Bane Read Online Free Page B

ward.”
    “Very well. I will also brief the man as to your state of…practice.”
    She groaned and covered her face with her hands. “That is more due to my being a contact healer. No one can get close to me without my healing them and that is rather distracting when you know that men are seeking you out to remove their wounds or diseases.”
    Rathos winced. “I can understand that. Very well. I will be careful in my selection. So far, there are twenty volunteers and five that are registering as compatible. Help with those in immediate danger, and I will speak with you later in the day.”
    “Fine, but do me a favour and get some rest. Take a nap with your wife and relax. You are no good if you are exhausted.” Avaneer got to her feet and left him alone on the balcony, her next sexual encounter in his hands.
    Kondr took a look at her face and his smug bantering took a blow. “What is wrong?”
    She put her hand on the centre of his chest and pushed. He stumbled back.
    “I. Am. Tired. Of. Not. Being. In. Control. Of. My. Own. Body.” Each word was punctuated with a shove until Kondr was out in the hallway.
    “You are quite strong.” His words were carefully spoken.
    “Yes. My body can take half and again this gravity. I will be in the room where your grandmother was yesterday. Follow me or not, I have come to realise that I don’t have a choice.”
    Switching from happy arousal to anger to depression was horrific, but it came with being a contact healer. Those around them stabilized normal folk. They were comforted by touch, socialization, all the things that were forbidden to the contact healers.
    She entered the room with those in final stages of the disease and spoke to the attendant. “Who is furthest along?”
    The attendant took her to the first patient, a man in his prime whose body was atrophied to the point where he could not move. She washed his blood, and when he returned to mobility, she left the attendant to explain to him that he was not cured, but he had more time.
    It was a pattern that took over the entire afternoon. She had washed the blood of twenty patients, and the room was empty.
    Kondr came to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Rathos has some news.”
    Ava looked at the arms touching her, and while one showed signs of a ruby hardening of the flesh, the other had a long scrape on it. “What is that?”
    “Rathos took a skin sample to test it against your blood.” He wrapped an arm around her and steered her back to the medical lab.
    “What are his results?”
    “You are a hard woman to match. He will fill you in on the rest.” He didn’t say anything else until they were standing in front of the good doctor. “Rathos. She’s here.”
    Dr. Rathos looked up from his screens and smiled. “We have found you a suitable volunteer, Avaneer. Will you accept my findings?”
    Ava hung her head in surrender. “I will. I will abide by your findings.”
    “We had a complete roster of fifty volunteers. Fifteen were removed, because they were female, five males because they prefer other men, twenty-seven of the remaining were unsuitable matches which left us with three. Based on your preferences, I selected a candidate who will be attentive to your more particular needs.”
    Kondr had his arms crossed over his chest, and he was scowling at the screens. “Who did you pick, Rathos?”
    Dr. Rathos turned around in his chair and smiled. “You are the candidate, Kondr. You have had the most exposure to her, and your system is already attuned to hers. Hers is also receptive to you, so go on and work on the cure. You have two days before anyone will expect to see you again.”
    Ava was in shock. “Thank you for your efforts, Dr. Rathos. I will bring you the blood sample as soon as I am sure that it is set for the Admorik.”
    Numbly, she turned and walked out of the room, toward the stairs. Kondr joined her, silent and sombre.
    He reached out and grabbed her hand. “Wait. Let’s not