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“Not only alive, but home. He got the all clear yesterday.”
“Thank god.”
“Yeah. Riley had Quinn stationed in here so she could get constant updates on your condition while she was beside Rhoan.”
I glanced past her, for the first time seeing Uncle Quinn sitting in the corner. His warm smile crinkled the corners of his dark eyes. “Riley says to hurry up and get well, because she intends on knocking both your and Rhoan’s thick heads together.”
I laughed, which hurt, but at that particular moment I didn’t really care. I was alive, Rhoan was alive, and Taylor was dead.
“Now that I have seen for myself that you are awake, I shall leave.” He pushed to his feet. “I’m afraid I need to eat.”
I half smiled. “I’m sure there would have been more than a couple of nurses willing to offer their services.”
“Ah, but there is only one neck I desire.” He walked over to the bed and dropped a kiss on my forehead. “Do not lapse back into a coma. Riley would be most displeased.”
If he thought I was in any danger of lapsing, he wouldn’t be leaving. “Give her a kiss for me.”
“I will.”
He left, and my gaze returned to Ilianna. “So why was I out so long? Even if I’d lost a lot of blood, I shouldn’t have been out for five days.”
“It was the poison.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Poison? What poison?”
“From the hounds that attacked you on the astral plane,” Azriel replied, and suddenly appeared on the other side of the bed.
I very much suspected he’d been there the entire time, though I hadn’t actually sensed him. But there was more than one reaper in this place, so maybe I was suffering some sort of temporary sensory overload.
My gaze met his. Anger and relief vied for dominance in the turbulent depths of his blue eyes. “But they weren’t real. They were just a product of Taylor’s imag—”
“No, they weren’t,” he cut in. “And because these particular beasts were little more than plague bearers, the wounds became poisoned.”
“I wouldn’t have thought the hospital would have known how to cope with that sort of poisoning.”
“They didn’t,” Ilianna said. “Kiandra did.”
“She was here?” Holy shit!
“And I didn’t even have to call her.” Ilianna wrinkled her nose. “She didn’t have an easy time of pinning down the particular branch of poison, though. It really was touch and go for a while there.”
“Meaning Taylor was close to winning anyway.”
“But he didn’t.” Ilianna rose suddenly from the bed. “And on that cheery note, I’m off to the canteen to grab a bite to eat. Don’t do anything daft while I’m gone.”
“Damn,” I muttered, “there goes my idea of line dancing down the hall with all the other reapers.”
She laughed, collected her purse, then headed out into the hall.
“That,” I said, amusement teasing my lips, “was a very obvious exit. Your doing?”
“Yes.” He sat down on the bed and caught my hand in his, entwining our fingers. Heat pressed into my skin, and warmed far more than it should have. “I’m sorry.”
I frowned. “What for? It’s not like you could have done anything to help me on the astral plane.”
“No, but if I had not been so foolishly stubborn, I could have done something once your astral being had returned to flesh.”
I stared at him, confused. “But what? It’s not like you can heal me anymore.”
