Jonas, we couldn’t just accept a stranger into our midst with the stakes so high. We knew nothing about her,Ryland said.
What you’re telling me is that my word isn’t good enough. I told you I was connected to her, and I had already made certain she was safe before I ever took the chance of bringing her here. Jeff and Kyle did as well. You clearly don’t trust me either, despite all I’ve done for this team. If it weren’t for me sensing a warning no one else felt, we wouldn’t have known these men were on the way.
Jonas, calm down,Ryland said.You would have demanded we be even more careful of any stranger coming into our midst under any circumstances, and you know it. You’re having a predatory reaction. I understand completely wanting to protect her, but we have to protect every single person here.
Camellia felt Jonas take a deep breath. She didn’t feel a reverse in the wildly aggressive chemicals and electrical impulses rushing through his system. Jonas kicked open the door to a room as Kaden twisted the knob and stepped back. He set Camellia on her feet to the right of the door up against the wall, his larger body shielding her from the others. The moment the door was closed he spoke aloud.
“What is it you’d like to know, Kaden?” There was pure challenge in his voice.
Camellia got the hint. These men were no longer dealing with her or their teammate, the man under their command. They were dealing with Jonas, the extremely dangerous predator. She was certain she could calm him down, but she wasn’t altogether positive she wanted to. In a way, she found him magnificent. No one hadever stuck up for her before. Even under the circumstances, the feeling was exhilarating.
“How did she know I was ill?” Kaden asked.
“You sat at the table with her in a closed environment. She listened to all of you talking about Mari and thought she was reacting to what she was hearing, but the healer in her was reacting to whatever is wrong with you. You put your arm around her and she really reacted. Whatever your problem is has to be an immediate threat to you, or she wouldn’t have had such a severe reaction.”
Camellia leaned her forehead against Jonas’s back and breathed deep in an effort to push the healer back. Now that there was a little distance between Kaden and her, she had some respite. Jonas’s neurons snapping and rushing with heated aggression helped to push the terrible need further down so she could think again.
“Do you even want me to take a look at you, Kaden?” Camellia asked. “It’s not like I’m this great gifted healer. I wish I could say I was. I just know I need to try when I’m close to you. I didn’t mean to give anything away that I shouldn’t have.” She did feel bad about making a scene.
“It would be interesting to see what you think can be done,” Kaden agreed. “If anything.”
“Would you take off your shirt and lie down on the cot? I presume we came in here for that purpose. Jonas, you’re going to have to actually move in order for me to get a look at him.” Camellia pressed on his ribs in an effort to get Jonas to take a step forward so she could get around him.
“Tell me what you want me to do to help you.”
“Go to the other side of the cot and stay connected to me. I imagine when I touch him again, the need to heal him will hit me just as hard as it did before. I want to share that with you so I can sort out what needs to be done.” She was all business, moving intoposition on Kaden’s right side, ignoring the skeptical expression on his face.
She glanced over her shoulder at Ryland. He had come up behind her to watch.
The other man moved in on Jonas’s side. He flashed a sexy grin at her. “Raul Fontenot, ma’am. Mostly, they call me Gator around here.”
Camellia switched her attention back to Kaden. He lay on the cot, eyes fixed on her face, as if he could see right through her. She ignored everyone else in the room, took a deep cleansing breath, and lay the pads of her fingers very lightly on the bare skin of his wrist right over his pulse. The jolt was hard, hitting her like a fist. She accepted the blow, mostly because she’d been expecting it this time.
She didn’t fight the instantaneous flood of Red’s nutrients and antioxidants, of all the weapons she provided to fight off infection while Camellia took care of the festering wound in Kaden’s body. Camellia followed the thin trail of yellow invading his system back to the source. The sounds in the room receded until they were a distant blur. She could hear only Kaden’s heartbeat combined with Jonas’s and hers. The three of them settled into a steadier rhythm.
“Can you see it, Jonas?” she murmured aloud. “Metal. An unusual bullet with a very small cavity embedded in it, pushed up against his spine. You can see the original position, but it shifted recently. Looks like whatever was placed in that cavity is leaking out. I see traces of the poison. Can you see those drops? They’re moving through his entire body.”
“The tiny orange dots?”
She nodded. “Very, very small. We have to clear those drops first. It’s imperative to get all of them. They’re in his bloodstream—think blood poisoning—but even with intravenous antibiotics, you aren’t going to stop that attack. This is some kind of chemical warfare.”
“How do you clear the drops, Camellia?” Jonas asked.
She didn’t reply but showed him, using starlike neurons as transports to send an army into battle. She was fast, the captain of so many ships, directing each of them as if they were at war, spinning and fighting, blasting away inside the veins and coming at the drops from every direction.
“Baby, I’ve never seen anything like this. You’re a fucking miracle,” Jonas whispered, sounding in awe.
Camellia barely registered his voice. “You can learn this too.” She wasn’t thinking when she said it, no longer aware they weren’t alone in the room, but concentrating on making certain she ferreted out every last drop of poison in Kaden’s system. “Nothing can be left behind,” she murmured aloud. “My vision is getting blurry. Jonas, go back through the veins, study every organ, especially his heart and lungs, and then look at his brain. I need to look at the positioning of the bullet.”
Someone wiped her eyes and she could see again. She blinked rapidly and went back to the bullet. “This is at a bad angle. It can’t be left like this.” She bit down on her lip. “This isn’t in a good place, Jonas. Unless it’s removed, he’s not going to be walking for much longer, six months at the most. But trying to take it out could paralyze him just as easily.”
“Can you do anything about it?” Jonas asked.
Camellia studied the position of the bullet from every angle. “It’s tight. I can try to insert a few drops of liquid to see if that will float it out where I can get at it, but I’m only going to try if Kaden wants me to. It’s your decision, Kaden, but you have to make up your mind fast. I’m tiring.”
She was. She had no idea how long it had taken her to battle the chemicals that had been released into Kaden’s system, but she could already feel her body wanting to shut down. “As it is, I’ll need a bit of rest before I make an attempt.” She had to sit down soon or she was going to fall on her face.
“I’m talking to Tansy about it. I’d like you to try. I can’t believe you got the poison out of my system. I can feel that it’s gone. She’s on her way and would like to be with me if that’s all right with you.”
