Page 66 of #Resort Love
“I can’t tell you everything yet, but if you give me a chance, I promise that after we get Ezra out, I will tell you then. But what I can say is that there’s something particular about your blood that we have never seen before. We?—”
My eyes flew to Aster, her face already blanched. I inhaled sharply, feeling the brush of power entering the medical ward. Jumping to my feet, I moved the bookcase back to its original place, unlocked the door and rushed to Sybil. Aster still stood frozen, her memories surging. Grabbing Sybil’s ankles, I pulled her down to the edge, throwing a hand over her mouth, quieting her curse as I pushed her flat against the bed.
“Pretend you’re asleep. Say nothing and whatever happens, do not move.” My voice was strained, harsh. I turned to Aster, the color returning to her face, her gray eyes reminding me of hard steel. She breezed past me, taking hold of Sybil’s wrist. A glow of light wrapped around Sybil when the door to the room swung open.
“Ah, here you are,” Ambrose purred, his eyes gleaming with pride when he flicked a quick glance at Sybil. The small move had me silently snarling. “I believe I ordered you to return to my office once you brought her here.”
“I wanted to make sure her fever came down before I left,” I said, keeping my face blank though it took everything in me to push down my fury.
“Did you hear that, Aster?” Ambrose mused. Aster refused to react, keeping her eyes on Sybil, her face masked in her usual indifference. “It sounds like Samian doesn’t think you can do your job.” Ambrose laughed, his gaze raking down Aster’s body, lingering at the curve of her breasts. I wondered if he remembered their time together, remembered what he did to her, if he felt an ounce of regret.
“I know what I’m doing.” Aster clucked. “If you don’t mind, I would like to continue with her healing.Withoutinterruptions.” Aster’s gray eyes finally snapped to Ambrose, a cold wrath whirling in her glare.
Ambrose frowned, but he didn’t respond. His eyes grew distant, and he snarled. I raised an eyebrow, throwing a confused glance to Aster before wiping the emotion from my face.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Ambrose turned to me, a quiet rage making his body tense. “My office. Now.”
He disappeared in a flash of shadowy smoke, and I exhaled, letting the tension wash away from me. Sybil peeked an eye open, making sure Ambrose was gone. Aster stepped away, sliding her hands into the pockets of her coat. I tugged on Aster’s bond, and her gaze slammed to mine.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.Go, you’re needed elsewhere.”
“I’ll return as soon as I can. We can make our plan for tomorrow night when I do,” I said, though it was more to myself than anyone else.
Without waiting for a response, the world tilted away until I stepped into Ambrose’s office.
Chapter 36
Sybil
Iblinked at the space where Samian once stood, picking at the edges of my shirt. It was stiff from dried blood—mydried blood. Nausea rose, but I swallowed it back. I was safe for the moment. Safe in this room.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since I was taken to the dungeon, but I was relieved I didn’t have to see the damage Ambrose and Arianna had done to my body. Just the thought of them, their laughs, their eyes bright from excitement, made my body lock up. A shiver ran through me, goosebumps pebbling my skin.
Pushing the memories away, I looked up, finding Aster watching me. Her face was blank, not giving away what she was thinking or feeling. I gave her a small awkward smile and looked back to the screens, unable to stand the way she watched me, like she could see things in me that I would rather hide away.
“I know what it’s like,” Aster murmured, breaking thesilence, her voice sounding far away, “to be on the receiving end of his amusement.”
My eyes met with those familiar cold gray eyes, though they seemed to warm from a touch of empathy. Guilt twisted my stomach knowing I should be glad that Aster escaped him, that she now had Samian to protect her, and I was, but envy crawled up my throat like acid. I couldn’t help but wonder, though, why they acted so distant while Ambrose was in the room.
“So,” I hesitated, not wanting to pry any further. “Canyoutell me how my blood is different?”
Hesitating, Aster looked to the small, exposed window. She stood, locked the door, replaced the bookcase to cover the window, and finally pulled a chair up to the bed.
“Isn’t that suspicious?” I asked quietly. “Moving the bookcase back and forth, I mean.”
“My staff knows that I like my privacy,” Aster replied, glancing back to the now hidden door, lingering as if she was ready for someone to bust through. “I’ve been doing this for a while, and they understand my tics.” The sadness that reflected on her face, somber understanding coiled inside of me. “Now, about your blood,” Aster breathed, her brows furrowing with apprehension. “It’s changing, morphing into something new. We also found some unusual cells that we’ve never seen before.”
“What does that mean? How is it changing?”
“Your fae blood cells are slowly taking over your human ones, which means you’re becoming less human. It looks like it only just started, probably when the binds on your magic were broken.”
Awareness slowly prickled through me. I had been noticing I felt stronger, that my eyes looked greener, and my hair darkened recently. But I shook it off, blaming the lighting of myroom. “How much has it grown?” I asked, glancing back to the computers, as though they had the answer written across the bright screens.
“The official record says you’re only ten percent fae, though I don’t know how much that has changed. Samian and I thought it was best for no one else to know. I altered the numbers on the records that were sent to Ambrose. Samian kept the results with the correct information, but I destroyed your bloodwork so no one else could test it again.”
“So, the results, could they be wrong?”
