Page 150 of The Keeper of the Kingdoms

“Father is just leaving to visit a clinic in the north, so I let him know we are home and that I’ll catch him up when he returns in a few days. We won’t be disturbed while I make the potion we need for your scent, then we won’t have to worry who we run into.”

Relieved, I nodded. “Was he pleased to see you home?”

“Yes, Gran sent word that we had gone to the Rainforest Kingdom to seek a root to speed up my recovery, so he expected us to be gone for a while.”

“Your Gran is a gift,” I grinned.

“They say I take after her,” Kiera beamed.

“Then she must be quite a female,” Emrys said.

Jaxus raised his brows. “If you take after her, my life will not be dull.”

Kiera blushed slightly. But now that I was free to show myfeelings for my mate, I would not hide them from anyone. She needed to get used to it.

“Father did say that we should look in on Nyx. Apparently his condition has not improved and Father has been assisting Zaria. He’s glad we are back in time to take over because he was concerned about Zaria coping on her own while he was gone.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Emrys said, concerned.

“I know,” agreed Kiera.

“Okay, let’s make you smell like a regular, non-shifting fae, and then we can go check on them.” She crossed to her workbench, immediately selecting a fire bowl and a number of ingredients.

I knocked on the door to Nyx and Zaria’s rooms and we waited. It wasn’t late and I had been surprised not to find them still in their offices. But according to the flyers we’d encountered on our tour, they were in their rooms for the evening already. Most unlike them.

The door cracked open and Zaria peeked out, blinking for a moment in a daze. When she registered who was standing at her door, she squeaked and threw it open. First throwing her arms around Kiera and muttering relieved greetings.

“Thank the Goddess, you look so well!” she cooed, catching my eye over her shoulder and reaching out a hand to greet me rather than letting Kiera go. “You too, Jaxus, you were gone too long.” Then she stilled and released Kiera. “Emrys?”

“It’s wonderful to see you again, Zaria,” Emrys said.

Zaria looked between us in shock, then threw herself at Emrys, who caught her in a warm embrace.

“What is going on?” she asked.

“Shall we come in and fill you in?” I suggested.

She peeled herself off Emrys and stepped back. “Sure, come in. But I must warn you. Nyx is—well, he’s worse.”

Kiera put a supportive arm around Zaria’s shoulder. “We are here to help,” she consoled, and Zaria’s raw emotion and exhaustion showed on her face in that moment.

We entered their rooms behind Zaria, and she showed us to the sitting area. “Would you like tea?” she offered, wringing her hands.

“I’ll make it. You sit,” I told her.

“Where is Nyx?” Kiera asked.

“He’s sleeping,” she sighed. “Your father has been giving him a draft to take this week because he was getting almost no sleep at all. He wakes in the night calling for Kol. He says he can feel him, and his distress is unbearable. Then, once he fully wakes, he realizes he can’t actually feel him at all, but since it had felt so real in the moment, it’s like he loses him all over again. It’s excruciating to watch. So naturally, we are both exhausted during the day and unable to rest fully at night. It’s taking its toll.”

Kiera held her hand. “We are here now,” she soothed. “I’m sorry we were gone so long, but you are not alone anymore. And I’m working on something that could be a longer-term treatment.”

Zaria broke down at her words of reassurance. Gathered in Kiera’s arms, she sobbed.

I brought a tray of tea over and served cups to each of us and we let Zaria just release all the stress she was holding on to, safe in the arms of a friend who was here to help. It was heart breaking, but she needed it.

Emrys rubbed his hand on her back to offer his own comfort and after a moment I realized both he and Kiera were using healing magic to bring down Zaria’s stress levels and treat her exhaustion.

I was glad we arrived when we did. I didn’t know how much more Zaria had left to give without her friends around her.

---