Cursed Blood

I jumped off the banister, fangs vanishing from my mouth. The twins dropped their three men on their faces, their groans breaking the heavy silence. Charles and my father gently set Rebecca down, laying her down on the floor as I knelt.

"What happened?"

"They had her," Warren panted, "they were outside the castle, trying to get some sort of information out of her."

Rebecca wheezed, her eyes fluttering open and shut. I squeezed her hand, ignoring the whispers below and Eileen's wails of pain. "Tell me what happened," I told Rebecca, spotting a dark shine in the werewolf's eyes. She looked ready to shift and fight back like a wounded animal, but was clutching onto her control for dear life. We gave her a minute to catch her breath, some of her shallow wounds beginning to close slowly with her werewolf super healing. Rebecca eventually relaxed a bit, meeting my eyes with a hateful stare, though I knew the hate was not for me.

"They dragged me away. That woman gave them a signal right before she got into your head. Even if I made enough noise to get some attention, those Lightbloods wouldn't save me and the noise wasn't loud enough to get through your magic."

Warren looked ashamed, while Terrance's face was expressionless. Charles looked like he was ready to vomit from the guilt.

"We didn't even notice..," Charles muttered, his eyes sad as he glanced at me. Surely, he was expecting me to be angry with them. Gently, I reached up and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, carefully hugging him without ruffling my perfectly fine dress.

"You did your best," I reassured him, "and you found her. Not only that, but Eileen was easy to deal with. Now I just..."

I trailed off, staring at the floor below us. Terrance, giving off the same big brother vibes he'd always had, patted my shoulder.

"We'll figure this out, Cloud. We have to, after all," he said with a smile, and I found my own nerves easing up. The naive side of me was completely fine with the solution being so simple -- find Rebecca, let her wounds heal with her abilities.

Until her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she slumped over. I shoved my father out of the way with a quick apology as I began to slap Rebecca's cheek, trying to wake her up. When nothing happened, I began looking over her for injuries and noticed something off in her dress. Hidden in layers of her skirt, right above her hip, was a deep slash that was still bleeding.

"She needs to be healed. We need the Queen," I said in panic, trying to get to my feet. Charles stopped me, already on his own.

"I'll get her. See what you can do, Cloud," he said, kissing my temple before running down the steps. I ripped a shred of tulle off my skirt and applied pressure to her bleeding wound, feeling the material dampen under my fingers. The twins and my father were pale, unsure of what to do. In my distress, crackling energy had reappeared around my hands, changing from white to black as I went back and forth from focusing on waking Rebecca to focusing on trying to keep pressure on her hip.

Damn it, where are you Charles? I thought, watching two guards carry Eileen up the stairs. They cast me wary glances as they brushed by, and the sound of heavy footsteps drifted toward us -- more guards on their way. My hands were shaking as I remembered Eileen's words, and not only that, but I attacked and harmed one of the Queen's ambassadors. There was a good chance I would end up back in a cell.

I bit my lip, ignoring the crowd just at the bottom of stairs as I looked down at my Darkblood friend. She had gone pale, and her shoulders shuddered with each breath she took.

Kai, I thought, reaching out with my mind. The worried feelings of the dragon intruded on my own as I allowed him into my mind. Rebecca is hurt. Do you remember when you tried to contact a spirit for me?

The dragon's concern changed to confusion. Yes? But what does it have to do with the werewolf girl?

I used something like my brother's power to replenish your energy, do you think I can replicate the Queen's?

Kai frowned, and I only knew that because the mental image passed through our bond. I nearly smiled, but it disappeared as Rebecca whimpered. The magic swirls around my fingers brought me back to the subject at hand, my eyes resting on the different flashes of black and white. I heard Charles' voice above all else, and the Prince arguing.

Someone touched my shoulder and I jumped to my feet, wings flaring out and nearly knocking over the twins. Dmitri grabbed my arm, holding me still as we glared at each other.

"I'm here to help, Cloud. Put your claws away."

I took the words literally and figuratively, my nails eventually shrinking as I calmed myself down. He nodded his thanks, eyes on Rebecca who was beginning to writhe in pain.

"Do you have any healing magic?" I asked him, my voice filled with hope.

Dmitri shook his head. "No, I don't..," he trailed off, glancing down at my fingers. They were half hidden by swirling magic, clear for both of us to see. "But maybe you do."

He sighed, pulling me down next to Rebecca. "Lightblood magic isn't just about supposedly being divine while Darkbloods are demonic. Lightblood sorcerers tend to have magic that gathers in lighter colours, while Darkbloods tend to, well, have shadowy magic. Those spots in those swirls mean things -- black for Darkblood energy, white for Lightblood energy."

The specialist rubbed his hands over his face before gently reaching to where a scrap of my skirt was stuck onto Rebecca's bloodied skin. He applied pressure to it before glancing over at me. "In theory, the whole thing with Darkbloods having offensive magic and Lightbloods having support abilities is almost the truth. So, if I'm correct, you should be able to use that white magic to heal her. Unless you do have a limit on your abilities, but no one knows the extent of your blood's power."

I nodded, processing his words quickly in my still slightly panicked state. "Alright, got it. So what do I do?" I asked, wringing my hands together. The swirls crackled against each other, the feathers of my wings ruffling along with them.

"Calm down. Focus on your Lightblood. Then, it may all be instinct," Dmitri shrugged, keeping his hands on her wound. "I'll try to do what I can with first aid, but it's up to you. The Lightbloods are rather aggressively trying to prevent Her Majesty from helping."

I frowned, trying not to rage at the innocents down below. Maybe they're just scared and antsy, I convinced myself, shaking out my hands. With an exhale, I focused on the white magic; my Lightblood. The warmer of the two, safety and comfort. The memory of being a baby, almost dead, saved by the guards came to mind as I focused on finding an ounce of power I could use to heal.

Warmth. My own crying, the pain. Voices.

A soft, warm touch that was more than physical. Pulling at my soul, fixing it as well as my own body. Relief.

"That's it," Dmitri whispered. My eyes had fallen shut, and I cracked one eye open to see a soft white glow coming from my fingers. It was warm, and brought a sense of safety with it as I laid one hand on Rebecca's forehead and another over Dmitri's hands on her hip. I began to picture the touch, the one that went deeper than the surface of the body. One that gave enough power to heal without question.

Dmitri briefly muttered a wow under his breath, and I heard my father suck in a breath. Gradually, Rebecca's wheezing in pain faded away, and I could even feel her body repairing itself while feeding off my energy. Once I had the confidence, I opened my eyes to watch her bruises fade, and marvelled at my own power. When the light disappeared from my hands, I ripped a clean strip of tulle and brushed away the one that was soaked, mopping up the leftover blood. Instead of a deep wound, there was a barely noticable scar.

"I'm never doing this again," a certain golden-eyed girl groaned. Rebecca placed her hand on her forehead, reaching out with the other. Dmitri helped her up into sitting, making sure she was stable before looking over at me.

"Looks like there's quite a lot to discover about you, Cloud..."