Chapter 360

Accidental Surrogate Chapter 360-I heal for hours that afternoon, long into the night. I stop and take breaks of course for dinner, to feed and spend a little time with Rafe, to consult with Cora about our next steps – but then I’m back to it. Talking to the men to see what hurts worst, accessing the gift, holding out my hands to fix them.

It’s incredible how much I get done, how much healing I perform as the day passes. By the time Sinclair puts his hands on my shoulders, proud but stern, I feel as if half of the room of terribly wounded men has been healed completely and the others are well on their way.

“Enough, trouble,” Sinclair murmurs to me and I gasp and twist to look up at him. “What?” I ask, confused. “But there’s so much more ”

“Enough,” he says, shaking his head at me. “It’s ten o’clock – ”

“What?” I gasp, truly surprised. I had no idea that the time had passed so quickly. I honestly thought it was earlier –

“Please,” he says softly, low enough so that only I can hear. “Stop now, Ella. They’ll all survive the night. They’ll make it till morning, when you can start again.”

I stop, trying to listen to him, but as I look around the room I feel so guilty. How can I let these men to go sleep in pain? How can I possibly curl up in my own bed, comfortable with my mate and my baby, knowing they won’t be able to sleep because they got hurt trying to protect my son? When if I just pushed a little further I could heal them –

“That’s it,” Sinclair snaps, perhaps sensing my guilt and anxiety, and before I can protest further he scoops me up in his arms, shaking his head down at me.

“Dominic!” I protest, frowning up at him. “Put me down! I’m not even tired yet! I can-

“Ella,” he says, his voice still stern, you have done enough for one day. And you don’t know what toll this gift takes on your body or if it takes a toll on = itself. Does it need to regenerate? Do you need to sleep for three days to build back your strength?”

I hesitate now, realizing that he has a point. We have no idea how this works, if there will be a cost to me. Honestly, considering that, I’m surprised he let me work as long as I did.

“Moderation, little mate,” he murmurs to me, turning me towards the door where Cora waits with little Rafe curled up in her arms.

“We’ll start again tomorrow,” Cora says, smiling at me and handing me my baby even though I’m still held lightly in Sinclair’s arms. “You did amazing today, Ella!” And I grin at her, happy to see that her own face reflects my excitement. The things we could do with this power But Sinclair just nods to Cora and carries me from the room, even as I call goodbyes and goodnights to the men still laying in their beds. He doesn’t put me down, in fact, until we get to our little metal bedroom door – and then I think he only does so because neither of us have a free hand to turn the doorknob.

“In,” he urges once the door is open, pressing a hand to the small of my back and ushering me inside. I do as he says, cooing down to Rafe, who burbles sleepily in my arms. As soon as I get the baby ready for bed and down in his cradle, Sinclair takes my hand and directs me again, this time towards the bathroom.

“So bossy tonight,” I laugh, letting him guide me, and he shoots me a little glaring smile over his shoulder as he brings me into the bathroom. He doesn’t turn the lights on and I’m glad he doesn’t the bathroom only has horrible florescent light bulbs. Instead, Sinclair just turns on the shower in the dark and begins to strip himself down. And then, once he’s finished, he peels off my clothes piece by piece and nudges me towards the shower.

I take his suggestion silently, stepping into the steaming water and taking a deep breath. Sinclair follows, wrapping his arms around me and letting me rest against him as I let the hot water do its work, letting it relax me, letting me realize how tired I really am.

“How do you feel?” Sinclair murmurs, his voice barely audible above the pounding of the water.

“Tired,” I sigh in reply, winding my arms around him, enjoying the press of his wet skin against mine. “You were right. I – I’m more tired than I thought I was.”

“Is it bad?” he asks, going a little tense beside me. “Do we need to -”

“No,” I interrupt, shaking my head. ” It’s a good tired – like after a busy day. But you’re right – my adrenaline was running me. It’s it’s good. To take a minute.”

Sinclair murmurs his affirmation, which rumbles warm in his chest, and then moves away from me for a minute to get some supplies. And then, to my delight and surprise, my mate begins to soap my body down, his movements soft but efficient.

“It’s incredible what you can do, Ella,” Sinclair says as he works the soap over my back. “But we have to be careful with it. Both for any tolls it takes on your body and...”

I open my eyes now, turning towards him. “And?” I ask, confused. “And what?”

“Ella,” he sighs, looking down at me. I’m worried that...well, that if people find out what you can do...”

“Oh,” I say, my eyes going wide. And I look towards the door, to where our baby is asleep in the next room. I want, quite suddenly, to have my eyes on him again. “You think that...”

“I think that if everyone knew what you could do,” Sinclair confirms gently, that people would want to direct you to use the gift how they see fit. By force, if necessary.”

My face falls, then, as I realize that he’s right. At the disappointment that I feel, that some would see this gift as a point of control instead of for the ways that it could help. My heart sinks, suddenly – with exhaustion, with disappointment, with wanting, terribly, for things to just be better – for things to be right –

“It’s all right,” Sinclair whispers, pulling me against him again, and I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to believe him.

“It will be all right.”

“So, we’ll keep it a secret,” I say quietly after a few moments. “Not forever, though, yes?” I ask, looking up at him. “Sinclair – I can’t I can’t keep this to – myself forever, not if it can help people. I can’t live like that.”

“I know, love,” he murmurs to me, looking down into my face in the dim light. “But until we have more control...”

I nod, agreeing. “Until we have more control.” Sinclair watches me carefully when we get up the next morning, as I change and feed Rafe and get the day started.

“I feel fine!” I say to him, smiling and laughing, knowing that he’s waiting for me to collapse or something.

“And the gift?” he asks as he stands from the bed, still wary. “Does it feel...I don’t know. Intact?”

I take a moment to pause, closing my eyes and checking in on myself. “It feels,” I say, considering, truly trying to assess. Then I open my eyes and shrug at him. “Honestly, Dominic, it feels like it always has. I don’t feel like any of it has been lost in the effort to heal the men, if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t think it works like that.”

“How do you think it works?” Sinclair asks, moving to the little table that holds our clothes and starting to get dressed for the day.

“I think the gift is an expression of the Goddess’ love,” I say, picking Rafe up from the little table we’ve designated as his changing table once he’s ready to go. “I think it’s limitless.”

“Interesting,” Sinclair murmurs, pulling a shirt over his head. He opens his mouth to say more, but suddenly there’s a knock at the door. Frowning a little, Sinclair moves over to it and pulls it open, revealing Henry there, his face serious.

“Hello, Henry,” I call, moving over and turning Rafe in my arms so that grandfather and grandson can say good morning. Henry can’t help the smile that comes to his face when he sees Rafe, but it’s short lived.

“Good morning, Ella, Dominic,” he says. “Would you be so kind as to come to the conference room? We have much to discuss.”

“Oh,” I say, looking up at Sinclair. “I was going to go to the medical room – ”

“I understand that you are doing important work there, Ella,” Henry says, leaning forward to catch my attention again. “I won’t keep you for long. But please – it is important. Roger and Cora are already there.”

“We’ll be there,” Sinclair says, nodding quickly to his dad. “Just a minute, to finish getting dressed. All right?”

Henry nods and rolls his chair away, heading back to the conference room, as I look up at Sinclair in wonder.

What on earth could be happening now?