We've kept our circle close to the chest, kept our group to the other shifters that were in such desperate need of a king, and the only humans who affiliate with us willingly are the mates of those bound to them.
So why Joyce was crazy enough to not only make the forty-five minute journey from the center of town all the way out here, but also just to stab my angel, is a bit mind boggling. Then again, if her impromptu visit was merely so she could get back at my light for their altercations at Bill's, then I suppose she didn't need much more reason than that.
But it still leaves many unanswered questions.
How did she learn of the party?
Andrej believes Joyce caught wind of it while the females made various shopping trips to acquire the items needed, most likely heard or saw herself that they were buying decorations and large amounts of food.
Feasible, but if that were the case then how did she make it onto our land without anyone detecting an unwelcome human amongst us?
My brothers theorized that this was solely due to the amount of alcohol everyone had consumed by the point in the night Joyce arrived, but I don't buy it.
Our clan is composed of some of the most powerful shifters I have ever met, children of kings and queens, not to mention my brothers are four of the most fierce dragons ever to exist, and when you add my even keener senses into the mix, there is just no way, drunk or not, that she went undetected without help. And it had me thinking about the automatic shades in our home, the ones I all but confirmed were tampered with by someone who left absolutely no trace.
Even if I entertained their theory, got on board with the whole lot of us being too drunk to notice Joyce slip in, that still leaves the question of how the fuck she got her hands on one of my grandfather’s swords and knew to lace it with vampire blood.
That did, however, confirm a few things.
Nero still believes my light to have vampiric genetics; otherwise, he would not have had the blade poisoned. Vampire blood on a weapon has no real effect on a human, no more than coating the blade in say, Vaseline or tomato paste.
This also means that he probably assumes we've mated because the act would have amplified my light’s vampire DNA tenfold, again supported by the use of vampire blood to injure her. Vampire blood is only a useful poison on another vampire, period.
Which leads me to think Nero has no knowledge of the fact that my angel is actually, in fact, fae. If he knew that, knew of her true nature then he would have known the only substances that are poisonous to her are, oddly enough, any kind of man-made medication. Not something simple like Tylenol or Motrin but a narcotic painkiller, an anesthetic, even something as average as an allergy pill or antibiotic. Things that are fabricated by man make fae violently ill and can indeed kill them because all they have ever relied on for healing or health purposes is nature. Those toxins are dangerous to fae because they are not of the earth, something we learned through the book Henrich gave my light.
Ellida shared at great length how fae are only receptive to the organic remedies found in nature, how even something like using leeches to let blood was harmful to their kind because it was not how nature intended those nasty little creatures to be used. She didn't have knowledge of modern medicine, obviously, but the fae queen was emphatic that unless something's intended purpose came from natural ability, then it was harmful. It also explains why my love is a total lightweight.
Booze isn't natural; therefore, it hits Cora harder than most. It doesn't necessarily hurt her, but she gets drunk fast and her hangovers are terrible.
And that absolutely supports what Ellida explained to Bozidar.
Which my light confirmed when she reminded me of a time during the summer of 1744 when she started having headaches that were almost as crippling as the ones she experienced after she came back to me. Anastasia had her treated with opium but after the first use, Cora became violently ill, so ill I feared I would lose her but the human doctor reassured them that it was just her body's way of fighting the pain so the treatment continued. Until one night when I went to her and found Cora barely alive in her bed.
I wound up staying with her for two days, completely unbeknownst to her parents since they didn't seem to care what happened to her, never once checking in on her, only calling through the door to use her medicine. I stopped the treatments, used my knowledge of herbal remedies and gave Cora very small doses of my blood mixed with the only thing I could get her to eat, or rather drink, since she survived on nothing but broth. Since I knew she was my mate I knew my blood would be beneficial to her despite not having mated and I was proved correct when the morning of the third day rolled around and Cora was finally able to get out of bed. That is the only time I will ever be grateful that my love’s bedroom was in the dungeon-like attic of that disgustingly posh house because if it were not, there is no way I would have been able to stay with her. One small window with heavy wood shutters was the only thing keeping me from turning into a pile of ash during those almost three days.
And once Cora reminded me of that time in our history, as well as shared a few times over her other lives when she was either given vaccines or treated for perceived illness with similar results, it made sense. My light is fae, so man-made medicine is harmful, something Nero should have knowledge of if he knew her true nature since he was a huge part in wiping out her kind.
Which is how I am able to confirm my grandfather has no knowledge of her true nature, but still believes my light to be the balance Henrich spoke of when he read that prophecy.
If Nero can successfully snuff out my light permanently, then darkness will reign. That darkness being me.
At least that fuckstick is consistent.
Never once has he wavered from his original plan to use me as some vessel of destruction, and it has clearly pissed him off greatly knowing the woman he was betrothed to is my beautiful mate.
Despite all of that, I am still left wonderinghow? How did Joyce breach our compound? How did she go undetected? How did she obtain the weapon used to hurt my light?
All questions the plastic one refuses to answer. All questions we can't ask my angel if she has any knowledge of either.
The door to my light’s room in the clinic opens, the room we've both been living in for the last week out of medical necessity, and Henrich walks in with Grace on his heels.
His eyes, sad eyes, move over us as I sit up, stop on Cora's serenely peaceful face. "How is the little one this morning?"
"No change." I sigh and take her hand in both of mine. "Vitals are still good, no signs of pain or discomfort."
Henrich nods as he begins washing his hands in the sink. "Good. It is important she remain as comfortable as we can make her so her body will continue to heal." Grace dries his hands and arms then assists him with his gloves. "I'd like to have a look at the wound, see how things are coming along. If there is enough progress I may be able to remove the stitches before we give her another treatment."
The treatment he is referring to is actually drawing enough of my blood to mix with the nourishment Cora is receiving through her IVs.
