Page 21 of Fall of Ruin and Wrath

“Just can,” he mumbled as he slipped from me, swaying. I reached for him, but he waved me off. “I’m okay.”

I wasn’t so sure about that as I glanced ahead. Another door, left ajar, loomed.

His breath was ragged as he used the wall as support. “The catmint?”

“I was trimming some earlier today.”

He made a sound sort of like a hum. “I . . . like the smell . . . of them.”

“As do I.” Blowing out a breath, I pushed the door open. Moonlight streamed in from the window, casting silvery light over a bed and a surprisingly tidy chamber that smelled of fresh laundry.

The Lord shuffled into the chamber. Closing the door behind him, I threw the tiny hook-and-eye lock, as if that would stop a rabbit from getting in, let alone another person.

He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. I halted, hand pressing against my chest as he grasped his knees, bent slightly at the waist. I started to ask if he was okay, but stopped myself. He wasn’t. At all. Seeing anyone like this caused my stomach to jump all over the place.

Pivoting away from him, I found a lamp near the bed and turned it on. The buttery light lit the space as I crossed the chamber, pushed open the next door, and stepped inside. Relief hit me when I saw the type of shower stall found in the oldest buildings. It wasn’t very large, but it would do. “You can get cleaned up in here.”

“I’m going to need a minute,” he slurred. “The chamber seems to be moving.”

Returning to the bedchamber, I looked around, and spied a cupboard. Hurrying to it, I pulled theluneadagger from the pocket of my cloak, half surprised I hadn’t stabbed myself with it. I placed it on the cupboard as I spotted a closed jar of what appeared to be water on a small table opposite the bed. I lifted it to my nose, taking a sniff, and when I smelled nothing, I poured a glass and took a drink. “Will this help? It’s just water, but warm.”

“It should.”

I handed him the glass, stepping back. He took just a small sip at first and then downed the entire glass.

“More?”

“I think I . . . should let that . . . settle first.”

Taking the glass from him, I placed it on the table. “Is the room still moving?”

“Unfortunately.” His hands fell to the edge of the bed. “Legs don’t feel attached at the moment and the light— my eyes . . . aren’t quite ready for it.”

I cursed, not having thought of that. “Sorry,” I mumbled, quickly turning the lamp off.

The Lord had gone quiet as I faced him. Trepidation rose as I inched closer to him— one of the most powerful beings in all the realm, and he was . . . he was shaking. His legs. Arms. “Is it the hemlock or the . . . the blood loss?”

“Those things . . . and thelunea.That alone weakens us— sickens us,” he explained. “When any . . .luneablade is left in us or its wound goes untreated, it turns into a toxin, breaking down our tissues. . . .” His large shoulders curled inward. “Another of my kind would need far more than water and time to heal.”

Meaning that if he weren’t a lord, the injuries would’ve likely ended his life. I felt the need to apologize again but managed to stop myself.

I needed to get him cleaned up and safely out of here before others came to check on him . . . or Weber. “What would they need?” I asked, just in case the water wasn’t enough, as I knelt before him. “To heal?”

“I . . . I would need to feed.”

“Um.” I glanced at the door. “I can probably find you something to eat.”

“I’m not talking . . . about food.”

My brows lifted as I fumbled in the darkness, running my hands over his boot until I found the top. For the short period of time things had been intimate between Claude and me, I’d gained quite a bit of experience undressing a half-conscious man, but I still felt a little out of my element as I grasped the shaft of the boot and yanked it off. “What are you talking about?”

A sudden soft glow sparked to life, drawing my gaze up as I moved on to his other boot. I looked up to see that he’d picked up a candle from the nightstand and had lit it . . . with his touch. My lips parted with a soft inhale at the reminder of exactly what he was. “How . . . did you do that?”

“Magic.”

My brows inched up. I’d never actually seen a Hyhborn use the elements. “Really?”

“No.”