The Blood King by Calle J. Brookes, BG Lashbrooks Read Free Book Online Page A

couldn’t die, he couldn’t. He couldn’t.
Aodhan and several men tried to pull her away from the door before storming into the gardens. But Emily had to watch.
She screamed as Rydere went down beneath the largest of the wolves. Aodhan struck out, killing the animal. The wolf’s body dropped to the ground and turned into that of a man.
It was the last of the wolves. Cormac ran in, Josey cradled in his arms, not stopping to give Emily a chance to check on her cousin. Aodhan and Theo lifted Rydere between them, wrapping his arms around their shoulders.
Emily held the doors open as they pulled him inside. “Rydere?”
He lifted his head, relief visible in his pain-filled orange eyes. “Rajni, are you hurt?”
“Just bruises, I’ll be ok.” Emily tried to fight the urge to run her hands over him, to check for injuries herself. The urge was too strong and she started at his shoulders, her hands touching as much of him as she could. “How badly are you hurt?”
He didn’t answer and she saw that he'd fallen unconscious.
“We’ll take him to your suite, Dahn Emily,” Theo said. “Run ahead, see that he has clean clothing. Have Jambu fetch bandages and warm water. Go on. We'll bring your Rajni.”
****
She felt useless when they stripped the ruined clothing from his body. Aodhan had called for a doctor and a blonde woman arrived five minutes later.
“He’ll need blood,” the doctor said after stitching the worst injury. “But he should be fine in a few days, a week at most. He was lucky. If you’ll excuse me, I need to assist with my brother’s Rajni.”
Aodhan turned to Emily. "Go to your cousins, Dahn Emily. They have need of you."
"But he—" She wanted to go to her cousins, to be with Josey, but Rydere looked so vulnerable.
"We will care for him." Aodhan smiled reassuringly. "And when he is settled we will come to you. He needs much blood, and we know our feeding is still uncomfortable to you. Go."
His hands were insistent as he nudged her toward the door. Theo was just visible leaning over Rydere. Emily left.
****
Mickey and Mal waited outside the suite Josey had been sharing with Cormac.
"Em!" Mickey threw her arms around Emily and held tight. "Oh God, we were so worried. Are you ok?"
"Bruises. Josey?"
"The doctors, healers, are with her." Mal rubbed the chill from her arms as she stared at the closed suite door. "They won't take her to a hospital, Em. They say it would be too hard to keep Josey safe there after blood tests have been ran. That the human doctors can’t help her now anyway."
"Have either of you seen her?" Emily shoved the thoughts of her and her cousins not being human away.
When they shook their heads no Emily opened the door. No one stopped her, and she hadn't expected anyone would. Rydere had said she was their queen, after all. "Come with me."
Cormac stood by the head of the bed, his face harsh and pale. Terrified. The female doctor—healer—and another hovered over Josey.
"How is she?" Emily asked.
"Hanging on," the blonde woman said. "She's young and healthy and seems to be fighting to stay with us. She has a chance."
"Just a chance?" Cormac demanded, his eyes still trained on Josey's blood and dirt-streaked face.
Her cousin looked so young and vulnerable on the green silk comforter.
"I won't lie, Cormac. You could lose her; they intended to kill her in the most painful way possible and they got a good start. If she had been alone in the gardens, we wouldn't be here now. Whatever—whoever—distracted them saved her life. See she's fed as often as she will take it. Keep her wounds clean, and she should pull through. Her recent humanness is in her favor. You're looking at a month minimum recovery time. Probably closer to twice that."
An hour later the doctors left, after having examined Cormac's injuries. He sat by the bed, his eyes trained on Josey the entire time his hands were being stitched.
Aodhan and Theo arrived shortly after. Mickey threw herself into Theo's arms, sobbing. He