The Queen’s Fixer (Ashes of Entecea Book 1) by Kacey Ezell

Author:Kacey Ezell [Ezell, Kacey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theogony Books
Published: 2024-03-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Laethine had never expected to be a mother. But over the next few days, she thought she might understand a little bit of the anguish that comes with watching one’s child suffer.

Noemie administered the nanite doses to Zan precisely on the schedule she’d outlined. After giving him the last injection, she sat back on her heels and looked up at Laethine, who’d asked to be there for the last dose.

“Well, that’s it,” Noemie said as she capped the syringe and put it back in the flat case. “If he survives the next forty hours, he should be good to go.”

“How is he doing now?” Laethine asked, hearing the worry in her own voice as she looked at Zan’s sweaty, flushed face. He’d spiked a fever shortly after the first dose, and it hadn’t shown any signs of abating. Noemie had assured Laethine the fever was normal, even desirable, since it was simply Zan’s body’s immune system engaging with the nanites to flush the toxins and drugs from his system.

Still, the way he twisted and moaned in the blankets made fear clutch inside Laethine’s chest. She reached out to smooth back the hair matted to his forehead and glanced up at Noemie for her answer.

The dark-haired woman bit her lip and met Laethine’s eyes.

“He seems to be holding on,” Noemie said, her voice troubled. “I’ll be honest, when I took a sample of his blood, I didn’t recognize half the compounds present… which could mean any number of things. His temperature is higher than I’d like, but his breathing remains clear, and his heart rate is steady, if a bit fast. We’ll just… see.”

Laethine pressed her lips together and nodded. “Is there anything else we can do for him?” she asked. “Anything to make him more comfortable?”

“We can try some cooling packs,” Noemie said. “I don’t want to give him anything for the fever because he needs that heat to fight off whatever’s in his system, but the cooling packs might soothe him a little.”

“Let’s do that,” Laethine said.

“You really care about the boy, don’t you?” Noemie asked with a little smile. “Have you known him long?”

“Not too long,” Laethine answered, stroking Zan’s forehead. “But yes, I care about him a great deal.”

“That’s good to see,” Noemie said. “Not all stepparents are so loving. He’s lucky to have you.”

Laethine glanced up, blinking furiously as her eyes threatened to fill. “He’s all I have left of my husband,” she whispered. “And we’ve been through a lot. I have… I have to keep him safe.”

The healer—or whatever she was—reached across the bed and covered Laethine’s hand with her own. “We’re doing everything we can,” she said, giving Laethine’s hand a squeeze. “Just your being here with him is helping him, believe me. Some of the things I’ve seen—” She broke off with a sharp inhale and then blinked her beautiful eyes quickly.

“Well. Let’s just say love is powerful, all right? Stay here with him if you want. On some level, he’ll know it, know that you haven’t left him to suffer alone.

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