The Day Human King (12 page)

Devin placed the poison into an empty vial that was sitting on the table. He had been collecting the poisons, but Nessa had no clue why … nor did she care at that point. He was able to save Gemma and she would live, which was what mattered the most.

“Ronan,” Devin said, bringing Nessa’s attention back to her older cousin, “how are you doing?”

“Better than she was,” Ronan replied. He was now lying down on the couch.

At that moment, Rolf burst through the doorway with Nessa’s invisible guard.

“What happened?” he demanded, looking between his unconscious daughter and dying son. Rolf ran to Ronan’s side and reached for his hand.

However, Nessa jumped up and stopped her uncle from touching Ronan. Devin was already working on trying to get the poison out of him, and Nessa didn’t want him to stop. She needed her older cousin saved as well.

“I’m not sure,” Nessa told her uncle, pulling him back a few steps. “They were walking this way, and suddenly Gemma collapsed. Devin found those darts on each of them. It appears someone poisoned them. Devin already got it out of Gemma, but he is still working on Ronan.”

Rolf calmed down a little bit as he knelt at his son’s side. There was nothing the older sidhe could do. There was nothing Nessa could do. They had to depend on Devin and hope that he could get it out in time.

Devin concentrated on the poison. This time, Nessa watched as Devin made a small cut just near Ronan’s ribcage. Devin tugged and the poison began to leave Ronan’s body. However, as Devin pulled on the string of poison, it suddenly snapped and went back into Ronan’s body through the still-open cut.

“What was that?” Nessa asked. She had seen Devin remove poison from several people already, and that had never happened. This was different.

“I don’t know,” Devin replied as he began to remove the poison again. Less came out this time, and again it snapped back into Ronan. Devin stared at Ronan like he was a mystery. The poison felt the same but was acting differently.

“But you can’t just leave it in him,” Nessa argued as Ronan began to close his eyes, either from the poison or the pain.

“Why doesn’t it come out?” Devin asked Rolf. He’d had no training in sidhe poisons and was just doing what came naturally. Rolf was the only one that they could turn to, as Nessa didn’t know much about sidhe poisons, either.

“It came out of Gemma?” Rolf asked, taking his son’s hand the moment Devin wasn’t working.

“Yes,” Nessa replied. It didn’t make any sense at all. The darts looked the same, the poison was the same amber color … everything seemed the same. Why did it come out of one and not the other? Were there two assassins?

Rolf stared at his son, thinking. He had a lot of knowledge in his years beside his brother and nephew when they were kings. This was completely Rolf’s world, in every sense of the word, and he needed to search his mind for an answer. His son’s life depended on it. Suddenly, his face fell when he realized the answer.

“It’s clauthau poison,” Rolf finally told them.

“Which is?” Devin prompted. Talking would get them nowhere unless he could do something to save Ronan.

“An ancient poison I didn’t even know existed anymore,” Rolf replied. “Once it enters the body, it gets a hold of you and can’t be pulled out using the rare magic you possess.”

“Then what do we do?” Nessa asked. Ronan’s life was on the line. She turned to Devin, pleading with her eyes to save Ronan.

Devin glanced back down at Ronan.
What could they do with a poison that couldn’t be removed?
Nessa watched Devin circle the poison through Ronan again. He could move it, just couldn’t move it out of his body.

“Nessa, remove his shoes,” Devin instructed her, and Nessa immediately did as he’d asked. She had no clue what Devin wanted to do, but she trusted him … she always trusted him.

Rolf looked at Devin. He had begun saying his good-byes to his son, but stopped when Nessa took off Ronan’s shoes.

“What are you doing?” Rolf asked as Devin’s magic heated up, causing the poison to once again move through Ronan’s body.

“Hold him down,” Devin told the older man. Rolf hesitated, and Devin stared at him. “Do you want your son to live?”  This time there was no hesitation as he pinned his son’s upper body down.

“Heat the sharpest blade we have in the fire,” Devin told Nessa.

She ran over to the weapons and did exactly as he’d asked, watching Devin as she stood by the fire waiting for his next command. The blade in her hand was already red in color. Devin had worked the poison through Ronan’s body and he writhed in pain, but Rolf continued to hold him down. They would do anything to save Ronan, and Nessa and her uncle hoped that Devin could do a miracle.

“I may not be able to pull the poison out,” Devin finally explained, “but I can still move it. All of the poison is in his last two toes.”

Rolf stared at Devin, understanding what he meant. Nessa understood also as she held the hot blade. Devin was going to remove the poison by removing Ronan’s toes. It was a small sacrifice to pay to stay alive. Rolf wouldn’t object, and neither would Ronan if he were still awake. Nessa had no clue how Devin came up with the plan, but she was sure it was the right thing to do.

“I’m not sure this will work, but I hope it will. Do I have permission to do it?” Devin asked Rolf.

Nessa was shocked. She had never seen him ask permission before. Devin always did what he thought was right… and he obviously thought it was right to remove Ronan’s toes in order to save his life. However, Devin wasn’t from the sidhe world, and was just working with what knowledge he had.

“Yes, do it before it spreads,” Rolf replied, placing his full weight on Ronan’s upper body. It was going to hurt terribly.

Devin held out his hand, and Nessa brought him the knife. She didn’t want to watch, but she had to. She had to see if this could save Ronan’s life no matter how much pain it would cause him. Devin didn’t hesitate with the hot blade and cut down into the flesh at the top of Ronan’s toes. Still not awake, Ronan screamed in his sleeping state. The smell of burned flesh was overwhelming.

“Heat it again,” Devin directed Nessa, handing her back the blade. She hurried over and made the blade glow once more.

Devin pressed the blade to the still seeping foot. Nessa heard the sizzle and had to look away. Ronan didn’t scream this time because he had completely passed out. Devin took the bandage one of Nessa’s guards had brought, and gently wrapped up the foot. There was nothing more that they could do. If Devin’s guess was correct, the poison would be in the detached toes and Ronan would be safe.

“Is it …” Rolf finally asked as Devin stood up.

“All right?” Devin added to the question, and quickly searched Ronan’s body. “Yes, the poison is in the toes I cut off. He is poison-free now. Ronan will be fine.”

After Ronan was
attacked, Nessa insisted that Ronan and Gemma stay in her protected wing of the palace. Devin couldn’t disagree. He had put both of them to sleep after he’d saved their lives, and they would be out of it for at least another day. Too much had happened too quickly. Devin needed time to sort out everything. Someone was still on the loose attacking people. He needed to find out who it was and soon. More sidhe would be arriving the next day for Nessa’s coronation, and he couldn’t risk an assassin causing war between the sidhe villages, let alone allow Nessa to stand in front as a big bulls-eye to whoever was trying to kill off everyone.

“You can’t just leave us,” Nessa complained after Devin had told her that he was going away again. She had followed him to the courtyard where he paused.

“I need to know what this is,” Devin said, pointing to the vials of poison he carried. “I need to know if there is an antidote, and what it’s made of. Rolf was sure no one had access to it when it was destroyed over five decades ago, but he doesn’t even know what it was. He said it was a poison people spoke of but very few knew how to make it, and obviously someone kept the secret alive. We need to know what clauthau is and where to look for it. That just might be the clue we need to find out who’s doing this.”

“I get that, but you can’t leave us here,” Nessa complained.

Devin understood what she was saying. It wasn’t that he was leaving that was the problem; it was that he was leaving her behind. He didn’t want to, and he would have taken her with him in an instant, but she needed to stay and take care of the sidhe.

“Nessa,” Devin took her hands in his, “I’d take you with in a heartbeat, but you have to remain here. Someone has to stay to make the decisions.”

“But you said you’d only be gone for fifteen minutes.” She pouted. Yes, she wanted to go with him. Maybe she wasn’t as disgusted by the outside world as she pretended.

“And if something comes up in those fifteen minutes? You need to stay here to tell people what to do,” Devin replied as gently as he could.

“Let Rolf take care of it,” Nessa replied. She really wanted to go with him.

Devin shook his head. Normally Rolf would be a good person to leave in charge, but he was completely useless at this point. He was still too worried over his children. Devin couldn’t ask him to step away and be a leader at that point. He needed to be a father until his children woke up feeling okay again.

“Fine, he can’t take care of anything right now,” Nessa admitted. She, too, saw her uncle was devastated by the poisoning of his children. “But what if something really comes up? What if someone else is poisoned? I can’t do anything about it. You should stay and let me go.”

Devin smiled. She wasn’t making it easy. More than anything he wanted to scoop her into his arms and take her everyplace with him. He didn’t feel safe leaving her alone, especially not now that the assassin had switched poisons, but he needed to get the samples to Mori to analyze. The computer tech and lab scientist at the dearg-dul estate Devin was raised at would be able to tell Devin exactly what the poison was, and that was crucial information they needed now.

Before setting off, Devin pulled Nessa close and hugged her tightly.
It would only be a few minutes and she would be fine
. Logically he knew that, but his heart didn’t want to listen. It was hard to deal with his new feelings. Logic had always won easily, but now it wasn’t that easy to walk away from her.

“I’ll do everything in my power be back quickly. I can’t stand to be away from you, so please stop worrying. I have to do this, and I’ll be back soon. I’m not running away, I promise. I need to keep you safe, and this is me keeping you safe,” Devin explained. Nessa melted in his arms. He could feel some of the fear run off of her.

“It’s just that—” Nessa began to protest.

Devin put his lips to hers, abruptly ending her sentence. Her complaining stopped and her arms moved around him to hold on to his back. Her lips moved against his, too. She needed this kiss as much as Devin did. As he pulled back all too soon, the pout returned to Nessa’s lips. Smiling, Devin quickly kissed her once more. She didn’t like what he was doing, but she understood what needed to be done.

“I promise to be back soon,” he told her.

“But,” Nessa finally went to complain again, “you can’t leave from here. Just let me go with you, I can help you.” Devin loved her tenacity.

Devin planned to travel using the trees as Nessa had shown him once. He had no clue how to actually do it, but he was sure—like everything else—it would come naturally to him. Spotting the tree he was looking for, he took Nessa’s hand and walked her to the bench beside it, sitting her down.

“I’ll go to Mori and be back as soon as I can. I
promise
to come back,” Devin repeated to her once again, and gently kissed her forehead. Instantly the bubble formed around her, just as he knew it would.

Hurrying to the tree, he placed his hand against it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nessa stand and hit her head on the bubble. Good-bye to their peaceful moment. What would be coming next were not so kind words from her, so Devin pushed his hand into the tree as quickly as he could and the coldness of the tree took him.

When Devin appeared
outside of Randolph Manor, he was exactly where he planned to arrive. There were very few trees he could picture on the estate, but luckily there was one that he could remember which was close to the house. He still had not a clue how the tree travel thing worked exactly, but it did, and for that he was grateful.

Quietly, Devin walked the few feet to the backdoor that used to be his home. It was the servants’ quarters, but Devin had always felt more comfortable there than up above in the main part of the house with Arianna Grace, the heir to the Randolph estate. This was the normal section of the manor, and Lord Randolph—and now Arianna—lived in the extravagant part. Devin wasn’t avoiding Arianna, but rather knew where he would find the man he needed to see.

Devin entered the empty hallway and made his way to his old quarters. It was strange to be back. It still seemed the same, but in reality it was different. Home, but not quite home anymore. Devin paused outside of the door to the apartment he’d shared with Arianna’s protection team. They would be wherever Arianna was, so they were not home … at least not everyone. He knew Mori would be around. There was no way Mori would be anywhere but with his computer. He essentially lived in his room.

Crossing the front room, he only stopped briefly to look around. He had spent years here, but it just didn’t feel the same as it once did. Devin knocked on the closed door off the living room, but no one answered. Devin knocked again. Still there was no answer.

Devin slowly pushed open the door and let the light from the living room creep into the dark bedroom. He wasn’t about to barge into the room. Mori was still a night human, after all, and not worth startling to the point that he instinctively attacked. A young Asian guy glanced up from the computer, the only source of light in the room. Startled, he pushed back his headphones and grinned.

“It’s been only a few days. Missed us that much that you rushed back? It’s too bad Arianna isn’t here,” he responded. “That didn’t take long at all. Guess Nessa was right about knowing how to break a bond. Always thought she didn’t have a clue, but guess not, huh?”