Everyone looked resigned to staying, since the alternatives weren’t any better.
“We have a new Susurro, anyway.” Kryn looked me up and down with contempt. “She can keep us safe.”
“That’s enough, Kryn.” Kalyll stood, and even though he was unsteady on his feet, he managed to look commanding. “I don’t want to hear you trying to antagonize Daniella anymore. Is that clear?”
Kryn offered no answer. He just turned to his horse and started removing its saddle.
The prince turned to me. “Let’s get this over with.”
He staggered toward the cave, ducked at the low entrance, and disappeared inside.
I turned toward Dandelion, retrieved the medicine from the saddlebag, and got to work. I avoided looking at anyone, but I felt their eyes on me, judging, even Arabis who had been the first one to make me feel welcome. Why were they suddenly acting this way? What had changed?
When I was done, Jeondar came over holding a lit torch. “Ready?”
I nodded, and as we walked toward the cave, I asked, “Why is everyone mad at me?”
“Mad?” He frowned, then hurried to add, “They’re not mad, just worried.”
“Worried that I’ll kill their prince?”
He shrugged and gave me nothing else. As we entered the cave, he held the torch up, allowing the warm light to break through the darkness. The cave was small, no bigger than the guest bathroom in my condo, definitely tight for three people. But at least it had a tall enough ceiling to allow us to stand.
Kalyll was sitting on the ground, elbows resting on bent knees, face buried in his large hands. Something ached inside of me at the sight.
“Hey.” I kneeled next to him, holding the syringe in one hand and the flask with the elixir in the other.
“Hey back.” He lifted his head and gave me a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Without another word, he downed the elixir, then allowed me to inject him with the hemlock.
I watched him carefully, my heart pounding as his slowed down. I knew he was strong and so was the beast, but hemlock was a poison. What if he didn’t wake up tomorrow? I pushed my worries aside and tried to focus on the facts. A heavy dose of marsh flower that would’ve killed most people had no more effect on him than a sleeping pill, not to mention I’d been cautious with the hemlock—maybe too cautious and in a few hours we would be running for our lives.
His eyes locked with mine until they closed, then he drifted off to sleep. Jeondar went out for a moment and returned with blankets to make the prince comfortable. We laid him flat on the ground, put a rolled blanket under his head, and covered him with another.
“Go eat something,” Jeondar said. “I’ll stay and watch him for a few hours.”
I walked to the mouth of the cave and paused. “I’ll come by every so often to check his vitals and see how he’s responding to the hemlock.”
I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to sit next to Kalyll and hold his hand, but I couldn’t do that in front of Jeondar. As I made my way out, I tried to tell myself I was only worried about my patient. Nothing more. It was what I would do for anyone.
Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that and maybe you’ll believe it.
Outside the cave, a fire was going already, and the smell of roasted meat permeated the air. These Fae certainly worked fast, which was a good thing because I was hungry. I ate quietly, sitting on a rock and looking up from my food every few minutes. The animosity that had started… when?—After you and Kalyll kissed, my Logical Dani said inside my head—was there every time I glanced at the others.
If they knew Kalyll and I had kissed, why would they care? Few answers insinuated themselves, but I chose to ignore them, preferring to focus on more important things, such as the well-being of my patient. So when I finished my dinner, I walked back into the cave and checked on Kalyll.
“Has he stirred?” I asked Jeondar as I offered him a wooden plate with food.
“Thank you.” He took the plate. “And no, he hasn’t stirred one bit.”
“Good.”
“Indeed.”
I made quick work of checking Kalyll’s pulse, temperature, and blood pressure, jotted everything down in my journal, and walked back outside.
I glanced around, looking for the tent they’d always erected for me, but now that they didn’t need to keep me prisoner, no one had bothered to put it together. Or maybe there was another reason. Either way, it didn’t matter. There were enough blankets on the packhorses to make myself a cozy spot somewhere. I found the perfect place next to a boulder. I could face the fire while the boulder watched my back. The thought of sleeping completely in the open didn’t sit well with me, so the rock would be a perfect nighttime companion, even if I couldn’t wrap my arms around it. It aroused me as much as most males, anyhow.
It took several minutes of tossing and turning to make myself comfortable, but I finally fell asleep with the thought that I would wake up in an hour to check on Kalyll. At the hospital, there were rooms for interns, doctors, and healers. They were small but private, with twin beds and night tables. I’d slept countless hours there when I had a patient in a delicate condition, someone who needed constant evaluation or bursts of healing energy. I always set an alarm on my watch to make sure I woke up at regular intervals, but I was sure the lack of an annoyingbeep-beepwouldn’t be a problem. My biological clock was well attuned to the demands of my job, and I only failed to wake up on my own when I was extremely tired.