Harlee POV
Everything burned. I thought before had been bad-but no. As the new Bond worked its way through my system, I was desperately clinging to my humanity. The Corruption of an Arch Angel was too much for me to bear, and it was dragging me under. Eventually, I felt cool fingers on my collarbone, on my jaw, circling my wrist. Three different voices soothing in my head while my body began to heal. I smelled pumpkin pie and the clean scent of Sands. I realized they were surrounding me, comforting me. I whimpered. Gentle lips met mine and I felt tears run down my face as I recognized Zeev's scent and flavor and then a second set of lips took over and I realized it was Ash.
"Harlee.. Ash, Sands and Samael are going to try to reconnect our soul, to ease the pain. I need you to hold on for me sweetheart, this may not be very pleasant." Zeev's voice was gentle beside my ear. Ash's lips became more insistent on mine, I felt Ash's tongue probing, trying to get me to grant access to my mouth as a sudden pain in my chest made me gasp in shock. Ash's tongue took the opportunity to dart into my mouth and I felt and tasted a sickly, slimy liquid on my tongue.
"Mmph.." I tried to object, fighting back, trying to free myself.
"Shh, Harlee. Ash's venom also acts as an analgesic. Ash knows what they're doing, trust us, ok my love?" Zeev's voice was still by my ear and his hand swept my forehead. I opened my eyes to see Ash's flushed face staring down at me, a look of intense concentration clouding their eyes. I swallowed the slimy venom. "Good girl." Zeev breathed. Immediately the pain began to lessen and I felt more slide down my throat. There was an sharp pulling sensation from my chest and I bucked. Ash ripped their face away from mine.
"Not yet! I haven't gotten her fully under!" Ash snapped at Sam, who snarled back. I felt Ash's gentle hands run down my body soothingly. I realized Ash was coating me in venom as the rest of my body started to go numb as well. Ash's mouth returned to mine urgently and the kiss became raw, passionate, the venom slipping between my lips as Ash's body pressed against mine. Ash moaned.
"Ah, Mistress, you have no idea how hard it is not to go any further." Ash panted, laying their forehead against mine.
"Keep it in your pants, snake." Zeev snarled.
"Until the Mistress asks me otherwise." Ash's gentle lips found mine again and another mouthful of venom slid down my throat. My body was steadily going numb from head to toe and my head felt fuzzy. Ash drew back, panting and looked at Zeev.
"You ready for this?" Ash asked and Zeev nodded grimly. Ash plunged their hand into Zeev's chest and Zeev grunted, wincing. "Damn, I can't latch onto it Zeev-your Heart's absorbed too much of it, it's become too much a part of your Core now. Shit Zeev!"
Zeev POV
"There has to be enough." I panted. "Enough to attach to Harlee's soul-to help her." Ash withdrew their hand and I slumped, clinging to their shoulder.
"No there is Zeev-that's not the problem, there's not enough human soul left for me to numb. You're going to have to ride this out my friend, I'm sorry." Ash placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and turned back to Harlee, plunging their hand into her chest next. She arched upwards with a moan.
"Not enough.. human... soul.." I muttered. Sands' hand clapped me on the shoulder and his words echoed in my head. 'Congratulations-you have a soul now.'
"You're the first of our kind to have a soul, Brother. You'd better guard that treasure with your life."
"How.. how is this possible?" I demanded and Sands shrugged.
"Who knows-maybe because she held onto half for so long. Maybe because you love her. Maybe she really did change you inside and out. Either way, it's my turn, so hold onto your shorts." Sands smiled at me with a wicked smile, and drew a blade from his belt.
"The fuck, Sands?!" I yelled as he advanced on me. The blade came down in a sharp arc, slicing cleanly through the tissues and bones on my chest. I felt my essence being exposed to air and jerked backwards in surprise.
Harlee POV
Ash's hand finally withdrew from my chest and my body collapsed back to the bed. The raw edges of my soul were finally quiet again. I felt my eyes drifting closed. A weight settled on the bed around me and I looked up to see dark eyes glaring down at me, as if the last few months of my imprisonment weren't enough, my nightmare was back to haunt me. I began to struggle and squealed out a protest. I heard Zeev's roar in the background and struggled harder. Then Ash's cool fingers were on my face.
"It's ok Harlee, let Samael do what he's got to. It'll make you feel better." Ash gently kissed my forehead as a blade sliced into my chest, revealing a bluish white glow to the world. My mind collapsed in on itself. The weeks of torture combined with the eerie similarity to the attack by Zeev were too much, my eyes rolled back in my head and I simply let go of the world.
Zeev POV
"Be more gentle!" I roared at Sands as he dug around in my chest cavity. Sands grinned at me wolfishly.
"Makes you have a little more respect for your victims, doesn't it?" He asked innocently. I growled, but had to begrudgingly admit he had a point. Sands' hand came free dragging forth a slimy angry red and black substance that glowed softly.
"Sands.." I warned. If I didn't trust him..
"I'm sorry Brother, there's no longer a thread to bind you two-so we must create one." And with that, Sands started carving into my Heart with the knife, like he was peeling an apple with the most delicate of shavings. A delicate thread peeled free while I screamed.
Harlee POV
Consciousness returned slowly, painfully. Zeev had me clutched to his chest, and there was an angry red scar running across it, right in front of my face. Long, cool fingers brushed my hair back.
"He's still unconscious. We had to use his Heart to tie you two back together. It was.. painful for him." Ash soothed. My chest throbbed and I looked down to see a nearly identical healing wound there as well. The mattress moved near my feet and a gentle hand settled on my leg.
"I've healed your physical injuries except for this one. I'll fix it as well as soon as we know if we were successful. I heard a scoff from across the room and rolled over into Ash's waiting arms. Over Ash's shoulder I saw Sam, standing and looking out the window, arms crossed. It was the most human I'd seen him since the day he kidnapped me, no wings, nice professional looking dark blue suit, neatly styled hair, rigid posture.
"All this for a human." Samael shook his head.
"That's your Mistress." Ash shot over their shoulder, then snuggled their face into my hair. I felt myself begin to tear up and Ash pulled back slightly to look at me as if feeling the shift in my mood. "Harlee?" Ash asked softly, and I just buried my face in Ash's shirt and let myself cry. Ash held me gently, rubbing soothing circles in my back, and placed gentle kisses on my forehead, hair and cheeks while murmuring to me. Then Zeev's strong arms abruptly tightened and he yanked the both of us to his chest.
"Harlee!" I heard the tears in Zeev's voice and felt him hide his face against my shoulder, which immediately began to feel wet. "Ash, my Kin, thank you. Sands, you too. I owe you both." I saw Zeev's hand descend on Ash's shoulder and grip it. There was another scoffing sound from the window.
Zeev POV
The pain of my Heart being carved up to forge a new connection between Harlee's soul and mine was intense, but I would bear more than this just to continue to hold her in my arms. I had endured more than this when I had lost her for those two months. The new connection hadn't yet stabilized between us though, and I reached along the link tentatively, only to encounter resistance. Harlee was blocking me out.
"Harlee.. you'll have to let me in so I can make the connection." I murmured against her hair. She turned her face slightly. The others had backed off to give us some privacy, and she was huddled against my chest again, but avoiding my gaze.
"I broke Zeev." She whispered. "I don't know if the baby's ok. I don't know what's real any more. I don't even know if this is real, but if it is, I don't want you to suffer. I can feel my humanity slipping away, and I can't bear the burden of another Fallen on my soul. I..I think I'm done." The anguish in her voice became choked with tears. Anger, fear and depression warred for dominance within me. I had not just gotten her back to lose her like this. I gripped Harlee's shoulders and shook her slightly, holding her away from me on the bed so I could look at her face.
"Well I'm not." I snarled. "And as long as half of your soul is mine, it means we share a fate, which means, we share burdens." I shook her again, more roughly. "If you can't carry the burden of a Fallen, let me-I already do and am accustomed to the pain." Another shake. "If you can't tell what's real anymore, trust my eyes and ears-they will see and hear for you." I clutched her to my chest. "The only thing that could possibly make me suffer any more would be if you refuse to rely on me, or worse, if I were to lose you Harlee." I held the back of her head, cradling her against me as she sobbed.
Harlee POV
"Please, don't ever talk like that again." Zeev whispered into my hair. I nodded slightly. "Now, please reach out to me. I miss you so much, and haven't been able to feel you for so long. I never want to let you go. Ease my pain a little, let me in?" He kissed the top of my head and I pulled back slightly to splay my finger across his chest.
"Are you sure? I'm so messed up Zeev." I murmured. He kissed the tears away from my eyes.
"Very sure." Zeev replied softly. I reached out to him along our old connection, which was now severed and burned. My eyes teared up again.
"I don't know how to find you anymore." I whimpered.
"Here-let me help you." Zeev said softly, taking my hand and placing it on his Mark. He pulled my consciousness with his into his Demon's Heart, along the throbbing, raw cord that had been carved from it, and now stretched between us. I flinched.
"Ignore the pain Harlee, it doesn't bother me." Zeev's voice softly rumbled inside and outside of my head. The cord dead-ended at my soul, seeking to interact, but my soul had recoiled from the contact. I looked at the Corruption seeping across the surface of my soul and thought I knew why.
'Too many Demons!' My mind shrieked.
'Harlee.' Zeev's gentle voice, accompanied by the feeling of being held. 'I'm here.' In desperation, I reached out for the soothing presence of him. 'Let me help you carry the burned.' He spoke softly. My mind was screaming assent, I was throwing the Corruption at him like oily snowballs. I tried to reach for him again to finally find the connection he was trying to forge. I heard him moan and then there was a jolt that made me shudder. The surface of my soul, so recently clouded with Corruption with its the light dimmed, began to clear slightly. I was sobbing again as Zeev's gentle presence was once more a part of my mind and my soul recognized its other half. But, there was something different now.
"It's still a part of me, but it's not mine anymore." I whispered against Zeev's chest. Zeev winced. I could feel his regret through the new link. I laid a hand on his cheek "It's ok." I murmured. I heard the bedroom door quietly open and Sands and Ash walked inside.
"Time to get you two healed up." Sands remarked. "I've got to get a move on, but I'll be back later." I started to cry again and embraced him as he healed me. He froze for a moment, then squeezed me softly until I was ready to let go.
"Thank you." I told him quietly and he gripped me tighter, almost harshly.
"Ah, Harlee, never mention it. I wish we had arrived sooner." Sands replied softly.