Page 46 of Cherish

“It’s okay,” I say, crossing the room to stand next to him in the hall. “We still need to figure out how to move Mekhi. Take a few minutes and deal with this and then we’ll go, okay?”

He looks like he wants to argue, but I give him a soft push on the shoulder to get him moving. “We can handle this,” I tell him again. “This is your Court. Go do what has to be done.”

“It’s not my Court,” he answers. But he allows me to usher him gently down the hall. “I’m going to find out where his nurse is and get him back here.”

As I watch him leave, I can’t help but become aware of the fact that the two guards in the hallway somehow tripled to six in the time we were inside Mekhi’s room. And all of them are trailing expectantly behind my mate.

Which only makes the uneasy feeling inside me grow, even though I know Hudson is safe with them. Not to mention he could kick any of their asses if he wanted to.

Maybe it’s the fact that I know he doesn’t want to and never would that makes me uneasy. Hudson is the kind of vamp who cares for anyone and everyone he takes under his wing, so to speak. I just wish I could understand how he’s taken these people—who fought against us such a short time ago—into that care.

“Well, we need to figure something out!” Jaxon snaps behind me, and I turn around. “Because there’s no fucking way we’re leaving here without him.”

“I’m not suggesting we leave him,” Flint growls. “I’m just saying—”

He breaks off as the door opens and a vampire in black scrubs bustles in like his long blond ponytail is on fire. “I’m sorry,” he apologizes as he rushes to Mekhi’s bedside. “I’ve only been gone fifteen minutes or so.”

His hands are shaking as he moves to take his patient’s vital signs—surefire proof that Hudson ran into him on the way to his meeting.

“We have to bring him with us,” I say after the nurse removes the stethoscope from his ears. “How do you suggest we do that without hurting him further?”

“I have a sleeping draught to give him,” he answers. “I’ll have to wake him briefly, and then it will take about half an hour for him to metabolize enough for it to be effective, but once he goes under, you should be able to move him without causing any undue pain. I warn you, though—it won’t last long.”

“A sleeping draught?” Jaxon asks suspiciously.

I lean forward so that I can rest a hand on Mekhi’s. “It won’t make him worse, will it?”

“There’s not much that can make him worse at this point, Your Majesty,” the nurse answers, a look of pity on his face.

That’s not what I want to hear—what any of us want to hear. But it’s honest, and I guess that’s all we can hope for right now.

“If you’ll step out, I’ll administer the draught and get him ready for the journey,” the nurse adds. “I’ll watch over him for as long as you need.”

I don’t want to leave—it’s obvious that none of us do—but it’s not like we’re doing anything standing around his bedside freaking out, either. So we nod as one and file into the hallway.

Then keep walking as I do my best to ignore the sound of Mekhi’s desperate moans…and the terrifying silence when they abruptly stop.

26

I Don’t Trust You

as Far as I Can Throne You

I want to find Hudson and speed things along, but I’m not willing to expose Heather to whatever anurgent meetinglooks like at the Vampire Court—she may be brave, but she’s still a human—so I leave her outside Mekhi’s room with Flint and Eden as company. Last I hear, Flint is complaining loudly about what I’m pretty sure is a genuine Miró—whether to entertain Heather or distract them from Mekhi’s chilling silence, I’m not sure.

As Jaxon and I follow a long curve in the hallway, I can’t help marveling at all the changes Hudson’s made to the Vampire Court. I also can’t help wondering why he’s done it. Yes, he said earlier that it’s because the people here deserve a fresh start after everything that happened under Cyrus, and I believe he means that.

But I also think there’s more to the story than he’s telling me. These alterations are too radical, too polished, tooeverythingto just be about giving vampires a pretty new Court.

Neither Jaxon nor I say anything about the Court’s new look, but I know he’s noticing it, too. It’s impossible to miss.

I’m not sure where we’re going, but Jaxon must, because when we get to the end of the hallway, he guides me to the left. We stop in front of a closed door the color of onyx with an elaborate door handle.

“Are you sure Hudson’s in here?” I ask as Jaxon reaches for it.

“It’s the war room. There’s nowhere else he would be right now.”

He says it with such certainty that I don’t ask again. And it turns out he’s right. The second the door opens, I can hear Hudson talking.

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