properties that you have. None of them have that healing factor. Only you.”

I sagged, my knees giving out on me. I ended up sitting with my legs crossed on the ground. I put my face in my hands and gave another little sob. How could this be? This was a nightmare. I had made a new life for myself. A life far away from the skyborn. Away from the people who knew about my blood. Away from the people who saw me as a walking panacea for all their illnesses.

Away from people who looked at me like I was some sort of savior. I didn’t want this. I wanted to be left alone on my farm with my animals and my dog. I wanted to be just Sarah. Just a rural country doctor that took far of farmers and their families. Who grew her own food. Who was self sufficient.

“I won’t force you.” Camael said, softly. “Even if I wanted to force you, I couldn’t at the moment, I cannot fly. But I hope you will consider it. We will lose our children if you don’t help us.”

I jerked my head up, glaring at him with fury. I curled my lips upward and snarled, “You’ll lose your children because you haven’t tried hard enough to find a cure! Don’t put those deaths on me! I’m not the one that who made them sick. I’m not a virologist. It isn’t fair to do this to me!”

“Life isn’t fair.” He said softly, giving a little shake of his head. He continued to say, “We have all the top virologists trying to find a cure, but no one can. We need you.”

“I don’t care!” I yelled back. It wasn’t true. I did care. Children were innocent. They didn’t deserve to suffer because I was too afraid to go through more pain. Because I was tired of being pricked like a pin cushion.

I ran my fingers through my hair, letting them tangle in the curls before dropping my hands again. I pushed myself up from the ground and tilted my head toward the ceiling of my basement.

“I hate you.” I told him, bitterness in my voice.

“I understand.” Camael said, his voice gentle. “You can hate me all you want if it helps. I can take that.”

I closed my eyes once more and sighed. Through our link Saya sent me a worried feeling. She was trying to make sure I was ok, even if she was too afraid of the stairs to come down. I sent her back a mental wave of reassurance.

“Fine.” I told Camael, my lips twisted up in a frown, “I will do it, but when it is over I’m coming back to my farm and I don’t want to see you or another angel ever again. Understand?”

He gave a slow nod of his head and said, “I understand.”

I frowned at him and said, “I have a landline, so we can call whoever we need to get someone to come pick us up. In the meantime I’m going to have to continue hiding you from Wyatt and his brothers.”

He smiled vaguely at me and he said, “I could just take care of them.”

“No!” I said, shaking my head at him. “They’re assholes but they mean well. I’m pissed as hell at William, but I don’t want them killed or injured. Nor do I want their minds messed with, do you understand me?”

He frowned at me but nodded his head.

“I also need you to have a earthborn come take care of my farm while we are going. And Saya will be coming with us. So someone had better be out here to guard my animals.” I frowned at him and added, “But no one with wings. That would be a bad idea. Do you understand?”

Once more he nodded to show that he understood me.

I sighed again and said, “Alright. Lets go upstairs and make whatever phone calls you need to make. I’ll have to call over to the Wattsons to let them know I’ll be gone. Along with the Brickers. They’re my two closest neighbors and will notice, eventually, that someone else is here. So I’ll need to know who is coming to look after the farm.”

“I can make those arrangements when I contact my sister.” He said, as he stood up from the chair again. “I will have to reach out to our liaison in the city, and have a call routed to my sister. It might not happen tonight. St. Celestia doesn’t have land to sky phone lines yet. We have too much celestia crystal in our buildings and it interferes with…”

He trailed off, the look I gave him likely told him I wasn’t in the mood for a technology lesson. Especially not about why his stupid sky city didn’t have cellphones. I hoped my smartphone would work at all up there.

I didn’t like having him at my back as we went upstairs, but I was afraid Saya might attack him if he went up without me. I found my fluffy white dog at the very top of said stairs. I reached out and petted her furry head, letting her know that everything was ok.

We go trip. Soon. I told her through our link. We go fly. Fly with bird people.

She stared at me intently for a moment with her big, liquid brown eyes. She then sent me mental image of her flying through the air on her own. Her tail started wagging happily. I winced and told her. No. Carried.

I sent her the mental image of her in a large basket, nestled into blankets, being carried by an angel through the air. She sent me a wave of dissatisfaction and walked off. I sighed ever so slightly.

The skyborn didn’t know everything about me, and I was going to keep it that way.