Xeon wouldn't stop pacing.
He'd been clawing to surface since the moment Fin walked away from Serena's tent, and the feeling hadn't dulled. If anything, it was getting worse.
She was clearly concussed and not feeling well. The consecutive near death experiences in one night were too much and still put him on edge.
Xeon:I want it noted that I disagreed with leaving.
Fin:You'll survive.
Again, he didn't have the jurisdiction, and the situation was an odd one.
Xeon:Jurisdiction is a stupid word. 'Odd situation' my ass.
He had just arrived back in his tent when something shifted. Her emotions and pain had been flowing into him fully one second, and then like a flip of a switch, stopped. He couldn't feel her at all.
He glanced up at Aeron. "Make a portal to her tent." His tone left no room for discussion.
Aeron carved a portal in midair, and Fin went through before it was fully formed.
Serena was collapsed on the floor.
"Serena!"
He ran to her, dropping to his knees. He felt her forehead. She was burning up. The kind of fever that wolves don't get.
Xeon slammed against his restraint, snarling.
Xeon: Take her now. She comes back with us.
Aeron moved immediately, gold magic flashing in his hands. He scanned her for a long moment, expression focused, jaw tight.
"No issues with silver poisoning," he reported. "The issue is output. She used more magic tonight than most mages use in a year. Her body isn't trained for that kind of sustained expenditure." He paused, pulling his magic back. "Think of it like a muscle she's never used before. She tore it."
A muscle feathered in Fin's cheek as he studied her features closer.
Even with the magic healing, she looked like she'd taken a beating. A bruise formed dark on her cheekbone and her bottom lip was swollen.
She looked like she'd been through a war. Because she had.
And no one had been there to pull her out of it or take care of her after.
Healing magic could only do so much.
All his restraint snapped. She was his, and he was taking her out of here.
Xeon: Finally. You sir are a stubborn son-of-a-bitch.
He scooped her up in his arms, standing in one fluid motion. She weighed nothing. Too light. Had she eaten at all today?
Without a word, he carried her back through the portal into his tent, Aeron behind him.
"If they have a problem with it, I would be genuinely fascinated to hear the argument," Aeron remarked dryly. "Considering she single-handedly kept their entire aerial unit alive while being thrown off dragons, struck by lightning, and blown up. Repeatedly."
He tilted his head. "If anything, they should be sending a gift basket."
Fin's face darkened at that and his grip on her tightened. The reminder of everything she'd been put through made his blood run hot.
Aeron ignored it. He'd seen that look before on rare occasions.
"Mindlink me if her fever gets worse. Without the gold cufflink, preferably. Unless you want the entire Draken Forces to get involved in your sleeping arrangements."
He left without waiting for a response.
Fin carried her to his bed.
Her combat suit was soaking wet. Her hair was damp and clinging to her face and neck. The temperature had dropped, winter still clawing at the edges of spring, and she was trembling. Small shivers that she wasn't even conscious of.
It was not okay.
None of this was okay.
She'd been poisoned. Thrown off dragons. Caught in explosions. And now she was shivering and feverish in his arms because no one had thought to make sure she was actually alright.
He unzipped the back of her combat suit with careful hands and peeled it off of her. She didn't stir. That worried him more than it should have.
He left her bra and thong on, for the sheer fact he didn't want her to wake up terrified.
Xeon:She's mate.
Fin:She doesn't know that.
Xeon:She trusts you. I felt her.
Fin:I think she's inexperienced. We'll keep her like this tonight.
Xeon huffed.
Xeon:'Inexperienced' is a nice way of saying we marked a virgin.
Fin:We don't know that.
Xeon:You felt what I felt. We know. If not a virgin, she's probably had sex less than five times.
Fin laid her in the bed, pulling a thick blanket over her. She looked small against the dark furs. Breakable. Which was absurd, because he'd watched her command dragons and fire arrows while free falling through a lightning storm.
He pulled off his clothes down to his briefs.
He'd had a mate before and he knew she'd heal quicker with skin touching skin. His presence would steady her system.
At least, that's what he told himself.
He got into the bed, pulling her against his chest, blanket over both of them.
Everywhere their skin touched, he felt sparks. Like his nerve endings were waking up for the first time in years.
Her scent overwhelmed his senses. Forest and moonfire and something uniquely her. Something that made Xeon settle in a way he hadn't since—
He shut that thought down.
She stirred slightly, unconsciously pressing closer, and settled there, tension bleeding from her shoulders.
Unwanted emotions flooded into him. He swallowed them down.
He'd been alone for so long. Had convinced himself that was fine. That he could rule and fight and survive without someone to come home to.
But holding her now, feeling her trust him even in unconsciousness, he realized how thoroughly he'd been lying to himself.
He pressed his lips to the top of her head and stayed there, breathing her in.
He didn't know when sleep took him. Only that it was the best sleep he'd had in years.
And somewhere in the back of his mind, buried beneath duty, a quiet truth settled into place.
He loved her already.