“She’s in your bedroom. Morwyn is with her. There’s something you should know, Seb. Seb!”
I shove past him and through the door to my room to find Morwyn and a group of nurses working over Zoe. She’s unconscious, and her legs are wrapped in bandages. A fierce growl rumbles in my chest.
Morwyn advances toward me, his hands raised. “She’s stable, Seb, but if she feels stress down your mating bond, you could set her healing back significantly. She only recently stopped thrashing. I’m guessing that has something to do with this.” He gestures at the blood on my chest.
“What happened?” The two words come out like dual weights dropping between us.
Morwyn’s astute gaze scrapes over me. “How much of this blood is yours?”
“Not much.”
His perusal stops at the wound in my hip. “The fact that you’re still standing means you’ve been drinking the water, but we need to treat that. Go get cleaned up and meet me in the kitchen for tea.”
I get up in his face until our noses are touching. “Morwyn, tell me what happened to her,” I grit out.
He folds his arms. “I will, once we get you strong enough to care for her. Now, do as I’ve requested. You’re wasting time.”
As soon as he mentions that he needs me strong enough to care for Zoe, it’s like something flips in my brain. Everything in me only wants her healthy again. I nudge past him to get to the bathroom and take the world’s fastest shower, then put on sweats and a T-shirt because anything else would hurt like hell against my wound. It’s not spreading, but it’s not healing either. By the time I reach the kitchen, Morwyn has a cup of the celestial tea poured for me.
“This dose should take care of that infection,” he says. “Drink.”
“I’ll drink. You talk.” I glare at him to make sure he knows I mean business.
Morwyn nods. “Zoe was burned pretty badly by Order magic tonight. The burns are first- and second-degree. And thankfully, she isn’t a dragon, so the curse isn’t an issue.”
“Good.”
“But she’s going to need time to heal.”
“All we’ve got is time. I’ll care for her as long as she needs me to.”
Morwyn scratches the stubble on the side of his jaw, obviously procrastinating.
“And?” I prompt.
He blows out a deep breath, his eyes falling on the gold ring on my finger. “The ring!” His gaze flicks to mine. “She finished it!”
I nod. “It saved my life—or at least saved me from a lifetime of captivity. Roman is dead. I brought back his ring.”
“Damn. It seems we owe her a debt of gratitude. Remus had us all out looking for you, but we couldn’t track your location.”
“They had me under a compound in Colorado. Not a place we had on our known list. Looked new. Now, tell me what’s going on with my mate, Morwyn, or my dragon is going to get involved.”
“Zoe used something called gold dust to ascend to a plane where she could perform the magic necessary to get that ring to you.”
“I’m aware. It’s how she’s been helping us this entire time.”
Morwyn frowns. “She’s used a lot of it, Seb. And afterward, when we found her, she was dead.”
“Dead?”
“Her heart had stopped. Patrick performed CPR, and then my team and I took over, and we were able to revive her. But she never regained consciousness. She’s alive and stable. Her heart is beating steadily. Her lungs are working. But although her eyes occasionally open, she’s never responded to any stimuli.”
I set down the teacup, a chill causing me to hug myself and rub my outer arms. “So, she just needs rest and to heal, right?”
Morwyn frowns. “We’re not sure. She still has brain waves, but out of respect for you and her, I didn’t enter her mind.”
“Good choice.”
