Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Nolen
Oliver was taking our world in with awe and confusion, mostly because we were inside the portal room and the rulers were fussing around us.
Grovar was standing next to Oliver with hearts in his eyes and a longing I swore I could feel pouring out of him.
I firmly believed he had been of the belief that his mate had died and that was why he’d yet to meet them.
Like I thought about not that long ago, sometimes people found their mates later in life and I believed fate had to do with that.
Perhaps Oliver wasn’t the first one meant for Grovar, and considering their age gap, that sounded like the most obvious reason for them to be mates.
“You take Oliver back to your place,” Trise ordered, speaking only to Grovar. “You need time to get to know one another and for him to understand what is happening.”
Grovar nodded, his gaze still locked on Oliver, like he was afraid he would disappear.
“And you,” she said, this time to me. I was still standing on weakened legs and holding onto Aiden. “You follow me.”
Not one to argue, I followed her down to the medical wing, eager to finally see my Derek again.
Had the medical wing moved, or did it just feel like it was miles away all of a sudden? After too many hallways and staircases, we reached the medical wing and there, in the room I’d left him in, lay my Derek.
I hurried over to him, placing Aiden next to his body, and kissing his forehead. I hadn’t realized I was shaking until my arms were free of Aiden, but my whole body seemed to have reached the point where my muscles started to lock up and protest.
Mindy came over and gave me a sympathetic smile. “I placed Derek on a bigger bed, but now I think I might need to order an even bigger one.”
“What for?” I croaked, fighting my fatigue. It was as if knowing I was finally with both my mates, my body couldn’t stay standing any longer.
“We need you to stay with them, to help them heal. So ideally, we need a bed big enough for all three of you,” she explained. “Hey, are you doing okay?”
That was the last I heard before passing out, leaning over both my mates and feeling like I couldn’t fight it anymore.
A buzzing sort of hum came from my side, and I grunted in annoyance at being woken up by something so annoying. I felt like I still needed to sleep for a week.
It took me a few minutes before my memories caught up to me, and then I practically flew up from the bed.
Derek’s sleeping face was the first thing I saw, then I turned my head to my right and found Aiden, a mirror image to Derek’s sleeping form.
With a hand over my heart, I felt like I could breathe again.
They were fine, they were with me.
Like she somehow knew I was awake, Mindy came through the door, carrying a tray filled with steaming food and two bottles of water. And was that… coffee?
“Thank you,” I rasped, feeling much older than I was as I tried to sit up. My legs shook with the effort and my arms ached from having carried Aiden for so long.
“No problem,” Mindy said, smiling kindly at me as she handed me the tray. “I think you need more food than this, but we need to start out small. You haven’t eaten enough while away. I could tell from my scan. And the fact you were a tad dehydrated, too, didn’t help matters either.”
I felt silly for forgetting to eat sometimes, but I had wanted to find Aiden as soon as possible, so it was often that I ate once a day while on the road.
I think the last time I ate was the chicken wrap I had when I found Aiden.
I had eaten around half of it before I’d dumped it on the ground when we’d kissed.
It hadn’t really been my priority as I felt my mate’s lips on mine.
“And as you can see,” she gestured to my mates and me. “I got you a bigger bed. You needed more rest, so I used magic on you to keep you asleep. I hope you don’t mind that.” I waved it off as I ate my bagel.
She touched some buttons on a machine next to us, then I could tell she used her magic on something. She hummed. “I think you need to stay in bed today, Derek’s core has already improved in healing since you returned, but Aiden’s is worse than Derek’s, so it might take him longer to heal.”
“Worse?” I croaked, my mouth still half full of the delicious bagel. How could he be worse off? Derek’s core had been so badly wounded that he’d almost died.
She picked at her bottom lip with her fingers. “If Derek’s core was 20 percent intact, Aiden’s is at 8 percent.”
“Eight?!” I exclaimed. “He’s that close to dying?”
She nodded solemnly. “A magical core is always at one hundred percent, unless you somehow overuse, or hurt it in some kind of way. But even with the ones who’ve had their magic removed, it still leaves the core, it just leaves it empty.
With Derek, his own magic is helping the core heal, but Aiden hasn’t gotten his magic unlocked yet, and he can’t until the core has healed further.
If he got his magic he would die instantly, the magic pouring out of his magical core and killing him as soon as it left. ”
The rulers had a theory that the magic Aiden had used on their father had been his core protecting itself because their father had been close to destroying his core completely, so it was actually a relief to know he still hadn’t gotten his magic.
With my appetite forgotten, I asked, “What can I do?” My voice was small and fearful.
There was a good chance I could lose Aiden, and I never even heard his voice.
We had shared an amazing kiss and his eyes as he met my gaze would forever be something I would remember and cherish.
But it wasn’t enough, I wanted to cook for him.
To hear him laugh. I wanted to snuggle with him on the couch.
I wanted to watch Derek and Aiden get to know one another again, to see their love and bond grow.
“You can be there for both of them. I think having you near will help with the healing and hopefully soon, Derek will wake up again from the shock of leaving our world.”
“Did you ever figure out why he fainted?” I asked. They’d said it was likely because his magic needed our world to heal and without the magic around us, his body had shut down.
“We firmly believe that because he’s so dependent on our world’s magic, his core couldn’t contain the magic he had when he left.
In my professional opinion, I believe you can’t travel from our world with a broken magical core.
Meaning, Derek and Aiden can’t return to their world until they’re fully healed.
And with Aiden so close to…” she sighed.
“He’ll need lots of patience from you. This won’t be easy or quick. ”
“Whatever he needs, I’ll be that, I’ll do that,” I informed her.
Like with Derek, I felt honored that fate had deemed me dependable enough to take care of a broken man, and now I had two. They needed me, and I would do everything in my power to see them both awake and happy.
Mindy left me to eat in peace after that, and even with my appetite now fully gone, I still managed to get the rest of it down.
My mates needed me to be healthy and strong for them, and that meant eating my meals and drinking all the water.
I would even eat all my vegetables. Anything I could. Anything for them.
I figured now would be the best time to inform my parents on what has happened, so I called them, making sure they could see Aiden and Derek next to me.
“Nolen!” Mom greeted, her tone held a tinge of wariness, like she knew something was up. “Oh. You found him!”
My dad joined her and I could see their gazes moving from one to the other. “Are they okay?” Dad asked, his bushy brows meeting in a furrow.
“No,” I croaked. “Aiden is my mate, too, and he kissed me and fainted.”
“Oh, honey,” Mom began.
“And now I’ve just been told that his magical core is at eight percent, meaning he can’t get his magic because he’ll die from it.
” I was crying as I explained the situation, and I was thankful they stayed silent as I got it all out.
I even spotted my sister in the background.
It meant a lot that they knew, my family meant everything to me, and considering Derek didn’t really have a family, besides Aiden and me, I was glad they knew what was going on.
I would need their support as my mates healed, and if Aiden couldn’t heal…
. I couldn’t even think about that at the moment.
“We’re so sorry, son,” Dad said. Mom was crying on his shoulder and Yaz was just there, not saying anything, her face a worried mess of emotions.
“I am, too,” I admitted. “But I wouldn’t be anywhere else than next to my mates.”
“I’m glad they have you, hon,” Mom said, wiping her eyes. “I’ve never even heard of someone having more than one mate, it must mean that you’re something special. And I am proud of you.”
“They’re the special ones,” I whispered, turning my head to press a gentle kiss to each of their foreheads.
I needed to make sure to treat them equally, always giving them both the same amount of love and attention. It was a good thing I had so much love in my heart for them.