Chapter 20 #2
That wasn’t the sort of person that he was. Although she did wish that he’d back off a bit.
“You want to tell me why you’re leaning over Arabella like that and upsetting her?” a deep voice asked.
“Shit,” she muttered.
This was the last thing this situation needed. She looked down at her cake. She’d just concentrate on eating it.
Cake had never let her down. It had never hurt her feelings or made her feel small or scared her.
Cake was her friend.
Sometimes, it had been her only friend.
“What do you mean?” Cole asked. “I’m not intimidating her.”
The cake looked moist. Not too dry or heavy. Blueberry flavor.
Bringing it to her nose, she sniffed it. Yeah. It smelled good.
Oh shoot. She’d forgotten the list of ingredients. She glanced up and saw everyone staring at her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Um, did you just sniff the cake?” Keira asked curiously.
“Well, yeah. Don’t you?” she replied.
“Urgh, no. I’ve never seen anyone do that, either,” Keira told her, sounding almost shy. Cole straightened and put his arm around her as he glared at Eli and Kellan who were standing on the other side of her table.
Hmm. She was starting to feel claustrophobic. There were too many people standing while she was sitting. Horse seemed to feel the same way. He was growling quietly.
She put her hand on Horse’s head and patted him.
“Yeah, you are intimidating her,” Eli replied. “She’s uncomfortable and you need to back off. You’ve got no reason to loom over her like that.”
“She doesn’t look uncomfortable,” Cole protested.
“Her fingers are white where she’s holding her fork from stress. She’s sitting very stiffly. And her breathing has increased. Not to mention that her dog is picking up on her nervous feelings and that’s why he’s growling.”
Cole stared down at her in surprise. Then he stepped back and ran his hand over his face. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Arabella.”
Eli was still glaring at Cole, but Kellan was staring down at her. “Did you see us and run in the other direction?”
Holy crap.
How did Kellan read her so easily? It was really annoying.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied calmly as she stuffed a piece of cake into her mouth to hide her reaction.
There was no way he would know she was lying, right?
Something strange hit her tastebuds. What had Iona put in her cake? It was weird. She took another bite, curious. It wasn’t bad, just different.
“Are you sure you’re not lying?” Kellan asked, leaning in.
She just gave him an innocent look in reply.
He couldn’t know.
There was no way.
But his gaze narrowed. Shoot. He was on to her. She took another bite of cake.
Deflect. Deflect.
“Do you want some?” she asked as she swallowed.
“Arabella? Are you going to tell me why you’re here in Haven?” Cole asked impatiently.
“I don’t think she owes you any explanation, man,” Eli snarled as Horse growled again.
Yeah, poor Horse did not like all of this tension.
Even though she tried to tear her attention away from Kellan, she couldn’t seem to. Suddenly her throat started to feel like it was tightening. She dropped the fork, staring at the cake in horror.
Oh shit.
Her pulse started to race and everything around her blurred as her head spun.
Can’t breathe.
I can’t breathe.
“Something’s wrong!” Kellan yelled as his eyes widened. “Something is wrong with Arabella.”
She needed to tell them. But she could barely even raise her hand to show them her bracelet. Panic flooded her. She was going to die. She needed her EpiPen! She couldn’t breathe.
Then, all too quickly, everything went black.
Kellan leaped forward to grab Arabella, staring down at her in horror.
“Fuck!” Eli yelled. “What’s going on? What happened?”
“Anaphylactic shock,” Cole said as Kellan laid her on the floor. “Where’s her handbag? She carries an EpiPen.”
Eli saw her bag, grabbing it. Horse let out a long, mournful yell and tried to get to Arabella. But Julian and Keira somehow pulled him out of the way. He thought about warning them about Horse’s less than friendly personality, but he went without a complaint.
Eli grabbed her bag and tipped it up, searching for the EpiPen. “Here it is.”
He’d had medical training and he’d even used an EpiPen on someone before. But this was Arabella and it hit him harder as he drew up her skirt and pressed the EpiPen against her thigh until he heard the click.
His heart rate was through the roof and he could feel nausea bubbling in his stomach.
What had been in that cake?
“Oh my God! What happened? Is she all right?” a woman with red-brown hair wearing a green dress with flour all over it rushed over to them. “What was it? Did she choke?”
Kellan leaned over to check her breathing. Cole had moved her into the recovery position so she was lying on her side. Kellan also had her wrist in his hand, taking her pulse.
“She has a peanut allergy,” Cole said. “Has someone called an ambulance?”
“Yep, I did,” Julian told him, looking pale.
Cole ran his gaze over Keira, who was holding Horse, and Julian. “Are the two of you okay?”
They both nodded.
Eli stared down at his girl. She was the one in danger. She looked terrible. Her lips and eyes were all puffy and there was a raised rash on her neck and chest. He didn’t know how far the rash went down under her clothes and he wasn’t checking with all these people around.
“Her pulse is fast and her breathing is shallow,” Kellan said urgently. “Where is that ambulance?”
Eli glanced around as though he could conjure an ambulance out of nothing. Then they heard the siren and he sighed with relief.
Thank God.
Please let her be all right.
He couldn’t lose her. Not now. He’d only just found her.