Bound By Fate: A Novel of the Strong by Amy Knickerbocker

way, she stopped and waved. “Hey there, can you grab him for me please?”
    Eager to help, Liv moved quickly into the path of the fugitive, corralling him in her legs.  
    Out of breath, the female caught up with them. Reaching down, she hoisted the boy into her arms. She was strikingly beautiful, tall and statuesque with deep chestnut hair highlighted with just a touch of auburn. Heavy bangs draped across her forehead as straight, longer locks fell just past her shoulders. Strong boned but exquisitely feminine, she had stunning sapphire eyes that flashed with humor.
    “Thanks,” she said with a smile. Turning to the boy, she said, “Josea, you can’t just take off whenever you please. I know you’re a big boy but you can’t play in the street! Let’s get you home.” The child continued to squirm, now laughing as she tickled him.  
    “He’s adorable,” Liv said. Still locked tight in the potent grip of Toran's venna, Liv took the child’s small hand in hers, reveling in the feel of his baby-soft skin. “Is he yours?”
    “No, this little guy doesn’t belong to me. I’m his doctor.”
    “His doctor?” Liv asked. “Is he sick?”
    “No, he’s fine. The others were busy with the other kids, so I figured I’d better grab him before he escaped off the ‘el entirely.” The daemoness smiled again. “I’m Anara. I run the hospital here in Venn Dom.”
    “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Liv.”
    “You’re Toran's faine, right?”
    Though she blushed, Liv nodded.
    “Well, Liv,” Anara said with a warm smile, “welcome back to Venn Dom. I’m happy for you both.”
    Liv blushed again.
    Her smile leaving her face, Anara glanced up and down the road. “Look,” she said, “I’m not sure you should be wandering around here alone.” Hitching the boy higher on her hip, she gave a nod in the direction she’d come from. “Why don’t you come with me, and I’ll give you the lay of the land?”
    And, just like that, Liv found herself walking beside the doctor.
    “I can’t believe how much this place has changed,” Liv said. Though she’d been gone nearly six hundred years, time passed slowly in the Mythos. It would have taken a near-cataclysmic rift in the status quo to give rise to such devastating decay.
    “I was born a couple of decades after the Cleansing ended.” Anara shrugged, confirming Liv’s suspicion. “I hear it used to be nice.”
    “It was,” Liv answered, “once upon a time.”
    “You know,” the doctor said after a moment, “I’ve never known a Venn Dom other than the one that exists today.”
    Liv said nothing as they walked along the path.
    “Look, I know I’m being nosy, but I can’t help it.” Anara swept out a hand with a shrug. “I have to know… how did you survive on the human ‘el? Without exposure to the venna?”
    “I don’t know if you’d call it surviving,” Liv replied, not minding the female’s curiosity. She had questions of her own. “I got by. At the end, before I was found, I worked at a mixed martial arts gym as a massage therapist.”
    Anara looked her over with an appraising eye.  
    “That’s a very smart coping strategy for dealing with your acute neuropathy.”
    “Acute neuropathy?” Liv had never heard her condition described as such. “Is that what’s wrong with me?”
    “I don’t know if I’d call it ‘wrong’ because it’s simply a condition caused by lack of adequate nourishment,” Anara answered. “But, yes, I believe your inability to process touch is a dysfunction in your peripheral nerves, which causes the acute numbness.”
    Anara was certainly correct about the numbness.  
    “I’m assuming you were able to feed off of the energy of mortals more efficiently through physical contact, thus allowing you to maintain some semblance of tactile sensation, not to mention your consciousness.”
    Once again, Anara was correct.
    “Can I ask you another question?” Anara glanced in Liv’s direction.