by Kali Argent
Yeah, Luke got that, but this was kind of an emergency. “You can wake her, though?”
He seemed to understand the gravity of the situation, because a moment later, he rose from the loveseat with a nod and crossed the short distance to kneel by his sister. Cradling her face in his big hands, he closed his eyes while his lips moved soundlessly.
While he worked his magic—literally—Luke turned his attention to Nell. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. I told you what happened.” Still, she refused to meet his gaze, and she fidgeted nervously with the tassels on the ends of her blanket.
Luke took a step toward her, only stopping when Tariq caught him by the elbow. “I’m going to ask you one more time, Nell, and if you lie to me, so help me—”
“Dychadradimine.”
He whipped his head toward the sofa, his heart leaping into his throat when Jael shifted around on the cushions to look up at him. Shaking off Tariq’s hold on him, he rushed over to her side, practically shoving Xi out of the way to get to his mate. Crouching in front of her, he took her hand and brought it to his lips while he thanked every deity who would listen that she was unharmed.
“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered raggedly. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay I’m think I.” She shook her head hard. “Right isn’t something.” Her right hand opened and closed rapidly, her pupils dilated, and her right eye began to twitch sporadically. “Understand don’t I. Me to happening is something.”
“Easy, shh, it’s okay.” Luke stroked her hair and wiped away the tears that spilled down her cheeks. “Don’t cry, beautiful. It’s going to be okay.”
Frightened for his mate but aslo knowing he had to keep it together for her sake, he looked to his sister for answers.
Cami flinched a couple of times and hugged Daisy tight to her chest. “Her thoughts are all jumbled. I can’t really make sense of them.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when Xi took a menacing step toward Nell and bellowed, “What did you do to her?”
“Xi.” When he didn’t look at her, Jael called his name again. “No.” The twitching in her eye had stopped, and the movement of her hand slowed. “Dychadradimine,” she repeated. “Females. Tests. Poison.”
Obviously, her speech wasn’t back to normal yet, but Luke had no problem deciphering her words. “The females we tested were poisoned with Dychadradimine.”
“Nell…poisoned…them.” She spoke slowly, carefully enunciating each word.
“That’s a lie,” Nell spat. “Why would I do that? That doesn’t even make sense. Clearly, her brain is—” Her words cut off in a choking gasp, and she clutched at her throat, her eyes wide and terrified.
Xi stood motionless, his hands clenched at his sides, and a look of pure murder on his face as he stared daggers at the female. Unfortunately, as much as Luke wanted to strangle her himself, they still needed answers.
“Xi, you can’t kill her.” His eyes skipped to Nell, then back. “Yet.”
After an intense standoff, Xi finally relaxed with a long, suffering breath and jerked away from the young woman. Nell coughed and sputtered, gasping for breath as she pressed back into her chair.
“Start talking,” Luke demanded, “or next time, I won’t stop him.”
She said nothing, which was frustrating but not all that surprising.
“She poisoned your volunteers to make it look like the cure wasn’t working.” Jael smiled when Luke whipped around to stare at her. “Hello, neelum.” She lifted her right hand to show him that it had stopped convulsing, then reached out with it to stroke his cheek. “I’m okay now. Don’t worry for me.”
There was no way in the universe he could promise that, so he just captured her hand and placed a kiss against her palm. “Is that what you were trying to tell me earlier in my office?”
“Yes. I should have told you last night, but I wanted proof before I came to you with it.”
“What proof?” Nell demanded. “There’s not any, because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Jael shot her a scathing glare. “I retested the samples, which clearly show high levels of the experimental drug Dychadradimine. I can’t prove it, but I know you altered the original reports.”
“I can prove it.” Tariq held up the portable monitor. “I’ll need access to your private server, but I’ll find you what you need.”
Luke dipped his head. “Done.”
Jael exhaled audibly. “Why, Nell? Why did you do it?”
“She doesn’t want the cure,” Cami answered with no small amount of disgust. “If all women can reproduce, what makes scrolls so special? Her words, not mine, and I’m paraphrasing, of course.” A visible shiver rippled through her. “Being in her head is really unpleasant.”
“Shut up!” Nell screamed. “Just shut up!”
Luke couldn’t wrap his mind around it. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? What makes you special? Nell, do you realize there are people who would give anything to be able to do what you can do?”
“Yeah, I’m smart,” the female shot back. “So what? Do you realize how much that intimidates people? I was supposed to be bonded. I was supposed to be someone’s chosen!” Her voice rose with every word, her tone becoming increasingly hysterical.
“The males she was supposed to bond with didn’t want to go through with it,” Cami explained. “She thinks it’s because they didn’t want to be with someone smarter than them.”
“Stop it!” Nell screeched. “Stay out of my head!”
Unfazed, Cami pressed on. “If all females can procreate, that means more competition for males. She thinks no one will want her then.” She combed her fingers through Daisy’s fur and snorted. “You know, for someone so insecure, you really do think a lot of yourself.”
“I hate you.”
Cami shrugged. “The feeling is mutual.”
Luke had to agree that the female did possess an exorbitant amount of hubris. The fact that she could think of no other reason a male might dislike her company than because he found her intimidating was ludicrous. Then again, maybe she was right. Maybe the elites she’d intended to bond with had been threatened by her intellect.
No matter the reason, it didn’t exonerate her of any wrongdoing, and it sure as hell didn’t make him pity her.
“Tell me,” he said, his tone deceptively calm, “how exactly does Jael fit into all of this?”
Nell’s complexion turned a deep, mottled red as she jabbed a finger toward his mate. “She was going to ruin everything!”
“Because she knew the truth,” Luke surmised. “You were watching on the security feed when she figured it out last night.”
She didn’t admit to it, but she didn’t deny it, either.
Xi hadn’t moved an inch since the conversation began, but he growled then and took another step toward her. “Can I kill her now?”
Luke wasn’t totally opposed to the idea, and he might have said as much if Jael hadn’t chosen that moment to grab his arm and dig her fingernails into his flesh. He barely noticed the sting as his skin broke beneath the pressure, though, too focused on the searing heat pouring off her.
Her cheeks were rosy, and sweat dampened the hair at her temples, but he pressed his hand to her forehead anyway and cursed. “Fuck, you’re burning up.”
“Luke, I…I…” Her eyes went wide before she wrenched to the side and heaved, expelling a torrent of blood across the couch cushions.
Luke froze, Cami gasped, and for just a moment, time stood still.
Then everything turned to chaos.
Xi cursed. Daisy let loose a series of frantic barks. Tariq rushed over to the sofa but looked at a loss of what to do next. Nell started screaming.
“Shut up,” Luke roared, jumping to his feet and lifting his mate into arms. “Get her out of here,” he ordered with a jerk of his head toward Nell. “I don’t give a fuck what you do with her, just get her out now.”
Seemingly grateful f
or something to do, Tariq marched over, plucked the female right out of her chair, and left the room with her. She kicked and screamed the whole way, but no one paid her any attention.
“Cami, power up the med-scan.” His father’s desire to have a private med-scanner in the house had never made sense, but for the second time that night, he was profoundly grateful for the man’s paranoid eccentricities.
“On it.” She jumped up and darted out of the room, taking the puppy with her.
“Xi?”
Immediately, he stepped forward and placed his hand on top of Jael’s head. Then, just as quickly, he snatched his hand back and shook his head. “I can’t heal this.”
Luke swallowed down his disappointment, making sure it didn’t show on his face. “Go check the lab for any of those healing flowers.” It was a long shot, but if there was even the slightest chance that any had survived, it was worth taking the time to search. “There’s a room on the other side of the big staircase at the front of the house. Meet me there when you’re finished.”
The male vanished without a word.
“Hold on, baby,” Luke murmured as he took off at a jog. “Just hold on for me.”
Jael’s head lulled on his shoulder, and one hand rested in her lap while the other hung limply at her side. She didn’t respond.
By the time he made it to the private exam room off the front entrance hall, Xi was already waiting for him. Luke didn’t even have to ask. The moment he saw the male’s expression, he knew the answer.
“Get her in here,” Cami urged as she opened the clear lid of the med-scanner.
Though reluctant to let go of his mate, Luke lowered her gently onto the black, gel cushion and stepped back as the lid closed with a pressurized hiss.
“Heart rate elevated at one hundred fifty-eight beats per minute,” the bed’s AI informed them in a robotic male voice. “Oxygen below ninety percent. Temperature forty-one degrees Celsius.”
Luke’s stomach clenched at the dangerously high temperature. “Computer, lower med-scan internal temperature by fifteen degrees and begin oxygen flow at thirty percent.”
“Command confirmed. Continue diagnostics?”
“Continue.”
“Presence of bacteria: negative. Presence of infection: negative. Presence of foreign substances: positive. High levels of Dychadradimine detected. Recommended treatment: none.”
“What does it mean there’s no recommended treatment?” Cami asked indignantly.
“It’s an experimental drug. It hasn’t even passed trials yet, and it probably won’t.” He hadn’t followed its development closely, but he knew enough about it to understand they were royally screwed. “There’s no counteractive medication for it.”
“Who the hell creates something like that with no cure?”
Honestly, it happened a lot, but she probably didn’t need to know that.
“Okay,” she huffed when he just stared at her, “then we take her to a med-center.”
“Human medicine can’t help her,” Xi interjected. “We have to get her back to Xenthian.”
Sadly, he was right, but considering how quickly Jael was deteriorating, they’d never make it to Xenthian in time.
Mentally calculating the distance, Luke determined the space station nearest the midpoint of the journey. It would take several days to make it there in his private cruiser—days they didn’t have to waste. The ship Xi and Jael had arrived in was still docked in the Capital, which really left him with only one option.
“Cami, contact the docking bays and have them prepare the Contingency for departure.” He just hoped the royal ship of Xenthian’s king lived up to its hype. “Xi, contact your people. Tell them to get their hands on those flowers and meet us on Alpha Station: X11.”
“Luke…” Looking back and forth between him and Jael, Cami wrung her hands together as moisture filled her eyes.
“I know.” He cupped her cheek and nodded. “This will work. Everything is going to be okay. Now, go.”
It had to work.
It had to be okay.
Because if he failed…
Opening the med-scan, he slipped his arms under Jael’s prone body and lifted her into his arms. The bed had done its job to reduce her temperature marginally, but she still radiated an alarming amount of heat. There were medical supplies he needed to gather before they departed. Things he needed to do. He’d need a way to keep her fever under control until they could reach their destination, and she’d also need additional oxygen for the journey.
One more minute. He just needed another sixty seconds to hold her in his arms, then he’d go do what was needed.
“Hang in there, baby. Keep fighting.” He pressed his lips to her feverish brow and squeezed his eyes closed.
This would work.
Everything would be okay.
Failure was not an option.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
For the next two days, Jael drifted in and out of consciousness.
Every time she’d awoken with screams of agony, her mate and her brother had been right there to soothe her. Twice, Xi had lulled her back to sleep with a spell, and three times he’d used his magic to take away her pain. She loved him for it, but she constantly worried about him as well.
“Does it hurt?” he asked the next time her eyes drifted open. “How bad is the pain?”
Without waiting for a response, he reached for her hand, but she pulled back and shook her head. “No more, Xi. I’m okay.”
She wasn’t okay. It felt like she was being turned inside out, but she couldn’t ask any more from him. His usually handsome face appeared pale and drawn, and his once piercing gray eyes were now dull and sunken. Shadows ringed his eyes, and his lids were rimmed red, likely from a lack of sleep.
For as long as she could remember, he’d taken great pride in his appearance, especially his long, dark hair, but the strands that hung around his face were dirty and unkempt. Even his lips cracked and peeled, and a bloody line ran down the center of the bottom one where the flesh had split.
It was obvious that his continuous and frequent use of magic had taken its toll, but he’d never once complained. He was killing himself just to give her a measure of comfort, just a single moment of peace.
“Jael.” His voice was weak and raspy, and he paused to clear his throat. “Let me take your pain.”
“No, no more,” she repeated. “You’ve already taken too much.”
“Let me do something,” he pleaded. “Tell me what I can do to help.”
She had never seen him like this. Her strong, warrior brother was begging, and it broke her heart.
“Where are we going?” she asked, more to distract him than because she really wanted to know. She doubted she’d still be alive to see it anyway.
“We’re on our way to the Alliance Alpha Station: X11. Syrie and Osian will meet us there with the saona flowers from the Southern Isle.”
“We’re going to a space station?” She tried to smile, but it hurt too much, so she settled for covering Xi’s hand with her own. “I’m sure you’re dreading it.”
He didn’t laugh. He didn’t respond with his usual sarcasm. He just cradled her hand between both of his own and stared at her like she—or maybe, he—would shatter into a million pieces at any moment.
“I think I need new gel packs.”
She hated them. They were cold, and they hurt where they touched her bare skin, but Luke had explained they were necessary to combat her fever. Plus, Xi needed something to keep him busy so he didn’t completely fell apart.
“Don’t move,” he commanded as he stood and started out of the cruiser’s massive suite. “I’ll be right back.”
She was in no danger of disobeying that particular order since she could barely roll over in bed without help. It really was a shame, too, because she would have liked to explore the king’s cruiser. From the sheer size and opulence of the room she’d been sleeping in, she imagined the ship to be at least twice the size of
the Radiance.
Oh, it was probably amazing. She wondered if the deep purple carpets that covered the floor of the suite ran throughout the entire ship. Where all the port windows ringed in gold, or was it just the one she stared out when she was too restless to sleep? Maybe the vessel had an observation deck with comfortable furniture and amazing views of space. She could sit there with Luke and sip wine while they dreamed about the future.
That would be nice.
Stars, she was so tired.
She was also kind of gross. Not only had she not showered in days, but she kept leaking. Thankfully, she hadn’t vomited blood again, but it did occasionally seep from her nose and ears. Once, it had run like tiny rivers from her eyes, and she’d been so distraught over it she’d triggered another mini seizure. That had been the second time Xi had put her to sleep.
An electronic bell chimed, signaling Xi’s return, and a moment later, he walked through the bedroom door with a silver cryo-case. Placing in on the table beside the bed, he unlatched it, but instead of pulling out the gel-packs, he reached into his belt and removed a small green device about the size of his thumb.
Jael groaned. She hated that damn thing even more than she did the frozen gel-packs.
“I’m sorry,” Xi murmured as he hooked the two prongs in her nostrils and fit the device across the bridge of her nose. “Luke says you have to use it, just for a little while.”
While she knew it was necessary, the prongs tickled her nose, and the concentration of oxygen made her lightheaded. It also looked stupid. Not that she’d seen her reflection, but Luke had tried it on when he’d been showing her how it worked. She always found him handsome, but even he’d looked stupid.
“Are we getting close to this space station?”
“Yes, Luke says we’re very close.” As he spoke, he removed the warmed gel packs from around her and began replacing them with the horrid frozen ones. “Just a couple of more hours.”
Jael gasped when one of the packs pressed against her thigh, and she tried to cringe away from him, but Xi held her in place. “It’s cold.”
“I know, princess.” He smoothed her hair back from her face and kissed her brow. “It’s supposed to be.”
