Once the physic departed, Orion headed back up to Jareth’s chamber, where he found Desdra sitting beside the bed, simply watching him. He could see by the expression on her face how worried she was. Truthfully, he was concerned as well. Fevers were never a good thing where wounds were concerned, and there had been pus in the wound when they cleaned it out.
Enough to see why Jareth had a fever.
Truthfully, if it got worse, Orion didn’t particularly want Desdra to be the one that had to see it first or, worse, deal with it. He would feel better if he were the one on watch and not the woman who was clearly enamored with Jareth. Given the fact that he now had a woman he was rather enamored with himself, he was all for sparing a lady’s feelings.
Especially if this situation was going to get worse.
“My lady?” he said, watching Desdra look up at him. “I will sit with him. Surely you have other duties to attend to.”
She shrugged. “There are some,” she said. “Ledgers must be kept up to date or the task is overwhelming. Since we have been gone, there are some figures I must catch up on.”
“Then go and do it,” he said, coming into the chamber. “I will sit with him.”
“But—”
He cut her off, but not unkindly. “Jareth would not want you to sit and stare at him,” he said, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. “I’m sure you wouldn’t want him to just sit and stare at you were the situation reversed.”
She looked a little sheepish. “Nay,” she said. “Probably not.”
He indicated the door. “Then go,” he said. “There is no valid reason for you to just sit here and watch him sleep. He will be out for quite some time. I will send word if anything changes, I promise.”
She stood up but didn’t move. “Butyou’regoing to sit and just watch him.”
His smile broke through. “Because he has a fever and if it grows worse, I should be here to tend him,” he said. “I am not saying that itwillbecome worse. Only if it does.”
Desdra nodded reluctantly, her gaze moving back to the bed where Jareth was sleeping heavily. “Very well,” she finally said. “I will go and finish up my work. But I will return.”
“I know,” he said. “But do not rush. He’s not going anywhere.”
It was a joke and she smiled, but it was forced. She was genuinely worried for his condition, but Orion was right. There wasn’t much she could do except sit at Jareth’s bedside and stare at him. Silently, she left the chamber, leaving Orion behind to monitor Jareth’s febrile condition.
There was nothing either of them could do now but wait.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Guardians weren’tleaving.
That was the conclusion Ciaran had come to. He’d spent several days watching Aphrodite’s Feast, those coming and going. He’d even seen his own daughter return in the company of several heavily armed knights who weren’t The Guardians. So many comings and goings, and none of them involved The Guardians actually leaving their posts.
Time was ticking away.
At that point, Ciaran was trying not to panic. Although there had been no actual timeline on the missive King Dagda would send to Aphrodite’s Feast, he had mentioned seven days. Those seven days had come and gone, so Ciaran was at the point of wondering if he shouldn’t simply work the situation out for himself, get the money, and run.
But there were still the little matter of The Guardians.
The truth was that he knew the schedule of the commander of The Guardians, the man who called himself Zeus. Zeus was as vigilant as a watchdog, remaining up all night long and well into the morning before he took a rest. Truth be told, Zeus was the only one that Ciaran really worried about. He’d been the one to throw him out when he and his daughter had gotteninto a physical altercation, so Zeus was well aware of his threat to Desdra. But unless he passed that concern on to the men under his command, no one would question Ciaran’s visit to his daughter. The more Ciaran thought about that, the more he realized that was the path he was going to have to take. If King Dagda wasn’t going to send that missive, it didn’t mean the man didn’t want his money.
Perhaps he was testing Ciaran.
Perhaps he was looking for a reason to take everything he had, property included.
In any case, Ciaran was starting to feel betrayed. He was also beginning to suspect why King Dagda had been so agreeable to this rather elaborate plan. Perhaps the man was simply being agreeable so he could go back on his word in the end and then blame Ciaran for failing to secure the money.
Well, thatwasn’tgoing to happen.
Ciaran was going to get inside Aphrodite’s Feast and he was going to get the money that he knew his daughter had access to. It infuriated him that she wasn’t more forthcoming when it came to giving over her wages to her father, who was not only entitled to them, but was also in serious trouble. Why couldn’t she see that? The truth was that Desdra’s reasons didn’t matter to him. She was going to give him what he wanted.
Any way he could get it.
