Page 119 of Tharn's Hunt
"She needs water," I say, looking up at the worried faces surrounding us. "And something to bring the fever down."
"I've tried giving her water," Alex says, frustration evident in her tone. "She can't keep it down. And we don't exactly have a medicine cabinet around here."
I glance over my shoulder at Tharn, who stands at the edge of the group, his expression unreadable but his posture alert. In the mindspace, I can sense his concern, a steady pulse of vigilance that's oddly reassuring.
"Firebloom," I project to him, recalling how the herb helped reduce my own fever during our journey. "Would it help?"
Tharn's gaze sharpens, and he nods once before disappearing down one of the tunnels, presumably to fetch the medicinal plant.
I turn back to Mikaela, whose breathing has grown more labored.
"We need to cool her down," I say, looking around for something we can use. "Is there any cool water nearby?"
"The bathing pool," Pam jumps up, already moving toward the tunnel that leads to it. "I'll get some."
As she hurries away, I notice Erika swaying slightly where she stands, her hand rising to her temple.
"Are you okay?" I ask, concern spiking.
She waves me off. "Just a headache. I've been having them on and off."
"Me too," Tina admits, adjusting her glasses. "And I've been feeling kind of... weird. Hot, then cold."
A murmur ripples through the gathered women as several others nod in agreement.
"I've been nauseous," one woman confesses.
"My joints ache," adds another.
"I can't sleep without having thesecrazydreams," a third chimes in.
The pieces start to click together in my mind. Dreams. Fever. Aches. Exactly what I experienced before Tharn. Before the bond.
Justine catches my eye across the group, her expression mirroring my dawning realization. In the mindspace, I can feel her thoughts brushing against mine, tentative but clear.
"It’s this planet," she projects. "It's affecting them like it did us." I know Justine. She isn’t the woo-woo kind. And frankly, I’m not superstitious either. But how else can we explain everything else that’s happened so far?
Before I can respond, Tharn returns, a handful of crushed firebloom in his palm. He kneels beside me, offering the herb with a solemnity that makes my heart squeeze.
"Thank you," I murmur, taking the plant matter and turning back to Mikaela. "Alex, help me get this into her."
Together, we manage to mix the firebloom with a small amount of water and coax Mikaela to swallow it. She coughs, turning her head away, but we persist until most of the mixture is down.
Pam returns with a gourd of cool water and a piece of fur. "Will this help?"
"Yes," I say, taking the fur and dipping it in the water. "We need to cool her gradually."
As I place the damp fur on Mikaela's forehead, I become aware of a shift in the energy of the cavern. The Drakav males have gathered at the periphery, their golden forms unnaturally still as they observe our ministrations. Their concern radiates through the mindspace like heat waves, making it hard to focus.
I glance up to find Kol at the forefront, his amber eyes fixed not on Mikaela, but on me. In the mindspace, I catch a fragment of his thought—not directed at me, but loud enough to overhear.
"The unclaimed ones sicken," he projects, his mental voice deep and resonant. "The dust rejects them."
Justine's head snaps up, her gaze meeting mine across Mikaela's prone form. We don't need to speak aloud—or even through the mindspace—to understand the implication.
Neither of us is sick like the others. Not anymore. We've both been claimed by Drakav. And the dust, as they call this planet, has accepted us fully.
Perhaps if the other women were claimed too...
