Chapter 195
~ ROWAN
Nyssa’s eyes widened in horror.
Her hand pressed against my chest and she was shoving me back with more strength than I could have prepared for. She dashed into the bathroom and I heard her retch.
"I’ll call you back," I promised Aria before hanging up and rushing after my mate.
She was bent over the toilet bowl, her hands holding tightly onto the rim as she emptied her guts inside of it. I reached over, rubbing small circles over her back as I pulled her hair into a makeshift ponytail atop her head.
"This is so fucked," she groaned, her voice muffled. "I drank over half of it in one go. I’ve been drinking blood."
There were so many things wrong with that statement, but I couldn’t bring myself to fixate on that at the moment.
"You didn’t know," I consoled softly. "But where the hell did you get it? What even is it? I am so confused."
She collapsed onto the tiled floor, her knees drawn to her chest as she buried her face into her thighs. "He gave it to me."
"He who?"
"The man who said he knew my real parents."
I blinked twice.
It was the first I was hearing of any of this. I didn’t even know she was curious about finding out her real parents because she had explicitly told me to let it go.
"He called me before the mating ceremony but I told him to fuck off. When the whole thing started with the doctor I... I called him back. I met up with him."
"You met up with a stranger alone?" I exclaimed, unable to stop myself. "What the fuck were you thinking?"
Her lips pursed tightly. "I didn’t go alone."
The lines connected instantly in my mind.
The night she was out with Eric and Aria... the day I returned looking for her. I knew she was up to something, but I didn’t think for a moment that it was this bad.
I ran my hands through my hair, forcing deep breaths out of my lungs.
My skin buzzed with anxiety, my heart hammering wildly inside of my chest. There was so much I wanted to say to her, but I couldn’t. Instead, I forced myself to breathe, forced my shoulders to relax.
"Explain," I said slowly. "Right now."
She told me everything, about how he handed her the vial and how she took it like he asked. She told me how it made her feel better and about the weird dreams that she had. By the time she was done, I was buzzing with rage and frustration.
"I’m sorry," she said softly. "I just wanted to feel better and... I just... I wanted to know."
"I offered to help, Nyssa."
She sighed. "Yeah, but... it would have taken too long. He claimed to have answers. I’ll delete the number right now—"
"No, you won’t," I cut her off. "You’re going to ask him for another meeting tomorrow."
Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Why?’
"Because I want to meet the bastard. He has some explaining to do."
She frowned. "Rowan—"
"This isn’t up for negotiation," I said firmly. "I let you do this your way but now, we’re doing shit my way." I stood to my feet. "You should clean up, I need to take a shower."
I turned away from her before she could say another word.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shoulders sag dejectedly and heard her sigh. I itched to wrap my arms around her and comfort her, but I resisted.
What she did was incredibly stupid and she could have gotten hurt. At least all she did was drink some blood. She could have died.
I took a long time in the shower, forcing deep breaths into my lungs and trying to calm myself.
By the time I stepped out, Nyssa was already in bed. She wore one of my shirts, a plain blue t-shirt that swallowed her whole. Her legs were curled up to her chest as she lay on her side, her back to me.
Her breathing was soft and uneven, letting me know that she wasn’t asleep.
I didn’t speak immediately, focusing instead on getting ready for bed before turning off the lights.
When I climbed in, I heard her breath hitch and felt her stiffen.
For some reason, that little action sent a wave of irritation down my spine. She was my mate for fuck’s sake, there was no need for her to be scared of me.
Before I could rethink my decision, I reached for her, palm splaying on her lower belly as I pulled her back into my chest. She froze for a moment before sighing in relief, her limbs slowly relaxing.
"You’re not mad at me?" she asked down the mind link.
"Oh I’m mad," I answered without hesitation. "I’m fucking pissed that you would put yourself in danger like that."
I felt her disappointment and shame. "Oh, I’m—"
"Don’t apologize," I cut her off. "I know you feel bad, you don’t have to say it. I just... I need you to let me in, Nyssa. You can’t always handle things yourself. I have the entire kingdom at my disposal. You have the entire kingdom at your disposal. The doctors will work for weeks without sleep just to find help for you if you ask them to."
She sighed dejectedly. "I know, I just... I thought it would be a quick fix."
"There are no quick fixes," I said firmly. "You should know that. Even if you didn’t, Aria or Eric should have."
She sighed. "Don’t be mad at them. I didn’t tell them where we were going, and they didn’t know about the vial."
She could defend them all she wanted but they still should have known better.
"Go to sleep, we can talk about this tomorrow," I said softly, pressing a kiss to her temple.
Her phone buzzed at that moment and she reached over in my arms, grabbing it blindly.
Her screen illuminated in front of me and I was able to see the new message. It was from an unknown number.
Unknown: Tomorrow. Same place. 8 pm. Don’t be late.