Stuck With You

Part 24

Chapter 24

The pain would have made her drop his hand if it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t move.  The scream that left her mouth was as much as she seemed able to do.  Other than that, she couldn’t stop the pain.  It pierced her skull, tore at her mind, but still, she could do nothing. 

Aidirian tried to pull away from her, tried to stop her from sharing his pain, and even if she could move, she wouldn’t have let him draw away.  He was doing this for her; the least she could do was take some of his pain away. 

Someone grabbed her shoulders, and before she knew what was happening, the agony was gone, replaced by a small ache.  Aidirian went to pull his hand away from her, but one of the hands on her shoulder closed over their hands, stopping them from separating.

“Don’t,” Uncle Luc hissed.  “If you let her go, the process will stop.”

She tried to pull away from her Uncle’s grip, knowing what he was doing.  “Let me go,” she grunted as he held on tight with one hand. 

“No,” he mumbled.  “I can’t watch you go through that much pain.  I don’t care who he is, but I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“Uncle Luc.”

“Shut up, Celeste.”

She closed her eyes, feeling tears well up in them.  He was taking their pain, but what they felt was nothing compared to what he was feeling.  Not only was he allowing Aidirian to go through the process with no harm, but he was hurting because he was touching her too.  In trying to help, all she did was make matter worse. 

This would be the last time, the last time she allowed someone else to do the hard things for her.  She didn’t care if it was what they wanted, if they wished to keep her from the bad in the world.  She was tired of it.  She was tired of being treated like the little sister that everyone protected.  She had more power than they all did, excluding her Uncle.  She didn’t need them to keep baling her out of situations, to keep protecting her as if she were made out of glass.  After this, she would show them what it meant to have your wings tipped in gold.  She would show them what she did to have that honor.

Reaching over, she clasped her hand over her Uncle’s.  She could feel his pull; feel him tugging at their pain.  Taking a deep breath, she severed the connection.  He drew back in surprise, freeing her from his grip.  She let the pain flow through her; let it tear at her without a scream.  She would show them; she would prove to them that she was stronger than she looked.  Even more, she would prove to herself that she could do this on her own.  She didn’t need others to fight her battles for her.

“Let me help,” Uncle Luc demanded.

She shook her head, her eyes connecting with his in a silent plea.  “I want to; no I need to do this on my own.  Please, Uncle Luc.”

He closed his eyes, effectively severing their connection, but she could practically feel the acceptance rolling off him.  “This once, but I need to leave.  You understand that, right?  I can’t stand seeing you in pain.”

“I understand,” she whispered, just as his body disappeared from sight.

“You shouldn’t do that.”

Glancing down at Aidirian, she smiled.  “If I can talk while going through this, if I can move while feeling this pain, it lets me know that it isn’t as bad as it should be.  He took a lot of it away, most likely more than he should have.  I don’t mind taking a little more to ease your suffering.”

He tried tugging his hand away, but still could not.  “And you think this is lessening my pain, that seeing you wince makes me happy? I hate it, Celeste.  I hate that you’re taking my pain.”

“I’m not taking it; I’m sharing it.”

“Let go.”

“Aidirian—”

“Let go, Celeste,” he snapped, pulling his hand away once more.

She tightened her grip as she closed her eyes.  “Never,” she whispered.

It didn’t matter if he hated her after this, if he was angry with her for the rest of their very long lives, she wouldn’t let go.  If she could lessen his pain even a little, it was worth it.  She had told herself that she was going to begin standing up for herself.  She would start here.  No matter how angry Aidirian got, she wouldn’t let go until the process was complete.

“Anything that causes you pain, I’m supposed to kill.”

Her eyes popped opening, recognizing the voice, but not liking that it was in her room.  “What are you doing here?”

Innocence drew back, a slight frown on her face.  “You screamed out in pain.  The others stayed downstairs while I came to check on you.  Your safety is the most important thing to us all.”  The fae turned her eyes to Aidirian, who had frozen at her presence.  “Can I kill him?”

“No!” Celeste shouted.  “He’s not hurting me; he’s helping me.”

“If you want to make her feel better,” Aidirian started, “make her let go of my hand.”

Innocence glanced down at their joined hands with a small frown on her face.  “Maybe I should do what Celeste wants.”

“I want you to go back down stairs and tell the others that I’m safe.  I want you to leave this room until I tell you otherwise.”

“I’m hurting her,” Aidirian interrupted.  “Holding my hand is causing her pain, pain that she shouldn’t be feeling.”

Innocence frowned.  “She’s the one in the tales; she can’t be hurt.”

“Exactly,” Aidirian said, smugness in his voice.  “Now make her let go.”

Celeste turned towards him, a glare on her face.  “It’s almost over,” she hissed.  “I can hardly feel a thing anymore.”

“It’s more than you should be feeling,” he said with a glare that matched hers.

Innocence shifted on her feet, bringing attention back to her.  She sent Celeste a small, apologetic smile.  “You cannot be hurt.”

The fae lunged, but Celeste was ready for her.  Rising her free hand, she held it out.  Instantly, the fae froze in midair.  The shocked expression on Innocence face let Celeste know that no one had used magic on her before.  Celeste shrugged.  There was a first for everything.

“She’s going to be mad,” Aidirian mumbled, “but not as mad as I am when you let me go.”

“You got your wish,” Celeste said, pulling her grip from his.  “It’s done.”

“Like I would know,” he hissed.  “I didn’t feel anything.”

Celeste shrugged.  “Tell me, what color is Innocence’s hair?”

“What are you talking about?” he asked without looking in the fae’s direction.  “It’s white.”

“Look at her,” she demanded.

Aidirian let out a loud sigh before turning towards Innocence.  He began turning back towards Celeste before freezing and looking back at the frozen fae.  “It’ green.  Not only that, but it has leaves and vines in it.  It looks like a plant is growing in her hair.”

“It only looks like that when she’s trying to use her powers,” Celeste told him.  “When she’s dormant, it’s just green.”

“So it worked,” he whispered. 

She smiled at the marvel in his voice even as she swayed on her feet.  Even if she didn’t feel as much pain as she should have, the energy it took made her weak.  “It worked,” she echoed, stumbling.

Aidirian shot up, wrapping his arms around her just as she began to fall.  “Shh,” he whispered, “I got you.  I’ve always got you.”

She smiled up at him.  “Even when you’re angry?”

He smiled back.  “Especially when I’m angry.”