The old pain of that loss pierced Kara anew. If only she had stayed, waited a moment longer, something. But the grief had been too much to bear, and her fear had gotten the best of her.
Lizzy seemed to read the self-recrimination in her eyes. Taking Kara’s hands, she led them over to sit on the couch nestled in the far corner. “Don’t torment yourself over what’s past,” Lizzy said fiercely. “We’ve been given a second chance. However unreal, we’re together now.”
Kara clung to those words, letting them ease some of the lingering guilt. Lizzy was right. By some miracle of fate, they had found each other again. She wouldn’t waste it dwelling on past regrets.
Still, questions crowded her mind. “What happened after I left?” she asked softly. “How did you end up…”
“A freakish hybrid vampire wolf monstrosity?” Lizzy supplied wryly. At Kara’s wince, she sighed. “It’s all right. That’s what I am, and it’s brought me Finn, so I can’t fully regret it.”
Then, Lizzy’s expression grew distant, haunted by the memory. “After I ran away from my social worker, I was living on the streets, like I said, just trying to survive day to day. Then one night Cain found me, said he could give me a real home.” She shook her head ruefully. “I didn’t believe him at first. But then he showed me what he really was. He moved faster than my eyes could follow, fangs and all. I was terrified.”
Kara squeezed Lizzy’s hand in sympathy. Lizzy took a shaky breath. “But then he told me about dormants and said he could sense the wolf in my blood. Promised he’d help me, make me strong.” Her mouth twisted bitterly. “I was so gullible and desperate. When he offered me three square meals and a warm bed, I jumped at it. The monster hid his true nature well back then.” Fierce anger flashed in her amber eyes. “He promised to save me. But it was all lies, just a ploy to get me into his twisted experiments.”
Kara wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You couldn’t have known his true motives. He preyed on your vulnerabilities.”
Kara touched Lizzy’s shoulder, offering silent comfort as Lizzy continued haltingly. “The experiments were awful. The hybrid blood changing me hurt more than anything I could imagine. I wanted to die.” She shuddered. “Thankfully, I met Finn before they gave me the blood combination that turned me. I didn’t know what it meant that he was my true mate. At the time, I didn’t care. I just wanted a friendly face. You know? Finn got me through all of it.”
Her expression softened, love and wonder chasing away the shadows in her amber eyes. “He kept me sane and gave me hope when I had none.”
“I can’t imagine how awful it was. But you survived. You’re so strong.” Kara hugged Lizzy fiercely.
“What about you? How’d you come to be a part of this supernatural mess?”
Kara shrugged. “Almost the same way, only I wasn’t approached by a vampire. Peri and her crew found me.” Kara told Lizzy all about the four other healers who had become like sisters to her. She shared about Volcan and the nightmarish hell they’d endured at his hands.
“But”—Kara paused and glanced back at the closed door to the suite—“like you, I met my mate because of the hell I went through. His name is Nick, and as you know he’s currently brooding on the other side of the door.”
Lizzy chuckled. “So it’s not just Finn who broods?”
“Nope.” Kara shook her head. “That’s a wolf thing.”
Lizzy’s eyes dropped to Kara’s small stomach. “So how long have you two been mated?”
“A little over a year. I wasn’t supposed to be able to have children.” She ran a hand over her midsection, then told Lizzy about the sacrifices each of the healers had made. “I willingly gave up the possibility of having a child. It’s not like I know anything about being a mom. I never had one.”
“Can’t disagree with you there.” Lizzy lifted one shoulder. “We had some shit examples of mothers. But, then again, it means we learned whatnotto do.”
Kara nodded. “That’s true.”
“So if you gave that up, how’d you end up like that?” She pointed at Kara’s belly.
“Do I really need to have the birds and the bees talk with you?” Kara teased. It felt so good to laugh with Lizzy. They’d always been able to cheer each other up, even in the darkest of situations.
“Well, I thought I was pretty clear on the whole process, but apparently something is different when magic gets involved.”
“Fair enough,” Kara replied. “I was abducted by the former king of the elves.”
“Former? I’m guessing since he abducted you, he’s not unlike the vampire king that abducted me? Seems to be their MO. Hopefully, since he’s theformerking, he got what was coming to him.”
“I chopped him into pieces after I seduced him.” Kara waited to see what reaction this statement would elicit.
Lizzy’s eyes widened for a second, then they took on a wicked gleam. “Please tell me you put him in boxes and mailed him to other evil supernaturals as a warning not to mess with you.”
“Actually, you’re not too far off the mark.” Kara told Lizzy everything, especially how the Great Luna had blessed their child and how Nick’s blood now ran through her veins because of their bond.
“You had it way worse than me,” Lizzy said after they sat in silence for a few minutes, both seeming to need to process everything they’d shared. “And look at you, thriving like you always did. You’re like a cactus.”
“A cactus? Pray tell, how is that a compliment?”
