10. Negal
”There is nothing for miles around,” Margo”s mother said. ”Your father and I have just taken a walk, and the air was so fresh and crisp. It”s good to get out of the city once in a while.”
”I”m glad that you are enjoying your time off,” Margo told her mother.
After her family had been given a secure line, Kian had also allowed their new contact information to be added to Margo”s phone so she could call them.
The problem was that her family had been given her contact information as well, and so far, her mother had called five times and her future sister-in-law had called twice, putting Margo”s brother on the line for all of thirty seconds to ask how she was doing.
Her mother sighed. ”It”s nice for a day or two, even a week, but we don”t know when we will be allowed to go back. Do you have any updates on how long we will have to hide out here?”
”I”ve already told you. Hopefully, less than two weeks. I have to go, Mom. Someone needs to talk to me.”
Negal smiled at the small lie and moved his lips, pretending to be talking, and making Margo choke on a chuckle that came out sounding like a cough.
”Are you sick?” Margo”s mother sounded worried. ”Why are you coughing?”
”Just a dry throat. I need to drink something.”
”Okay. Call me when you can.”
”I will.” Margo ended the call and dropped the phone with a sigh. ”I love them to pieces, but they are driving me crazy. I”m tired and achy, and I don”t have any patience, but if I tell my mother how I feel, she will start freaking out, and I really don”t have the patience for that either.”
Smiling, Negal gathered her into his arms so she was nestled against his chest. ”Rest, Nesha. If they call again, I will answer for you and tell them that you are asleep.”
Margo chuckled softly. ”Then they will want to know who you are.” She turned to look up at him. ”What do I tell them about you?”
”That I”m your fabulous new paramour, and that you are madly in love with me, and that we are going on an expedition to Tibet.”
She snorted. ”Yeah, and that will fly so well with them. They will think that you are manipulating me and demand to meet you.” She sighed. ”I”m never that rash, and they know it. I take weeks to plan a weekend in Vegas.”
Negal hadn”t known that about her, but he should have. Margo was cautious in every aspect of her life, not just who she took to her bed.
”I hope Aru gets an extension from your commander,” she said. ”He promised that he would try if I start transitioning, and I have.” She scrunched her nose. ”At least, I think I am. I hope I am. Otherwise, I will get really worried about what”s wrong with me.”
”You are transitioning, my love. Even Kian said so, and he”s the biggest skeptic I know.”
The truth was that Negal was almost certain that Margo was transitioning, but he wasn”t a hundred percent sure. He was waiting for Frankie and Dagor to leave for the wedding and for Margo to doze off so he could give her a transfusion of his blood.
Dagor had told him where he”d stashed the rest of the disposable syringes he”d pilfered from the clinic, so all that was required now was the right opportunity.
As Dagor and Frankie”s bedroom door opened and the two stepped into the living room, Margo tried to whistle, but all that came out was a whoosh of air.
”You two look hot,” she said. ”I wish I could come with you.”
”You can.” Frankie patted the elaborate up-do she”d created. ”You can put on something comfortable and spend the evening sitting in a chair. You don”t have to do anything strenuous.”
”It”s okay.” Margo smiled. ”Negal and I will watch the wedding from here. They are broadcasting it live.”
”I know.” Frankie grinned. ”I was in your shoes not too long ago.”
Dagor wrapped his arm around his mate”s waist. ”We need to go, or we will be late. They lock the doors as soon as the bride walks in, and we will not be allowed in.”
”Yeah, I know.” Frankie cast one last sad look at Margo. ”Feel better, bestie.” She blew her a kiss and then flounced toward the front door with Dagor.
When the door closed behind them, Margo pulled the blanket up to her chin and yawned. ”I”m so tired.”
”Then sleep.” Negal shifted her so her head was on the pillow, and then lifted her legs so she was supine.
”I don”t want to miss the ceremony.” She waved a feeble hand in the direction of the television. ”Can you please find the channel they are broadcasting it on?”
”Of course.”
She”d dozed off several times during the afternoon, but she”d refused to go to the bedroom and get a proper sleep as long as the others were around, and since her family had kept calling her, she wouldn”t have gotten much sleep anyway.
Negal perched on the edge of the couch beside her. ”I”ll wake you up when it starts. You”ve been taking catnaps for the past couple of hours, and they seem to help you.”
Margo nodded and then yawned again. ”It”s about to start shortly. I can sleep after it”s done.”
That was true, but he wasn”t sure she would be able to keep her eyes open for much longer. Besides, he was itching to be done with the transfusion. The sooner she got it, the sooner she would get better.
”I wish Jasmine could at least watch the weddings on the screen.” Margo curled on her side, facing the television. ”She must be going out of her mind down there, all alone without even the staff to keep her company.”
”I”m sure not everyone is working, and some people stayed behind.” He reached for the remote and turned the television on. ”She”ll be fine.”
Margo”s concern for those she cared about was one of the many things he loved about her, but in this case, her worry was misplaced. Jasmine was safe in the staff area, and if Negal was being honest, he wasn”t entirely sure he trusted the woman with her overly charming smiles and calculating eyes. Her scent was fresh and devoid of any undertones of deceit, but emotional scents were not the equivalent of a truth detector. Sometimes, they lied.
Margo didn”t look entirely convinced that her friend was fine, but she allowed herself to be distracted as the screen filled up with a sweeping shot of the dining room.
”Wow, look at that,” Margo breathed. ”The place looks completely different every night. It”s amazing what a transformation they can create with just the help of colorful lighting.”
More than that went into decorating the ship”s grand dining room and turning it into a space worthy of a gala, but she was right about the strategically placed colorful beams of light being the most impactful.
As the camera panned over the glittering tables and the array of immortals in their finest attire, Negal”s thoughts drifted to the transfusion.
It wouldn”t be enough for her to fall asleep for him to do the deed. As soon as he injected her, she would wake up from the needle jab, and he would have to explain what he had done and why.
Negal needed to thrall Margo whether he liked it or not, and the thought made his stomach twist with unease.
It was a betrayal of her trust, even though it was necessary.
Kian was not willing to compromise on the issue of letting any more people know about the miraculous healing powers of a god”s blood, and even though Negal didn”t answer to Kian, he answered to Aru, and Aru had promised Kian to guard the secret.
Besides, Kian was the Anumati heir”s son, and even though he could never become an heir himself because he was a hybrid, he still deserved Negal”s deference.
Mind made up, Negal took her hand and looked into her eyes. ”Margo, my love.”
She turned to him. ”Yes?”
”Nothing.” He smiled. ”I just love looking into your eyes.”
He reached inside her mind and gently wove the suggestion to sleep into her thoughts, his mental voice a soothing whisper against the edges of her consciousness.
”You”re so tired, my love,” he murmured aloud while making her feel her eyelids growing heavy, her limbs slacking and relaxing.
Nothing would rouse her from this slumber save a sweet kiss from her mate”s lips.
He watched Margo”s eyes flutter shut and a small, contented smile curve her lips. She looked so peaceful, so serene, that he was tempted to lean down and kiss her, but his kiss was what would wake her up, so he had to stifle the impulse and continue with his plan.
Retrieving the syringe from Frankie and Dagor”s room, he tore the wrapping off on his way back to the couch.
Negal sat down, uncapped the needle, and positioned it against his inner elbow. By now, he was a veteran at this, and as he jabbed the needle into his vein, he didn”t even flinch. After withdrawing about half an ounce, he took Margo”s hand and moved the needle to the same spot on her inner elbow.
One quick prick, and it was done. Negal watched as the small quantity of his blood flowed into Margo”s vein, and when there was nothing left, he withdrew the needle and pressed his finger to the spot. Then he licked it, sealing the tiny puncture, and was happy to see that the spot in Margo”s inner elbow looked pristine.
With the procedure done, he collected what he had used and took it to his and Margo”s bedroom. He couldn”t risk anyone discovering the evidence in the trash bin, so he put the syringe back into its wrapping and stashed it in a pocket of his suitcase to discard later.
The transfusion was a small deception, a white lie told in service of a greater truth, but it still sat heavy on his chest.
Pushing the feeling aside, Negal returned to Margo”s side. As his hand ghosted over her cheek in a feather-light caress, she stirred slightly at his touch, her lips parting with a soft sigh. He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, the contact sending a jolt of electricity humming through his veins.
Her eyelids fluttered open. ”Mmm,” Margo murmured, her voice husky with sleep. ”Did I miss anything? Has the wedding started?”
Negal forced a smile, hoping it didn”t look as strained as it felt. ”Not yet, my love. You dozed off for only a few minutes.”
Margo lifted a hand to her face and rubbed her eyes. ”That”s strange. It felt like such a deep sleep. I”ve never slept so deeply for such a short time before.”
A pang of remorse lanced through him, but he pushed it down, burying it beneath a layer of practiced nonchalance.
”Your body is going through a major change, and it needs rest, but you are fighting it because you are adamant about watching the wedding ceremony in real time. You know that you can watch it later, right?”
”I know, but it”s not going to be as impactful as seeing it as it happens. I”m so curious to hear Onegus”s vows. He”s such an enigmatic guy.”
Negal”s jealousy flared. ”In what way?”
Margo shrugged. ”He”s the chief Guardian, which I assume is like a general, but he looks and acts like a politician, charming and smiling and all that.”
”Yeah, you”re right. I”ve never thought of that. I think he”s also a council member, so maybe he has some political aspirations.”
”Is the clan a democracy? Could he run for office and replace Kian?”
Margo sounded worried, which was interesting. She didn”t know either of the males well, but she”d spent some time in their presence, and it seemed that she had a preference for Kian.
”I don”t think so, but I”m not part of the clan, so I don”t know its inner workings.”
Margo”s gaze drifted to the television screen, and Negal”s followed just as the camera panned over the assembled guests.
”They are all so pretty,” she murmured. ”Look, that”s Frankie and Mia.”
”I see them.” He shifted his eyes to his mate, whose face was alight with excitement. ”And I see you, my beautiful Nesha. My soul.”