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Sariah wasstroking her sister’s forehead and peeling the bloody clothing fromher.
Arata sighedand walked away to wash his hands. The scent of the woman’s bloodwas intoxicating. His upper canines had descended, and his mouthwas watering. He had no idea why he was aroused.
* * * *
Sariah looked to Akioand said, “Can I get some water and something to use to clean heroff? Oh, and some fresh clothing.”
He nodded.“Yes. I will be right back.”
She smiled andlooked at Ivetha. She had never seen her this pale. She hadsurpassed chalky and gone straight into corpse-tone.
“Ivy, I wantyou to keep yourself alive and fight your way back to me. I wantyou to be with me and be an aunty and tell me stories, work onsecurity and programming and learn weird things from around theworld.”
Ivy didn’tmove, but she was still breathing. Sariah stripped Ivy and wrappedher in the top sheet on the bed. Akio arrived a moment later withclothing and two women who carried basins and water.
Her sister wascleaned and wearing a gauzy robe a few minutes later.
Sariah braidedher hair, and Akio assigned one of the women to alert them ifIvetha woke up. It was a monitoring activation that had limited useon an island where folks liked their privacy.
“Now, I wouldlike to discuss the wedding, Sariah,” Akio told her calmly.
She looked athim, opened her mouth, and then closed it as tears started to flowdown her cheeks. She squeaked, “What do you want to discuss?”
He sighed andwrapped her in his arms. “You want your sister to be anattendant?”
Sariahswallowed and nodded. “Yes, please.”
“We will giveher a week. If she doesn’t wake up, we wed. Fair enough?”
She smiledsoftly. “Yeah. Thank you. Did Arata mind healing her?”
“He was pissedat me for bringing an extra woman here. Have you told anyone theparticulars of our binding?”
“No. Not evenIvetha.”
* * * *
Before he washed hishands, Arata looked left and right then licked his palm. A memorystruck him, and he licked every bit of that blood off his palms andfingers. His escort had tasted this sweet.
As he rinsedhis hands, he thought about the odds of his nightingale being herewere astronomical. He was going to check on her later. There wassomething about his brother’s sister-in-law that was very familiar,aside from her taste. He sighed. He needed to heal her and get heroff the island. This situation was unsettling.
He went back tohis office and checked population stats as well as occupancyrequests. He groaned. Every year, there were more actives aroundthe world that were too monstrous for local standards, andapplications to Ekovar came thick and fast. He hated dealing withit, but the people had voted him in. This was his job.
Arata thoughtof the chaos that used to fill his mind before his nightingale, andnow that he was calm, he had no need of her. He did miss herthough. That was probably colouring his perception of the sister.He was trying to see the one he missed in every new face.
Two hourslater, he stretched and checked the time. That was enough for themaids to be on duty. He got up and walked back to the guestroomwhere the woman was stored.
He entered theroom, and the maid jolted to her feet. He jerked his head, and shescrambled out of the room.
The woman waspale. Very pale. She was dressed in a sleeping robe that made herlook soft and sweet. Arata blinked. That wasn’t what he should bethinking about a woman on the edge of death.
No one onEkovar was capable of giving a transfusion. Their activationsprohibited their ability to be compatible with another being on thecellular level. Only sibling matches could share blood.
He paused. Theycould get a transfusion from Akio’s bride.
Arata crouchedat her side and stroked her hair. It was so much darker than hisnightingale’s hair.
The woman wasbarely breathing. Her skin was cool, and her body was unnaturallystill.
