Ryuu took a sip of his own coffee and tried unsuccessfully to curb the grin of amusement. “How does it feel now that the shoe is on the other foot?”
“Huh?”
“Do you even realize how much time I had to spend consoling heartbroken handmaidens who thought they were special to you only to have you drop them as soon as someone else caught your interest?”
Ladon waved a hand dismissively, “The handmaidens knew that we could couple with any of them that consented.”
“That doesn’t mean that their emotions didn’t get involved. Doesn’t feel so good when the object of your affection says they don’t want you, does it?”
Ladon sighed, “Okay, I get your point. I was a man-whore and this is karma.”
Ryuu chuckled, “Well they say that self-awareness is the first step in growth.” He set his coffee mug aside. “Seriously, I don’t think you have to worry too much. The mating wouldn’t have taken if her brain chemistry hadn’t been primed for it, and you and I both know that requires more than a surface lust. She has to have a strong lasting emotional connection to you to produce the correct cocktail of chemicals to activate the nano machines. I could smell changes in her chemistry caused by the nano machines, so something had to be there.”
Ladon perked up. “You’re right. So all I have to do is convince Alexis to admit her real feelings.”
Ryuu barked a laugh. “Good luck with that one. She can be as stubborn as any fire dragon.” Ryuu fell silent for a moment and then continued in a serious tone, “Did you at least tell her about the nano transfer?”
Ladon looked sheepish. “I had planned on telling her this morning but she rushed out before we could talk.”
Ryuu’s eyes snapped to Ladon’s with a glare and he reached over and smacked the back of his head. “You idiot! You are supposed to talk to them beforehand and give them a choice. You can’t make a decision that changes their entire life for them.”
“I know,” Ladon groaned. “I just got caught up in the moment.”
“That’s no excuse. You have made her practically immortal in the eyes of humanity. She must learn to change her identity on a regular basis, fake aging, watch friends and family die,” Ryuu’s voice raised in pitch as he laid out just what Ladon had done.
Ladon ran his hand through his hair, “Look, I get it, Ryuu. I fucked up royally.” He sighed deeply. “But I can’t say that I am sorry. A world without Alexis is one that I don’t ever want to be in. So even if I could take it back, I don’t think I would. We’ll just have to figure out how to move forward from here.”
Ryuu shook his head, “What’s done is done; but you are going to have a long road ahead of you. Especially once she figures out that you took her choice away. Please tell me you at least warned her about the nano assimilation…”
“Uh….”
“Ladon!”
“It’s alright. It usually takes at least twenty-four hours before it kicks in. I’ll tell her today.”
Both men turned toward the door as Alexis’s cries of pain echoed down the hall. They jumped up, knocking their chairs over to rush to her aide.
25
Alexis was leafing through Ryuu’s translation notes. He was a meticulous scholar. She smiled to see he even noted where certain words could have multiple interpretations. She was sitting at the work station with the documents Ryuu claimed would most likely be the greatest help. As she read through his translations, she made notes about place names and their linguistic morphology as well as the wording surrounding those reports. If she can trace the language dialect back then she could possibly narrow down the location.
She was comparing an entry whose language reminded her of the Kievan Rus’ people when her entire body seized. The pain was so intense that she fell out of her chair and screamed.
Alexis felt like she was dying. She tried to crawl to the door; she needed help. But her progress was hampered by the waves of pain that caused her entire body to lock up. She whimpered as the pain receded just enough to allow her to scoot forward a minute amount before the next wave hit.
All she could do was curl herself into a ball of pain. She, who hated to cry in front of anyone, was sobbing when the men burst through the door.
Ladon was immediately by her side. He reached out to pick her up. She screamed when he touched her.
Tears flowed down Ladon’s face as he blubbered, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” over and over again.
Alexis wasn’t sure what he was sorry about, but despite her own pain she tried to reach up and comfort Ladon. Her fingers just brushed at the tears on his face when molten fire flashed through her body.
Ryuu pushed Ladon out of the way and scooped Alexis up, even though she screamed once again in pain.
“Bear with it, little one. We need to get you off the floor and into a bed so we can care for you.” Ryuu quickly stalked back to the sleeping areas, leaving Ladon to scramble to keep up.
He gently laid her on the bed as she clawed at the clothes on her. Even the familiar material of her shirt and jeans hurt.
“Ladon, get her clothes off of her and cover her with a soft blanket.” Ryuu turned to leave. “I’m going to get some cool water and wash cloths to bathe her body. Her body is running a dangerously high fever. If we don’t get that under control we could lose her.”
Ladon turned and removed Alexis’s shirt, shoes and socks. She cried out every time he shifted her. He had done this to her and she didn’t even know it. She would never forgive him if she found out what he so callously put her through because of his own selfish nature.
He tried to remove her form-fitting jeans, but she screamed as he tried to pull them down. He searched her room for scissors to cut them from her, but he couldn’t find anything. He growled in frustration as Alexis whimpered on the bed, clawing at her remaining clothes. In desperation, he called his dragon to the surface and willed a partial shift. He used his razor-sharp claws to cut away the offending material.
He had just covered the exhausted Alexis with the softest blanket he could find when Ryuu returned. The black dragon laid a hand against her skin and frowned.
“Her fever is worse. We must get her temperature down. The human brain can be damaged if the body temperature is too high for prolonged periods of time.” Ryuu was all business as he dampened a cloth in water filled with ice and ran the cloth across Alexis’s skin.
Alexis’s eyes closed as her body shivered from the cold cloth.
“Why is she so tired?” Ladon’s voice broke with worry.
“Every muscle in her body repeatedly contracted. A few minutes of that will make her feel like she has run a marathon. We are just lucky that it doesn’t seem to have snapped any bones,” Ryuu said matter of factly.
“Does that happen often?”
“It happened enough. Which is why consent is so important. Forcing this on someone is cruel,” Ryuu bit out at Ladon.
Ladon winced but didn’t argue. He knew that Alexis’s pain was all his own fault. He should have talked to her before a complete mating.
“How long will this last?”
Ryuu sighed, “I honestly don’t know. I’ve never known a human woman to succumb this quickly to the conversion. This is new territory for me.”
Ladon laid a gentle hand on the sleeping Alexis only to have her pull away with a look of pain on her sleeping face.
“All we can do is keep watch and pray. If we can keep her body temperature down I think she will make it through without any permanent damage. But one of the other of us will have to stay with her. As soon as her fever spikes we have to cool her back down.”
“I’ll take the first watch.” Ladon pulled a chair next to the bed. He grabbed a cloth and dipped it into the chilled water and almost reverently bathed Alexis’s exposed skin.
Ryuu turned to leave her room. He would work on the census scrolls for a bit, then come and relieve Ladon. He reached to close the door only to realize that it was broken, hanging only by a single hinge. Oh,
well. They would be in and out caring for Alexis, so closing the door wasn’t a major priority at the moment. With that he walked out.
*****
Ladon shuffled into the kitchen. Alexis’s fever had subsided enough that they weren’t having to maintain a constant vigil, but even so Ladon rarely left her side. Ryuu was beginning to worry about his friend. Ladon could pack everything but the kitchen sink in the bags under his eyes.
Ryuu worried about Alexis as well. He had been able to start an I.V. to keep her hydrated from the emergency medical supplies he had thankfully insisted they bring. But they had no way of feeding her while unconscious. The best they had been able to accomplish was to dribble broth down her throat. Even Ladon had quit eating, and Ryuu watched as both of his friends were fading before his eyes.
“It’s been nearly two weeks, Ryuu.” Ladon plopped into a chair next to the black dragon. “I may not have paid attention to the mating information for this planet, but I don’t think this is normal.”
Ryuu ran a hand through his now shaggy hair. “No this is not what we were informed would happen. She should have recovered by now or died.”
Ladon glared at Ryuu and growled.
Ryuu raised a hand, “I’m not saying I want her to die, but this half-life in between wasn’t something they briefed us about.” Ryuu looked out the window to the rising dawn. For once the scholar wasn’t sure what the next move should be. All his vast knowledge and the resources of the ancient library hadn’t yielded an answer. All he could do was beg the universe to please spare his beloved friends.
“Our information about humanity dates back almost to their pre-history. Thousands of years have past. It is possible that something new has evolved in the population.”
Ryuu’s eyes widened. “Or something old has re-emerged!” Ryuu jumped from his seat and rushed into the deepest bowels of the library complex.
Ladon was too tired to follow his friend. If he found any information he would come and find him anyway. He laid his head on the table and watched as the day came to life once more. The sun rose, the birds started to chatter. Everything continued on while the woman he loved lay ill and possibly dying. If she didn’t wake enough at least to start eating again, it would only be a matter of time before she faded away. Ladon rolled his head to the other side so he could stare at the stone walls instead of the rising sun. It all seemed so unfair that the world could go on like nothing had happened when his entire existence was tied to the unconscious woman down the hall.
Ladon sighed and gulped down the sob that tried to escape. For the first time in his life, he just wanted to break down, but he refused to allow himself to do so. This whole thing was his fault. He shouldn’t have completed the true mate ceremony without her consent. Maybe this was the universe’s punishment for his selfish arrogance. Ladon could accept that. What he couldn’t accept was the suffering Alexis was enduring for his arrogance. It was a powerful lesson that Ladon had taken to heart.
Ladon forced himself to stand with a groan. He stretched his stiff muscles. Ladon knew he should eat something, but he didn’t have an appetite. Ryuu had repeatedly reminded him that he would be useless to Alexis if he collapsed from hunger. So Ladon trudged over to the cooler. A slice of ham and an apple was about all he could manage.
He had just taken a bite of the apple when Alexis’s scream echoed down the hall. The apple fell from numb fingers as terror seized Ladon’s heart. Then he somehow found himself sprinting down the hall, yelling for Ryuu to follow.
Ladon burst through the doorway of Alexis’s bedroom to see her entire body arched off the bed, contorted in pain. He ran over, catching her just as she convulsed and nearly fell off the bed.
Ryuu found Ladon on the bed with Alexis in his arms sobbing. Never had he seen the fire dragon cry, and that shook the black dragon more than anything else. He somehow knew that should the worst happen that he wouldn’t just lose Alexis but Ladon as well.
“Something’s wrong. She was screaming and….” Another wave of convulsions cut Ladon off as Alexis contorted. The eyes that had been closed for so long snapped open, pupils dilated in pain. Her body twisted and contorted with such strength that Ladon was having difficulty keeping her on the bed.
Ryuu nodded and rubbed his chin as he studied the scene. “This is good.”
“Good?!” Ladon practically shouted. “She is in pain.”
Ryuu moved to the bed and helped Ladon secure the thrashing body of Alexis. “It’s good because it means that the nano integration of her body is finally complete. They are in the final stage, adapting her neural net.”
“Why is it so difficult for her?”
“All true change hurts and is dangerous, Ladon.” Ryuu massaged Alexis’s muscles when her body relaxed. He motioned for Ladon to do the same. She would be sore regardless when she fully returned to them, but they could ease the discomfort somewhat.
“I’m not in the mood for your philosophical bullshit, Ryuu,” Ladon growled as his hands worked on the other side of Alexis. Growls seemed to be his only form of communication lately.
“It’s not bullshit. Alexis is becoming an entirely different species. It is naïve to think that process wouldn’t be a difficult one.”
Ladon massaged the bridge of his nose. His head was killing him, but it was a minor pain compared to Alexis. “I’m sorry, friend. This whole thing is my fault. I have no right to take it out on you.”
Ryuu just shrugged. “We are both worried.”
Alexis’s body fully relaxed and the men breathed a sigh of relief. Ryuu stood.
“I need to return to my research. There are a few things I want to verify. Don’t leave Alexis alone. The next 24 hours will be critical. She will either wake up fully Drakonian or she will pass on to the next world.”
“Don’t sugar coat it,” Ladon grumbled.
Ryuu walked over to his friend and squeezed his shoulder. “Alexis is a survivor. I’m confident that she will make it through this.”
Ryuu walked out of the room, leaving Ladon alone with his beloved. Ladon picked up Alexis’s hand and caressed her palm with his thumb. He brought the hand to his lips and kissed her fingers one by one.
“You’ve got to live for me, beautiful. I don’t think I can make it without you anymore.” Ladon brushed a damp lock of hair from her forehead and traced her cheek with his fingers. “You probably won’t remember any of this and I should have told you what was in my heart a long time ago, but I was a coward.” Ladon laid his head on the bed and watched Alexis breath. “I love you so much. You probably won’t believe me, but you have become more important that even the mystery of my past. Nothing matters if you aren’t in this universe to share it with me. So I’m begging you, don’t leave me.”
Ladon fell asleep with his fingers entwined with Alexis’s.
26
When Ladon woke up, night had descended once again. He sat up and stretched. His stiff muscles told him that he hadn’t moved for many hours. He could hear Alexis’s even breathing. He was thankful that she hadn’t had any more seizures. Ladon whispered a prayer into the universe that the worst was over. He reached out and brushed the curls from his woman’s face. Even in sickness her hair had a mind of its own and refused to be tamed.
“Wake up, beautiful. I need to see those pretty blue eyes of yours,” Ladon whispered. “I know this whole mess is my fault. I swear I didn’t know it would be this bad; but that doesn’t excuse my selfishness.”
Alexis stirred in her sleep and Ladon continued to talk to her.
“You are the toughest woman I know. There is no way you would let a man’s stupidity weigh you down for long. I need you to wake up and berate me like you normally do. You can’t let the illness I caused keep you from keeping me in line. Without you I have no one to tell me when I am being an ass.”
“You’re always an ass….”
The sound was so quiet that Ladon almost dismissed it as wishful thinking. He looked down to find the most beautiful pair of blue
eyes staring back at him.
“You look like shit,” Alexis croaked with her dry throat.
Tears spilled down Ladon’s cheek and he grabbed Alexis and held on like he was afraid she would disappear.
“Can’t breathe…”
Ladon released her with a sheepish look.
“What is that stench?” Alexis sniffed the air. “Is that you? I mean you do look like you haven’t showered in a couple of days.”
For the first time in weeks Ladon laughed. Alexis wrinkled her nose and raised a weak arm and inhaled.
“Nope…that is me. Why am I so weak and why do I stink?”
Ladon smiled and caressed her cheek. “Bath first…then...” he heaved a dramatic sigh, “then we will talk.”
Ladon left the room and quickly returned with a warm pot of water and a wash cloth. He carefully lifted Alexis up to change the sheets; she had remained naked during her entire illness since they never knew when her fever would spike.
Gently, Ladon bathed away the grime of illness from lexis’s body. She sighed in pleasure as he massaged shampoo into her hair. All the while he explained with a neutral voice about the mating and nano machines.
As he rinsed away the last of the soap, Alexis finally spoke up, “So you are telling me that you infected me with some alien cooties which nearly killed me and now I have tiny little machines zooming around my body which have turned me into an alien myself?”
Ladon nodded.
“And you didn’t think that the possibility of death as a consequence of having sex with you wasn’t important enough to mention beforehand?”
Alexis was propped up against pillows, naked with only a blanket covering her, and yet, she somehow managed to convey royal displeasure at the actions of a peasant.
“I told him he was an idiot,” Ryuu stated as he walked into the room. He went over to the bed and kissed Alexis’s temple. “I’m so glad to see you coherent again, my dear.”
Breathing Fire (Drakonian Chronicles Book 1) Page 10