Page 29 of Conquering the King of Storms

I closed my eyes, and fell asleep immediately.

Chapter 7

It feltlike a heartbeat later when Sirus’s hand was on my shoulder, his touch soft as he woke me up. “Sway? You’re shivering.”

My mind struggled to return back to the waking world and process what he had said.

Shivering?

“Why?” I finally whispered.

“I don’t know.” He sounded worried. “Did you eat any of the plants?”

“Of course not.” I closed my eyes again.

Shit, I was tired.

“Let’s get some food in you and see if it helps. I should’ve stopped to feed you long ago.”

“We both just want to get out of here,” I whispered back. “It’s not your job to take care of me. I’m fine.”

“Taking care of you is my purpose, love.” He brushed a hand over my forehead. “Let me help you sit up.”

My head jerked in a motion I hoped resembled a nod.

He eased me up until I was sitting on my ass, making sure my back was resting against the wall so I wouldn’t fall over.

Now that I was upright, everything was spinning a little.

Shit.

Maybe therewassomething wrong with me.

I hadn’t eaten those plants, though, had I? I was pretty sure I would’ve remembered that.

Sirus picked up one of the sushi-roll things he had made the last time we stopped to eat. I saw a jagged outline on the leaf that had been wrapped up with the fish, and remembered the three types of plants.

The jagged one, the smooth one, and… the poky one.

“Open,” Sirus instructed, as he lifted the food to my mouth.

Fuck, he was sexy.

I parted my lips to tell him I could feed myself, but then he slipped the food between them. The brush of his fingers against the sensitive flesh had my spine straightening and my body tingling, even as I closed my mouth to chew the food. I was hungry enough that it was really damned delicious.

He put one of the rolls in his own mouth, and when I looked to the side of him, I saw food hovering in the air. A lot of food.

Sirus must’ve waited to eat with me.

Or maybe my shivering had distracted him before he could eat.

Our eyes met, and our gazes were locked as we both chewed and swallowed. Everything was still spinning a little, but my shivering had stopped. There was a warm feeling blossoming in my lower belly, which didn’t feel like a good omen.

Sirus picked up another one of the rolls and lifted it toward my mouth, but I put a hand out in front of me. “The leaves. Some of them were prickly. Can they affect you?”

His forehead wrinkled. “Let me check.” He moved my hand out of the way and lifted the food the rest of the way to my mouth. I let him feed it to me, ignoring the throbbing in my lady-parts as he turned to the piles of plants I had made.

He picked up one of the prickly-edged leaves, and studied it closely. “They’re called johen. When made into a tea, they can ease pain, but they cause dizziness. In their most potent form, they’re used as an aphrodisiac, but they make people forget who they are and can be addictive, so they’re mostly ignored. Just a few pricks from the leaves shouldn’t be enough to do anything to you.”

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