***
Ronan traded the cooled knife for the white hot one in Wren’s hand. Kaitlyn saw the blade through tear blurred eyes; her hands curled, and pushed her fingernails into her palms. She was too tired to yell when the next rip of pain hit her system. The bug had its roots dug into nerve points, zapping her every time Ronan pressed heat onto the hide, forcing release from her with fire. They had been working at it for almost half an hour and Kaitlyn didn`t know how much more she could take before she passed out. She had screamed the first time Ronan had tried to pry it off her skin, making him stop. He instructed her to stay quiet, because her screams made it grip tighter into her head. Easier said than done. Her throat hurt, and she was exhausted.
Marcus held her head against his shoulder, whispering encouraging words to help her endure the agonizing pain. Ronan stepped back, handing Wren the cooling knife, swapping for another round of searing to get the bug off her.
Ronan caught Marcus’ eye, trying to convey sorrow for causing Kaitlyn pain. The way Marcus was holding the woman, told Ronan that there was more going on between the two of them.
“Kaitlyn, I’m sorry you have to be awake for this, but that is the only way to ensure we get the whole bug. Okay Marcus, hold her steady, here we go again,” Ronan explained. He could hear the hitch in Kaitlyn breath, as she braced herself for the next round.
Marcus closed his eyes against the torture that they were putting her through, and then felt like a coward. If Kaitlyn could submit to the pain without succumbing to it, he could bloody well watch, and he forced his eyes to follow the knife, as it seared the bug again.
Kaitlyn whimpered as the heat of the knife sliced through, and hammered into her head. Tears flowed freely down her face, and she wondered if they would ever get this thing off her. She braced herself for the pain, as it flexed its claws in her head, but this time it didn`t flex, and she heard, then felt a pop, then the cry of victory from Ronan when he saw it release itself from her head. He grabbed the bug before it could latch on again, yanking with all his strength. Breaking the surface hold, he pulled it off her head.
Kaitlyn gasped as it ripped from her skin. Then it was gone, except for the throbbing ache from where it had resided for days. Ronan tossed it into the fire, knowing it that was the best way to get rid of it. Marcus stared at him, as he continued to hold Kaitlyn, caressing her back, not really sure that he should let her go yet.
“It’s gone,” he assured her. Kaitlyn nodded, unable to voice the words to say thank you.
“Hold her for a few more minutes,” Ronan instructed him. “We need to make sure that I got all of it.”
“And if you didn’t?” Marcus wanted to know. “How will you know?”
“If we didn’t get it all, we’ll know very soon. She’ll go into convulsions as the poison that it released kills her.”
“Excuse me?” Kaitlyn moaned, as she looked at Ronan. “You didn’t say anything about poison, and it killing me.”
“I didn’t think that you would let me do it if I did,” Ronan admitted.
“Yah think?” Kaitlyn shot at him. “That was really a rotten thing to do, and how long will we have to wait?”
“Oh, I know that I got it all,” he told her.
“What?”
“Well, if I hadn’t, you would have been dead about two minutes ago, so I would say that you are okay,” Ronan told her with a smile. “You will be sore, and probably a bit feverish for a while, as the toxins that it released into your system work its’ their way out, otherwise, you should be just fine, and the good news is now you’re immune to them.”
“Lovely,” Kaitlyn muttered, as she felt Marcus step away from her. Suddenly she missed his warmth. “Thank you,” she told him. The antagonism she had felt toward Marcus wasn’t working anymore.
“You’re welcome,” Marcus replied, moving aside so Kevan could pull her twin into a hug.
“Thank you, both!” Kevan cried.
Wren cleared her throat, getting everyone’s attention. “Not to be pushy, or anything, but we really need to get moving,” she told them.
“No Kaitlyn needs to rest.” Kevan argued, concerned for her sister.
“We can’t,” Wren told them. “Whoever planted the bug will know soon enough, if they don’t already, that we found it. That means that they know that we are onto them. They planted it for a reason; they wanted to know what we were doing. Now they can’t monitor us, and that means that they will be coming after us in another way. We need to stay ahead of them.”
“While I agree with everything that you have pointed out, Wren, we’ll rest for a short time here anyway. Kaitlyn needs a chance to recover,” Kevan insisted.
“No, it’s alright,” Kaitlyn said. She pushed away from Kevan. “I’ll be okay. If we need to keep moving ...” She stopped talking, as she collapsed and passed out. Marcus grabbed her before she landed on the ground, swinging her up into his arms.
“She is not going anywhere,” Marcus growled at Wren, as he stomped over, laying the unconscious Kaitlyn on the blanket beside the fire. “A couple hours won’t hurt. We all need to rest and eat. They have to come down the path, unless they know about the other one, so that should give us some time.” Wren just watched him, and having no choice, nodded her agreement.