When I began to shiver uncontrollably despite all the blankets covering me, Greg stood up and said he was taking me to a hospital. Jordan told him he couldn’t do that, but I could hear the uncertainty in her voice. If I could have spoken, I would have told them that human medicine would not cure whatever was wrong with me.

I passed out a few minutes later. The last thing I remembered thinking was that I’d broken my promise to call Nikolas and he was going to worry again.

Chapter 9

Voices threatened to drag me away from the wonderful dream I was having, and I fought consciousness to stay in the dream world. I knew I wasn’t really back in my old living room in New Hastings, sitting by the fire with Nikolas and listening to the storm rage outside. I had no idea why my mind brought me back to that time and place, but I was warm and content and reluctant to leave.

The voices tugged at me again, and I felt the coldness of the real world pressing down on me. My eyes opened and Greg’s uncle’s living room slowly swam into focus. I saw Roland and Greg talking in low voices across the room and Peter dozing in a chair. The clock on the TV said it was 4:00 a.m., and I wondered groggily why everyone was still up. Jordan’s voice came from the direction of the kitchen, and it took me a few seconds to realize she was talking to someone. Who was she on the phone with at this hour?

When I heard a low male voice answer Jordan, alarm filled my muddled brain. I tried to move beneath the pile of blankets, but my tired body refused to cooperate. Panic filled me, and I let out a small cry.

“Shhh,” someone murmured in my ear.

I stilled as several realizations hit me at once. The first was that I was warm for the first time in days. The second was the absence of the hollow ache in my chest. The third was that I was lying on my side with my back pressed against a warm hard body.

“Nikolas?” I whispered.

“I’m here.”

My breath hitched and a lump formed in my throat. I had no idea if I was crying because I was upset that he’d finally caught me, or because I was so happy he was here. My illness had made me weak and emotional, and I shook as the tears came.

“Don’t cry.” His arms tightened around me, pulling me closer. It took me a few minutes to get my emotions under control.

“How do you feel?”

“Rotten,” I rasped. “What’s wrong with me?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.” Beneath his reassuring tone, there was an edge of worry that frightened me.

I shifted in his arms, needing to see him. He lifted me easily, turning me toward him.

Eyes the color of dark smoke met mine, and I fell into their depths. I had missed him so much, and the need to touch him, to make sure he was real, overwhelmed me. I reached up to caress his jaw, which was covered in a day’s growth of beard. My fingers grazed his full lips, and they parted slightly, sending warm breath across my skin. I touched his brow, smoothing out the furrows, hating that I had put them there.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call.”

His eyes softened, and he leaned down to press a tender kiss to my forehead. My stomach fluttered and warmth coursed through me. I closed my eyes and rested my head against his chest as his arms circled me protectively.

“It’s okay,” he said against my hair. “Go back to sleep.”

When I woke again, his warmth was gone, and fear that it had all been a dream twisted my gut. A hand stroked my hair, and I realized I lay with my head on Nikolas’s lap. He spoke and his voice was a balm for my fear.

“Tristan is sending two healers with the jet. I don’t want to wait until we get her home.”

“Good idea,” Chris replied, his voice devoid of his usual good humor. “Do they have any ideas what it could be?”

“There are several species of demon with venom that can cause some of these symptoms, but according to Jordan, they didn’t come into contact with any of them.”

“Tell us again what happened at the party,” Chris said, and I listened as Jordan related the events of that night exactly as they had happened.

“She didn’t eat or drink anything except the Glaen, and the only demons I remember her touching were the ranc and the gulak. The only other demon that got close to us was an incubus.”

Nikolas tensed. “An incubus?”

Jordan snorted. “Sara would have fried his man parts if he’d touched one of us, trust me. My girl doesn’t mess around.”

“How was she after she drank the Glaen?” Chris asked. “It’s a powerful drink from what I hear.”

“She was kind of silly like she was drunk, but not staggering. She even hugged me.”

“Sara hugged you?” Roland said. “That must have been some good stuff.”

“Could her Mori be sick from the Fae drink?” Chris suggested. “She’s only half Fae after all.”

I felt for my Mori, and I could sense no pain from it. It seemed to be content now that Nikolas was here.

“My Mori is fine,” I rasped.

Nikolas’s hand stilled. “How are you feeling?”

I took stock of my symptoms. I was freezing again, and every joint in my body ached. My stomach rolled, my head hurt, and my skin felt dry and itchy and stretched across my muscles. I shifted and everything hurt. “Same. Thirsty.”

Jordan appeared at my side, holding a glass of water with a straw in it. “Here.” She put the straw to my lips and I drank slowly, afraid to disturb my already unsettled stomach.