A human healer. Yes, yes. She wanted a human healer, someone who could understand what was wrong with her.
He'd have to take her into the city, for none of the Lords had any medical training.
There had never been a need for it. What if this Dr. Lucas wanted to keep her overnight?
He shook his head immediately at the thought.
That, he couldn't allow. She could tell the Hunters what she'd learned here, what she'd seen and she could tell them the best method to defeat the demon warriors.
What bothered him most, however, was the fear that someone could take her, hurt her, and he would not be able to save her.
He would have to bring a doctor here.
Jiang Lang brushed another soft kiss on her cold, cold lips.
Again there was a jolt - this time it was a one more muted than the last, it was as weak as Xu Ling herself.
His hands curled into fists. "I'll find you a Dr. Lucas, beauty, and bring him to the fortress."
She moaned, and her long lashes finally fluttered open. Amber pools of pain stared up at him. "Jiang Lang."
"I won't be long, I swear it."
"Don't...go." She sounded on the verge of tears. "It hurts. It hurts so bad. Stay with me." She weakly begged him.
The need to give in and the need to fetch help warred inside him. In the end, he could not deny her.
He strode to the door and shouted, "Feng Yue! Yan Lie! Bai Long!" The sound of his voice echoed off the walls. "Luo Chen! Lin Fan!"
He didn't wait for them, but stalked back to the bed. He intertwined his fingers with Xu Ling's. Hers were limp. "What can I do to ease your pain?"
"Don't let go." She gasped out a shallow breath. Red striations streamed from the corners of her mouth. Was the poison spreading?
"I won't. I won't let go." More than anything, he wanted to draw the pain away from her and into himself.
What was a little more suffering to him? Nothing. But she was... what? He didn't have an answer for that.
Groaning, she clutched her stomach, rolled to her side and curled into a ball. Jiang Lang used his free hand to brush her hair behind her still-damp ear. "Is there anything else I can do?"
"Don't know." She watched him, her expression glassy. "Am I going to... die?"
"No!" He hadn't meant to shout, but the denial had escaped on a burst. "No," he repeated more softly. "This is my fault and I won't let you."
"Did you do it on purpose?"
"Never."
"Why then?" she breathed. As she groaned again in the process.
"It was an accident," he said. "That wine wasn't meant for your kind."
Whether she heard him or not, she gave no indication. "I'm going to - " she gagged, covered her mouth with her hand " - vomit."
He grabbed the empty fruit bowl and held it out. She pushed herself to the edge of the bed and emptied her stomach. He clasped her hair back, away from the line of her face.
He wandered to himself id the way she was
purging herself was a good thing or bad?
Xu Ling fell back onto the mattress just as Bai Long and Feng Yue raced into the room. Both men looked confused. "What?" Bai Long demanded.
"What's wrong?" Feng Yue asked. He was sweating, the lines of strain deeper around his eyes.
Bai Long's arms were bleeding again, his hand swollen, and he held two blades, clearly ready for battle. His gaze took in the scene and his confusion intensified. "Do you need help with a death-blow?"
"No! The wine... the ambrosia Feng Yue puts in it. I left it for her." The confession spilled from him, dripping with guilt and desolation. "Save her."
Feng Yue wobbled, but managed to remain upright. "I don't know how."
"You must! You've spent countless hours with humans!" Jiang Lang barely leashed a deafening roar. "Tell me how to help her."
"I wish I could," Feng Yue said, mopping his moist brow with the back of his hand.
"I've never shared our wine with others. It's ours."
"Go and ask the other humans if they know what to do. If they don't, tell Luo Chen to flash into the city and find a Dr. Lucas to bring here." Death was the only one of the warriors who could move from one place to another with a single thought.
Bai Long nodded and spun on his heel.
Feng Yue said, "I'm sorry, Jiang Lang, but I'm at my limit.
I need sex. I need a woman right now.
I heard your call from the front door and came here instead of leaving. I shouldn't have. If I don't get into the city soon I'll..."
"I understand."
"I'll make it up to you later." Feng Yue stumbled out and disappeared around the corner.
"Jiang Lang." Xu Ling moaned again.
Sweat trickled from her temples.
Her skin was still laced with blue, but was now so pallid he could see the tiny azure veins that swam underneath. "Tell me... a story. Something... to get my mind off... the pain." She closed her eyes, those lashes casting shadows on her cheeks again.
"Relax, beauty. You should not be talking." He raced to the bathroom, emptied and cleaned the bowl and swiped a towel. He wet it down and returned, setting the bowl beside the bed - just in case she felt nauseous again.
Her eyes were still closed. He thought she might have fallen asleep, but she tensed as he bathed her face. He settled behind her, unsure of what to say to her.
"Why did... your friends stab you?"
He didn't discuss his curse, not even with the very men who suffered alongside him.
He should not discuss it with Xu Ling. Anyone but her, in fact, but that didn't stop him.
Looking at her, seeing her grimace from pain, he would have done anything to distract her. "They stab me because they must. Like me, they are cursed."
"That... explains nothing."
"That explains everything."He interjected her.