Page 81 of The Hero Within
Say my name....
She closed her eyes. Forced herself to think. "We’re not in a position to be examining the precise implications of this. We need to get to Cortez City, Nnedi. Any chances your alpha is going to let us go this morning?"
Nnedi started picking up discarded bandages. "He's notmyalpha." Her voice lowered. "Not anymore. And he's curious about Colton. Lincoln's good in the ring, so I daresay Arik's wondering just how good your man is."
"He's not a threat," she pointed out. "We're leaving."
Without CJ. Eden brushed her hand over his forehead. His lashes stirred, but he didn't wake.
Eden took CJ's wrist and felt for his pulse. Nice and steady. She reached for his forehead again, but it was hard to tell whether his temperature was high or whether that was simply the nature of the beast within him. The full moon was only days away, and that always set wargs on edge.
A thick mud poultice covered his wound.
Eden's throat felt thick with guilt. "I didn't even notice," she said quietly. "It was barely a scratch. Colton's wounds were far worse."
"He'll heal," Nnedi promised.
That wasn't the point.
Rage flared, hot and potent. Maybe she was tired, but she had the sudden urge to break something. "I'm a healer. I should have noticed CJ had a fever. I should have realized Colton was bleeding the other day. I've been so distracted of late. Everywhere I look someone wants a damned piece of me."
The plague, the council, lack of sleep, and then Lily....
And worse.... "I should have suspected there was something wrong when Miles Wentworth missed two meetings. He'd been sitting near that mine for six months, trying to work out a trade agreement with us, and all of a sudden he just vanishes? Gives in? I thought he was showing me how pissed off he was."
That bastard knew what was coming for them, and he hadn't even bothered to warn them. Damn it. She'd had dinner with him and he'd made his interest in her quite clear. She'd even entertained the thought of obliging him—wasn't like her other options had been overwhelming at that point, and while something about his smile set her on edge, he'd also been charming enough. The urge had just never been strong enough.
Despite the fact Riley had pointed out—loudly—it had been a long, long time without a man to warm her bed.
Until last night....
Nope. She shied away from those thoughts immediately.
"You're only human, Eden. You can't foresee a plague. And Wentworth's Confederacy. They don't consider anyone outside their walls to be worth a damn thing."
"He could have warned me." If there was anything she hated more than feeling powerless, it was betrayal.
"Maybe he was hoping the plague would wipe out your settlement and then he'd have exactly what he wanted without having to give you a damned thing—or wait for your decision."
Eden's heart beat a little swifter. It was an outrageous thought. She couldn't even conceive of.... No. Wentworth had met her people, walked among them and shaken their hands, smiling his stark white smile with his perfect teeth.
But,said a dark little whisper in her heart.
"I have quotas to meet,"Wentworth had said to her in their final meeting, his lips pulling back off his teeth in a sign of frustration for just one second."I'm sorry, Miss McClain, but I have a little bit of pressure on me back home to close this deal, or start looking elsewhere. The settlement of Haven has access to another mine. Granted, it's miles to the north and would need more work to make the conditions safe, but Ihaveto give my father something."
"You okay?" Nnedi asked.
"I need to get to Cortez City as soon as possible," she said, her ears still ringing a bit from the shock Nnedi's words had caused. She needed to know the truth—had Miles Wentworth known the plague was about to hit?
Or... had he been involved in spreading it?
It was a manufactured biological weapon, after all, one supposed to be locked away in a sterile lab....
These things didn't just escape.
She felt cold all the way through. "Do you think you could look after CJ for me? At least until he's better? I hate leaving him behind, but surely he'll understand when the fever breaks."
After all, whatever it takes....
