Blood Rites

"Jacque, how are you feeling?" she heard Cynthia ask.

"The pain is tolerable right now," Jacque answered, turning to look at the doctor.

Jacque eased up into a sitting position in order to look directly at Cynthia without having to turn her head. Logan had taken the handcuffs off their hands when he told them that he had put a lock on the outside of the door. They each still had a foot cuffed to the chairs but at least they could move a little. After Logan had removed the handcuffs and left the room, Cynthia had told Jacque that she could hear another man in the cabin. At first Jacque was going to ask how she could possibly hear that, but then rolling her eyes, she remembered, oh yeah, werewolf.

"Who do you think it is?" Jacque asked.

"Maybe a member of his pack. There's no way Logan would leave us here by ourselves if he needed supplies. He has to have someone helping him and it's rare for a wolf to seek out a human's help."

Jacque thought about her words and realized that could be useful to Fane.

"Fane, there is another man here with Logan. We haven't seen him but Dr. Steele says she can hear him."

"Ask Dr. Steele to see if she can hear Logan use a name. Any name Logan might say could be useful."

"Okay. Where are you?" Jacque asked.

"We are on the plane on our way to Denver. Sally wants me to tell you..." Jacque felt the reluctance in Fane tell her

"She wants you to tell me what?" Jacque prompted.

"This really should be a conversation that you have with your friends, but Sally won't let up, so, she wants me to tell you that Decebel saw Jen naked." Jacque could hear the embarrassment in his words and she could picture Jen threatening to throw Sally out of the plane.

"What!" Jacque actually spoke out loud as well as in her mind before she could stop herself. Cynthia gave a start at Jacque's sudden outburst. Jacque looked at her timidly. "I'm okay, just some technical difficulties."

"You're talking to Fane, aren't you?" Cynthia asked her.

Jacque nodded and then directed her thoughts back to Fane. "I really want to know why Jen was naked in front of him, but I know what they are doing, they're trying to distract me."

"Distraction is Jen's specialty, love."

"Keep me posted, wolf-man. I'm gonna try and see what Dr. Steele knows." Jacque tried to block out the pain that had begun to burn through her body, she swore it felt like someone was trying to cook her from the inside out.

"Jacquelyn, you're in pain, what's wrong?"

She heard the worry in his voice and felt him pouring love through their bond. She had to cut him off until she could get herself under control or she would drive him mad, knowing she was hurting and out of his reach.

"I'm fine, wolf-man, just some cramps. I'm gonna get some rest before Logan comes back. I love you."

"I'm with you, Luna."

"I know, wolf-man."

Cynthia watched as Jacque curled into a ball, her eyes squeezed closed as if trying to shut out the pain that was tearing through her. She didn't ask if there was anything she could do to help because she knew there wasn't. Until Jacque got wolf blood she would continue to hurt, and more than likely it would get worse. Finally Jacque's body relaxed, but the pain had left her breathless and she strained to drag air into her lungs.

"Be honest, doc," Jacque spoke, opening her eyes and fixing them on her, "how much worse is this going to get?"

She knew that she wouldn't want to be lied to, nor would she want the truth sugar coated, so she wouldn't do that to one of her patients either. "It's going to get a lot worse, Jacque. Your body is going to continue to attack itself and if you don't get the wolf blood your organs will begin to shut down. I know that's not what you want to hear, but I will always be honest with you."

Jacque nodded. "Do you know how long it could take? I mean, do you think I will be able to hold out until Fane gets here?"

"You sound so sure that he will find you." The look in Cynthia's eyes said she didn't think Fane had a hope in hell.

"He will find me, of that I have no doubt," Jacque said with confidence. "But the interim is what concerns me. You see, I'm not too keen on the idea of taking Logan's blood. So I'm just trying to prepare myself."

Jacque watched as Cynthia met her gaze and without ever blinking, told her, "Prepare for the worst."

Jacque didn't say anything more after that. She slept when the pain would abate but would come awake screaming when it returned. She was constantly trying to focus on keeping her shield up in her mind so Fane wouldn't know how bad she was hurting. Every now and then she would simply say his name through their bond just to hear his response. She remembered waking a couple of times to the sound of Cynthia telling her to eat, but food had no appeal because she knew she would just throw it up. Another time she was awake, Cynthia tried to get her to drink something but again Jacque refused. She didn't know how long she had been in this room with Cynthia, she didn't know if it had been hours or days. All she knew was the pain was getting worse and though she bit her lip fighting the need to scream, it didn't work.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Her scream died down into sobs that shook her body. The door to the room flew open and Logan came rushing in.

"Cynthia, what's wrong?" He looked over to see Jacque writhing in pain, her face so contorted it hurt to watch. "Fix her!" Logan yelled at the doctor who was sitting across from Jacque, syringe of pain medication already in hand.

"The pain medicine isn't lasting as long. Sedating her would be the only way to stop the pain," Cynthia snarled, her lips curling back to show her teeth.

"NO!" Jacque ground out. The thought of not being able to reach Fane was unbearable, she would rather endure her present torment. "No sedation, please, no."

Logan knelt down beside her and tried to take her hand is his, but Jacque jerked away. "Don't touch me!"

Logan growled, his eyes narrowed, and his lips drew into a thin line. He turned to Cynthia. "Tomorrow we will try giving her my blood."

"No, no blood," Jacque moaned as she continued to fight through the hurt.

"Jacque, the blood will make you better, you don't know what you saying," Logan tried to persuade her.

Jacque opened her eyes and looked directly at Logan. "Not your blood. Never your blood," she ground out through her teeth, but loud enough for him to hear.