“You. Tell me about you.” She was far too curious about the male.
He blinked once, confusion flickering in those gorgeous eyes. “What about me?”
She wrapped the blanket tighter around her body, fighting off a shiver of cold. She knew it wasn’t that chilly in here, but she had to push down her fear that the poison was doing irreparable harm to her body. “I don’t know, tell me about your clan, ah, any siblings?”
His eyes shuttered then and he looked away. “I have no family.”
Oooh. There was such a wealth of…not sadness really, but his tone was so bleak it sliced right through her. She swallowed hard, feeling like the biggest kind of monster for taking it for granted that he’d have a clan. Most dragons did and… Oh, if he worked for her grandmother in her elite guard then it made sense if he was a loner.
Going with her instinct—and not caring about stupid princess protocol at this point, especially if she actually was dying—she let her blanket drop and stood.
He stiffened in his chair, looking ready to jump up and help her, but he stilled as she dragged her chair closer to him, until the chairs were touching.
He frowned slightly, but settled back down.
“I’m sorry if I asked a painful question,” she said, watching him closely.
“It’s fine. It is not painful.” His stiffly spoken words said otherwise.
She nodded, though it was clear he was lying or just in denial. “Okay.”
He cleared his throat, then said, “What else would you like to know?”
All the things. Was he…single? He had to be. She hadn’t scented anyone on him. But that might mean nothing because her senses were muted now. She frowned slightly as another shiver rolled through her.
He suddenly stood, his dragon flaring to life in his eyes. “I will get the healer.”
“No. I’m just cold. It would help if you held me.” A partial truth. He looked a bit lost, as if he needed something to do. And she liked the thought of his arms around her again.
He moved swiftly, shifting her to his lap in moments.
Screw princess protocol. She laid her head on his shoulder, a sigh escaping. She knew she should feel weird about this, but she didn’t at all. She felt as if she was exactly where she needed to be. Even if she was behaving nothing like the way she’d been raised. “Can I ask you something else?” Hopefully less painful.
“You may ask me anything.” The deep rumble of his voice was an aphrodisiac itself. Along with the heat of him, wrapping around her in tune with his dark, sensual scent.
“Earlier, why did you think I would attack you?”
He shrugged against her. “People normally do.”
Well that was depressing. She hated that he must work for her grandmother, though she had no doubt he was good at what he did. She lifted her head, then patted his forearm gently. She started to respond when the door opened and Greer, the elegant healer with copper-colored hair, strode in.
She dressed the way many humans did, in jeans and a flowy shirt the same color as her green eyes. Her expression wasn’t grim, exactly, but it was sober.
“Will I get my dragon back?” Stella asked before she could stop herself. She hated that the words came out unsteady, but she was terrified to lose that intrinsic part of herself. And if she wasn’t going to, she wanted to know now.
Greer’s eyes went soft. “Yes. But it will take some time. As you said, it is definitely poison in your blood. A nasty concoction, a mix I’ve never seen before. But, I can take it out and destroy it. All your magic will eventually return but it will take a bit of time for you to heal once the poison is gone.”
“Then do it.” Rhodes’ voice was whiplash sharp. “That’s why we’re here.”
Stella gently nudged him, but kept her focus on Greer as she murmured, “Hush.”
Greer simply ignored him and focused on her. “Since you’re my patient, I need to know if you want him in here while I go over your options.”
He shifted underneath her and Stella could feel his anxiety even without looking at him. If her parents had been here, they’d have been shocked by her behavior right now. She was sitting curled up in the lap of her bodyguard like a wild dragon. And she didn’t care.
She liked this male with a fierceness that defied logic. “He can stay.”
Rhodes settled under her so she turned to him, found his face inches from hers. “Only if you stay quiet and don’t snap at the very nice healer,” she whispered.
Jaw still tight, he nodded, his eyes glowing.
Stella turned back to Greer, who nodded. “Okay then. You have a few options. One, I can remove the poison with my healing magic. It will be the quickest way, but it will also be the most painful. This poison…it’s dark. There’s no other way to describe it. I used some of my magic on your blood sample and was able to get rid of it, but it wants to fight back. It’s why I took longer than expected. I needed to make sure I could truly destroy it.”
“How quick?”
“Roughly two hours. I could sedate you, but I don’t like the idea of giving you too much—”
“No sedation.”
Greer nodded again. “Okay. Other options. I could also break up the sessions into shorter time frames if the pain is too much. My only fear is that if I do that, it’ll spread back faster, and grow stronger.”
“So this is more than a poison?”
“It’s like a poison-virus. Partially made, partially naturally occurring. We could also try blood transfusions with healthy supernatural blood. I have a small supply of—”
“No.” Stella shook her head quickly. “I don’t want that.” It scared her to think of other blood inside her, even though she knew it was ridiculous. “I can deal with the pain. Can you remove the poison now?”
“Yes. And we can do it in here where you’re comfortable,” she said as she tapped on a cell phone.
Stella knew what they were, but did not have one. Her sister had told her someone from King’s pack would provide her with one to communicate once she arrived. But…she didn’t care one way or another.
Before Stella could respond, Reaper, a large male, stepped inside, moved up next to Greer in a way that made it clear they were mated. He gently gripped the healer’s hip as Greer said, “Rhodes, my mate Reaper is going to take you downstairs for a bit of tea. Stella will be fine with me.” She spoke extra gently, as if expecting an argument.
“I’m fine where I am.” Rhodes’ grip around her waist tightened. He’d wrapped his big arm completely around her, was basically anchoring her to him.
“That’s my mate’s way of politely kicking you out.” Reaper stepped forward, his dragon in his gaze. Waves of power rolled off him, the level similar to that of her parents. He was definitely a warrior dragon.
Stella turned to look at Rhodes, was surprised to see his dragon in his gaze. Oooh, he was definitely going to fight this. “It’s fine. More than fine. It’ll be easier for me if you’re downstairs. I don’t want…” She didn’t want him to see her at her weakest. The dragon in her simply couldn’t allow that. She was too vulnerable. “I would prefer to do this with just the healer.”