Prey

Chapter 16

Doe's POV:

My eyes were shut tight as I forced myself to swallow the rest of this tea.

Every time I swallowed it felt like a knife was being dragged down the inside of my throat.

Yet I could tell that Xander ordered this one with more honey, and even through the ache, I knew that this was the only thing giving me any sort of relief.

Both from the honey coating my throat, and the ice-cold temperature of this glass against my skin.

My whole body felt like it was on fire.

I had already discarded the blankets I had prior, yet I could still feel myself sweating.

Sweating and shivering at the same time.

Xander had retrieved me one of my warm turtle necks to try even it out, but it didn't work.

I let my head fall back against the armrest of this couch, deciding to not even try to open my eyes again.

Every time I did it was followed by a deep rumbling in my ears and an immediate headache.

So instead I just focused on the heavy, unnatural rise and fall of my chest.

Everything hurt.

Which usually I was used to but this time it was different.

It was a different kind of pain, exhaustion, and discomfort.

I've had a couple fevers in my life just from a common cold that I'd get on occasion, but this was different.

It was so much worse.

It felt like whatever it was, was just sucking the energy out of my muscles.

Did Layla give some kind of disease or something?

Honestly, that thought alone wasn't that surprising, but a warning would have been nice.

At least it gave Nico a reason to look me over.

Maybe if it's bad enough it'll end up giving me a break for a few days.

A break from her.

Wouldnt that be something.

I took a couple seconds to prepare, before forcing myself to sit up, every muscle involved, as well as my head, screaming at me all throughout the process.

The visible trembling in my body began again.

I squinted my eyes open, setting the empty glass onto the table before looking around for Xander.

We were supposed to be leaving soon.

The quicker we leave, the quicker we get that over with, and then the quicker I can go back to bed.

Maybe I'll fit in a long cold shower depending on how I feel.

My head lifted as I spotted him walking out of the closet, a collar and leash in one of his hands.

He stood with that tense unease in his shoulders he'd carried all day.

It only seemed to deepen after that little conversation we had.

It was weird seeing him like this.

Seeing him this worried.

Usually, he wasn't so open about it with the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes.

Can't wait to see him force that away once we get to Nico's.

He usually looked at me with some kind of discomfort in there, but this time it was different.