Evans, Gabrielle - From This Moment [The Moonlight Breed 7] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic Ma by Gabrielle Evans (ebook reader with highlight function .TXT) 📗

“Oscar? How is he? Is he doing better? How are you? What about  Cicero? Is anyone else sick?  Is  Zuriel still mad because I left him  there?”

Oscar had been calling twice a day since they left with updates on  Zuriel’s condition. Zuriel had woken up before Zavion had left, and they’d had a good fight about the wisdom of his brother accompanying  him and the Murphys. In the end, Cian had been the one to put his foot down, saying that they wouldn’t be able to cover much ground with Zuriel so sick.

Zavion appreciated the support from his lover, and Cian had an excellent point. He still felt guilty about leaving while he and Zuriel were mad at each other. His twin could just get over it, though, because  he  wasn’t about to do anything that would jeopardize  Zuriel’s

life.

“Hey, Zee, it’s Braxton.”

“What? Braxton? Where’s Oscar? What happened? Why do you

have his phone?”

There was a long pause, followed by a nearly silent huff of breath.  “Demitrius asked me to call, said you’d be expecting updates. Oscar  had a little incident today, and he’s resting.”

“What kind of incident? Braxton, just tell me.”

“Zuriel and Oscar are both vomiting, though Zuriel has progressed  to throwing up blood.  They’re tired and weak, but Logan says there’s  really not much we can do for them other than clear liquids and bed  rest.” Braxton sounded so sad and hopeless. “I’m sorry, man. I wish I

had better news.”

“What about Ro? Is Cicero okay?”

From This Moment                       71

“He’s been sleeping almost all day. Keeton’s sitting with him  right now. He hasn’t started vomiting yet, but Logan says we should  expect it soon.” Braxton paused again, and his voice was measured  when he finally spoke. “How are you feeling, Zee? Are you okay?”

Honestly, he felt like he’d been rode hard and put up wet. His  whole body ached, his eyes felt gritty, and he could probably sleep for  the next week. “I’m fine. We’re about to bed down for the night, but I  think we’re getting closer. Call me in the morning with updates,  okay?”

“Yeah, okay. Zavion?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not going to help anyone if you drop dead out there in the  middle of nowhere. If you start feeling sick, please tell Cian.”

“Sure. Gotta go, Brax. Call me tomorrow.” Then he hung up and  passed the phone back to his lover. “Well, we might as well stop for  the day.”

“Zavion, look at me.” Cian stepped in his path and grabbed his  face in both hands. “Your face  is pale, your eyes are glazed, and your  skin is burnin’ my hands. Tell me the truth, baby. How are you  feelin’?”

“I’m fine,” Zavion repeated, shrugging off Cian’s hold. “I’m tired  from walking so much, but that’s it.”

“Don’t,” Cian growled. “Don’t lie to me.”

Marching ahead of his mate, Zavion  covered his mouth to quiet  the sound of his cough. It was just allergies, but Cian would go  berserk. The blood dotting his fingers and palm when he pulled his  hand away definitely  wasn’t a good sign, but they were so  close, and  he wouldn’t give up now.

Quickly wiping the blood away on his jeans before anyone  noticed, Zavion plastered a bright smile on his face and turned back to  Cian. “I’m absolutely fi  ”—

72                        Gabrielle Evans

Wrapping both hands around his stomach, he hunched over in

agony as his stomach heaved, expelling a torrent of blood onto the

forest floor.

* * * *

“Did you try givin’ Oscar blood?” Cian paced outside of the tent  where Zavion was resting, frantic, scared, and going out of his  goddamn mind.

“Yeah, we tried,” Demitrius confirmed. “He just threw it up,  though.” The shifter sounded as panicked as Cian felt. “I don’t know  what to do. We’ve had all kinds of doctors in to take blood samples,  but they can’t figure out what’s wrong.” A loud, pain-filled moan  echoed in the background, making Cian wince. “Sorry, man. I gotta  go. Let me know if you find anything.”

“Same to  you.” Cian disconnected the call and scrubbed at his  face. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

He had known this was a bad idea from the beginning. Now  Zavion was sick, and they were miles from the nearest hospital—not  that he thought human doctors could do anything for his mate. The  only option was  to  keep moving forward, but how could he ask  Zavion to do that in his condition?

“Stop worrying so much.” Stepping out of the tent, Zavion  wobbled a little but pushed himself up straight. “Yes, I’m sick, but  I’m not dead yet. If you’re not going to sleep anyway, I think we  should keep going. Maybe we can find The Hive before I get too  much worse.”

“I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to like it. The gods know I don’t. It’s all we’ve  got, though.  Either we find one of the Doctors who can undo this, or  my friends are dead. Then we did all of this for nothing.”

Cian knew his lover was careful not to lump himself in with his  friends and their situation, but Cian was well aware that he could lose

From This Moment                       73

his mate. He also knew that Zavion had a valid argument.  If it was  anyone else, he might agree, but his emotions always got in the way  where Zavion was concerned.

“We have  to hike out of here to get home. We have to hike the  rest of the way to The Hive. I don’t really see much of difference  other than the fact that home doesn’t have a cure.”

“Stop makin’ sense.”

“He’s right,” Devlin agreed as he sauntered up to them. “We  should keep goin’.”

Easy for him to say. He didn’t have a dying mate.

“I know what you’re thinkin’,” Flynn added as he joined their  group. “I do have a mate, though, two of them, and I’d do whatever  needs doin’ to keep them safe.” He glanced in Zavion’s direction and  back to Cian. “If hurtin’ a little now will keep him alive later, it’s  worth it.”

“Agreed.” Wrapping both arms around Cian’s waist,