Chapter 15
Noah didn’t know what to do. He’d kissed her.
He’d been so swept away in the moment, in the feeling of her in his arms. Like she belonged there.
Like she had always belonged there. The emotion, the need had been completely overwhelming.
When he’d seen her drink even those few drops of the elixir, he thought his heart would stop, even more so when she almost fell.
And then… then he’d held her, kissed her and…
This wasn’t like him. She was his employer’s great-niece, his colleague. When he tried to apologise she’d asked him why and he didn’t have an answer for that either. He wasn’t sorry. Not in the slightest.
But neither of them was prepared for Jade to drink. Not yet. They had no idea what it might do, or even what the proper dosage should be.
Portia snatched up the dragon who squirmed and wriggled, her former strength and feistiness apparently returning already. But it was too late. Even if she had been willing to test it on herself, Noah realised for all his earlier accusations, she would never willingly put Jade in danger.
The dragon just let out another triumphant cackle and spread her wings, tearing herself free of Portia’s grip to take flight around the two of them. She landed on Noah’s shoulder, dancing back and forth there. She nuzzled his ear and cooed at him, before giving Portia a look like…
Like she was teasing them both. Making fun of them.
Noah caught her in sure and certain hands, ignoring her squeals of protest as he examined her.
‘The effect should be immediate,’ said Portia. ‘I mean… it felt immediate. It—’
Noah gave her an arch look. ‘I noticed.’
Her cheeks turned pink. And lord help him, all he wanted to do was kiss her again. It was like an addiction.
Jade purred at him, butting his arm with her head as if egging him on.
There was no sign of illness in the dragon now, no flaking skin, dry scales, or lack of energy. The elixir worked fast.
He released Jade, watching her carefully as she took flight again, perching high on the rafters and preening herself.
She looked fine. Better than fine. Her scales shone and the colour was bright and vibrant.
He would never have guessed she was ill at all.
He studied her carefully, watching and assessing.
‘Remarkable,’ he said. ‘It’s already working.
We need to observe her before we go any further. Just in case.’
He glanced back at Portia, who was still watching him warily, her cheeks flushed. Like she expected him to scold her.
Or kiss her again.
Great Wenn, he had to stop thinking about that.
‘How do you feel?’ he asked. He had to be a professional now. And while he wasn’t a doctor, he could assess her health readily enough if he had to.
‘Fine,’ she assured him. ‘Better than ever. I can’t explain it. It’s like something… something alight inside me. It’s wonderful.’
‘You shouldn’t have drunk it. It was dangerous, foolish.’
Portia laughed. Actually laughed. The sound was a wonder.
‘I know, I know. Against all the rules of good practice. Milo would have had my head. Oh, oh, Milo! I have to write to him, tell him everything once we’ve attended to the dragons.
He’ll need to apply a completely different methodology but he’s going to be so happy to know he was right about the vibrations and – I need the weights we took.
Do you remember them?’ She turned around, grabbing pen and paper, frantically scribbling down notes.
‘Portia!’ He pressed his hand to her back when she ignored him. ‘Portia, I think you should at least sit down for a moment. We need to make sure you’re not in any danger or—’
‘But I’m not,’ she argued, still scribbling manically.
‘We don’t have time to worry about me anyway.
I need to work out dosages for the rest of the dragons.
Some of them are bigger than Jade, but most of them are smaller.
How much do you think she drank? It couldn’t have been more than a teaspoon, don’t you think? ’
She peered at the flask, noting down the volume and then doing some rapid mathematics to work out how much was gone.
Overhead, Jade started singing to them. He checked on her again. Clearly she was displaying no side effects, while Portia seemed to be swept up in the joys of discovery and the work that now confronted her. All she was thinking of was treating the dragons.
‘Are you sure you’re all right?’
‘I’ve never felt anything like it. Oh lord, Noah! I can’t explain it.’
‘Yes, and that’s what’s concerning me. Please. You mentioned good practice. Before we give this to the dragons we have to know—’
‘Not just the dragons. It’s a universal remedy.
That’s what Art called it. Anyone could use it.
It’s exactly what Milo and I were searching for.
I’ll need to send him samples as well and – get those vials over there for me, will you?
And a funnel? There’s almost a pint left and at most we’re looking at a tablespoon per dragon – less if Jade is anything to go by.
I won’t have to make more yet. We need to get to work on treating them right away.
Their situation is dire. I should even have some left to send to Milo so he can compare samples when he makes it.
It has to be replicable. I’ll get to work on a second batch once we’re done. ’
What could he do but obey? He couldn’t stop her and he wasn’t about to leave her alone for a second in case she had some kind of adverse reaction.
He didn’t know what to do. Besides, she was right.
They needed to treat the dragons straight away.
That was the reason for all of this to begin with.
With their condition deteriorating at an exponential rate, their lives were at stake.
Thankfully that was when August arrived. ‘Portia? What happened?’
She whirled around on her brother, eyes shining. ‘You felt it too? Tell me!’
He took a step back, almost colliding with the slender man behind him, carrying a lute and a look of surprise on his handsome face.
‘I felt something,’ he said. ‘So did Weir. We came as soon as… what are you doing?’
Nothing for it. He was going to have to turn her in. Maybe August could exert some kind of control.
‘She drank some of the elixir,’ Noah said. ‘I think it’s affecting her.’ Portia waved a dismissive hand at him and turned back to her work.
August huffed out a laugh. ‘Not that I can see. This is Portia when one of her experiments comes right. Perfectly normal. You get used to it. She’s always been like this. Weir, will you go and find my great-aunt? Tell the others we have a cure.’
His friend just nodded, gave Noah a helpless look, and left them to it. So at least Noah wasn’t the only one taken aback at her joy. Perfectly normal. For a Starling perhaps.
‘Vials,’ Portia snapped and Noah moved without thinking, handing her the equipment she wanted so she could decant the doses for the ailing flight of dragons.
‘I’ll go and see to the snuggery,’ Noah said, desperate to get away now.
She was a whirlwind of action, afire with the joy of her work, and it was intoxicating.
He wasn’t able to think straight around her.
All he wanted to do was pull her back into his arms and kiss her again.
And he couldn’t. Especially not with her brother watching them.
August had that sense about him that he noticed far more than anyone else and right now, Noah wasn’t sure he wanted to be the subject of that scrutiny.
‘I’ll be up in a minute,’ she called out after him. ‘We’ll start with the sickest of the dragons. Will you gather them all together? It won’t take long once I have everything measured out.’
More frantic notes followed while Jade flew to August this time and showered him with affection. Noah headed for the door. Thankfully August didn’t seem to notice his hasty retreat.
‘You’re definitely feeling better,’ August told the little dragon gruffly, his voice gentling with pleasure. ‘Look at you. This is marvellous work, Portia. How much did you give her?’
‘She helped herself,’ Portia muttered. ‘You know what she’s like when she wants something.’
‘She’s not the only one,’ her brother told her slyly. Noah froze in the hall beyond the door, unable to avoid hearing the implication. He wasn’t far enough away to miss the rest of it either. ‘Portia Starling, whatever did you do to the poor man?’