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I didn’t know what possessed me, but I grabbed the sheets and yanked them away, almost as if some sixth sense alerted me to what was hurting her, what dared hurt my fucking soulmate.
“Aslan, stop—” Neri tried to catch the sheet but failed.
I swayed on the spot as my eyes fell on her left leg.
The worst fucking rash I’d ever seen covered her from hip to knee. The hospital gown she’d been dressed in was split over her thigh, revealing the remnants of white cream that’d been spread over her blistered skin.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
I couldn’t speak.
I felt like I’d failed her all over again.
I wanted to kill whatever had hurt her.
Red haze fell over my eyes, and my hands fisted.
“Aslan...it’s okay,” Neri murmured, shifting on the bed and resting her hand on my flexed forearm. “It was a silly mistake on my part. I’m okay. Truly.”
“Bu nasil oldu?” I groaned as nausea rushed up my throat. “Ne yapabilirim. Söyle bana. Bunu nasil daha iyi hale getirebilirim?”
Griffen shot me a look. “What did you say?”
I winced, noticing my slip from English. I went to translate, but Neri surprised me by saying softly, “He wants to know what happened and how he can make it better.”
My eyes widened.
I knew she’d been spending more time on her language app. That she listened each day on the bus and practiced with me at night, but I hadn’t stopped to understand what that would one day mean.
That one day, she would be bilingual...just like me.
My abhorrent fear tangled with shattering love, and I snatched her to me.
I wrapped my arms around her so fiercely, so violently, Griffen sucked in a breath. “Easy, mate. She’s still a little fragile.”
“Seni çok seviyorum Neri. Yaralandigin için çok üzgünüm. Yaralanmandan ve yardim etmek için orada olamadigim için nefret ediyorum.” (I love you so much, Neri. I’m so sorry you got hurt. I hate that you got hurt, and I wasn’t there to help).
I kissed her cheek. I inhaled her sterile scent from being treated by doctors and nurses. I struggled to keep my heart in my chest when all it wanted to do was splat at her feet and beg her to take it wherever she went, so I never had another phone call like this. Never suffered this level of panic.
She hugged me back, her arms not her usual strength and her skin a little feverish, but her voice was steady and soothing as she whispered, “Seni çok seviyorum. And don’t be sorry I got hurt. It’s just one of those things. It wasn’t your fault.”
Pulling away, I brushed away her sea-tangled hair, begging to know everything. “Tell me.”
She sighed and looked at Griffen. “We were diving for core samples to take back to the lab to study. A blue fleet washed in on the way back to the surface.”
“Blue fleet?”
“She means a group of blue dragons.”
“Dragons?” My eyebrows shot up. Thanks to all my years working with Jack and Anna, I knew many aquatic beasts used the name dragon. Most were cute frilly things that floated around at the mercy of the ocean’s currents, but it still didn’t stop my heart from lurching at the danger she’d put herself in.
“They’re sea slugs,” Neri said quietly. “I’ve seen them before, but Dad was adamant about never getting close.”
“Rightfully so.” Griffen crossed his arms. “They might be stunning blue sea-fairies, but they’re carnivorous, cannibalistic little monsters that feed on their own species and Portuguese man o’ war. All that venom they ingest becomes even more potent. You know better than to let one touch you, Nerida.”
My mind raced as I stood taller. I pulled my hands away from her. I didn’t trust myself not to wring her neck. Anger hazed my vision again as my voice turned dark. “You swam with a creature that eats jellyfish? Jellyfish that has the potency to kill a human?”
“I didn’t swim with it. The current wafted it into my leg on the way to the surface.”
“Why weren’t you wearing a wet suit?”
“I had my long-sleeve surf-suit on. My torso and arms were covered, but my legs were—”
“Fucking poisoned.”
“They’re venomous, not poisonous,” Griffen said.
My eyes snapped to him. Fury bristled through my entire body.
He winced and rolled his shoulders. “Not that that’s important of course.” He shrank back and crossed his arms. “Anyway, it’s over now. Professor Mazen did all the right things. She was rinsed in hot water, doused in vinegar, and brought straight here. Her nausea has subsided, and the rash has been treated. She’s showing no allergic reactions, so the chances of the sting becoming fatal are—”
“Fatal?” My heart stopped. “Fucking hell.” I pinched the bridge of my nose as my vision shot black.
Fatal.
I never wanted that word anywhere near Neri.
It just...no.
No fucking way could she ever die under any circumstances, anywhere, any time.
