Page 23 of Rule

I sighed inwardly. If the human was going tobe this afraid every time Bran said something sharp to her, it would be a longstorm. My best friend was a good man, but unless it was with Bella, he wasn’tknown for his caring or patient nature.

I was relieved when the human pushed her chairback and stood up. She blanched, her hand holding her side again while the othergripped the edge of the table. I could see sweat sliding down her temple andher smile looked more like a grimace.

“If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll have anap.” Her voice was so faint, I had to lean forward to hear her. “I, uh, Ididn’t sleep very well last night. Thank you for breakfast.”

She walked quickly out of the kitchen, herbody stiff and her hand still pressing against her side.

“She’s sick,” Bran said to me when her footstepsdied out.

“Yes.”

“We should give her juice.”

I shrugged. “She lied to us, Bran. If shedoes not want to be truthful with us, why give her gallberry juice?”

Bran frowned, but I ignored him and carriedmy empty bowl and the human’s full bowl to the counter. I didn’t feel sorryfor the human, I told myself, as I emptied the faven into the garbage. She wasa liar, just like the other females of her kind.

Chapter Six

Evelyn

My mouth was so dry. Keeping my eyes closed,I unstuck my tongue from the roof my mouth with difficulty, before swiping itacross the cracked landscape of my lips. I was getting worse. I could try anddeny it, but something bad was going down internally and if I didn’t do somethingabout it, I was going to die.

Drama queen.

I croaked out a sound that was almost alaugh before peeling open my eyelids. I stared blearily at the ceiling of myroom then checked the clock next to my bed. It was almost six in the morningand every part of my body pulsed with pain.

It was ironic that after all the times I’dbeen beaten by Alex, I’d never needed a doctor until I was stuck on acompletely different planet with no access to medical care. The storm raging outsidehad only grown worse in the thirty-six hours or so I’d been here, and I understoodnow what Court meant by the storm being different from Earth storms.

I’d never seen a blizzard like this one. Thehouse was solidly built but every now and then it would shudder at a particularlystrong blast of wind, and the snow was falling so hard and thick that I couldsee less than half a foot when I peered outside my bedroom window.

The house was freezing despite the heatconstantly blowing out of the vents and the fireplace that was always on in theliving room. I didn’t have much in the way of winter clothing and didn’t havetime to pack what little I did have, which meant I was always cold.

If I even ventured out in search of medicalhelp… I shuddered and groaned when it made my side throb with fiery pain. Nothingcould survive outside in a storm like this.

I licked my lips a second time. My tonguefelt like a fuzzy caterpillar and kept wanting to stick to the roof of my mouthagain. I had a fever. I could feel it raging through my body, drying everythingout. There wasn’t even enough moisture in my body for me to pee anymore.

Considering how much it hurt to pee, thatwas a good thing.

After yesterday morning’s disastrous breakfast,I’d stayed in my room for the day. Neither Draax had tried to coax me out forlunch. I’d dozed fitfully off and on, all day, but the pain was growingsteadily worse despite how I tried to ignore it. I made an appearance at dinner,afraid that if I didn’t, my lie about not being sick would be discovered.

The dinner was awkward and painful to sit through.I had no appetite but, worried they would realize I was lying about being sick,I’d forced myself to eat half of the food on the plate.

Unlike breakfast, where at least the onenamed Court had shown some interest, at dinner neither of the Draax spoke to me.They barely spoke to each other, either. Their attention was kept mostly tothe adorable little girl and making sure she ate and drank. She’d studied me allthrough dinner but was as quiet as her father and her uncle.

I’d excused myself as soon as dinner wasover and gone back to my room, vomiting up my dinner into the toilet only tenminutes later. It had hurt to barf, a lot actually, but I couldn’t stop. After,I’d stripped out of my clothes and tried to shower.

The bathroom attached to my bedroom had an amazingshower. The bathroom at my old apartment was small and the shower had produceda tepid trickle of water at best. This shower never seemed to run out of hotwater no matter how long I stood under it, and the showerhead actually sprayed asteady stream of water the way it was supposed to.

I’d taken three showers yesterday, tryingto warm myself and hoping the hot water would ease the pain in my side, backand shoulder. I couldn’t wash my hair, my arm wouldn’t lift high enough, so I’donly rinsed it instead. But when I’d tried to take a fourth shower afterdinner, the pain in my side and from the bruising was so great, that thepressure of the water hurt more than helped.

Now, I tried to roll to my side, a whimper escapingwhen it sent excruciating pain across my lower back. I closed my eyes, breathingthrough the agony, ignoring my urge to vomit. The pain was like nothing I’dever felt before. God, maybe I really was dying.

You need gallberry juice.

I stared blearily at the ceiling again. Right,of course. The damn juice. I’d seen the little girl drinking it at breakfast andat dinner yesterday. I needed to get my hands on some of it. But I couldn’t askthem for it. They’d know I was sick if I did that. I had to steal it.

Evie, stop. You’re delirious from thepain and the infection. You don’t have to steal it. These Draax aren’t theking, remember? They won’t care if you’re sick and can’t breed. Just ask themfor a glass.

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