When her mother grabbed her arm, Sasha didn’t react, the pain from the touch like a dull bruise. She was too weak and helpless to resist.
Then her mother tugged, attempting to drag her out of bed, and Sasha released a loud scream. The sound rang around the room, so filled with agony she barely associated it with herself. Pain flooded her body, and for a few precious seconds, welcomed unconsciousness overtook her.
When she managed to open her eyes once more, she heard her mother arguing with Dave.
“She needs to rest, Jenna! We don’t know how powerful this venom is. If you want her to have any chance of recovery—”
“I’ve had three doctors here already,” Jenna hissed. “None of them can help her! They can’t even tell me if she’s infected with anything. The tests are all clear.”
Sasha moaned. She could hear them, but their words made no sense to her. She could see nothing but the glorious skies of Preor. Could hear nothing save the crooning of her missing mate.
“Whelon,” she murmured, her voice thick with tears. “My love. Shaa kouvi…”
Her mother had fallen utterly silent, standing over the bed and staring down at Sasha, but Sasha was barely aware of her. When there was a knock at the door, the dull thuds rocketing through the room, and Sasha tried to turn away. She was sick of this horrible, painful world. She wanted to return to her dreams where she was with Whelon and all was well.
Vaguely, she heard the door open and thump closed. Her mother’s voice cracked against the quiet air, and Dave murmured in concerned tones.
Soft footsteps approached Sasha and then gentle fingers were on her wrist. “It’s the Knowing sickness,” a voice murmured. “How extraordinary. I’ve never had a chance to witness it before.”
“I don’t care what it is,” Jenna snapped. “I have a TV spot this evening and you better get her up and looking good by then or I swear to any God you prefer, I will see to it that you never work in this town again!”
Sasha had opened her eyes during her mother’s tirade enough to see the doctor’s smile as he rolled his eyes at Jenna. Empty threats were her mother’s stock and trade.
He touched Sasha’s forehead with a gentle hand. “When did the Knowing commence, dear girl?”
“Yesterday? Last Night?” She forced the words through her ragged throat. “I don’t know. It happened so fast.”
The doctor turned to speak with Jenna again. “She needs her mate. She’s bonded now and it can’t be broken. They could both die.”
Her mother’s sharp intake of breath meant the woman was about to let fly a tirade of fury on the doctor. “You are even more useless than the others!” Jenna spat. “I need real help, not this ‘Knowing’ bullshit. This is exactly why we need to fight the Preor. Look what they’ve done to my daughter!”
“No one did anything,” the doctor explained patiently. “It’s genetic. The Preor have no control over its occurrence.”
“I don’t care!” Jenna ground out. “Get the fuck out.”
The doctor hovered over Sasha a moment more and that stretched Jenna’s patience further. “I said get the fuck out!”
With a regretful look at Sasha, he collected his things and left the decrepit room.
Jenna paced, obviously lost in thought. She occasionally looked over at Sasha and cocked her head before returning to her pacing once more.
“Mother…” She wanted to cry out, “help me, please,” but she was too afraid of what her mother’s response would be.
“Shut up, Sasha,” her mother muttered. “I’m thinking.”
Sasha wished she could rest, that she could simply curl up and wander those delirious dreams until the inevitable took her. But she couldn’t let go. Not with that look on her mother’s face. The one that always meant trouble for someone.
Today, that someone is me.
Chapter Ten
Whelon was awake to greet the sun bursting into the sky the next morning. Instead of the night sapping his strength, he felt that it had turned him into stone. He had not slept for even a moment, attempting to hold off the Knowing sickness and aid in the search for his mate.
Jarek and Melissa had gone to the clinic not long after he was settled in the lobby—unwilling to accept a room for his comfort. Chashan and Jarek had obviously convinced her to retire there for the evening. Whelon knew this meant she must be feeling badly enough that she couldn’t find the strength and stamina to argue with the two males.
This concerned him greatly. Even more so, he was upset he would not have the opportunity to look at the other women for Chashan, but he could not find his focus. He had never been so lost in his lengthy lifetime.
Radoo soon came over to him, one hand squeezing his shoulder in solidarity while he offered him a cup of coffee with the other hand. Whelon had come to enjoy the bitter brew though most Preor hated the concoction. He wrapped his hands around the cup gratefully and remained silent, waiting to see if Radoo had anything to impart.
“Lily has something,” Radoo finally announced.
“Lily?” Whelon frowned. He believed he had been scheduled to examine Lily joi Argan King during his visit. “Is she not bearing? Soon to give birth?”
“Pregnant, yes, but I’m not ready to pop yet.” Lily’s voice drew his gaze and she smiled gently as she approached with a computer tablet in her hands. “All of Sasha’s addresses have been checked out and she’s not at any of her known residences. I managed to track an address tied to the fake name she used on her Choosing application. It’s a pretty slim hope, but it won’t hurt to check it out.”
He nodded, staring up at Lily though he didn’t really see her, not truly. His mind was still tied to Sasha. She stroked his face, but he didn’t desire her touch, and then she returned to the small station of technology she had built on one of the large tables in the lobby. Her behavior—taking over space without asking permission—would have amused him if he wasn’t so heartsick.
“Let us head to the roof. Perhaps a flight will help.”, Radoo suggested brightly, probably trying to rouse Whelon.
He figured he would go with the other male for no reason other than he had nothing else to occupy his mind. He stood and followed, barely noticing the crowd of Preor warriors that shuffled around him. When they reached the top of Preor Tower, they each jumped, one by one, shifting and taking to the crisp ocean air.
Whelon followed, his dragon form heavy and numb around him. He knew it was his beast’s defense against the Knowing sickness, something his body did to ensure he remained in fighting shape. It would not last forever and part of him was ready to give in to the Knowing sickness.
We will never find her, his dragon’s mind whispered. He had not realized the bestial part of him was so fatalistic.
The buildings that swept beneath them gradually began to change and Whelon’s eyes focused as they flew from the central part of the city to its outskirts. For a few moments, Whelon believed his eyes had been affected by the Knowing sickness and he had to be seeing things, but…
But he wasn’t.
The clean, neat buildings fell away, street by street. First the houses were simply a little dirtier or in need of slight repairs. Then a few streets beyond, there were broken windows and holes in walls. Long rushes of grass were peppered with vehicles propped up on bricks and poorly written signs saying things like “free kittens” or “will trade tools for food.”