Page 17 of Dead

Chapter Four

Present Day…

Adriel sat at Eilam’s bedside. The small ICU room was dark. A monitor beeped as it showed the too-slow heartbeat of his bear. He clung to the man’s hand, refusing to let go.

Not until he wakes up and I know he’s okay.

He’d lost so much blood. Adriel stared at all the blood still coating his hands and clothing. There hadn’t been time to clean up. Now it was a constant reminder of how close they’d been to losing him.

He came close to death—so close that we’re not sure if there will be permanent damage.

The healer’s words replayed over and over again in his mind.

Permanent damage. I might never see him whole again.

“All this time we wasted,” Adriel muttered aloud. “All these months when I could’ve accepted you and your brother bear… and now…”

Adriel felt a tear slip down his cheek.

Another came. He lowered his head and rested on the edge of the bed, his body wracking with sobs.

* * * *

Noah raced along the hallway, his heart slamming against his chest. He barely noticed the scent of disinfectant and death, too numb from fear to make much note except in the far reaches of his mind. Not far away was a room where the male he loved lay dying. He nearly ran into a nurse coming from one of the rooms, seconds before seeing a door with two gold-armored guards alongside it.

The King’s Guard. He must be there…

After a quick apology, he moved about the nurse and raced forward. Quickening his pace, he ran straight for the door, only to be held back by the two guardsmen.

“I need to see Eilam!” he screamed.

“No one enters,” one of the guards spat. “But for the doctors and nurses.”

“Eilam’s my brother bear!” Noah cried.

The guard opened his mouth to argue—but the door whipped open. A small man with flowing black hair and violet eyes stood in the doorframe, made to look even smaller by the two huge guards flanking him. Energy and the scent of magic surrounded him.

Noah met the man’s red-rimmed eyes and gasped as need slammed into him. Not now. Not like this.

“Let him in,” the warlock murmured. He stepped back as the hands were removed from Noah’s chest.

Noah stalked past their mate and into the room to see a pale Eilam lying on a hospital bed. He froze at the end of the bed. His strong brother bear was always larger than life. Now, Eilam looked small. Fragile.

Those weren’t words he equated with Eilam.

“Is he…”

“He’s alive. Barely,” the king said as he moved to the outer side of the bed. The man lifted one of Eilam’s hands into his. “My magic…” The king paused, his voice sounding as if it shook. “My magic doesn’t work on him. I tried to stop the bleeding.”

It was then that Noah took his first true look at the King of Midnight. Eilam had described the male, but what he saw now merged with the mental image he’d imagined from those descriptions.

The two weren’t too far off.

He was small, perhaps only a few inches over five feet. He had a fae appearance, hinting at something other than witch blood pumping through his veins. His long, silky black hair fell down in a shimmering cascade.

His clothing was also dark…

No…

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