Page 57 of Dragon King's Cursed Mate

Dain tried to sit up, but he couldn’t. The pain was too excruciating, and he was too weak.

“You aren’t going anywhere for a while. There was enough shadowroot poison on that arrow to kill three dragon shifters. It took everything I had to draw it out. You will still suffer the effects from it for a while.” Valon shook his head. “Not only did the poison go through your blood, it damaged all of your internalorgans and your heart. It took a lot of time and energy to heal them so your body didn’t shut down completely.”

“How long have I been out?”

“A week and a half.”

“Ugh.”

Dain closed his eyes. While he was unconscious, he’d had several odd dreams and experienced memories that weren’t his own. They were scenes from a long time ago when the Drakon Realm was first born. He’d seen snippets of scenes played out, and they didn’t make any sense.

Sleep overtook him and there was nothing. There were no dreams, no memories, just a deep, hard sleep.

Seraphina was sitting in the chair, reading a book, next when he woke up. She looked exhausted. Her hair was lifeless, and she had dark shadows under her eyes. She was ghostly pale and had obviously lost weight.

Dain whispered, “Seraphina.”

She gasped and dropped her book. “Dain. You’re awake.”

“How long this time?”

“A day and a half.”

He groaned in the back of his throat. “Valon said you’ve been sitting with me the entire time.”

“I have.”

“You need to take care of yourself. You should eat and get some rest.”

“I’m fine,” she said. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been attacked by a hundred angry vipers.”

She smiled slightly. “I can only imagine. Shadowroot is very painful for those who live long enough to experience the symptoms.”

“Thank you for saving me.”

“That wasn’t me. Kael and Xander went out to find you. Valon has been in here all day, every day trying to heal you. I can help with minor healing, but I was no match for this.”

He nodded. Words weren’t enough to say how grateful he was for them.

“I had a lot of strange dreams while I was out of it. Some were actual dreams, while others were like snippets of memories.”

She grasped his hand tightly. “Tell me about them.”

He frowned, trying to remember them. “I can’t remember them now.”

“They’ll reveal themselves again when you’re ready.”

“I hate this. It’s like the fates and the gods are playing games with me.”

Seraphina nodded and pressed her lips together. He suspected that she knew a lot more about what was happening, but he was too tired to question her.

She stood up and lay next to him on the cot, pulling him close to her. She put her arm around his waist and kissed the back of his neck.

“Sleep. You need to regain your strength.”

Dain could feel her warmth seeping into his body, through their clothes, driving out the chill that was hurting his bones.

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