Remedy Maker (28 page)

“Yes, sir.” She chuckled. “And bring Patience by soon. I like her.” He raised his brows at her offhanded comment. “She has gumption, that one. Reminds me of a kitten I once had—all soft and purring one moment, hiss and nails the next.”

Rhy laughed at the queen’s accurate description of Patience. “She’s all that and more.”

Hippy added her currycomb’s worth. “Rhy’s nymph is honest and pure, and doesn’t take any flack from him.”

The ladies broke out in laughter as Rhycious left the room. He shut the office door harder than necessary, inviting a curious look from Bastian.

Now that his meeting with Savella was finished, time to find his little pixie and check on her health.
Damn. I didn’t ask Hippy where she put Patience, and I really don’t want go back in there.
The cause of her increasing fatigue turned over in his mind. What he knew of plants pertained to their medicinal values, not dendrology.

It was time he went home and regrouped. Perhaps he would find answers to a few questions of his own.

Twenty-two

Rhycious opened the door indicated to him by the harried palace aide and stepped into a mid-size stallroom. After a moment, his eyes adjusted to the room’s dim glow. Oil paintings depicting battle scenes decorated the pale peach walls. He peered closer at one portrait in particular.

Dead Wood Nymphs
.
Damn.

His gaze swept the room. Patience slept sprawled on the traditional Centaur floor bed; face up, arms thrown over her head. Her small hiking boots lay in disarray where she must have kicked them off. A lightweight blanket covered her.

Her sexy mouth hung open and the most charming snuffles came out. He grinned with bottomless peace and satisfaction.
I must have it bad if I think her snores are cute.

Not able to stop himself, he crouched down and kissed her.

Patience stirred and yawned.

Rhycious stroked wisps of hair away from her cheek with his finger. “I’ve ordered some food delivered to the room.” He circled her delicate ear. “Thought you might be hungry.”

Her sleepy, innocent eyes blinked. She started to smile, but a huge yawn invaded the lower half of her face, and she arched in a body stretch that lifted the draped cover. Would it slide down and reveal her body to him? His whole being seemed to be filled with waiting.

“I wasn’t
fungry
until you mentioned it.” She pushed to a sitting position, and the blanket fell away. Beneath the thin top, her nipples hit the cool air and peaks hardened in an instant.

Drab military green would forever be his favorite color.

“Do you feel any better?” he asked.

“Why are you asking my breasts?”

“I can’t help it. They’re pointing at me.”

And they were. His tongue remembered the taste of her and flicked out to lick his lips. Rhycious’s field of vision narrowed as he moved closer to her sleep warmed body.

Mr. Happy
twitched his approval.

The dubious look she threw him didn’t stop his advance—nor did the slap to his reaching hand.

“I just want to check your temperature is all.” His fingers slid down the soft column of her throat, pausing over the carotid artery throbbing under her skin.

His hand continued its downward course. Though Patience remained quiet, her respiration increased, along with her pulse. Between her breasts, he flattened his hand. Her heart pumped beneath his palm.

There it was again. An irregular beat. At first hesitant, and then rushed. He silently cursed for not understanding more about Wood Nymph physiology. A deficiency he would remedy very soon.
That goes to the top of my list of things to do.

The uneven beat could be the reason for the drain on her physical strength. Until he researched her condition further, he’d keep the information to himself.

Rhycious’s own heart grew heavy. As much as he’d like to chain the pixie to his side, he couldn’t offer her a future with him beyond next week. Not with his fucked-up head. But he would make damn sure the rest of her life would be a healthy one.

It’s going to hurt like hell not having Patience in my life.
The risk of him having another out-of-control flare-up and possibly hurting her—he’d never chance it. It was a gift from the gods that nothing had happened yet.

His hand slid to the right of her sternum and cupped her soft weight, flicking his thumb over the stiffened tip.

Beneath her lowered lashes, she watched him work magic on her full breast. A moan floated out between her parted lips, and her smile grew. The cool air teased her heated skin, tightening the nipple even more.

He’d never tire of Patience and her sensual responses. Never.

She giggled and wagged a finger at him. “Aren’t you supposed to temperature test my forehead?”

“The accuracy is better the lower you go.”

Two loud knocks interrupted his physical exam and irritation swept through him.

Shit.

Rhycious answered the door and growled his frustration, having forgotten about their dinner. He accepted a silver food tray from an older Centaur woman. Her dappled gray body leaned toward the scrawny side, hipbones prominent. She wore a fitted black server’s jacket that flared over a back in the beginning stages of sway.

Before the server got more than a glimpse into their room with that craning neck of hers, he thanked her and toed the door closed.

“That smells
deliciamagous
. What is it?” Patience swung her feet over the edge of the low bed and strolled over. Her hair hung with mussed waves over the front of her shoulder, hiding her nipple from view.

 Rhy’s hunger for her grew with every pull of the moon’s rotation, the instinct undeniable. He wanted to kiss every inch of her. Take his time and bring her pleasure, revel in his ability to do so.

He set the tray on a small round table and handed Patience a monogrammed napkin. Two china plates puffed steam when he lifted their stainless steel covers.

Stomach rumbling, Patience covered the sound with her hand. “I’m just drooling here,” she said, smacking her lips together. Other than a quick breakfast of bagels, neither of them had eaten all day.

His mouth watered, too, at the delicious sight. Tender asparagus shoots drizzled with cream sauce, and grilled new potatoes seasoned with thyme. A French baguette sat next to a shallow dish of dipping oil, and eggplant parmesan steamed to the side. A separate plate of plump strawberries tempted with aphrodisiac splendor in melted chocolate.

“I’d have been happy with a bacon double-cheeseburger, but this’ll do,” Rhy said, and grinned when Patience leaped into the chair he held for her.

“I’ve never had a cheeseburger.” With closed eyes, she inhaled the aromas in a circular sweep, swallowing the effects of savory seasonings. She opened her napkin and set it in her lap. Her fork speared a quartered potato, and she slid the bite into her mouth. A look of rapture came over her and he thought her eyes would roll back in her head.

“I’ll be sure to buy you a Big Mac in Willow Bay.”

He cut a slice of succulent eggplant, the flesh tender, and dark skin firm. Before the purple wedge reached his mouth, however, Patience slapped the fork out of his hand. The utensil clattered onto his plate, chipping the gold pinstriped edge. 

With a word that sounded like
blech
, she spit out her mouthful of food.

Bad manners, or is she feeling sick again?

“Didn’t like it?”

“Don’t eat your food.” She poked the chewed mess with her fork’s tines. “Something’s funky. It totally set fire to my tongue.”

The elegantly set table with crystal glasses twinkled in the romantic atmosphere. Faucets in the diamond cut stemware split the light’s refraction.

Skin formed on the asparagus’ cream, and wrinkled.

“It could be the spices,” he suggested, watching her dissect her food.

“No, spice didn’t wrong it up.”

At first glance, the food appeared fine and smelled great. Hunger had blinded his caution. Rhycious pushed back from the table with enough force to knock his chair over, and threw the napkin on his plate. In two steps, he reached the door and yanked it open. The food server was long gone.
Damn.

A stall cleaner pushed a rattling cart down the hall, eyeing him with curiosity. He slammed the door and stalked back to their poisonous meal to glare at it. Hands on his hips, pissed off at his carelessness. A knot of pressure replaced his desire to eat. He was furious at his vulnerability, especially inside the palace. Savella lived with this type of threat three meals a day.

“Are you all right?” At her nod, he said, “Rinse your mouth a few times in the bathroom. I want all the poison out.”

Fuck. There wasn’t any place safe these days. Someone wanted him—or
them
—dead, and they would have been if it weren’t for Patience’s Wood Nymph palate, which was tuned-in to toxic plants.

Score one for the pixie.

Rhy stacked the plates onto the carrying tray, and then moved his backpack from the floor to the table. He unzipped the main compartment and sorted through the plastic baggies. Finding the one he needed, he removed a few dried leaves.

Patience returned from rinsing her mouth and he handed the herbs to her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Purple sage. Chew it up, and spit it out. It’s an antiseptic that’ll finish cleansing your mouth.”

Her face scrunched up when the sharp taste hit, but she took her remedy like a good patient. “Oh
gawds
, this tastes
suckish
.”

She went to spit out the leaves. When she came back, he said, “I hate to say this, but we need to leave. I don’t know who we’re up against here. We’ll be safer away from the palace.”
I can’t protect you when I don’t know who to protect you from.

Backpack slung over his shoulder, he and Patience left the stallroom and navigated the maze of halls toward the courtyard’s hub of activity.

Nobody followed as they rounded yet another corner—the last corridor connected to the balcony walkway.

“Rhycious.” Aleksander jogged toward them, smiling. Tattoos of double row barbed wire pumped on his bicep, gold neck links bounced on the black tee he wore, and his rubber-soled boots were silent footfalls on the floor. “Leaving so soon?” He stopped next to a wall display of antique weaponry.

“We don’t like the food.” Rhy shrugged the pack higher on his shoulder.

“And some
hard
cuz
just
dissed
me.” Patience added.

Alek’s dark brows lowered over his concerned eyes and fixed on her face. “What happened?”

Patience shifted her weight. “In a word—poison.”

Hollow clops of hooves, followed by a closing door, echoed from around the corner. Slow and unrushed, the plodding drew closer.

Alek gazed around. With a nod, he continued with them down the hall. Half a corridor’s length later, the Kempor nudged Rhycious’s arm. “I take it you’re both all right?”

At his nodding answer, Alek asked, “Where do you go from here?”

Before answering the question, Rhycious took a few steps. Patience looked at him, obviously waiting to hear his response, too. Initially, he’d suspected Aleksander had been involved in Patience’s kidnapping. His friend had proved loyal.

Odd though. Once again, Alek turns up after another life-threatening incident.

Coincidence?

Distrust shadowed his mind, and whether it was true or not, when it came to his pixie, he trusted no one.

Gods, he didn’t need another enemy to dodge. A supply of allies would be nice for a change.
Yeah, I’ll pray to Bacchus about that.

“We leave the palace for the safety of Boronda,” Rhycious answered vaguely.

“Okay,” Alek agreed. “Let me grab my bag and—”

“Alone.” He waited for Alek’s reaction, praying he wouldn’t read suspicion in the male’s face. Carefully trimmed and meticulously groomed, the dark goatee framed the Kempor’s frowning mouth. “I need your help here, Alek. Someone tried to kill us. I want to know why. With Patience and I out of the palace, whoever it was is bound to get sloppy. You need to be there when that happens.” His hand at Patience’s elbow, he guided them toward the staircase.

Alek nodded, begrudged in agreement. “You’re right. Keep Patience safe, and I’ll talk to Hippy. She’ll need to update Savella.”

“Glad you see it my way.”

Aleksander stopped and stared Rhy hard in the eye. Unhurried, his hand moved to his belt and popped the clip on the knife guard.

Rhycious flicked his gaze to the weapon, then back Alek’s face. The world suddenly became very still—his breathing decreased, vision tunneled, and activity stirred in slow motion. He waited for Aleksander’s next move, an indication of how to react.

“I get it,” Alek said. “I don’t like it, but I get it.” He glanced at Patience before pulling his knife from the leather sheath, offering it Rhy handle first. “You’ll need something out there.”

Rhy relaxed his shoulders and inhaled a cleansing breath. Because he wasn’t in the mood, his smile stretched slowly. “I’m fully loaded, but I appreciate the offer.”

“
Waz
going on?” Patience wrinkled her brow. She must have sensed the apprehension, because she hooked her hand in the crook of his arm.

“Nothing,
polytima
. Alek is walking us to the archway.”

Aleksander held Rhy’s gaze before raising his shoulders and brows in a shrug. “Come on, then.” He continued down the hall. “I’ll show you out.”

*    *    *

The end of her tongue was numb, but at least the burning had stopped. Rhycious had enough on his mind without having to worry about her, so Patience kept her problems to herself.

Vertical lines deepened between Aleksander’s brows. Since her kidnapping, a tension wrench had cranked down, making things between Alek and Rhy increasingly edgy.

What was the deal?
Patience gave it a mental shove. Let them have their private macho spat.