Page 66 of Toward Immortal Ruin

“I—I haven’t taken my medication.” The words were almost slurred, as if her lips wouldn’t make the right sounds. “I need it.”

“What medication? Where is it? I’ll go find it.”

Eden’s body jerked, collapsing without notice. Catching her at the last second, Nero’s strong arms swathed her in a protective shield while the seizure trembled through her. Eden’s side of the mating bond wavered. That alone was a testament to how close he was to losing her.

Nero had never known fear such as he did in that moment.

The psychic shout to his healer reverberated through their neural bond, his immense power flooding through the connection.

Luna teleported to his side and immediately placed her hands on Eden’s temples. Nero’s heart dropped further when his healer didn’t manage to stop his mate’s spasms after a few seconds.

“What’s happening to her, Luna?”

Luna didn’t answer, all of her concentration funneling into helping the woman who lay in his arms. Abrasive, the heat of her powerful gift sizzled over his skin, telling him exactly how much energy Eden’s condition was requiring.

He fought back the tears that threatened to fall on Eden’s now unconscious form. Utterly still, Nero tried to remain calm as Luna continued to pump healing waves into his mate’s mind.

Luna was swaying with lethargy by the time her hands retreated from Eden’s temples. He steadied her with his free hand and funneled his energy into her out of habit.

“What happened to my mate?”

Pity filled the healer’s summer-blue gaze. “She had a hemorrhagic stroke. She’s stable for now, but Nero… I’m so sorry. Eden is dying. I have little experience with cancerous growths, but—”

“Cancer?” The word was a curse on his lips. “Eden has cancer?”

“Yes, sovereign.” Luna’s expression tightened. “If I hadn’t been on hand to help her, her time would’ve run out. The cancer is invasive. I’ve healed the tumors that were already there, but I’m afraid more will appear. It’s progressive. Fatal.”

Nero couldn’t breathe.

His mate had been battling terminal cancer—alone. Despite the centuries of preparing for her arrival in his life, he had left her without support while she faced her own mortality. Eden was dying. And now, after she’d been bitten by a rabid werewolf because of his failure, her already short life had become even shorter.

Everything he’d planned for them, everything he’d hoped and waited for, seemed to be disappearing before his very eyes.

His life was nothing without Eden. Her reactions and hesitations made sense now—all of it had been to cover up what’d been in the background since the very beginning. Her life’s motto,carpe diem, wasn’t born only of a willingness to experience life, but as a prelude to death.

Feeling devoid of hope, he simply gave her a single nod. “Mahalo, Luna. Will she be comfortable, now, or does she need further aid?”

“No, sovereign, she’ll be comfortable now. Do you need anything? Can I make your burden lighter?”

“Nothing can, friend.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sunlight danced across hereyelids. The warm kiss of the Hawaiian rays heated her skin, and the sensation of the cool sheets around her legs and torso made her smile.

Eden couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this good. There was no trace of the pressure inside her skull, and the usual, low-key headache that accompanied her every waking moment was nearly absent.

Her eyes flew open in the shock of memory as she jerked upright. A man sat in the corner of the room, his head in his hands.

Light beamed in from the window beside him, casting him in a peaceful nimbus. It contrasted with the dread barreling through their ghostly mating bond.

There was no doubt in her mind that he knew. Despite her best intentions, her condition had exposed her before she could reveal the truth. Eden had waited too long, and now, it was too late.

“Nero?”

Looking up, the Raeth made no move to close the distance between them. “You’re awake.”

His tone was devoid of joy. Those eyes, once filled with laughter and mirth, were dull and stamped with distress. Eden knew that the man opposite her had somehow discovered her curse.

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