Chapter 97 Sleep, Love

Even though he was impatient about Emma and was pacing through the cottage, his body was still flushed. He felt like he could have many more rounds of sex with his mate. There was something terribly wrong. He had marked her in a frenzy. Over the time, he had exercised a lot of control on his lust when he was around her and been extremely careful to not mark her, so how did he lose control now?

He peeked at Shira who was grinding paste in a thistle as she looked at Emma. The room in which Emma was, smelled like a mix of yarrow, honey, sage, rotten flesh and violets. Her lips were smeared with a dull green paste that Shira said was seaweed she had acquired from The Jade Sea of a different realm called Araniea.

"What is taking you so long, Shira?" he growled. "She hasn't improved!"

"It's been only twenty minutes, Lazarus," Shira replied in a boring tone. "And why are you looking so flushed? Your face is red. She glanced at his pants. "And that is constantly bulging."

Lazarus growled again. He leaned against the door, still feeling feverish. He watched Emma as his chest raced wildly, as his blood thrummed in his ears, anxiety surging through him in waves. He rested his head on the door. "I don't know what has gone wrong. Both Emma and I had food and after that we ended up…" he let out a ragged breath as his gaze went to Emma's mark. "…like this."

Shira walked up to him with a frown. She touched his forehead with the back of her hand. A soft glow covered his head. Her eyes became wide as if with surprise. She neared his mouth and sniffed him. "You've been drugged, Lord Lazarus," she said with a rough exhale. "And so has Emma. The drug must have been mixed with your food."

​ Lazarus tensed. He narrowed his eyes. His jaws clenched. "How can you say?" he asked, masking his astonishment.

Shira returned to making the paste. Emma had opened her eyes a little but she was looking blank. "I am a witch and an oracle. Don't question my diagnosis!" she snapped. She took out a spoonful of the paste she was making in a bowl, added thyme honey in it and gave it to him. "Here, have it."

Lazarus was stunned at this revelation. Who could have drugged him? He took the potion from her and was about to have it, when she stopped him. "Wait. You are stronger than her. Go mix some chamomile oil in it!" She pointed at a shelf in front of her where the herbs were placed by their names.

As soon as he had the mixture, Lazarus felt like he would explode with all the heat building inside him. "What have you done to me, witch?" he rumbled, struggling to control his anger.

"Oh, did I mention that you need to jump in water after having this drug?" the witch said coolly.

Lazarus was seen running out of the cottage towards the waterfall at its rear. He stripped his clothes on the way and jumped over the cliff, diving straight in the cold water pool some fifty feet down. When he emerged, he smoothed his hair back and tilted his face up to glare at the witch's cottage. The cold water helped him regulate his body's temperature and gave him enough time to mull over what happened in the past few hours. His mind also relaxed. He ended up swimming for an hour in it and by the end he was sure that if he didn't come out, he would develop a fishtail. Moreover, he was getting restless as he wanted to see Emma.

He rushed naked back to the cottage much to Shira's displeasure. Picking up a towel, he dried himself and then wrapped it around his hips.

Emma was still lying on the pallet with a green paste wrapped around her body. As the paste dried, it sizzled up, giving out red fumes. His nervousness went a notch higher. He went to sit where she was and was about to pick her up when Shira stopped him. "Don't. That is the drug coming out of her body. Someone had given her enough drugs to last a lifetime. It is necessary that all of it comes out."

Lazarus clenched his fist and promised himself that he was going to kill the person who did this to his mate. Slowly and painfully. "When will she be, okay?" he asked.

"It will take a few hours, Lazarus," Shira said in a tired voice. "I do believe that this is not your normal drug. I checked on her blood and tested it in my witch fire. The fumes that came out were black and smelled of rotten worms. That is very unusual. And I think whatever happened between you was because of the effect of the drug. While you are a Lorean she isn't. The effect on you wasn't as bad as on her because you are stronger than her."

Fury blasted in his chest and he did everything to control himself. He approached Emma and bent down over her face. Her eyes traveled to him and tears slid out of them. They dropped by her temple. She was unable to speak anything and that alone made him miserable. He wiped the drops of tears from her temple and stroked her hair. "You will be fine, Emma," he said in a soft voice. "Can you go to sleep for a few hours?" She blinked her eyes several times. He knew what she wanted to communicate. His gaze went to her dry lips and he pressed a kiss on them to wet them. "I will be here when you wake up, love. Shira is trustworthy."

Emma blinked at him again as if agreeing to him. His throat bobbed as his chest squeezed and he closed her eyes with his palm. He saw that the skin around his mark was raised and red. He bent down and licked it. He began stroking her hair. "Sleep, love." Soon Emma went off to sleep and he got up from there.

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