Page 43 of Offering Herself to Darkness

“Of course!” Nora nodded. “Honey, Dr. Liv is going to take the flower now,” she said to Anna.

“Okay.” Anna started to hold it out…but as she did, the Bloom started to fade in her hands.

Nora watched with an open mouth as the petals and stalk turned translucent…then disappeared completely. The whole process was utterly silent and took less than thirty seconds from start to finish.

“Hey!” Anna looked down at her lap, where even the dropped petals had disappeared. “What happened? Where did the pretty flower go?”

“I think it did its job honey and it was time for it to leave,” Nora said, groping for an explanation. “It made you all better so it had to go help someone else.”

She had no idea if that was true or not, but it seemed to satisfy Anna.

“Oh…okay.” She shrugged and then yawned. “It was a good flower. My chest doesn’t hurt when I breathe now.”

“I’m so glad, honey.” Nora sat on the side of her bed and hugged her. Anna hugged her back and then yawned again.

“I’m so sleepy!”

“Well, it’s past your bedtime so maybe it’s time to go to sleep,” Nora remarked.

“Am I sleeping here tonight?” Anna asked, yawning again. Her eyelids were already closing.

“Yes and I’ll stay with you,” Nora promised. She looked at Dr. Liv. “I can, right?”

“Of course! I’ll get you a cot,” Dr. Liv offered.

“No need—I can curl up here with Anna if that’s all right.” Nora nodded at the hospital bed. “There’s plenty of room.”

Dr. Liv laughed tiredly.

“That’s because it’s built for a seven-foot-tall Kindred warrior.” She frowned. “Speaking of that, where is Commander Xarex?” She had met him earlier when she’d come to promise to watch over Anna.

Nora shrugged, trying not to look troubled.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve been wondering that myself. Maybe he’s just busy.”

“Well…maybe so.” Dr. Liv nodded. “Do you want anything else before I go?

I’ll have the nurses keep an eye on Anna but for now, I’m going home to my hubby.”

“No, my mom can bring me anything I need,” Nora told her. She gave the other woman a smile. “Thank you so much for taking care of my little girl. I couldn’t be more grateful.”

“I was fighting a losing battle until you brought in the Flower of Healing,” Liv said honestly. “I’m so thankful you were able to get it.”

“Well, I didn’t get it alone,” Nora remarked and found she was blushing as she remembered exactly what she and Xarex had done to acquire the Bloom.

Liv gave her a speculative look.

“Hmm…something tells me there’s a story there.” She yawned. “Maybe you can tell me tomorrow.”

“Maybe.” Nora tried to smile but the more she thought about the intense sex she had shared with the big Kindred, the more hurt she felt that he hadn’t come to the Med Center to see her or Anna. Where was he?

She wished she knew.

As she curled up in the hospital bed around her already-sleeping child, she wished she could send the big Kindred a message and ask him where he had gone and why he hadn’t come to see her.

27

XAREX

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