“Yes, let’s do that. That’s a good idea. Where is the nearest healer? Wait. We don’t know who we can trust. What if this was their plan all along?” My mind raced at the possibilities. I couldn’t lose myself to panic again. We had to keep Grey safe. “There’s a healer Grey mentioned. Can someone get her? Melody. Grey trusts her. Have her meet us in Axion’s quarters.” That seemed like a secure location where Grey could lie down and rest.
No one hesitated to follow my orders. It was a strange feeling, having these powerful people obey me without question.
Fenix and Albion hurried away to carry out the task. The rest of their team, plus Arkyn, acted as escorts to Ghost’s room. We all crammed into the lift with Shadow carrying Grey. I held his limp fingers, hoping my presence would help.
We made it to Ghost’s room without seeing anyone in the halls. My mates and I went in, locking the other alphas out. They could guard the door. They didn’t need to be in here with us.
While we waited for the healer, I paced, wringing my hands together. The rest of my mates took up positions around the room, staying out of my way as best they could. Grey was like a corpse in the bed with his deathly pallor and bruised eyes. The barest rise and fall of his chest was the only hint that he was still living.
Melody arrived, panting and red-cheeked. Her wavy brown hair fell in disarray over the shoulders of her prim floral dress. The white knuckled grip on her healer’s bag was obvious even from the security feed, showing her shifting nervously under the gaze of our guards.
As soon as she was through the door, her lips parted in shock when she saw the pale form of my beta mate stretched out on the bed. “Oh, dear.”
Then she saw me and bowed, her eyes round as saucers. “Your Majesty.”
“Thank you for coming so quickly. Please,” I swallowed back my tears. “Please… Is there anything you can do to help him?” Bile rose in my throat, but I batted down the panic for the sake of my sweet mate.
Her professional demeanor kicked in, and she walked to the bedside. “Can you tell me what happened?”
In much greater detail than was necessary, I told her what I knew while she took vitals and quickly examined Grey. When she moved the collar of his shirt aside, I heard her alarmed intake of breath.
“What? What happened?” I hurried to her side and saw the source of her concern.
On Grey’s neck was the iridescent crescent, but it was no longer the gold and green it had once been. A milky gray film covered it, and the surrounding skin was blackened and inflamed. “Why does it look like that?”
Melody studied it intently, but after a moment of consideration, she replied, “I think it’s bond sickness.”
“What the fuck is bond sickness?” Ghost asked, moving closer from his perch on the chair in the corner.
“I… well… you see…” Her brows scrunched, considering what she was about to say. “When a mate bond is broken, or incomplete, it causes something similar to an infection. We don’t see this much. There aren’t many mate bonds left on Verden. Alexi, do you remember how ill your father was right after your mother passed?”
Lex crossed his arms over his chest. “I remember.” The look on his face said he’d rather not have been reminded.
Melody shrunk in on herself but carried on. “When a bond is missing its other half, it fights the body’s natural healing properties. It’s like the essence of the bond wants to follow its mate. The regent was lucky to have had Indra at his side. She’s a miracle with herbal remedies. Their mate bond wasn’t Star-blessed, either. And then he and Edeth married, which I’m sure helped.” Melody dabbed the inflamed crescent with antiseptic as the rest of us shared troubled looks.
The mention of Indra caught me by surprise. Fenix had mentioned her earlier, too. I didn’t have time to consider what that could mean, but I filed it away to sort out later, and turned my attention back to Grey. Color had returned to his cheeks, but his brow was still pale and beaded with sweat. Melody’s voice drew my attention back to what she was saying.
“Mate bonds fall outside of practical medicine. They don’t follow the rules of science. I like to think they are reflections of your soul. They’re like… magic.” A dreamy, hopeful look passed across her face as she applied a bandage over the disinfected wound.
Her peaceful expression fell away, replaced by a solemn look. “He needs the other half of his bond, or if that’s not possible, time and rest may allow him to heal some day. It’s a lengthy process. Even more so since it appears to be Star-blessed.” She paused, casting a nervous glance at me.
I desperately did not want to hear any more bad news, but I needed to know. “Go on, it’s okay. We need to hear all of it.”
Her voice dropped in volume, as if afraid to continue. “I hate to mention it, but you should be prepared. He may not make it. Many die before they come out the other side. Alphas heal more quickly, but even then, it’s a long and painful ordeal. And that’s with a normal mate bond. With a Star-blessed bond, I just don’t know. I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do but help keep him comfortable and hope.”
That couldn’t be right. We needed to get a second opinion. Surely something could be done. But there was no one else that we could trust, and even less information on Star-blessed bonds.
She placed a small vial on the bedside table. “One drop in a cup of water every six to eight hours as needed for the pain. No more than four drops in a day. You should start to see improvement if his mate is near, but a time will come when even that may not be enough. Completing the bond would be best, but if that can’t be arranged, skin to skin contact from loved ones will help him. If he’s strong enough, he might pull through.”
A tiny glimmer of hope bloomed as a thought occurred to me. “Do you know anything more about mate bonds? Multiple mates, or anything like that?”
“I’m so sorry, Your Majesty. I only know what I do because I assisted when the regent’s wife passed. The only other bonded pair I knew were your parents. There was no way to save your father once your mother was gone. I’m so sorry.” She looked genuinely upset with not being able to provide any additional information.
It felt like a jagged lance was being shoved straight through my chest, and I choked on my reply. “That’s alright. Thank you for everything.” I covered my pain with a smile. It wasn’t her fault. She must have been nearly a child then and was doing her best for us now.
After being poisoned, Grey was in a vulnerable state. If even alphas could die from this, what chance did we have? Defeat and resignation swept over me. We’d been told it was dangerous to bond more than one mate, but now not bonding Grey was a death sentence.
I lowered myself down on the edge of the bed and slipped my hand into Grey’s. My stomach sank and tears burned my eyes.