Love Beyond Sanity (2 page)

Tatiana sighed, her shoulders slumping, and Larissa lost some of her anger. They were all under an enormous amount of stress. Tatiana finally spoke. "You don't have any offensive powers. You know that's true. We all dance around the subject, but let's just face facts. Neither you nor Morgan can wield magic that can even wound, let alone kill."

"That's true." Larissa nodded. "Remember, Tatiana, even the most gentle creatures can kill when provoked to save their young." Clasping her hands in front of her, she tried to move on from this subject. "I would beat with a bat someone who came at Charma, until they were broken and bloody like the most meager human, if I had to. Besides, Morgan and I have always thought it was just as important to outthink our enemies as to win in a physical battle."

Larissa had seen enough of what stupid brawn and pride could do. It was what had gotten them into this mess to begin with.

The Great One had prophesized that eighteen children would be born together and one apart. The eighteen were the world's saviors. Each having a soul mate, they would battle the child born apart. He was, this lonely baby, evil personified. It was also said he was a demon from another dimension. Larissa sighed. They'd seen so much death, so much destruction. They didn't want to see it happen to their children—even if it seemed ridiculous to think that eighteen children could be born together. There weren't that many women pregnant. So they had tried to thwart destiny and in the end they had made it come true. Without the knowledge of the Great One or Abraxas, their elected leader kept separate from the religious overtones of the Great One, they'd called forth earth magic. The idea had been to bring the evil to earth and trap it within magical means that would prevent it from ever being born.

Things had gone terribly wrong. She gulped at the memory. Before they'd even known how terrible the future had become the pregnancies had started. Then they'd understood. Now they were running for their lives and the lives of their babies who hadn't asked for this existence even if they'd been foretold to live it.

Larissa needed to make her point. "Brawn and unrestrained offensive powers didn't stop this from happening. It's time for us to use our brains and not just our instincts." The prophecy had only come to fruition because of the absolute conviction the others had that they could not lose. The other Outsiders seemed to forget the universe required balance from them as much as the maintenance of good over evil. It was their credo, always maintain balance.

"I agree with you there." Tatiana touched Larissa's arm in a gesture Larissa knew was meant to soothe their ill feelings. For her part, she didn't have any bad thoughts harbored inside of her. She knew who she was, she knew who Morgan was, and that was good enough for her.

The others would never understand. Usually, in the past, if you had no offensive power, you married someone who had one. He or she could then defend your family. But when Morgan and Larissa had felt their connection, no amount of sound reasoning about what should or should not be would dissuade them from being together.

The Outsiders had always treated Healers with kid gloves, especially those whose abilities let them focus on emotions and mind alterations. Frequently, those select few who could do what she and her husband could, went a little bit crazy. It could be overwhelming to be constantly inundated with the needs of others. To actually take and absorb the bad feelings and mental illnesses of another person as your own was emotionally—and physically—draining. Someone who could not do what she did would never understand the strength it took to endure it. Tatiana who could heal physical wounds with a touch did not have to take on the wound as her own.

The others, when they looked at Healers, they saw fragility. They didn't see the sheer force of will it took to get through every day doing what they did. As far as Larissa was concerned, they were amongst the strongest members of Outsider society. Everyone had their role, everyone was pivotal, but the Healers were the unsung heroes.

She put her hands on her hips. "Listen, Tatiana, I can only focus on today. Our children are at risk. We are responsible for that. The Evil One grows stronger every day, even now as a baby. Yet still he could not track the children if they were on their own. We, just by existing, are drawing his attention to them. He can feel us. The children have to be taken away from us if they are going to survive."

Tatiana's eyes filled with tears as she looked at her own son. "I can't separate from him. I'm his mother."

She could feel Tatiana's pain as readily as if it were her own. The idea of not being with Charma, not watching her grow up, not teaching her to be the woman she was meant to be felt like something akin to losing a limb.

Who would teach her daughter what Larissa knew about the strength of the Healers? Who would help her find the well of strength the women in her family always possessed inside? She shook her head. Charma would grow up to be strong and brave, she would just have to do it without Larissa.

"Their destinies, something I might add that we hoisted upon them with that little summoning spell we tried and failed at, are bigger than you and me. They have to win. There is no other choice." She was being polite. Technically Larissa hadn't had anything to do with the spell gone awry.

Tatiana's silence spoke volumes. Unlike Tatiana and Troy, Morgan and Larissa had not participated in the actual event. In fact, Larissa wasn't sure, but she thought Troy might have been involved in the planning of the catastrophe.

It had seemed simple to the others; if you want to thwart destiny, you have to be aggressive. The Great One had told them the prophecy '
eighteen children will be born together, one apart
.' It had made them all physically ill to think about. What a huge responsibility to place on their future babies. It was too big.

Why not stop the Evil One from being born? Why not summon him ahead of time and bind him so he couldn't do what he was prophesized to do?

They hadn't told Abraxas, their leader, or the Great One what they'd planned. The old prophet was ill anyway. It had seemed cruel to burden him and they'd been right, the Great One had died less than a week later, and Abraxas had never forgiven them. Larissa had always wondered what the Great One had known and what he hadn't.

The summoning had gone fine. It was keeping the demon contained that had thwarted them. The creature had gotten out of its magical restraints and had taken hold inside the womb of a human woman and only the God's knew where.

Veli's wife had died around the same time as the Great One, and he'd taken himself off in seclusion to mourn privately. No one, save Abraxas, knew where he was, and as far as Larissa knew, he'd never even seen the prophesized children. Perhaps he didn't care to.

Tatiana finally spoke. "Where would we send them? To the humans? Who would teach them to be Outsiders?"

"Maybe they don't need to be taught." Larissa shrugged. "Do birds need to be taught to be birds? At some point wouldn't they just fly with or without the mother bird shoving them from the nest? These are not questions we can answer. It might be that they would just learn to do it on their own. Powers are funny like that. They come whether we want them or not."

Sitting down on the side of the bed, Tatiana stared at her infant son, her eyes threatening to spill over with tears. "I can see that you make a good point. Morgan will object, as I imagine you know, which is why you came to me before speaking to your husband. Troy will go nuts. There's only one flaw with your plan that I can see."

"What's that?"

"It can't just be us. What good does it do to hide our two if all eighteen don't follow suit?"

Larissa had thought of that. Opening her mouth, she was quickly interrupted by a telepathic link booming through her mind. It was an open channel, not a private one. All Outsiders would be able to hear it.

"
Much as I have tried, I cannot stop what is coming for you
." Abraxas's voice sounded tired. None of them had heard from him in months. Larissa wondered what lengths their leader had gone to in order to try to stop the destruction of their race. "
I know you can feel
them
moving to where you have chosen to hide
."

Ah… so their small group of Outsiders weren't the only ones. In a weird, twisted way, that was a relief. At least they weren't the only ones so easily found.

"
You are right to suspect the howl of the wolves and buzzing of the crickets tonight.
It is evil watching you
."

Abraxas could be frighteningly accurate in what he just 'knew'. He wasn't a seer… and yet, he was. Looking over at Tatiana she saw that her friend was as engrossed in the message as she was.

"
There are too many of them and you are spread out. We are too weak while they grow too strong
.
I cannot save you, but I can save your children
."

Larissa's heart beat fast. That was wonderful news. Could it be true? She wanted to be with Morgan, holding his hand, feeling the same hope she did spread through his aura.

"
I will hide and protect them. I ask that you give them to me now in the hope that all will not be forever lost
."

Ah… so this was it.

Abraxas continued to say that
they
were coming for them and that he couldn't stop it. They couldn't lose Abraxas. His death would be the first signal of the end. It meant time was up. There would be no more discussions, no more options left. It was now or never.

"
I will send our children where they cannot touch them and I will keep them safe, hidden until they are strong enough to fight Him and win. But I will not take them without your consent. They are your children to protect, yours to cherish, and if you wish them to die with you then it is not my place to prevent this
."

Larissa could feel Abraxas opening up a psychic link. She understood immediately what he wanted. They needed to place the children on the wave he'd opened to transport them to where they would be safer. They needed to place the children on the wave he'd opened, and they would be transported to where they needed to go.

Hoisting up her skirt so she could run, she sprinted from Tatiana's room nearly slamming into Troy in the hall. She had one focus, getting Charma on the link, which meant Morgan had to agree and he had to agree fast.

She moved through the cave, finally running into their room. Morgan held Charma close; Larissa noticed her daughter was dressed in her travelling clothes.

Larissa raised an eyebrow and Morgan smiled sadly. "I know you want her to go. I've been feeling you think about it for weeks. This just confirms that you are once again, always right."

She smiled. This had been the joke between them for more years than she could remember. He claimed she was always right and she said the same about him.

"Give her to me."

Morgan handed his sleeping daughter over to her. For the briefest of seconds, Larissa tried to memorize Charma's features. The vision of her sleeping infant would have to sustain her for eternity, as she knew in her heart of hearts that she would not see her again in this lifetime.

Charma had the blondest hair she'd ever seen. Blue eyes that were completely her father's, she had Larissa's small, pert nose.

"Listen to me, daughter, as I have much to tell you."
Did babies remember? Probably not.
Still, she had moments left to speak to her of this. Tatiana's worry loomed heavily on Larissa. "You are an Outsider. You are a creature unlike any other. Although you look like a human, you are not. For eternity, we have worked to keep balance in the universe. Where we felt things go askew, we fixed them. That usually meant fighting evil but sometimes it meant the zealots who push their agenda of 'good' had to be stopped as well. There must always be order. There must always be both."

She took a deep breath and hoped she had time to continue. "You are a Healer, although we didn't know it at the time. When you were conceived, we made the greatest emotional healer this world or any other has ever seen. You are strong, although others will not know it. Go forth and win. Find your soul mate. Be happy. Be true." Her voice shook as she spoke her last words to Charma. "We love you more than you will ever know." She bit her lip. "Well, until you have children of your own. And we are sorry we leave the burden that should have been our own in your small hands. May you be more worthy to be an Outsider than we were."

"Larissa…"

"I know, time's up." Moving forward, deliberately, and not giving in to her need to back out of this, to search for another option when she knew there was none left, she opened herself up to Abraxas' magic. Placing Charma on the link she watched her daughter float for a second in the air before she disappeared.

Larissa gasped, her legs buckled beneath her. Morgan's strong arms caught her before she hit the ground. "You were right, don't doubt it now. She will be safe. They will all succeed. They're all together."

Seconds passed, and a voice she'd not expected to hear again filled the room. It was Veli Destrand, Abraxas's right hand man. Evidently Abraxas had tried to send him the children. Larissa clasped her hands together and shifted on her feet. That made sense. He was so disconnected from the group, he'd be harder to find. Only there was a huge problem. Only three had made it through.

The magnitude of this nearly overwhelmed Larissa. All she could focus on was Charma. Was she one of the three?

Veli requested a description of each of their children.

Speaking aloud, although she could have done it telepathically, she described her baby to Veli giving herself one more chance to remember her daughter's features.

When she finished she added one more request. "
I am Larissa Monroe and her father is Morgan. You know us quite well, Veli. Please be kind to her
."