Seeing brother Vladimir after more than eighty years wasn't without an impact. Regardless of how powerful Kiril had becomes in the meantime, very deep down, somewhere, was still the child that was chained to a wall since he could remember, and that had to teach himself to walk or speak and to understand his very strange powers.
At first, Kiril, that wasn't much older than a toddler, didn't understand that people had two voices, the one when they moved their lips and the one when they weren't, and the one when they weren't, wasn't meant for others to hear. The other children in the monastery were very frightened when he spoke to that second voice, so he learned to keep it for himself that he could hear it. He also understood that that was the voice of secrets and secrets were good to know if you wanted people to do you favours.
The strange boy Kiril used to be was a quick learner despite the circumstances and he understood early enough that it was better for the brothers not to know all the things he could hear and see or do. It was difficult enough to deal with all the things they made him do and use his wolf power for. He wished he could have hidden that too but that wasn't possible.
Regardless of how powerful he was now, brother Vladimir reminded him of a time when he had been anything but that and a tiny bit of him still harboured fear under the deep hate and resentment. He was one of the three leaders of the monastery back in the day. Brother Ladislav had died by his hand after he became Alpha in the very same night he found Ju, and brother Dimitri had been old a hundred years ago, so he must have died at some point of old age. He was the one that liked to watch. He never carried out a punishment himself but he liked more than anything else to watch while the others were torturing him.
Another deep breath. It was over. They were surrounded by fire and smoke but it was over. He looked at Angel that knelt before Michael's lifeless body. The boy had indeed done something that he hesitated doing, he did something that he wasn't sure he would have been even capable to, to stab the person he loved, the only person he ever loved, for the greater good.
Kiril cared about the greater good to some extent, also acted according and killed Selene not only out of revenge, but also for the survival of their kind. Regardless, he was well aware that was a selfish pragmatist, he would have chosen revenge over their kind if it came to that and his own desire over the greater good. His own desire...
Mila was laying on that sacrificial altar of theirs. He hadn't been sure what kind of magic they wanted to do, but they didn't get to accomplish the ritual.
Mila was bleeding and her pulse was erratic, he could feel that and knew they had to hurry.
"Angel, stand up, we have to go. And stop the damn fire."
Angel was still lying besides Michael's body with tears streaming down his face ignoring him completely.
Kiril noted it like yet another problem he had to deal with. He owed him. He had brought Angel in that situation and he owed him.
Mila whimpered very slowly when he touched her face. He lifted her into his arms. She didn't make any sound anymore. That wasn't good.
"Angel, stand up, we have to leave!" he said again, this time more imperative.
Silence.
He really felt like saying something nasty. The boy was wasting his time but somehow, looking at them, he saw himself years ago, when he laid down besides the body of his father not wanting to leave either. Angel didn't even have revenge to fuel him.
"Angel, I command you to stand up and leave with me now."
His muscles twitched but he didn't move.
Right. That didn't work anymore.
"I am not going anywhere. You can shove your command somewhere."
Were he not so tired, concerned, wounded and many other things that didn't let him focus, he would have laughed at that and then punched Angel, but he didn't have time for any of that.
"Angel, Mila is in a bad state, I don't have time for this. I haven't slept in four days and just killed a lot of people, please don't make it more complicated than it has to be. Usually if you would have said you want to kill yourself, I wouldn't really have cared but you are still useful to me so, stand up and walk. Now," repeated Kiril.
This time his irises were shining and Angel started to move without his will.
"What are you doing to me?! Stop!" screamed Angel.
"Though love, or whatever."
Angel gathered a fireball in his hand under Kiril's concerned gaze.
"Let me go!"
"Do you want to hurt Mila? Didn't you do everything you did to help her? Now see it through."
"I want to be with Michael. My place is here. Let me go!"
"But Michael didn't care enough to want to be with you. Boohoo and all, but now postpone the whining a bit. You can kill yourself later, now help me get shit done."
"Samira was right, you are an insensitive asshole and Mila will never love you!"
Kiril only sighed annoyed and his eyes shone so much that the irises disappeared in the glimmer. The fireball from Angel's hand extinguished and he started walking against his will again.
The mock grin on his face served this time the sole purpose of hiding how exhausted he actually was and not show Angel how much effort it costed him to bend his will. When he really cared about something, Angel was incredibly strong and stubborn despite what everyone wanted to make him believe.
"You came for me," said Mila, shifting into his arms and lifted her weak arm to touch his face. Then their eyes met after a long time and Mila smiled. They were the color of bogs, grass and moss, the color of her humanity, not the deep dark blue of the goddess within her.
Something in the dark pit, that he believed his soul to be, was moving and melting. The touch was so weak but it felt like he could finally breath after being under water for decades.
"I would always come for you from anywhere, even from the very hell of this world," answered Kiril in the end. It sounded like a confession he didn't want anyone else to hear, not even himself. "You are in my blood and in my thoughts every goddamn day and I hate it but I can't and don't want to help it," he said and his tone was rather sad, not sharp like the words, while his lips pressed a small kiss on her forehead.
"Where is Erik?" asked Mila and Kiril was reminded abruptly about the reality of his situation.
"I don't know," he answered truthfully.
"Did he die? I felt him dying."
"I am not sure."
Kiril cursed under his breath. He should have lied, because the truth was not doing Mila any good. Her pulse became more erratic and her breathing hitched.
"We are going to search for him, okay? Just calm down, you are hurting yourself."
"I am bleeding... Baby..." And Mila started trembling in his arms.
"Shit. Mila please wake up. You cannot do this right now."
The Earth started shaking and the water in the atmosphere started to form drops and freeze. He was scared and tired and his powers were showing just that.
There were many thoughts in his head but the one that overshadowed everything was that he didn't want her to die. Angainst his will, she had become the center of his universe and the only reason to do everything and anything at all.
"The closest medical facility is an hour of really fast running to the south," said Angel. "It's a human hospital though."
Kiril was surprised to hear him but happy altogether.
"An hour is a long time... Damn it. Mila, you have more power in you than all of us combined. Heal yourself."
"If she could or knew how she probably would have done that already. You saw that she doesn't want to loose the baby," said Angel.
He had a point but that made him just more annoying in that moment.
"An hour is damn long," said Kiril already leaping forward with Mila in his arms.
To his surprise, Angel followed, just when he was ready to leave him there.
"You can control her blood flow a bit, with my, now your, power."
"Can I?"
"Yes. Not totally because there are a lot of limitations you have to take into account, but with your natural abilities I think you will do that seamlessly. We are eighty percent water after all. And you can also get into her head and calm her heartbeat a bit. Make her dream something cheesy with Erik or so."
"This is one of the most practical pieces of advice I have received in a long time."
"It is inconsiderate and invasive. I see you are rubbing off on me," added Angel maybe a bit bitter.
"But it's likely going to work," said Kiril smiling.
It was indeed like he said. Mila stabilized for an instant but Kiril was, maybe for the first time in his life, conflicted to get into her thoughts. There was a slight curiosity but also a certain fear of what he could find there, a lot of things he was certain he didn't want to see and she wouldn't want him to see.
"It's not like you..." said Angel.
"What?" asked Kiril frowning.
"To hesitate." Angel took a deep breath. "It's the second time you did it today."
That was true. He could have killed Michael himself but he hesitated. Erik crossed his mind and he hesitated. He shouldn't have, but maybe it was for the best to let Angel make that decision.
Mila's pulse dropped again and his knowledge of human anatomy and physiology was not good enough to know why and what he could do about it. Her mind wasn't in distress, if it would be, her blood pressured would go higher not lower.
"We have to hurry."
"I don't think we can go much faster," said Angel.
"Hmm... I think we could. Nodin could use wind power to fly. Give it a try."
Kiril really hoped Angel would do it by his own will this time, commanding him would cost a lot of effort he didn't want to spent his energy on. The dagger wound Vladimir gave him was still bleeding. It was enchanted silver so it would take a while to heal.
"Are you trusting me to try? I could drop you..." asked Angel.
"You wouldn't. That's not who you are. You might want to hurt me but you would not hurt Mila. And if by any chance you do, it would be the last thing in your life."
Angel's wind carried them over the trees. Amazingly, it was working. In around twenty minutes they landed in the dark parking lot of a small hospital on the outskirts of Inverness.
Most people were sleeping and taken aback by the two strange guys that barged in there carrying a fainted girl.
"Sir, how can we help you?" asked a young nurse, the only person in sight except the one at the reception.
"We obviously need a doctor," said Kiril rudely.
The girl just looked at them confused and slightly frightened. They likely looked like criminals, drug dealers, in short something dangerous, which was true but not in the way that human thought.
"Now!" screamed Kiril and the poor girl started to shake.
A young doctor entered the room and walked towards them. The same type of confusion and slight fear could be sensed in him too.
His hair was light auburn and his face pale and slightly freckled.
Kiril felt his eyes, the color of dark honey, wandering on him. He was afraid but also intrigued.
"Hello. I am Doctor Cunningham. How can I help you, sir?"
"She is not well. You have to help her. She is pregnant and bleeding."
The young doctor looked at Mila and started taking her pulse.
"Come with me. What happened to you? You two need medical attention too."
"We are fine," said Angel.
They followed the doctor into a room where he signaled him to put her down on a bed.
"You are half a child. Are there no other doctors here," said Kiril frowning.
"I am in my last residency year. I happen to specialize in gynecology and today is a national holiday and an important soccer match so no. I am the only one on call around today."
"Well call your superior, right now."
"He will need two hours to arrive. So it might not be as useful as you think. You need to fill out some forms. Nurse Ema will show you how. Follow her into the hallway please. I asume you are the father of the child."
Kiril watched the doctor's admirable calm while he was thinking if it would bring him more satisfaction to slice his artery open or just bite out his heart.
"Don't," whispered Angel.
"I am not going anywhere," he spat, barely keeping his eyes from glowing.
"Dr. Cunningham, can we talk for a second outside," said Angel.
"No. He is not going anywhere either before he takes care of Mila."
The young doctor's pulse became gradually faster. Kiril liked to sense his fear more than his nonchalance.
After several tests and screens he turned to Kiril.
Angel came closer and placed himself between the two.
"It's not certain if the fetus will be fine or if she will have a miscarriage. The next few hours are crucial but besides a few pills there is not much we can do except wait. She is a bit weak but I don't think her life is in danger. Now sir, you have an open would in your abdomen, I don't want you to die while I am on call, so please let me have a look at it," said the doctor and leaned forward to touch the bloody fabric over his wound.
"Don't touch me unless you want to lose that hand."
His face became bleach white.
"Dr. Cunningham, can I talk to you outside please," tried Angel again.
The doctor followed him like in trance.
Kiril sat on the edge of the bed taking Mila's hand. To his surprise she opened her eyes.
"Kiril?"
"Don't talk. We are at a hospital. You are going to be fine."
"Is the baby going to be ok? It feels strange. They have to save the baby. If they have to choose, they should save the baby. Did you tell them that?!"
Her pulse was accelerating again and she was certainly not thinking clearly. It was too early on for that be a choice that made sense.
Unsure what to do, Kiril leaned down by her side to embrace her.
"Calm down. If you don't, it's going to highten the chances that you have a miscarriage."
"Did you tell them?!"
"No. They never asked. I don't think that's a choice to make right now but if it were and if it were my choice, I would always choose you, regardless in who's detriment."
______________________________________
Some fluff, confusion and possible sexy time ahead. Stay tuned. Thank you for reading.