Heir Of Violence (#1 Betrayed Destinies) - ONC2024

Chapter 15 - Inosculation

Caeryssa woke, her heart pounding. Someone else breathed beside her in the regular deep inhales and exhales of sleep. A dim light from a partially cracked open door—a bathroom?—illuminated the room enough to see dark drapes, dark shapes of a dresser, closet, and several bookcases with actual books. Roots, those were rare. Most people just read on their wrist coms. A black rectangle against the lighter wall was probably a screen.

Shelves held various items she couldn't quite make out. She squinted. Was that some kind of toy and a large shell? Mementos, perhaps. Still images in frames stood behind them, so maybe these were his memories.

His?

Caeryssa inhaled again and the now familiar woody masculine scent filled her nose. She was in Rain's room... in her sleep shirt. Why? She started to push off the thick silver and dark blue comforter, a match to the one in her room, when the bedroom door opened and a slender form stepped in.

"Ah... you're awake."

As the person approached the bed, she recognized the doctor.

"Please, stay in bed," he murmured, tucking the blanket back around her and sitting on the edge. "As his soulmate, it's better for both of you if you rest together so the bond doesn't have to reach and expend more of your energies. Your bodies are already working hard to rid him of that poison. I apologize for undressing you, but I had to check your body for injuries. Do you still feel any tugging at your chest? Difficulty breathing?"

As he spoke, he removed something from her forehead. A sensor? Some kind of medical monitor? She reached a hand up to touch her head before considering his question. It must have been the soulmate bond drawing on her energy. That was what she'd felt before, what made her collapse. Not the lack of food.

But she was fine now.

"No," she whispered with a glance toward the prince. Did that mean he was doing better, too?

The doctor smiled. "I expect he'll sleep a while yet. Whatever you gave him seems to have saved his life, but also made him a little, well... delirious. He's been mumbling incoherently for the last couple hours about some kind of fairy creature." He held her gaze, peering intently with an eyebrow raised. "I trust that side effect will wane?"

She flushed. There hadn't been time to counteract the hallucinogenic effect of the Alluthra. Boiling and straining the pulp for six hours, then distilling over the better part of a day hadn't been an option with Rain seizing on the floor.

"Yes, his body should break down the hallucinogen in four to six hours."

"Dhevun mentioned you are a xenobotanist?"

Caeryssa nodded, then added, "Yes, Doctor Caeryssa Cadwell with AIMAED." Her heart sank. At least, she was for another week until she didn't show back up to work at the end of her vacation time and they fired her absentee ass. Thistle and thorn, she'd only held her promotion as head of the division for two cycles. She'd expected to continue as the lead scientist for several more decades. Would the prince keep his promise?

"A pleasure to meet a fellow medical professional," the doctor said, extending his hand. As she grasped it, her palm met flesh, not synthate, and she flinched, almost jerked away before remembering that wasn't an issue for her now. "I'm Doctor Lukas Julyen." He smiled, a kind understanding in his dark eyes. "It takes some getting used to, doesn't it? I'm not mated, but I'm no danger to you. As my sarru's soulmate, his life may depend on yours, as it did today. You are safe in my care." He patted the back of her hand before releasing it.

Standing, he added, "Rest, Doctor Cadwell. It's the best remedy for you and the sarru right now."

He left, closing the bedroom door behind him, and Caeryssa considered his advice. There was so much more to the soulmate bond than she'd expected from what she'd observed with her parents or the rumours that abounded. No one on her exploration team had mates, although a few of the ship's crew did.