Chapter 42 Chapter Forty-Two - Gabriella
Dark shadows, bright purple eyes, and flashes of blinding light plague my sleep. I even hear the faint sounds of animals growling and hissing viciously in my ears. The images carry a strong sense of unease that fills my dreams, putting me in a state of unrest, until, finally, I wake up. My eyes haven’t even fluttered open yet and already the pressure in my skull is so agonising, that tears start to pool behind my lids. I feel my body go into some chaotic state between shock and panic, where I no longer have control of my limbs, my body torn between running from pain it can’t escape and curling into a ball and surrendering to the agony.
I feel a scolding, yet soothing, hand on my shoulder, but I don’t pay it any attention as the excruciating pain splitting through my skull has a wave of nausea hitting me hard and fast. I roll to the side of the bed, instinct trying to aim me somewhere safe when my body becomes weightless, followed by projectile vomiting my guts out like a nuclear missile. I try to open my eyes to assess the damage and can just register the fact I’m looking directly into the toilet bowl. As an agonised sob escapes me, it brings with it another wave of vomit. This time, as I cling to the porcelain bowl I’m aware of hands holding my hair back.
“You’re okay, I’ve got you,” a deep voice soothes.
Jartre. Oh God, no. This is officially my lowest moment. My boyfriend holding back my hair while I puke my guts out, and I just realised I’m still naked. Could this be more mortifying?
Amidst the pain, I feel this sense of panic and worry floating around the back of my mind. It feels as foreign as it does comforting, if that makes any sense. I rest my cheek on the edge of the toilet seat, catching my breath. I feel a cool towel dab my face and wipe my mouth, and as I force my eyes open I see Jartre staring down at me with so much worry it makes my chest tighten.
He flushes the toilet and lifts me into his arms, cradling me against his chest. The contact of my skin against his as I’m curled up in his arms calms me. Through a glimmer of clarity, I realise that the burning sensation his touch brings is far more intense than I remember it being, but feeling it is making the pressure in my skull lessen just a little, but sadly not enough to call the pain bearable. I’ve had these brain-splitting migraines all my life, but never this bad.
I feel Jartre carry me to the bed, sit down and hold me in his lap. I feel Jartre place his hand against my forehead and immediately the pressure in my skull begins to lift as a wave of warmth comes over me until finally the pain is completely gone. My eyes blink open and adjust to my surroundings perfectly. I look up at him as he lowers his hand, his eyes watching me intently with that worry still filling their silver depths.
“How do you feel now?” he gently asks.
“You…you made the pain stop,” I whisper in awe. I wrap my arms around his neck, hugging him with all my human strength and relax as his arms wrap around me, holding me to him as he soothingly strokes my hair.
“You almost gave me a heart attack, and I’m not even capable of them,” he murmurs against my ear.
I pull back to look at him, that nagging panic in the back of my mind still present even though I feel so much better now. With my mind no longer clouded by pain, I realise why those feelings felt so foreign to me.
“You don’t need to panic anymore, I’m fine,” I assure him, tucking his long white locks behind his ear. “You’re more effective than any painkiller I’ve ever taken,” I say brightly, trying to lighten the mood.
“I’m not panicking,” he says defensively.
Au contraire mon ami.
“You’re right, you really can’t lie to an animai,” I tease. “I can feel your panic and worry, Jartre.”
He frowns at me. “How do you know that’s not your panic and worry?” I give him my best ‘come on now’ face, and he lets out a sigh, followed by a reticent smile. “You’ve picked up on that faster than I expected. Is it too much?” he asks with concern.
I shake my head, “Feels strange, but comforting at the same time.” I curl back up in his lap and relax as his arms wrap tightly around me. “How did I end up in the bathroom?” I inquire.
“I felt your nausea and transported us to the bathroom just in time.”
“Those are some super reflexes you’ve got there. Just how fast are you? Superman fast?”
“Faster.”
“The Flash?”
“Faster.”
“Awesome!” I grin. “But I really hope we never have to experience that again. That was mortifying.” I shudder.
“You have nothing to feel embarrassed or mortified of. Humans are far too squeamish, especially over their bodily functions,” he says with displeasure.
“You’re not wrong there. But still, not how I hoped to wake up after us having sex for the first time.” I sigh.
“It was a vision, wasn’t it?” I nod in confirmation. He sighs. “I’ve battled Gods with powers you can’t begin to fathom, but the pain I felt coming from you scared the fuck out of me. For a moment…For a moment I thought our bond was the cause of it.” His voice trembles as he says this, and I snuggle against him further. The fact he’s admitting this and sharing his feelings makes me feel like we’re making real progress.
“Just a migraine, I promise,” I say and plant a soft kiss on his sternum.
“That was not just a migraine. That was pain so severe your body was going into shock. Does this happen after all your visions?” His words are laced with concern, and I feel comforted just knowing how much he cares.
“Honestly, no. This was by far the worst one I’ve ever had. And don’t go reading into that like it was only worse because we had sex. I think it’s worse because it was just fragmented images I can’t make heads or tails of,” I say in aggravation.
“What do you mean?”
“Usually when I have a vision, it’s clear as crystal. Like watching a movie in my head in HD quality. It’s more real than any dream could ever be. But this and the last one, are just random images that make no sense. Kind of like flipping through a photobook really fast. I think that’s why they’re affecting me so badly.”
“I asked Zarseti about your visions. Well, more accurately accused her of knowing about it,” he casually admits.
I love how forthcoming he is being. Almost makes the pain I went through worth it. Almost.
“Because asking nicely wasn’t an option?”
“I was in a bad mood,” he huffs.
I gasp and pull back to look at him. “No! You? In a bad mood? Say it isn’t so!” I exclaim, clutching my chest.
He stares at me blankly, “Are you competing for first place in the Sarcasm Olympics?” he deadpans.
“If I were, I’d win,” I grin. “So, God of Grumpiness was grumpy again and was being accusatory instead of polite.”
“Well, it sounds bad when you put it like that.”
“As opposed to what?” I chuckle. “So, what did she say?”
“She was genuinely surprised. She had no idea you possessed abilities, but when she learned you did, she wasn’t shocked. She said it made sense, but…said there’s nothing she can do and warned me not to meddle with your gifts. She cryptically said you just need to endure the pain, but you’ll have answers soon enough.” He grinds his molars, clearly unhappy with the feedback he got.
“But there are answers?” I ask hopefully.
“It seems so. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help…I’m not accustomed to feeling so useless,” he says glumly.
“Welcome to being human.” I smile and stroke his cheek, running my fingers into his beard. “Thank you for trying and keeping your word. Maybe I don’t have answers, but it’s nice to know they’re coming. I’ll just think of it like waiting for presents from Santa. Just to be clear, Santa is made up, right?”
He snorts, “You don’t seriously believe in Santa, do you?”
“I just found out Gods and many other supernatural beings I thought were made up, now exist. Excuse me for double-checking,” I huff.
“There’s no Santa,” he says, rolling his eyes.
“What?” I shriek in devastation.
He shakes his head and kisses my forehead. “I’m glad you’re feeling so much better.”
“Much, much better. Thank you, Jartre.” I smile up at him and crawl out of his lap, getting off the bed and stretching out my limbs.
“Where are you going?”
“To shower and brush my teeth. I would invite you to shower with me, but I can guarantee the two of us will not fit. I don’t even think you’d fit in there by yourself.”
He rests back, propping himself against the headboard with his arms behind his head. Immediately my eyes slowly scan his entire body from head to toe, my teeth sinking into my bottom lip as I admire the sexy God splayed out before me. Ha, and I mean that literally. Seeing him lying there in all his naked glory gives me this sense of pride and excitement. I feel like I just conquered Everest.
“I don’t see the point in showering. I’m only going to get you dirty again.” He smirks, eyeing me hungrily and I’m shocked by how strongly I can feel that hunger echoing within me.
I take a breath to compose myself and smile over at him. “Then consider it like a fresh canvas you get to paint with, and you can make that analogy as dirty as you like.”
“Oh, I am. Now go and shower before I drag you back to bed,” he warns.
“Don’t miss me too much.”
I saunter into the bathroom, swishing my hips as I go, a smile breaking across my face when I feel that hunger become coupled with excitement. This bond thing is pretty neat! I don’t know if it’s the bond, our talk, or him getting laid, but having Jartre being so playful and volunteering his personal thoughts and feelings without prompt is such a good feeling. He’s probably still mad at Ezillus, but after everything they told me, I’m pretty sure they can handle themselves. I don’t know what you get a God as a ‘thank you’ gift, but Ezillus deserves one. I just hope Jartre realises what an amazing friend they have.