Zander pulled back the covers. “In.”
“I need to dry my hair, I’m—”
“I’ll get you a towel for your hair, and Spence will dry it for you when he gets here. Sit.”
Emmy was too exhausted to argue. She sat, leaned over to wrap her hair in the towel when he handed it to her, and then crawled under the covers and relaxed on luxurious sheets that probably had a thread count in the thousands.
He stepped back, looking at her with those impossibly blue eyes, and for a moment something flickered in his expression — concern, maybe, or something deeper — but then it was gone, shuttered behind vampire control.
Before Emmy could respond, a soft knock came at the door, and Spence entered carrying what looked like an entire medical supply kit. He took one look at Emmy curled in the bed he shared with Zander and didn’t blink.
“Hey, you,” Spence said, his voice warm and gentle as he set his supplies on a nightstand. “I have ice chips you can hold in your mouth, and some mouthwash if you want to rinse your mouth. We’ll wait an hour before we try a few sips of broth.”
Emmy sighed. “I just helped nurse Felix and Toby through this, so I understand the protocols, butfuck, it looks different from this side.”
Zander stepped to Spence’s side and rubbed his back. “You’re in good hands with Spencer. A guard will remain stationed outside the door, and my boy can reach me at a moment’s notice with telepathy. Do you need anything from your room?”
“My phone and a shirt would be great, and my toothbrush. Maybe just bring my whole shower bin? Felix will know what shirt and sweatpants to send.”
Spence climbed into the bed and sat with his legs crossed, a cup of ice in one hand, a spoon in the other.
“Just hold it in your mouth and let it melt,” he told her, the spoon with a few small chips near her mouth.
Emmy accepted it, the cold a shock at first, and yet, it was soothing. She let it melt slowly, and then accepted another few pieces.
They repeated the process several times before Emmy realized Zander had returned, watching from near the door, his expression unreadable.
He stepped into the room with her shower bin and a few items of clothing. “I’ll put your shower things in the bathroom,” he said as he settled her phone on the nightstand.
“Thank you,” Emmy said. “Both of you. I hate having to be taken care of, but I appreciate that you’re doing it.”
Zander stepped out of the bathroom and told her, “There’s a bucket in there, in case you need to be sick while sitting on the toilet again. Don’t worry if you make a mess, anything you do can be cleaned, but I figure you’ll be more comfortable using the bucket.” He paused a second, lookingher over. “While you’re between bouts, talk to me about what you know about the poisons that can hurt you.”
“Dad never told me what they are, just that if I get sick, I shouldn’tchange. Also, if I see blood in my stool, or if I puke blood, to call him or mom immediately.” She sighed. “Technically, I’m supposed to if I get sick in any way, but…”
“Understood. I told your father he wouldn’t hear from me until mid-February. If it looks like you’re getting better, I’ll keep to that. I’ve had all food items you ate sent to the lab. What should I tell them to look for?”
Emmy’s head throbbed and her insides roiled, but she forced her mind to grind through the fog. She didn’t know the exact compounds, but her assumption was that this was a recipe, something she wasn’t likely to stumble upon, since her father hadn’t told her what to avoid.
“It’ll be a mix, some kind of recipe to target a reptile’s metabolism or nerve system, probably. Off the top of my head, perhaps a synthetic conotoxin or botulinum derivative, possibly a cholinesterase inhibitor, like an organophosphate, to flood acetylcholine and trigger the vomiting, diarrhea. And maybe a heavy metal chelate, lead or mercury, to disrupt sodium-potassium pumps. Check for synergistic effects, cooked into the food.” Her breath hitched, nausea surging, but she held his gaze. “Start with the reindeer stew, since justthinkingabout it nearly makes me need to run to the bathroom again.”
“I recommend organizing an outdoor hunt, to get them all out of their rooms,” Spence said.
“Already done,” Zander told him, and then looked at Emmy. “Spencer will notify me if you get worse. I’ll contact your parents if you think they can help, but my take on it is that the poison just needs to work its way out of your system.”
“My dad will go into big-time-security-asshole-mode to figure out what happened, and you can’t afford that politically.”
Zander shook his head. “That’s not any part of my reasoning. Aaron and I will work together to handle the politics if I bring him in, this isn’t about that, it’s about what you need. Do you want him here? Do you feel he can help if we contact him?”
She shook her head. “Even if it’s going to kill me, as far as I know, there’s no way to stop it. If it gets that bad, I’ll want to talk to them before I die, but let’s hope my system can fight it and expel it.”
And that meant she needed to do all the puking and shitting she could, so she stopped trying to hold it down, and ran for the bathroom.
She puked into the toilet this time, and then rinsed her mouth with water before using the mouthwash Spence offered.
“Thanks. The more I can puke back up, the less poison will get into my system.”
“I’ll wash the bucket out, and I’ll have a smaller one brought that we can keep in the bedroom, so you won’t have to run to the bathroom.”
