Nolen’s eyes held mine as I felt my body tingling with the strangest sensations. I felt calm. Welcomed. And in his eyes, I saw so much awe, want, longing, and best of all. I sawhope.
My body started growing hotter, like I was boiling from the inside out, it reached a point where it hurt so badly, I started to panic. I was just about to beg Nolen for help when it disappeared again.
“What was that?” I whispered hoarsely.
“You got your magic. I think,” Nolen replied, looking extremely happy. “I’ll tell the rulers as soon as we’ve made it back to the apartment. But we need to get a move on. You must be exhausted by now.” I could only nod. It was early morning here, the sky still pink but slowly getting lighter the brighter the sun shone. “We might have to wait with mating until we’ve slept a bit.”
Since I still had no idea what mating consisted of, I nodded, all too happy with the thought of sleeping soon. I only had one thing I needed for it to be perfect. “Please say you’ll sleep next to me?”
“There’s no place I’d rather be,” he promised, then offered me his hand. I took it, but then the worst thing happened. The darkness closed in on me, freezing my body on the spot. I couldn’t hear Nolen. I couldn’t feel him. All I could see and feel was darkness.
Chapter Ten
Nolen
Derek was screaming in pain. In fear. And I was too weak to do anything about it. I grabbed him and placed his tense body into my lap as I called the rulers. All they heard was his screams, but it was enough. Guards were already swarming us, looking for a fight at first, but when they saw it was me, they went to get help.
Trise was the first ruler to arrive. I knew they were busy, but the fact they dropped everything for my mate, meant the world to me. “Oh, my,” she whispered, her tone filled with sympathy. How my poor mate could continue to scream was a mystery.
Grovar, Mia, Alec, and Henriette were right behind her, all looking worried and exhausted. With all the rulers surrounding us, we did get a few odd looks from the castle workers, but I was immensely glad it was too early in the morning to gain more attention.
“What happened? Explain each detail,” Grovar demanded. He was the silent ruler, the one I had heard speak the least. The fact that he spoke up now alerted me to their fears. I felt myself get even more afraid than I already was, but I knew Derek needed me to focus so I could help him.
It was hard talking to them with Derek screaming in my lap, but I had to try. “I pecked him on the lips just as you called, he started shaking as we spoke and only hugging him helped ease the tremors. He kept shaking, and I think it was getting worse. Then we got here and he seemed fine, until he stepped on the ground and just collapsed. Then he lit up, like the babies used to do when they shared their magic with the earth. I tried helping him up from the ground… and then…”
“He started screaming,” Trise finished for me.
“Do you have any idea why?” I asked, tightening my grip on my poor mate.
“Remi got his magic when he came here too. Just like Derek, but it helped Remi. This reaction worries me,” Alec said, kneeling next to us. Derek’s screams stopped, but I could tell Alec had used his magic to mute him. It helped not hearing his pain, but the fact he was still screaming was enough to erase the tiny bit of relief I’d felt. “Lay down with him on the grass again,” he ordered, helping me lay back with Derek snuggled into my side. Derek’s body slumped in relief and Alec removed his magic when we saw Derek had stopped screaming.
“He needs the earth,” Henriette said, sounding a mix of worried and relieved. “I believe his body needs the help and magic from our world to heal whatever his body has been exposed to.”
“Exposed to? We only shared a second of a kiss. I don’t even think it could be called a kiss,” I defended, slightly angry she talked about our kiss as if I’d somehow done him wrong.
“Not by you, dear Nolen,” Trise said, kneeling next to us beside Alec. “That behavior shows his magical core has been damaged.”
“Damaged?!By who?”
“We don’t know yet,” Alec responded. “We know as much as you do.”
“But then how do you know it’s his core that’s damaged? Have you seen this before?”
“That is how our people react when their magic is taken away by force,” Mia replied. “Whoever hurt Derek, must have used magic.”
There was a beat of silence as I looked at my sleeping mate. I knew he’d been hurt, but by magic?
A groan came from Derek, who finally opened his eyes. “What happened?” he asked, looking dazed. His voice was hoarse and hearing it broke something inside me.
“We don’t know yet. Not exactly,” I replied, stroking his cheek. I was glad he seemed okay now, but also terrified of moving him again.
Henriette came closer and gave him a kind smile. “Hello, Derek. My name is Henriette, and I am one of the five rulers.” She pointed to the others and gave Derek their names before continuing. “We believe you’vebeen exposed to magic before today, and we need to scan your body to learn more. Do we have your consent to do that here and now?”
“Will it hurt?” Derek asked, his voice fearful and exhausted. I almost whimpered. My poor mate.
“No, my sweet boy. It will only feel like wind caressing your skin as we work,” Trise explained. “We need to look at your DNA and your core, no pain. I promise.”
Derek nodded, snuggling further into my side. “You have my consent, but please don’t take Nolen away from me.”
