Chapter 125
LUNA AQUAMARINE’S POV
I thought maybe it was me at first.
Maybe my body was shutting down after everything that happened yesterday.
Or maybe Alexander was dipping me inside a tub of freezing water to wash me.
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But the moment something large and hard crushed against my body, my teeth clattered soo hard that my eyes snapped open.
Alexander’s stone cold form was snuggled soo close to me like he wanted to enter me.
“Alexander,” I whispered, shaking him lightly, panic clawing its way up my throat.
My Primus–my volcano–was trembling under the sheets like some weakling.
His chest heaved shallow, sweat plastering his red hair to his face, but when his eyes cracked open for the smallest second, they weren’t weak.
They burned. Gold, hot, searing. Like fire locked in an iceberg.
I pulled my hand back, staring at my palm like it had betrayed me.
“Alexander?” I whispered, shaking him, the word cracking halfway through.
No answer. He was just breathing in a way I’ve never seen before. I swallowed hard.
My body moved before my brain did, throwing the covers off and pushing the boulder off me but he didn’t let go, “Don’t,” he rasped but there was no way I’d listen to him.
I pushed him off and bolted to the bathroom. I came back to the room with a bowl of water and a piece of cloth, but the moment I used it on his head, his whole body became ….. hot.
Wasn’t he shivering seconds ago? Wasn’t he cold?
I face–palmed myself soo hard that I felt my vein throb. “Why did I even use cold water when he’s shivering?”
I moved away from Alexander, but his hands still stretched out as if he were searching for me.
“Guard!” I shouted, voice raw, half sob. “Get Levi–now. Run!”
He hesitated. I think he saw my eyes glowing, because he didn’t wait again. He sprinted.
My own legs carried me straight to the kitchen. All I knew was I needed something warm, something healing, something that would fix him.
Porridge and herbs. That would get rid of the cold.
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Chapter 125
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The maids scattered when I burst through. Pots clattered. They stared at me like they had seen a ghost.
“Move!” I barked, shoving past them, grabbing broth, ginger, herbs, anything that smelled alive. I didn’t care if it worked, but I tried to make it just the way Katherine used to. I just needed my hands doing something before they shook themselves to pieces.
The tray was heavy. Or maybe my arms were weak.
My chest was burning when I turned into the corridor–and froze.
The crack of a whip split the silence.
My eyes dragged to the courtyard, and I swear my heart turned to stone in my chest.
I recognised those scents anywhere- anytime.
She wasn’t in her Elder robes anymore.
She was dressed in rags.
Slave cloth.
Tied to a large rock, back bleeding under Aaron’s whip.
Beside her, Sarah knelt, body already a red canvas of lashes. And behind them–gods–behind them was Elder Zedd’s head tied high on a stake like some warning banner.
The tray nearly slipped from my
hands.
Fiona’s head slowly raised and our eyes met. And the way she looked at me- eyes bloodshot like she’d crawl through fire just to get her teeth in my throat. Teeth gnashing and fingers digging into the rock so hard I couldn’t tell if she felt pain or not.
A shiver ran down my spine as I looked away.
Fast. My throat closed and my heart punched against my ribs as I forced my legs forward.
Don’t look. Don’t look.
But it was already too late, that image was already smeared in my brain.
By the time I reached our chamber, my hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the tray at the door.
Then I saw him.
Not on the bed. On the floor. Curled near the door like he’d collapsed trying to get out.
“Alexander!” My voice broke. I dropped everything and ran, my knees crashing to the floor. His body was colder now, trembling harder, but slick with heat that made no sense. His lips were pale, his lashes wet?
Was he crying?
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I raised him up, but he just curled on me, “Move and die,” he whispered, his breath soo hot that I could see his purple dragon breath.
The man who had dragged me through fire and storms, was lying like this–like he was nothing.
“No, no, no.” I gritted my teeth, forcing strength into my arms, dragging him back onto the bed. He was too heavy.
My muscles screamed, but I got him there, shoving pillows under his head, wiping sweat from his face with the cloth, pressing water to his skin like that could fix it. But the cloth and water turned steamy.
In fact, the whole room was cloudy. I didn’t understand.
Was it hot? Or cold?
“Stay with me. Do you hear me? It’s just a fever. You’ll be fine.”
—
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I’ve never seen a fever this bad. It felt like he was dying- like I was dying.
I pressed the spoon of broth to his lips, but it spilled down his chin. Like it wasn’t what he wanted.
My throat burned. I tried again, tried to get him to open his mouth, to breathe properly, to just eat, but he kept groaning and pushing it away.
The door slammed open.
The spoon hit the floor with a clatter.
Levi.
His face was carved hard at first, sharp like always–but then he saw Alexander. And something cracked. His face grew ashen, his eyes widened in horror, his knees buckled.
“No…”
It wasn’t just a word.
It was a prayer, a denial, a sound I’d never thought I’d hear from him. The only time I saw his face like this was when he saw me inside the cage months back.
He slammed the door shut, crossed the room in a blur, and dropped beside the bed, staring at Alexander like he didn’t even recognise him. Like he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Levi, what-” My voice trembled but I managed to swallow.
Levi didn’t look at me at first. His hands hovered over Alexander’s chest, trembling like he was afraid to touch. His jaw clenched, and when he finally spoke, it sounded like a broken child.
“In all his years…” His voice rasped. “Alexander has never–fallen sick.”
The words didn’t make sense at first. They just spun around in my head, banging against my skull until my
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stomach dropped.
Never.
Never sick.
So what the hell was this?
My heart slammed.
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My mouth went dry. And suddenly, all I could feel was the cold seeping from his skin, crawling into me, until I couldn’t tell if it was his body trembling… or mine.
Chapter 126
