Page 20 of The Temptation of Roan Island

“Ruby’s with her.” Noah tilts his head, giving me a curious look. “You need to eat.”

“Of course.” I school my features back into the casual shield I lost after finding Pippa on the floor. She’ll be in good hands with Ruby. My sister-in-law doesn’t need to drink tonight since she can get her fill from her mate whenever she needs. Ruby staying makes the most sense.

Except the need to see Pippa jumbles everything. I have no claim on her. I don’t want one. She’s no different than either of these other women. The thought feels like a lie, but I choose to believe it. With heavy feet, I walk away, forcing my posture to relax, hands in pockets, steps even. I don’t like the feeling that’s twisting my gut.

I’m just hungry.

It’s good that Pippa won’t be at tonight’s festivities. I need to indulge myself, and the slip of a girl would only be a distraction. She’s already wormed her way too close to my hearts, like a splinter I can’t displace. When I saw her in a heap… No, it doesn’t matter. I can’t get attached. She’s dying. Someday, I’ll find her, and she won’t be fine like she was today.

I need to be more careful. No more seeking her out at breakfast. No more shared looks behind the others’ backs. No more games and puzzles in the evenings.

I’ll still have to tell her about Tobias not being at the New Essik Family Group, but other than that, I can limit our contact to the bare necessities. Just the update on Tobias, then distance.

Firming my resolve, I go to my own rooms and prepare for the party.

11

PIPPA

With my eyes closed, I lean my head back against the fluffy pillows and sigh. I know I’m sick. It isn’t a secret, and yet mortification still makes my cheeks flame with hot shame. I hate exhibiting such weakness. I’m used to taking care of myself. I’ve had to.

Angry tears burn the back of my eyelids. I drape an arm over my face, hoping the tears won’t fall. That if they do, Ruby won’t see. I can hear her moving in the room, and when I have control over my emotions, I peek at her. She fluffs pillows on the loveseat near the fireplace, then straightens an afghan.

Noah comes back into the room, expression drawn until his gaze lands on his wife and brightens. She smiles back at him, but the look in her eyes is dark and hungry.

Sadness creeps through me like an alley cat crying mournfully for what I thought I had and lost, what was never really mine. A love like the one Noah and Ruby share is rare. And it’s not for me. I clear my throat, reminding them I’m there.

Ruby gives her head a little shake. Noah presses his lips together, turning toward me. “Miss Willoughby.” He digs into the bag of doctor tools he left on the nightstand. “Would you allow me to take a sample of your blood?”

Hope stirs in my chest like a boat brought in by the tide. “You think you can treat me?” The doctors on the mainland tried everything to treat Vastatio, to no avail. But Noah’s Mavarri, a superior race with knowledge that stretches back beyond anything I can understand. Maybe…

“No.” His tone is sharp.

Ruby elbows him. He blinks, his brow furrowing as if confused, then softens the longer they communicate without speaking.

I hate that I long for something so intimate with someone else.

Noah turns back to me. “I won’t make any promises,” he says more gently, or at least as gently as a man like Noah Roan can. “But I’d like to take a look. Would that be alright?”

I nod, preparing myself for the inevitable pain that always comes with blood draws.

Noah pulls a syringe from his bag. A giant glass cylinder set in an ornate housing of brass with two curly cues for the administrator’s knuckles, it has a sharp needle, large and protruding, attached to one end with a plunger at the other end. The cylinder is empty. Strange, it was always full of a substance when they took my blood at The Sanatorium. I asked a nurse about it once, and she said it was a medicine that helped with the pain of the blood draw. Which seemed odd, since it always hurt so much. Will this hurt even more without it?

The back of my neck prickles, the sensation traveling down to a phantom ache at my elbow. My palms sweat, and I wipe them along my thighs, confused by my body’s reaction.

“What is it, Pippa?” Ruby moves to my side.

I can’t take my eyes off the syringe. The sharp tip glistens when Noah holds it up, his fingers curling through the ornate brass holder.

“Have you had blood taken with a syringe before?” Noah studies me with an acute precision that sets my nerves firing even more.

I nod my head, my mouth too dry to answer. My lungs tighten, breath turning shallow. Lightheaded, a fog obscures my vision.

“We don’t have to do this.” Ruby takes my hand, and her thumb brushes gently over my knuckles. Her voice, her touch, bring me back to the now.

“I’m alright.” I blink, then exhale a weighted breath. “Take the blood.”

Noah hesitates, his eyes jumping to Ruby before returning to me. “Are you certain?”