“He’s out cold!” she almost screamed. “Onyx, his skin is like ice, but he’s sweating. What the fuck did you do to him?” She turned her fury on the wizard, stepping away from her brother to look the wizard right in the eye. He backed away but ran into Onyx, who stared down at him with barely restrained rage.
“I didn’t know he was human,” the wizard muttered. “He said he was a shifter that couldn’t shift. I gave him a potion that will put shifters in touch with their animal if they have a block. It can be brutal, even for a strong shifter.”
He sighed, shaking his head. Onyx was staring at the guy, his expression blank. Azura knew he was barely holding himself in check.
“He will probably die,” the wizard said softly.
“What?” Azura screamed. The wizard flinched.
“I’m sorry. But if he really is human …”
“He is!” Azura screamed. The wizard shook his head.
“Then he won’t be strong enough to survive this. His chances are at almost zero. I’m very sorry.”
“You’ll be thrown in the dungeon for this!” Onyx swore. The wizard glared at him.
“Not only am I outside town limits, but the kid signed a waiver. He knew the risks.”
“He didn’t,” Onyx said. “Because he was pretending to be a shifter.”
“A gray area,” the wizard said, shrugging.
“I’ll make that gray deep enough for you to fucking drown in,” Onyx swore. “But for now, I have business to take care of.”
“How could you just give a potion to someone you don’t know?” Azura cried. She was thinking about all the tests done in Earth hospitals and wondering how such a mistake could be made on a technologically advanced planet.
The wizard shrugged.
“He paid well. That’s all that matters.”
“Paid with what?” Onyx said, his voice low and dangerous.
The wizard turned to a nearby bench, coming back with a handful of gems. Onyx swore softly.
“Those are from the royal vault. He stole them from our treasury.”
“They are legal tender!” the wizard snapped. Onyx nodded.
“Yes, they are yours now. I can’t undo the transaction. I can take them back once I arrest you, though.”
Azura felt worse than ever. She leaned over Martin, stroking his clammy forehead.
“Wake up, Martin,” she whispered. “Please, wake up.”
“How did he know to come here?” Onyx asked. The wizard shrugged.
“He mentioned some girls, dragon shifters. They told him I could help if he wanted to be a stronger shifter.”
“Fuck,” Azura sobbed, tears running down her cheeks. “They killed him. They killed my brother.”
“Not yet,” Onyx said, coming over to the table to pick Martin up. Azura trotted along behind him as Onyx carried her brother back to the aircar. The loose movements of Martin’s limbs made her ill. She looked back at the wizard, who appeared tense and worried.
More for himself than Martin!
They rushed back to the palace, where Martin was set up in his rooms with several healers. Azura wanted to stay with him, but Onyx gently took her from the room.
“They need some time to work on him,” he said gently. “Come and rest, just for a few hours.”
Weak with grief, Azura nodded. She let Onyx put his strong arms around her, and he gathered her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing at all and swept her away.