“Mom!” I screamed. “Mom!”
“She’s in surgery right now,” Ethan said. “You’ll be able to see her soon. Sleep for a little while longer.”
I didn’t want to, but I still felt so disoriented, and Ethan’s words were soothing. I passed out again, and drifted into the sanctuary sleep brought me.
When I awoke for the second time, the setting sun was streaming through the window. I felt much better now, though still a little disoriented. There was an IV in my arm, though currently, it was the only thing I was hooked up to.
Ethan was still there. I doubted he’d left my side. He handed me a bottle of water and said, “Drink this. It’ll help.”
I sipped at the water, but it stung my raw throat, which had been rubbed raw by the smoke. “Is my mother—”
“She’s alive,” Ethan said. “The doctors are keeping her in a medically-induced coma until she heals from the surgery. It’ll be a few days until she wakes up, but she will survive.”
“And Arthur?”
“He got some burns on his paws, but he’s otherwise all right,” Ethan said. “We can go see your mother now. The hall has been cleared by security.”
Ethan reached out and grasped my hand once more. “I’m in a mind to lock you in our bedroom and never let you out,” he said. “It seems whenever I’m not there, you end up in danger.”
His eyes gleamed with tears, and I said, “I couldn’t let my mom die.”
“You could not, and I couldn’t have asked you to. But you still worry me besides,” Ethan said.
He kissed the top of my hand, and through our bond, I felt his pain. I could only imagine how terrified he’d been when he’d felt me pass out through our bond, and how he’d felt when he’d gotten the news about the explosion. I hated putting him through that, but I’d had no other choice but to rescue my mother.
My legs were too weak to stand, so Ethan helped me into a wheelchair. He pushed me down the hallway as a nurse wheeled my IV pole alongside it. Guards were stationed along the hallway, and inclined their heads as I passed, as if I was someone to be honored.
“You earned the respect of all the guards,” Ethan told me. “They’re calling youthe brave queen.”
I bet none of them had to deal with a queen racing into a burning building before. They were probably taking bets back at the barracks on what crazy thing I’d do next.
We entered my mother’s hospital room. The core of me hollowed out and became empty as I saw my mother lying in a hospital bed, her body wrapped from head to toe in bandages. Several broken limbs were suspended on slings. A chunk of red hair was missing as a result of the flames. Her face was so burned, I hardly recognized her.
Arthur was sitting at her side. Both of his hands were bandaged. When he saw me, he gave a watery smile, as if merely grateful I was alive.
Ethan pushed my wheelchair beside him. Arthur sniffed and said, “They used iron fragments in the explosive. It’s what burned most of her face.”
I swallowed past a lump in my throat and forced my voice to work. “Was anyone else hurt?
“Two cooks and a waiter are dead,” Ethan responded. “Everyone else made it out with minor injuries. It was a lucky thing that the whole place didn’t collapse.”
“But why?” I wondered aloud. “Who would do such a thing?”
Arthur and Ethan shared a glance. “This was delivered at the palace after the explosion happened,” Arthur said softly, and he handed me a neatly folded piece of parchment. I unfolded it, feeling sick as I read the words upon the page. They were scrawled in an elaborate script that only a royal could master.
I vowedone day to make you pay for what you have done. This is only the beginning.
I crushedthe note within my hand, knowing exactly who it was from. Queen Antonia had promised to get her revenge against me. And terrifyingly, she’d almost made good on her promise.
“My mother cannot get away with this. She must be found and dealt with,” Ethan said harshly.
“We already have soldiers sweeping the city for her, but it looks like she already escaped,” Arthur said.
“I don’t care,” Ethan said harshly. “We will find her. She cannot be allowed to return to Gabby.”
Ethan’s sentiments were true, but I was certain Queen Antonia was back at Gabby’s fortress already, celebrating her victory in nearly taking out someone I loved.
But she’d pissed off the wrong queen. She might be Ethan’s mother, but I was his mate, and I would not allow this transgression to pass unpunished.
