Warrior (Relentless #4)(162)

“Yes.” I told her fiercely because I wouldn’t accept anything else.

Sara shivered so violently I heard her teeth chatter. I tucked the covers around her, but it didn’t help. She whimpered, and the sound tore at my heart.

I stood and kicked off my shoes as I pulled off my jacket and tossed it on the floor. Sara didn’t move when I lifted the blankets and positioned my body behind hers on the couch. If she couldn’t warm herself, then my Mori would do it for her. I pulled her back against me and wrapped my arms around her to give her as much of my body heat as I could. I ignored everyone in the room as I focused on easing her discomfort.

The others drifted away to talk, leaving Sara and me alone. Long minutes passed before her shivering began to subside, and she relaxed against me with a small sigh.

“You’re going to be okay,” I whispered against her ear.

My Mori shifted, distressed about its mate, and I could feel it trying to push its strength to Sara through the bond. I knew it was a futile effort. Only a completed bond allowed you to share your Mori’s power with your mate. Otherwise, I’d give her whatever she needed to get well.

Time crawled as I waited for Sara to wake up. Every now and then, someone would come over to check on her. I didn’t know if it was my body heat or touch helping her, but she seemed to be resting more comfortably.

An hour later, I felt her stirring. She pushed weakly at the blankets covering her and made a small frightened sound.

“Shhh,” I murmured.

She grew still. “Nikolas?”

The emotion in her voice when she said my name made my heart constrict. “I’m here,” I said softly.

Quiet sobs began to rack her body, and I pulled her closer, wishing I could draw her pain into me.

“Don’t cry.”

After several minutes, she grew quiet again, except for a few sniffles.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“Rotten,” she said hoarsely. “What’s wrong with me?”

I kept my voice calm, not wanting to upset her. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.”

She tried to turn toward me, and I lifted her, wanting to see her face.

Her emerald eyes were full of anguish, and her face was wet with tears. She looked pale and tired, her hair was a mess, and still she was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.

Her hand came up to touch my face, her cold fingers softly tracing my lips and stroking my forehead.

I had imagined her touching me this way, but nothing had prepared me for the emotions that crowded my chest and tightened my throat until I could barely breathe. I’d missed her more than I could put into words, and the pain in her eyes told me I hadn’t suffered alone.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call,” she whispered.

I smiled and kissed her forehead, and she laid her head wearily against my chest.

“It’s okay,” I assured her. “Go back to sleep.”

The sound of a phone ringing awoke me two hours later. With Sara safe in my arms, it hadn’t taken long for me to succumb to much-needed sleep.

Chris walked over to us and spoke in a low voice. “Tristan wants to talk to you.”

I eased out from behind Sara and went into the kitchen where Chris’s phone lay on the counter.

“How is she?” Tristan asked as soon as I said hello.

I looked at the small figure buried beneath a mountain of blankets. “I wish I knew. I’ve never seen her like this.”

“She’ll be okay. We have some of the best healers in the world, and two of them are on the way to you. Seamus and Niall are with them. They insisted they be the ones to go.”

I let out a deep breath. “Tell them to hurry.”

“I have Margot on the line now. What are Sara’s symptoms?”

“She’s cold and sleeps a lot. Jordan said she hasn’t been eating since she got sick, and she had a bad headache when it started.”

Tristan repeated what I’d said to Margot. The two of them talked for a minute before he came back to me. “There are two demon species in North America that can give you some or all of those symptoms. Sara would have been bitten by one of them to get their venom in her system.”

“What demons?”

“Wirm and goccan demons,” Tristan said.

I pressed my lips together. Wirm demons were highly venomous, and their bites were fatal to humans. My Mori would protect me if I was ever bitten by one of them, but Sara’s Mori wasn’t strong enough to help her. And there was no telling how her Fae side would react to a demon bite. Goccan demons lived among humans. They were poisonous, but they tended to keep to themselves. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d heard of one of them biting someone.

I called Jordan into the kitchen. “Is there any chance Sara was bitten by a wirm or goccan demon?”

Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “No. Not a chance.”

I released the breath I was holding. “Tristan, did you hear that?”

“Yes. Margot will be there in less than two hours. Try to keep Sara comfortable until then.”

I hung up and went back to the living room. Sara was still sleeping soundly, and she didn’t stir when I sat on the couch and moved her so her head was on my lap.

“They’ll figure out what’s wrong with her at Westhorne, right?” Roland asked after a long silence.