Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 129: brought to you by the scorpion's bride

Miur is promoted to emergency vehicle, we get evidence that people are awful, my cat is so fluffy, and my toddler is having a rare grouchtastic morning, which I'd handle better if it weren't my time of month--again. Freaking body...if only I could stick my head in the sand like an ostrich and take a nap. Oh! And cozy snake babies! *wink* because I'm all about the babies.

_________________________________________________

Miur made a most fabulous ambulance.

Even so, it was well into the night when he finally landed with his damp and shivering patient. Covering up in pelts until she resembled a ginormous dung ball a beetle would push around did help. But it was the rainy season.

Ryan rushed her in the moment he could reach and set her in front of the roaring fireplace. He and Harvey slowly peeled away the furs to reveal the curled female within.

And what came out made Shay's heart clench painfully tight and her stomach knot.

She was pregnant, alright. Very pregnant. She wore only a wrap about her chest and a loose skirt about her hips, leaving her swollen belly practically falling off her, the bellybutton poking out like those plastic timer sticks in a turkey. A haggard face with a weak chin, close-sitting eyes, swarthy skin, and a large nose poked out from her damp hair. She was by far the ugliest and most miserable girl Shay had ever seen since she'd come to this world.

But what alarmed her the most were the girl's arms and legs. From her feet to her hip, hand to shoulder, were scorpion tattoos, overlapping till it made her skin look bruised and mottled. Their purple and black shades didn't help. And to top it off, one of her feet was clubbed and twisted, as though it had simply been born that way, and overall, her legs didn't say she walked around much.

Harvey made a throaty grunt that was somewhere between a retch and a whine.

Ryan just pressed his lips thin.

"Her entire torso is clear of marks," he said grimly. "Meaning she has never felt anything for her mates."

The girl didn't respond, only gingerly crawled closer to the fire. Her short, brown hair fell in thin strings over her eyes and ears. She didn't so much as look at us.

Shay did manage to get her to acknowledge her when she asked if she could check her out. And once her muggy eyes found Shay's face they never left, and her jaw slackened with surprise.

Shay took her pulse, checked for sores, color of her skin, etc. Everything that could identify her health. The only good thing going for this girl was that her skin was healthy, baring what looked like acne scars on her face Just by feel Shay could tell she was one of those who had been blessed with thick skin. Though not flattering, it made life easier. She also wasn't malnourished. She had been well-fed and allowed plenty of rest. That spoke good for her delivery. Shay didn't want her to end up like she had when she had had to deliver rabbits, and a human baby was bound to be a million times harder.

Ryan offered her food, but she just continued to stare. When Shay tried to introduce herself and the others, the girl only gave a short grunt of her name and fell silent again.

Her name was Oda.

"She probably has some mental trauma," said Harvey, watching her expressions and eyes with pursed lips.

"There's no way she doesn't," Shay said, once more looking at her patient's scorpion riddled limbs. "I just hope none of these...mates of hers are able to track her down through their mark."

Oda gave a sudden squawk.

"Knife," she yipped. "Knife, knife!"

"You are not cutting yourself this close to giving birth," Shay said, as gently as she could. "I can help you with the marks after."

"Why hasn't she tried to get rid of them before?" Harvey asked, honestly confused.

"Couldn't risk their retribution," said Ryan.

"But now that she's away..." Shay stopped, having spotted something dark peeking out from the leather bindings about her breasts. When the woman just looked at her when Shay asked if she could check, Shay went ahead and peeled back the leather to get a look.

Right over her heart was a curled scorpion, somehow more delicately drawn and beautiful than the others which peppered her body.

Shay smiled. "Well, at least there is one." She tapped the mark. "Is this the mate that brought you to the peacocks?"

Oda glanced down, then nodded.

"Hane." She touched the mark, and the first thing close to a smile curved her thin lips. "Hane." She looked back up at Shay. "Where's Hane?"

"He's outside my mate's territory for his own safety. I have a snake mate, you see."

She just looked at Shay blankly.

"Never heard of snakes?" asked Ryan.

But she didn't answer. Her eyes finally unfocused and fell away from Shay's unusual beauty to look into the fire.

"We may just need to bring Hane back if she can't answer any questions," Shay said.

"And it wouldn't be strange if she refused to eat unless her mate is around," said Ryan. "My mother treated girls like this before. They're always from the scorpion clan. They displayed trauma differently, but a common factor was that they often had extreme dependency on the one mate who showed them care, and since it was usually that one mate who would bring them to us..."

"Good crap, this is depressing," said Shay. She reached back to touch Harvey's tail which had wound about her ankle since the moment the girl had said her name. She could tell, from his shaking hands reaching for her calf, that seeing this broken female had traumatized him in a way. He probably couldn't help imaging Shay in the girl's position.

"We can set her up in the girl's room," said Ryan. "They're sleeping in our room right now."

But Shay shook her head. "No. It would be better if we asked Parker if we could use his hut."

"Why?"

"Because we're probably going to have to call Hane back in the near future, and Curtis will be more likely to let Parker into the house than a scorpion stranger."

Ryan and Harvey nodded in agreement, pleased that she had thought of that.

"I'll go talk to Parker," said Harvey. "Ryan..."

They exchanged looks, communicating something with their eyes, then they both nodded and Harvey set out without a word. Shay was too tired from staying up late to receive the girl to ask what had gone on between them. Besides, if they had bothered to stay quiet about it, they probably didn't want her to know.

She left Ryan with her so she could go check on her children, which had been temporarily set up in her bedroom. Three little girls and a dragon slept in a huddle hugged about by a heavily spotted red python, who raised his head on sensing her. He let out a single, questioning hiss.

"I'm just checking on you sweetheart," she went forward so she could rub Freckle's poor bruised head, then checked to make sure all the blankets were still over her babies. "Are you sure you don't need a fur?"

His tongue flicked the top of her hand in answer. He was fine. He was nestled deeply in the furs and grass of his mother's personal nest, with three warm sisters and a strangely warm-blooded dragon to keep him warm.

So she left her battered baby with a kiss and returned to the main room.

Harvey returned to say Parker, who had already been asleep, was still cool with getting to work on making his man shed habitable first thing in the morning.

Shay and her mates didn't get to bed until they'd made Oda comfortable in the kids' room. Curtis, who had been standing guard outside out of nerves once he'd returned from kicking out the scorpion, slunk in looking quite apologetic. Shay left cleaning up that particular mess to tomorrow's Shay and curled up with Harvey on his bed, not caring that it was smaller than hers. He shifted into his warm, fluffy leopard form and let his heavy purrs lull her to sleep.