Birthright

Chapter Seven

Kelly gave Jordan two hours before she entered the pool room. When Kelly saw Jordan lying on the tiles, she flew to Jordan’s side, startling her awake. 

“I shouldn’t have given you so much time! Are you hurt?” Kelly demanded, turning Jordan on her back. 

Jordan blinked up at her. “I’m fine.”

Kelly’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t lie to me, Jordan. Donovan broke your soul tie with William. I know only one other person that’s survived that horror.”

Kelly muttered to herself as she propped Jordan up against the bench. Kelly’s eyes touched on the sweat pants stained with blood on the knee and the puncture would on her arm. She raised the pants leg and clucked her tongue. Kelly took a deep breath and placed her hands on the seeping wound. Jordan tried to jerk away, but Kelly held her firmly. Between one breath and the next, the wound was gone. The pain in her knee vanished and Jordan blinked in surprise. Kelly crouched in front of Jordan and put her hands on the wound in her forearm. Like spreading aloe over sunburn, Kelly’s power healed what she could of wounds Jordan carried like a soldier returning home from war. 

Jordan sat motionless as Kelly took away aches she hadn’t even known she had. The tiniest cut, the smallest bruise, Kelly didn’t stop until there wasn’t one blemish left on Jordan’s body. 

“You didn’t have to do that. I hardly noticed,” Jordan said quietly.

“You’re welcome. How do you feel now?”

Jordan took inventory of her battered body. “Better. Still tired, though.”

“That’s to be expected. Your body’s still in shock. Creating a soul tie can put a Grounder in the hospital for months. For Donovan to sever the soul tie within days of it being made…” Kelly ran a shaky hand over her face and gave Jordan a weak smile. “Let’s just say either Donovan is good or you’re just as powerful.”

“Is that what I am, a Grounder?” Jordan said tonelessly. 

Kelly reached out to stroke Jordan’s hair from her forehead and chose not to comment when Jordan jerked away. “It’s too soon to tell.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing here.”

“You’re here because this is where you belong.” 

“Everywhere I go, death follows me.”

“William killed those people, not you,” Kelly said firmly.

“I don’t know how to deal with my, uh, the-”

“Power?” 

“Yeah.”

“We’ll deal with it when your power returns. Your power won’t show up until you’ve recovered. I’ll teach you when the time comes.”

“What can you do?”

A small smile played around Kelly’s mouth. “A couple things. Are you hungry?”

Jordan nodded and tried to stand, but her legs were shaking so badly, she would have toppled over if Kelly hadn’t been there to help. Kelly wrapped an arm around Jordan’s waist to steady her as they made their way slowly around the pool and pushed through the glass doors. Sunlight spotlighted the women as they made their way slowly through the glass tunnel. Jordan was too weary to ask why there was a glass tunnel that connected the pool room to the house. When they walked into the foyer, Jordan was breathing hard and her body began to quake. When they walked beneath the stairs to the dining room, Jordan came to an abrupt stop. The back doors were thrown on the wraparound porch, splintered beyond repair. Beside the injured doors was the grand chandelier melted into a misshapen ball. Jordan retained a dim memory that had her stomach pitching.