Theodore (Xavier's Hatchlings #2) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,66

Theo was surprised when Jamie was all right with that. She enjoyed her alone time more than any person he knew.

“I smell iron too. Not a great deal of it, but he’s sick with it. I doubt that he’d die from it, but it has affected him.” She put her hand on his belly then up around his chest. “It’s here. Surrounding his heart. After I take it out, I’m going to leave here to make sure I find the person responsible for this. All right? That means you’ll have to wait for questions from me. If you have any, now would be the time to tell me.”

“Is he my mate?” Theo watched Winnie as she seemed to struggle with answering Jamie. “I mean, all I could smell on him was the iron, as it turns out. If you can figure that out, I’d like to be made aware of it now.”

“Much like you, I can’t focus on anything but his illness. Trust me when I tell you, it will become clearer in the days ahead. Can he stay here? His faerie will be with him. If it’s too much of a burden for you—”

“No. I want him to stay here. For no other reason than that, I owe this family my life, and I will do anything needed of me to take care of one of their own.” Winnie nodded, then asked if she had any more questions. “Just one more. No biggie, but if he is my mate, will I have to worry about iron too?”

“Yes.”

Winnie turned back to Milo. The bed he was lying on was perfect for his size. Whoever made the bedroom suite for this room had kept in mind that all of the Mannings were larger than life. Milo was the shortest at six foot ten inches.

Winnie didn’t strain or anything like that when the iron that had been in his brother’s body was pulled free. As soon as she put Milo into a deeper sleep, she told them, she disappeared, taking what appeared to be about a cup of iron in small, almost powered particles. Lily, Milo’s faerie, knocked at the window, and it was Jamie that let her in.

“Whatever you need, you tell me, and I’ll make sure you have it.” Lily told her thanks and went to her master. “I’m assuming he’s going to sleep for a little while. I’ll be around if you need me.”

Jamie just left them there. Theo looked at his brother, then at George. Neither of them seemed to understand what had just happened. Was she mad at them? Did she not want him in her house now?

Instead of standing around without answers, Theo went to find her. She was the closest thing he’d had to a sister, excluding Rachel, and he didn’t want her upset with them. He found her in the kitchen.

“I’m going to have some cookies and tea. Would you like some?” He told her that would be good. “I’m going to talk, but so you know, I don’t want you to answer. I’m just babbling right now, and if I don’t, my head is going to explode. All right?”

“Yes. However, if I can answer, do you want me to?” She shook her head as she put a kettle on the burner to make some tea. “You do need to sit down, Jamie. I can hear your heart beating very quickly, and I don’t want you stressed out. Just have a seat, and I’ll make us the tea while you babble.”

She sat down but played with the cup and saucer she’d been holding. He pulled the kettle off the burner then put his hand on it. In a shorter time than it would have taken the stove, he had hot water. Pouring them both a cup and finding her stash of scones, he sat down across from her. She stared at him for several moments before she spoke.

“I’m not going to lie to you when I tell you I’m terrified of becoming a mate to any of you.” He asked her why. “I’ve come from a long line of people with mental illness. When I went to visit Missy yesterday, the doctor told me her illness is hereditary. It’s like a missing gene, he told me. That it more than likely would make it so that if I were to have two children, one of them would be affected by it.”

“No, not anymore.” She looked at him instead of at her teacup then. There