An old woman stepped through those gathered. She was cool-eyed and assessing. “The water boils,” she said, thrusting a wooden cup into Rebekka’s hands. “Drink this. It will revive you so we can make the wash for the cubs. They grow worse, but I believe there is still time to heal them if we hurry.”
Phaedra, the healer, Rebekka thought, drinking the bitter brew and recognizing it as a stimulant some of the brothel prostitutes used when they wanted to work longer hours to pay off their debt more quickly.
She handed the cup back to the old woman. “This way,” Phaedra said, leading Rebekka to the back of the house where other Jaguars waited.
It was easy to pick out the parents of the cubs. They stood in pairs, desperate hope shining in their eyes as well as the promise of death if a human caused further harm.
Several copper pots hung over small fires, the water in them boiling. On a nearby table lay the roots she needed, along with bowls, knives, and stone pestles.
Aryck took the blanket-made satchel from her shoulder before she could slide it off. He unknotted it, gently dumping the contents on the table. Rebekka pulled the journal from her pocket, opening it to the page describing how to make the wash.
Phaedra emitted a low, threatening growl and instantly Rebekka found herself behind Aryck. Canino crowded in, trapping her against the table and answering Phaedra with a growl of his own.
Several men shed loose clothing, shifting form. They crouched in readiness for attack.
A knife appeared in Aryck’s hand, pulled from a sheath he wore on his thigh.
Fourteen
THE back door opened, freeing the stench of infection and making the sound of the drums beating within throb through the air. A man stood in the entryway.
“Enough,” he said, his voice holding such command Rebekka knew instantly he was the alpha, and most likely Aryck’s father given how closely they resembled each other.
His gaze fell on Canino. “This is no place for you. Melina will take you to my home until the cubs have been healed. The enforcer has promised Rebekka safety while she is among us. No harm will come to her on Jaguar lands.”
Rebekka touched Canino’s shoulder, using her gift to communicate calmness and acceptance. He rubbed against her, eliciting a growl from Aryck, before padding away to follow Melina.
One by one the male Jaguars reclaimed their human shapes and pulled on their clothing. The pack leader sent a hard stare at Phaedra. She bowed her head slightly. “I am too old to have reacted without thinking. The book smells of Jaguar, but its origins and how it came to be in human hands aren’t as important as its contents. My apologies to Rebekka. If she will read what has been written, we will set to work.”
Aryck stepped back and Rebekka reclaimed her spot next to Phaedra. The Jaguar healer made no attempt to see the words written on the pages as Rebekka described what needed to be done.
Phaedra listened. She assigned tasks to those gathered, halting Rebekka only once and asking to see a picture of a familiar plant bearing an unfamiliar name.
Compared to the length of the journey, creating the wash took very little time. Yet by the time it was done, the concentrated solution mixed with cold water so it could be safely applied, Rebekka’s worry was profound.
“The parents will apply it to their cubs,” Phaedra said, though she lifted one of the basins containing the wash and carried it into the house herself.
Rebekka stood aside, allowing the others to precede her. Four couples passed by, the male in each pair stopping to pick up a basin before following his mate inside.
Aryck motioned Rebekka ahead of him. She entered the house, barely noting the old men with their drums or the caped figure with his back to her.
It was obvious every effort had been made to keep the sickroom sanitary, but the stench was overwhelming. She sought out the cubs with her eyes, a soft sound of distress escaping with the first sight of them.
Horror filled Rebekka, though she’d known what to expect. They were nearly unrecognizable as something living instead of slabs of skinned meat.
Pallets were positioned to allow family members to gather around them. Only the shape of their limbs told her four of them were in animal form while the fifth was a boy of about eight.
Unlike the cubs in jaguar form, there was only one parent present at the pallet the boy lay on. Tears streamed down the woman’s gaunt face, and she rocked, so lost in grief she seemed unaware of the activity going on around her.
Phaedra tended the cub. Rebekka went to her side, taking up a small cup and dipping it into the basin.
Aryck joined them, crouching next to Rebekka. “This is Caius. His mother is Deidre. She recently returned to the pack after losing her Tiger mate. Caius is like his father.”
Rebekka spared a glance at Caius’s mother. Pitying her at the same time she wished she could deliver a slap to turn Deidre’s attention to the child who needed her.
The neglect hadn’t just started. By Deidre’s rail-thin body and face, she hadn’t bothered to hunt or eat for weeks, if not longer.
Rebekka looked down at Caius. Aryck said, “If not for him, the others would be dead. Rubble gave way, creating a pit. They fell on an undetonated weapon. He went to their aid, first helping them to stable ground, then coming to camp. It was an amazing feat for one so young and badly injured.”
“I won’t let him die,” Rebekka promised, pouring the wash onto Caius’s legs.
Before she could use her hand to smooth it over the raw mess of exposed muscle and cartilage, Aryck’s was there, gently spreading it. This close to death or healing, there was little point in worrying about contamination.
She refilled the cup then emptied it, falling into an easy rhythm with Aryck as behind them the drums beat steadily, insistently.
The alpha joined them, taking a position next to Caius’s mother. He watched, remaining silent, his expression harsh. When they were nearly done bathing Caius’s front, he spoke directly to Rebekka, asked, “Does the wash work? Does it kill the thing eating him alive?”
A chill swept over her, the forerunner of a fear she refused to let take her, though it still revealed itself in fingers that fumbled, trembled slightly at the back of her neck as they removed the necklace.
Rebekka anticipated the icy bloom in her chest, but perhaps because she was surrounded by so many in desperate need of healing, it didn’t come when she handed the amulet to Aryck for safekeeping rather than risk it being stepped on or lost as she gave herself over to her gift.
She placed her hand on the cub’s raw torso, holding back her will to heal. The area beneath her fingers was streaked with infection, but compared to the hungry, buzzing energy coming from the cub’s back, it felt calm.
“Turn him,” she said, not wanting to tell them the wash was working until she could be sure.
Aryck and Phaedra repositioned Caius, exposing a back nearly as ravaged as his front. Rebekka placed only her fingertips on his skin.
There was no mistaking the source of the buzzing energy. Despite the lightness of her touch it felt as though she’d placed her hand in a swarm numbering in the millions.
Without her saying anything, Aryck took up the cup, dipping it in the wash and pouring it on the area around her fingers. Calm claimed the area instantly and it remained that way.
“It’s working,” she said, spreading the wash.
Caius began whimpering. His mother reacted to it, making low keening sounds until the alpha silenced her with a slap that brought her from her grief long enough to obey his command of silence.
When there was no trace of the hungry buzzing, Rebekka said, “It’s gone. I can begin now.”