“Yes,” Urho agreed. He popped the thermometer in Janus’s mouth and they all watched anxiously as the mercury rose.
“Wolf-god,” one of the betas whispered.
“Ice,” Urho said. “We need ice and plenty of it to bring his fever down.”
“Yes, sir. Is there anything else?” Ren asked, motioning with his hand and sending a beta scurrying to get the needed ice.
Xan’s heart pounded so hard he felt like his chest couldn’t hold it. He’d never seen a fever so high.
“Yes, Ren. Have the other servants gather their things from the rooms upstairs,” Caleb said, taking a cloth from one of the betas and getting it damp. He pressed it to Janus’s forehead as Urho did the same at his neck. “The servants will sleep in the extra rooms upstairs in the main wing until this danger is past us. Have them prepare those rooms for themselves.”
Urho added, “Find out the name of the local doctor. Have him on call. Things could go sideways here very quickly, and we need to be prepared.”
Ren left to carry out the orders, and as they waited for the ice to appear, Urho began to chant prayers to wolf-god—old fashioned prayers, the kind that Xan hadn’t heard since he was a small child. It didn’t soothe him.
Ending one prayer, Urho turned to Xan and implored, “Go now. Do as I’ve asked. There’s no way for you to help here.”
Xan nodded, his eyes straying back to Janus’s clammy, chalky face. “Come with me, Caleb.”
“He needs me here,” Caleb said, smoothing another cold, damp cloth over Janus’s feverish forehead. “I can’t leave him alone.”
“Urho will be with him.”
Caleb ignored him.
Xan kissed his omega’s forehead and left him hovering over Janus with Urho. He couldn’t help by hovering too. He returned to the house and followed Urho’s orders to a tee, and then checked in on Jason and Vale in their rooms.
The rest of the night was a whirlwind of confusion. Liddy Bainson, a local doctor, agreed to be on call for either Vale or Janus, should Urho come down with the illness, or should Vale go into labor while Janus remained ill.
Jason and Vale were on edge, but after the beta servants cleaned all the surfaces in the dining room and entry hall, they relaxed enough to come down and have a snack to make up for their interrupted dinner.
Urho joined Xan in his bed that night after taking a shower and dousing himself in an antiseptic lotion, looking exhausted. He held Xan close and scented along his neck and shoulders. “You smell healthy,” he said. “Stay that way.”
“I’ll try.”
“Have you called your father?”
“I couldn’t get through to anyone. There was no answer at the house at all.” Xan tried not to let on how much that terrified him.
“You should go to the city. Tomorrow.”
“Perhaps.” Xan wanted to go, but he didn’t want to make a mistake. With so much happening all at once, he didn’t know the right thing to do. He hoped a good night’s sleep would clarify that for him. “Where’s Caleb?” He hadn’t heard him go into his room or use the bathroom in their adjoining hallway.
“He’s stubborn,” Urho said.
“He is,” Xan agreed, twining his fingers into Urho’s. His heart ached and his nerves sang anxiously. “I think he loves him.”
“I think he might,” Urho agreed, dropping a kiss on Xan’s head. “Does that hurt you?”
“No.”
“Do you fear he’ll leave you for him?”
“I don’t know.”
Urho sighed. “Janus is a very sick man.”
Xan tightened his grip on Urho’s fingers. “I hope he doesn’t die.”
