Page 55 of Cursed
Zayne laughs at the concern on Ryland’s face. “Yeah, Ry, I’m fine.”
As Ryland pulls him to his feet, Zayne winces and bends at his waist. Ryland frowns and inspects Zayne’s middle anxiously. When his hand moves over Zayne’s left side, Zayne winces again. Ryland rips his brother’s leathers apart with his claws.
“Whoa, man! It’s probably just a rib.” Zayne looks down at his tattered vest, astonished by his brother’s actions.
“FUCK!” Ryland bellows out in a roar. “KANE!” Ryland grabs his brother’s arm, pulling him toward his horse.
Kane runs over to his Alpha from the other side of the field, and Ryland starts barking orders. “You’re in charge. Run through the cleanup process and lead the men back home. Zayne’s been bitten. I’ll take him back to the castle on my horse now.”
Zayne jerks his arm out of Ryland’s grip. “No way, what? That fucker did not bite through my vest.” Looking confused, he lifts his vest to inspect his left side, and sure enough, there is a huge bite mark with multiple puncture wounds. Zayne sucks in a harsh breath as he watches thin black lines radiate outward from the bite. The Rogue’s poison has entered his body and is already starting to spread.
Ignoring Zayne for the moment, Ryland rattles off more orders to Kane. “Grab our stuff from the Inn, and don’t forget Zayne’s horse when you leave.”
Kane is frozen in place, his mouth hanging open, staring at Zayne’s wound.
“Kane! Are you with me?” Ryland yells, grabbing one of Kane’s shoulders.
The Chief Enforcer tears his gaze away from the bite mark. “Yeah, yeah. I got it, Ryland. You just get him back to the castle fast! We’ll handle everything here.”
Ryland grabs his brother by the upper arms, turning him so they are face to face. As calmly as he can, he says, “Zayne, you’ve been bitten. We have to go, right now! You cannot ride by yourself because you’ll start to feel the side effects of the poison before we can make it back to the castle.”
Zayne, with tears shimmering in his eyes, clears his throat and nods at Ryland. Ryland’s heart aches as he remembers his brother at six years old, trying not to cry when their father yelled at him. Zayne has that same look on his face now.
The brothers quickly mount Ryland’s horse, with Zayne in front. As Ryland turns to leave, several of the men shout, “Wait!”
They run to their horses and pass Ryland whatever food they have on them, extra water, and blankets for the long ride back.
Ryland gallops away with Zayne through the snow-covered forest. The remaining men all hang their heads. After a moment, Kane looks out over the crowd. “There’s nothing more we can do for him. All we can do is pray to the Goddess that Princess Drakemoor’s antidote saves him. Come on, let’s get to work.”
Bythe time Ryland and Zayne pass back by Silver Pine and turn south toward the castle, it’s late afternoon, maybe 4:00 p.m. Ryland’s thoughts are flying through his brain, calculating how long it will take to get to the castle—roughly eight hours. How many stops to rest can they afford? Hopefully, just one.
If they are lucky, the total trip time should be about eight and a half hours, putting them back at the castle a little after midnight. The poison generally takes two to three days to kill its victim. He’s confident they will make it back in plenty of time.
Zayne is in shock, panting. Ryland wraps his arm around his brother’s chest and squeezes gently. “You need to calm yourself; slow your heart rate to slow the spread of the poison. We will get there, Zayne. Adele’s antidote will work.”
“That’s a gods damned lie, Ryland! I am dead already,” Zayne shouts, wiping his nose with the back of his arm.
“You need to listen to me. I am not going to let you die. We have time to figure it out, but seriously, you need tohelp. Slow your breathing.” Ryland is having a hard time keeping the tremor out of his voice, but he needs Zayne to calm down.
Zayne tries to do as his brother says, taking several deep breaths. “You need to promise me, Ry. Promise me you will take care of Sadie.”
“Zayne, you are not—”
“Ryland! Promise dammit! You will protect her with your life, and…” His breath hitches. “...you will take care of my son or daughter. He or she will need a father figure, and you’ll be far better than Dad was.”
Ryland’s eyes widen, and his eyebrows rise in surprise. “Sadie’s pregnant? That’s wonderful, Zayne. Why didn’t you tell me?” Ryland swallows hard. “Yes, of course, I vow to take care of your Mate and child should anything ever happen to you.”
“Good. Good. Thanks, Ry.” Zayne takes a deep breath and slows his heart rate, confident that Ryland will keep his word. He leans into his brother as they hurry back toward the castle, resigned to the fact that he’ll be dead in just a few days.
Ryland’stimeline is dead on; they only stopped once for a little less than thirty minutes. As soon as he is in range, he mind-links to Garek and Adele, having to shout in their heads. “WAKE UP!”
Adele answers first. “Ryland? What the hell?”
Next, Ryland hears Garek’s groggy response. “I’m up.”
“You both need to get up and head to the hospital wing. And…bring Sadie with you.” Ryland is trying to keep his tone calm and free of the emotions bombarding him.
“What’s happened?” Adele asks, her voice full of concern. She jumps out of bed, throwing on some clothes. If he wants her to bring Sadie, then it must be Zayne who’s injured.
