piece of mushroom stayed in his mouth when his head dropped to his chest again.
“Vrateus!” I slapped his cheek again. Hard.
“Guh...” he groaned. “That hurt.”
“Drink this.” I pressed the edge of the glass to his lips. “Or I’ll do it again.”
I watched his throat bob with each swallow as he emptied the glass. I hoped and prayed that Malahki hadn’t misled me, that I hadn’t made a colossal mistake by trusting the damirian and feeding more poison to our captain.
“You’re not only infuriating, you’re also brutal and terrifying,” he muttered, dropping his head back on my shoulder as if drinking had completely exhausted him.
“Oh, you have no idea how scary I can be,” I assured him, trying not to think about how frightened I felt. “Just try dying on me, see how angry I’d get.”
His chuckle came out with a cough.
I remembered Malahki had said to wait for ten minutes. The clock was still by the door, but thanks to its huge dial, I could make out the time even from a distance.
Ten minutes.
I wasn’t sure if I should try to keep Vrateus awake. Would it be better to let him rest for a few minutes while we waited for the results?
I reined in the fear. Holding Vrateus to me with my arm across his chest, I rested my cheek against his head. The many golden hoops in his pointy ear pressed into my skin.
“Please stay with me, Vrateus,” I whispered, not sure if he could hear or comprehend what I was saying. “You said you wanted me to live. Well, I need you to stay alive, too. I’m still not sure if this life is worth living, but it definitely would be so much worse without you.” I patted his chest through the soft material of his shirt, feeling the straps and the sheath of the dagger underneath. “I know things haven’t always been great between us, but I don’t hate you as much as I thought I did.” With a sigh, I nuzzled his high cheekbone. “In fact, there are many things I like and respect about you. I hope we can be friends.”
Maybe even more than friends? I thought back to the kiss we’d shared.
Not that it mattered now. Nothing would matter if he were to die in my arms.
A sudden convulsion ran through his body, sending me to my feet.
“Are you okay?” Fear and worry spiked in me. I tried to focus. “You’ll need to throw up, now.” I attempted to get him up, to lead him back into the bathroom. With no cooperation from him this time though, it proved impossible. He was just too heavy for me to lift on my own.
Bending to the side, he retched on the floor. I stared in horror at the black tar-like contents of his stomach on the glass as the pleasant aroma of the loathed mushrooms rose into the air.
“This is good,” I forced the words out. “At least this shit is out of you, now.”
Fetching some water from the bathroom, I cleaned up after him, forced another cupful of water into him, then cleaned whatever came out again.
When the shudders of dry heaving stopped wracking his body, I brought the pillow and blanket from the bed.
“Rest now.” I tucked the pillow under his head, hoping that everything I had just put him through would be worth it.
I unbuckled the straps around his chest, loosening them to ease his breathing. When I pulled his tall boots off, two knives dropped out of them, clanking to the floor. I also found guns in some elaborate mechanical holders strapped around each of his forearms and concealed by the wide sleeves of his shirt. Those looked too complicated to remove, and I left them, taking off the holsters around his thighs instead.
“You’re just like a walking munitions storage,” I muttered, tucking the blanket around him.
Vrateus had always seemed tense and alert, always ready to pull the trigger. He acted like a cocked gun himself, ready to strike at any minute.
“It couldn’t be easy to go through life while constantly having to look over your shoulder,” I said, sitting on the floor next to him.
He didn’t respond, didn’t even appear to hear me at all. But talking felt so much better than sitting in silence, listening to his labored breathing, and watching the glow of the Anomaly lights reflecting off his white shirt.
“Being alert didn’t help you, Vrateus. They still got you.” Heaving a sigh, I lay on the floor next