Retribution (Kall Alien Warriors #3) - Sue Lyndon Page 0,73
him and withdrew from the kiss.
“Wait! Stop! You’re bleeding.”
He glanced down at his shirt, then at the front of Layla’s dress, which was now covered in his blood. “I am fine, human, I promise. I’ve endured worse. Xazzok will stitch me up, he’s done it before and is just as skilled as a healer, in my opinion.”
“Xazzok!” Layla called, as the male joined them in the entryway. “Xazzok, we need you immediately. Zamek is bleeding. Please help him.”
“Shh, Layla, all will be well,” Zamek said, stroking her hair.
His eyes promptly rolled back into his head and he collapsed on the floor, taking Layla down with him. She hovered over him and gasped when his skin went from its usual deep shade of red to a light purple.
“Poison,” Xazzok said, falling to the ground on the other side of his cousin. His gaze cut to a servant. “Retrieve the knife from outside. I suspect it was coated in a toxin.”
Chapter 26
Everything hurt and he couldn’t open his eyes.
Fluxx. What had happened?
Zamek groaned and tried to sit up, but he couldn’t seem to move his arms or even his legs. And his eyes… why couldn’t he open them?
Somewhere in the distance, he heard a male speaking. “After making me run down the mountain twice in one day, General Zamek is going to owe me several more boxes of supplies. Another bag of coins might be nice too.”
“I assure you that can be arranged,” someone said with a laugh. “Given the late hour, we also hope you will stay the night, Brother Hollinx, and enjoy the hospitality of my cousin’s home.”
Xazzok. It was Xazzok speaking, and he was talking to a Holy One.
“When will he wake up?” came a familiar feminine voice.
Layla. My wife.
Finally, Zamek forced his eyes open, though the movement pained him. He also reached a hand in the direction of Layla’s sweet voice, hoping to touch her. Small soft fingers soon laced through his and she squeezed his hand.
“Zamek,” she breathed, peering at him with tears glistening in her pretty dark eyes.
All at once, memories fell back into place. Commander Vavvis and Councilors Horth and Crozz, then the commander again, showing up with two young, foolish warriors. The fight Zamek had won. Why had he passed out? The knife wound hadn’t seemed very deep, nor had it pained him very much.
“What happened?” he asked. Using all his strength, he sat up in bed and leaned against the pillows and headboard. He took in the room. His bedchamber.
“Commander Vavvis dipped the knife in a toxin,” Xazzok replied, rising out of a chair. He nodded at the Holy One who hovered nearby. “Fortunately, our friend Brother Hollinx rushed back down the mountain to tend to you. He extracted the poison and sewed up your wound. It was too deep a cut for the dermal regenerator.”
Zamek looked at the Holy One. “I owe you my life, Brother Hollinx. For as long as you live, anything you require, you need only ask. I am indebted to you.”
Brother Hollinx nodded deeply and soon departed the room, presumably to get his rest in a guestroom. Xazzok departed as well, leaving Zamek alone with Layla.
His wife. Ancient gods, he’d managed it. He’d managed to make her his wife.
Though the day hadn’t turned out exactly as he’d planned.
“I’m so glad you’re all right,” Layla said. “When you collapsed and turned light purple, I was so scared. I worried you might die.” She wiped at a tear that cascaded down her cheek and graced him with a tender smile.
“I turned light purple?” he asked incredulously.
She nodded, and he took note of how fatigued she appeared. Her eyes were red-rimmed with darker circles outside the red puffiness, and she slumped slightly in her chair, as if she were struggling to hold herself up.
He scooted over, drew the covers back, and patted the space beside him.
“Come to bed, wife. It’s our wedding night, after all.”
She gave him a scandalized look.
“Are you seriously suggesting that we—”
“No,” he said, “but I intend to hold you all night.”
She sank onto the bed and settled next to him, curling against his side as he draped a protective arm around her. He kissed her forehead and breathed in her floral scent, and even though his legs still wouldn’t quite move, his cock shifted in his pants. Fluxx. He couldn’t help it. Her nearness filled him with want.
But her eyes soon fluttered shut and she drifted off.
Tomorrow. They would consummate their marriage tomorrow.