I’d pulled the cloak over my naked torso, the layer of thick cloth shrouding me from the world. In my hands rested the three crystals Laresse had brought us. They glowed with power, and I let it flow into me, trying to channel it to the healer I held inside. But it had been so damaged by the bloodmagic—I didn’t know if there was enough of it left to do what needed to be done.
Riley murmured something and rolled over. Her brows were drawn down, her lids flickering. When her eyes opened, they were bloodshot.
“Havoc,” she whispered.
“What about him?”
“Sick,” she said. “He’s sick. Someone shot him with a dart.”
I drifted my fingers over her brow, smoothing the wrinkles away. “Havoc can’t get sick. Or if he does, he’ll heal quickly.”
Her eyes rose to mine and then closed again. “Sick.”
I didn’t know if she meant the Dragon, or herself. Using the crystals in my hand, I gave her a pulse of healing energy, and she sighed as she slipped into a deeper sleep. I’d give her another half hour. Then the battle would begin.
A familiar life essence intruded, and I paced out of the room to meet Lucas in the living area.
The Morph had a bruise spreading across half his face. “What happened?” I asked, my mouth agape.
He sighed. “The problem with going in cold is that crap happens. But it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I just hope Tyrez doesn’t plan to visit Sarti anytime soon, because my smaller version of him just punched a pinion in the nose.” He grinned at me. “The real thing would have done a much better job of it.”
I shut my mouth with a snap, and said, “I can heal you.”
Lucas lost the smile. “I’m good, thanks. Did you get the crystals?”
“Yeah. Just letting her get some sleep first. It’s going to be a tough go.”
“You know, there could be something else contributing to how sick she is,” Lucas said. “Once the mate bond is started, not completing it can have physical consequences.”
I stared at him as my mind sheered away. “Havoc bit her, and then rejected her.”
Lucas laced his fingers together. “Yeah. And Marcus can’t touch her without growing scales.” His eyes moved to meet mine. “Then there is you.”
Me. Yes. I’d rejected her, too. I swallowed. “You really think that is what is going on?”
“Not all of it. She’s addicted, I am certain of that. But it’s something to be aware of.”
I didn’t want to think that I could be contributing to her pain, and pushed the thought away. There wasn’t anything I could do about it—my love came with an unacceptable price tag.
“Laresse dropped the crystals off,” I told Lucas. When he winced, I continued. “I’m afraid she knows I’m part Satyr, and that Riley is female. She warned me that we need to be gone by the time her mates get back, and that they know about us.”
Lucas grimaced. “There are no secrets between mates.”
“Apparently that is quite true for Hitzus.” I told him what Laresse had said to me.
Lucas’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard of that. I’ve also heard that Hitzu males can use that venom to see through the eyes of more than just their mates, only on a more temporary basis. But the one who told me that was hardly a reputable source of information. I didn’t believe it was true.”
Ice shot along my spine. I remembered the Hitzu in Brock’s dungeon cell. How Brock had implied he needed another dose. And how the Hitzu had asked if he’d wanted the Centaur re-envenomed.
The Centaur.
“If it were true—and a Hitzu envenomed someone, could they communicate with them?”
Lucas’s eyes narrowed, and he shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose it is possible. It would depend on the power of their telepathic ability, likely.”
I told him what I’d overheard in that dungeon, and a muscle jumped in his jaw. “The Hitzu’s eyes flashed? Like he was talking to his mates?”
“Yes.”
