Change of Heart

issue."
    "It's all the issue there should be."
    "No, it's not."
    "Jin, I know that, without you, I would have a dead semel today; I get that. But what you need to understand is that if he doesn't sleep soon, if he doesn't eat and let his body feed on something other than itself, if he doesn't stop bleeding...
    he will be just as dead."
    I stared at Mikhail. "I don't want to stay there."
    "Okay."
    "Promise me."
    "You are my reah," he said urgently. "No one can make you do anything against your will."
    I checked the dark sapphire blue eyes, and he held my gaze.
    "You don't understand that your place is highest."
    I nodded my head toward the car. "Let's go."
    There were a lot of people at the house when I arrived.
    Yuri, who had met us at the front door, walked ahead of me, and Mikhail walked behind me so that no one could stop my progress to the stairs. When Koren called my name, I hurried, and Logan's advisors intercepted him. If they hadn't all hated me before, they most certainly did now, for what I was putting Logan through. I didn't feel like getting yelled at. I just wanted to see Logan myself and make sure the situation wasn't as dire as everyone was painting it.
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    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    He was in bed, propped up, and I saw that the wounds that he had sustained during the fight had not been healed.
    The sheets on the bed were stained with dried blood, his skin had lost its normal gold color, having changed to gray, and his breathing was labored. The fire in the room was not big enough to keep him warm, as evidenced by the fact that his lips were blue. I realized instantly that it had less to do with me and more to do with no one taking care of him. I couldn't imagine whose word had kept his mother from his side. I walked back out of the room and yelled downstairs for her.
    Minutes later, she appeared at the doorway where I was standing.
    Her face was contorted with pain. "Jin?"
    "You make the food; I'll put it in him."
    She stared into my eyes, and I could not, for the life of me, read her expression.
    "Okay?"
    She grabbed my face, and the smile was huge. "I love you, you know."
    I was startled; it was not the reaction I was expecting.
    "Oh, Jin." Her eyes fluttered rapidly in an attempt to keep from crying. "I just adore you."
    I kissed her forehead, asked her to send up Koren and Russ, and stayed where I was. Seconds after she left me, Logan's two brothers appeared, but they didn't rush forward.
    My eyes slid over them, and I saw the anger on their faces.
    "You don't have to like me," I growled at Koren. "We just need to get him bathed and get the fire a lot—"
    228
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "You're not looking at me," Koren snapped, and when my eyes flicked back to his face, I saw that he was trying hard not to break down. "I am so thankful for your presence, reah.
    He is the semel of our tribe, and so with you gone, there was no one here to contradict his shouting or his ranting. He ordered us out of his room... all we could do was wait for him to call us back."
    I nodded.
    "Jin."
    My eyes moved from one brother to the other.
    "I need you to listen." Russ's voice broke as he reached for me but stopped himself from touching me. "We are all so thankful that you're here. After what he did to you... that you would still come... thank you, reah."
    I looked back and forth between the two men.
    "You have no idea what your being here means," Koren assured me.
    I nodded. "I'll run the bath."
    Once the enormous tub was filled with warm water, I called for the two men to carry Logan in. Having stripped him out of the ceremonial robe, which he had been wearing since the fight in the pit two nights previously, they brought him into the bathroom. I started to worry when he didn't wake up even when he was immersed in water, but as I slid my fingers through his hair, I saw him shiver. I moved to turn the hot water back on, but a hand slid around my wrist to stop me.
    Turning my head, I saw his beautiful honey-colored eyes.
    "My mate," he sighed, and I saw him swallow hard. "You have to for—"
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    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "Can I wash your hair?" I cut him off gently.
    Tears rolled from his eyes as he nodded.
    "Russ, grab me a pitcher," I directed his brother. "Koren, help me sit him up."
    "I can move," he said hoarsely. "You don't need Koren."
    I nodded, and we were suddenly alone. "Take my hand."
    He reached for me, and when my skin slid over his, I saw him shiver again.
    "You're