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Meredith shrugged, but Micah’s answer came a heartbeat later when he heard retching emanating from the bathroom.
Apparently, Meredith heard it as well, and the two of them practically tripped over one another as they raced down the hallway to the bathroom door. Micah tried the knob, relieved when he found it unlocked.
“Ant?”
August was slumped against the wall, his face red and his brow beaded with perspiration. He groaned something that sounded suspiciously like “go away” before he leaned over the toilet and purged again.
Meredith placed a hand on Micah’s back, gently urging him to the side as she slipped into the room. Kneeling beside her friend, she gathered August’s long hair in one hand and rubbed soothing circles on his back with the other.
“Can you wet a cloth?” she asked when August had stopped heaving.
Snapping out of his paralysis, Micah nodded and hurried to the kitchen to retrieve a dish cloth. He soaked it in cold water, wrung it thoroughly, and carried it back to the bathroom just in time to see August expel the remaining contents of his stomach.
“I’m sorry,” August mumbled as he slumped back against the wall. “I don’t know what happened.”
Entering the small room, Micah took Meredith by the shoulders and steered her toward the door. Then he knelt beside his mate, gently cleaning August’s face with the damp cloth.
“Hush, baby, no reason to be sorry.” Heat radiated through the cotton, and this close, Micah detected the faint scent of devil’s ivy on August’s breath. “Fuck,” he cursed under his breath before turning to Meredith. “Do you have anything for a fever?”
Meredith hadn’t even been home, so he couldn’t very well blame her this time. August hadn’t eaten anything, and they’d been together for hours. If August had been poisoned again, then Micah should have been as well. Other than worry, frustration, and the growing flames of anger, he felt fine, though.
“Yes.” Nodding, Meredith pulled open the medicine cabinet and extracted a clear, glass apothecary bottle with white tablets inside. “Give him two of these.”
Micah took the bottle from her, shook out two of the pills, and dropped them into August’s mouth. Hell, he didn’t even know if aspirin would work on a werewolf, but he had to try something.
Meredith passed him a small cup of water from the sink, and he tipped it to August’s lips. “Drink.”
As instructed, August swallowed, though he winced as he did so. Micah didn’t expect the aspirin to work right away, if at all, but only a minute or two passed before August’s breathing seemed to ease some. A couple of minutes after that, though, he cried out in clear distress, bowing his spine as his eyes rolled back in his head.
“What’s happening to him?” Meredith cried.
Micah lifted the glass bottle to his nose and sniffed, but he didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary. “What’s in this?”
“Um, yarrow, elderberries, and sugar. It’s an herbal remedy from the shop.”
“Can’t breathe,” August rasped through clenched teeth.
“I’ll get the car.” With her hands fluttering around her face, Meredith gave one last look at August and rushed out of the room.
“Hurts.”
“Shh, it’s going to be okay.”Fuck, please let it be okay.
August had stopped vomiting, but his pulse was still dangerously fast. Worse, Micah didn’t know why. Neither yarrow nor elderberries were toxic to them, and he loved sugar as much as the next guy.
“C’mon, baby, stay with me.” His mate slumped against his side, his eyes closed and his breathing uneven. “Ant, look at me. Keep your eyes open.”
Someone would pay for this. Someone would pay in blood.
Chapter eight
Pacing the waiting areaof the emergency room, Micah looked up when Ian strode through the automatic doors. “Hey, thanks for coming.”
“How is he?”
“I don’t know yet. Meredith’s listed as his emergency contact, so she’s talking with the doctor right now.”
“Micah, I know you’re worried, but he can’t stay here, not in a human hospital.”
