to. They’ve got a new captain, now.” He guffawed, his voice thick with satisfaction.
My heart dropped.
Was Crux behind Vrateus’s poisoning? He sounded as if he was at least aware of his captain’s current condition.
No. Crux had just called himself the captain. He already thought Vrateus gone.
If Crux was in charge now, I stood no chance. Vrateus was right, the best course of action for me would be to get back to the gardens. I harbored no illusions, Malahki wouldn’t go out of its way to protect me. But Crux was cruel and unpredictable. No one could be safe with him in charge. Maybe, I could convince Malahki to be my survival partner. We’d find a place to hide and watch each other’s backs.
Meanwhile, the sound of the footsteps faded into the distance.
Carefully inching toward the opening, I peeked into the corridor, making sure it was empty in both directions. Climbing out, I threw a glance back toward the gardens.
I knew Crux would come for me as soon as he had established his full dominance over the Dark Anomaly or even sooner. The way he always stared at me, I knew he meant danger—probably torture and death.
My instincts told me to run straight to the gardens and hide before it was too late.
Yet I couldn’t leave Vrateus to his fate. Against all common sense, I ran back to my room.
The doors remained closed but unlocked, just the way I had left them. Icy fear spread down my back when I thought errocks could have easily found Vrateus here, weak and unprotected, had they but checked the doors while passing by.
Slipping into the room, I closed the doors, then pulled the cover off the lock panel and slid the part I’d loosened back in to engage the lock from the inside.
The music still blared from the tablet, but Vrateus was no longer sitting upright. His arms tucked under his torso, his legs spread wide, he lay on his stomach, motionless.
“Oh, God, Vrateus...” I rushed to him, praying I was not too late.
He felt cool to the touch, his fur slicked with sweat over his forehead, his eyes closed.
“Vrateus!” I shook him, everything inside me frozen with fear.
Placing my hand on his neck, I found a barely detectable pulse. Weak and uneven, it was still there, easing my horror. Dashing to the bathroom, I filled the crystal tumbler with water then ran back to him.
“Can you hear me?”
I hit the off button on the tablet, plunging the room into silence, eerie and ominous after the deafening noise of music.
“You need to wake up. Now!” Rolling him to his back, I slapped his cheek, making his head loll to the side. “Captain!” Straining my muscles, I tried to heave him up into a sitting position. “Your crew won’t survive without you. They need you...” His large body, a heavy, solid mass of muscle, was nearly impossible for me to maneuver. Still, I propped him into a reclining position by wedging my shoulder under his. “Fuck it, Vrateus! I need you.”
His head rolled to his shoulder, with a muffled groan escaping from his throat.
“Vrateus?” I scooted on the glass floor, sliding behind him. My leg on each side of him, I leaned his back to my chest, propping his head with my shoulder. “You need to eat this right now.” I yanked the bundle with the flattened mushroom out of the pocket at my hip, then unwrapped it, bringing the mushroom to his mouth. “Dammit, Vrateus. I swear I’ll hit you again if you don’t wake up, right now!”
Dropping the mushroom into his lap, I grabbed the glass instead. Pressing it to his lips, I tipped it, letting the cold water spill over his mouth and down his bare chest into the opening of his shirt. He winced with a gasp, and I quickly poured some water into his open mouth, making him sputter and cough.
“Good,” I murmured. “Now that you’re awake, eat this.” I ripped a piece of the dry mushroom and shoved it into his mouth. “Chew it.” I cupped his jaw. “Or don’t chew it. Whatever, just swallow it, please.”
Not waiting for him to react, I ripped another piece off, bringing it up to his face. “Here you go,” I said when he swallowed, then I quickly shoved more pieces into this mouth. “That’s a good boy,” I cooed as if he were a baby eating his first solid foods, not a grown man nearly twice my size, dying from poison.