Page 16 of Into the Dawn
He wanted to hear what sounds those instruments produced.
Since they were younglings, he and his brother had loved carving things out of wood. Their skills could rival the expert craftsmen who made a living creating things with their hands. Once they could examine some of the instruments and figure out how they worked, they might be able to replicate some of them once they were back on Arcadia.
“I had to stop myself, as well,” Ronan said. “It is a shame we will not be able to bring any of this back with us. But you are right. We can try to make some of this for her once we are home.”
“We should head back down. She was sleeping deeply, but I do not want to leave her alone for too long.”
“You go sit with her again while I try to find something for her to eat. She will need sustenance when she wakes.”
“Good idea.” Dominic paused before he asked, “Are you avoiding being with her for a specific reason?”
“I feel guilty,” Ronan admitted, not bothering to pretend he didn’t know what his brother was talking about. “I know it does not make sense, but I feel like I have failed her. It is as though we could have prevented her illness if we had found her sooner.”
“And how exactly were we supposed to do that? She lives on another planet across the fucking universe. If the God of the Sun did not find us when he did, we would not even know of her existence.”
“I did not say it made sense,” Ronan growled back as they made it back down to the main level. “But doing these little things for her is helping me cope, so deal with it.”
Dominic snorted in derision. “Whatever works for you, brother.”
Ronan shoved him hard enough to make him chuckle. When something bumped into his foot, he automatically reacted before he could think. Drawing a knife out of his vest, he threw it at the object that was attacking him, only to discover the round object was actually a small machine. It sparked and sizzled where the blade stuck out of it, and he reached out and tapped it with his boot.
“What is it?”
“Dead? Congratulations, brother. You killed the tiny machine,” Dominic deadpanned. “I feel safer already.”
Ronan sighed. “At least it was not a pet.” He bent down to retrieve his knife. “Perhaps I am a little more unnerved by everything that has happened than I realized.”
Dominic patted his shoulder. “You and me both, brother.”
With another sigh, Ronan left him to care for their mate while he dealt with the remains of the dead machine. Since he was worried one of the sparks might start a fire within the dwelling, he placed it outside in the rain. With that done, he went back inside to forage for something to feed their mate.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
He found a kitchen area with a large cold box that had food inside of it, but barely any of it was recognizable. The things he found in the frozen section were even stranger, though he did manage to find several containers with labels on them. A small room attached to the kitchen had shelves stocked with cans and other packaged items, and there were several machines in the kitchen, but he had no idea how any of them worked.
He found a container labeledchicken and wild rice soupin the cold box and figured something like that would probably be best to feed their mate. He was about to take the container out, but he stopped when he suddenly heard the blast of loud music.
“What is that?”Ronan immediately closed the cold box and headed toward the bedroom.“Where is that coming from?”
“It is coming from this small device on the table by the bed. I believe it is one of those phone things our friends told us about.”
By the time he crossed the room, Dominic met him at the bedroom door holding a small, rectangular object in his hand. The music was coming from the object, but it stopped as soon as they both scowled down at it. Ronan was about to suggest they put the phone in the other room, but Dominic grabbed his arm and dragged him into the bedroom.
“What are you doing?”he hissed through their bond.“We should move that thing out of here in case it goes off again.”
“The music did not disturb her. She did not hear it. Not even a little flinch. I do not think this is normal sleep,” Dominic said out loud, a hint of worry in his tone. “Look, she has not moved at all since I placed her on the bed. She is in a deep sleep. Too deep for it to be normal. It is more like a coma.”
Ronan stared down at the female lying on the bed in disbelief. In the short time since he’d been away from her, her appearance had drastically improved already.
“A magical coma,” he said softly. “This type of healing must be hard on her body. Perhaps it is best she sleeps through it.”
“But how are we supposed to care for her if she is unconscious?” Dominic whispered frantically. “We need to keep giving her the magical tonic over three full risings, and she cannot sleep that long without eating.”
Since his usually calm brother was visibly panicked, Ronan tried to sound calm when he said, “There is broth in the kitchen, and we can feed her sips of the tonic every few hours. She is healing. That is all that really matters. We shall figure the rest out. Do not worry, things will get better from here on out.”
With that, there was a loud boom of thunder that shook the entire structure.
Then, the lights shut off.
