Page 50 of The Dragons’ Eternal Mate

They hurried up to the door, and Nix beelined over there, pushing it wide open. I was right behind them as they brought Orsen inside, Grey bringing up the rear.

“Oh shit,” Nina murmured, having clearly heard the news and rushing over. She had probably been informed by one of the other dragons. She began clearing the bowls of herbs that I had left out, stepping out of the way so we could bring Orsen in, his eyelids fluttering as he went in and out of consciousness.

“He was stabbed.” Bastian gritted his teeth as he and Griff laid Orsen on the first available gurney. I was at his side in a flash, slapping on gloves and grabbing a pair of shears to cut his shirt off. “The fuckers had blades on them.”

I shot him a look as I got Orsen’s shirt open, then eyed the slice in my mate’s side, which was at least two inches long.

“Stabbed?” I asked. “Why the hell would they have knives?”

“Don’t know, but yeah.” Bastian jerked his chin behind me. “Grey got hit as well. They’re both out of it. I think there’s something on the blades.”

“What?!” I turned from Bastian to eye Grey, who wobbled, his hand clutching his shoulder. “Shit, get him in a chair!”

I pointed at the one in the corner, expecting Griffin to jump into action, then quickly noticed his queasy pallor. Nina was there, though, getting Greylen in a chair before he took a nosedive.

I grabbed a bandage, I pressed it hard to Orsen’s side, working to staunch the bleeding, and I called out, “Griff? What is it?”

“Don’t ask me how I know”—his gaze lifted from Grey—“but I’m pretty sure it’s the same stuff they used on me.”

I stilled. Griffin had been badly injured by a poisoned blade when he’d been attacked several years ago. If this was the same stuff, I needed to move quickly.

“Why do you think that?”

Griff shrugged, a hollow look in his eyes. “There was something about the way they were acting after they were hit. I can’t put my finger on it.”

I nodded, thinking. If the blades had been covered in something toxic, time was of the essence because the longer it went untreated in their systems, the more damage it caused.

“Nina, grab the herb wash,” I instructed, carefully unwrapping Orsen’s wound, trading out one soaked bandage for another.

“It’s not that bad,” Orsen muttered, his voice as thin as air.

“I would believe you if it wasn’t for the fact you’re slurring your words,” I growled, the bottle of herbal decontaminant hitting my hand as I held it out toward Nina. “I need sutures for this. And activated charcoal for Orsen.”

“On it.” Nina was off in a flash as I made sure the wound wasn’t bleeding anymore, turning to Bastian. “Put pressure on this.”

He took over for me, leaning his weight on the wound, which made Orsen hiss loudly.

“I’m sorry, but the fact it’s hurting is a good thing,” I reassured him.

Orsen gave me a confused look. “That’s a good thing?” he slurred, and under any other circumstance, his dopey confusion would have been adorable.

“What happened?” I asked, looking between the dragons who were still standing and Grey. I walked over to him, assessing the slice on his arm. It wasn’t deep at all, the bleeding had stopped on its own, but he was off. His head lolling, pupils dilated.

“Byron’s men split up. They definitely had inside knowledge as to where Allison’s cabin would be. I have to imagine Cyrus told them,” Bastian sneered, shaking his head. “They were at her door when we arrived. We didn’t see Orsen or Griffin at first, but I guess⁠—”

“Our old enemy Jenkins was there, with a dose of sedative for Allison, no less.” Griffin smirked, cocking his head as a sarcastic laugh left him.

I stared wide, using a water flush to clean out Grey’s shoulder. “Jenkins? Oh God, he wanted to use a sedative on her? That would likely⁠—”

“Kill her. Yeah, we put that together when the idiot stabbed himself with his own needle and wound-up dead.”

My hands faltered just as Nina came back with a cart full of supplies. “Jenkins is… dead?”

Griffin nodded. “Very. Foamed at the mouth like a rabid dog, then it was lights out. That’s when we heard the commotion and ran. We found Bastian and Grey with the enforcers and took them out, but not before Orsen got stabbed after saving my life.”

I took the herbal concentrate from Nina and flushed it through Grey’s wound, making sure to saturate it so that the treatment would enter his bloodstream. Grey groaned but bobbed his head, and I went back to Orsen.

“You saved the guy you almost beat to death a short while ago. How does that feel?” But Orsen didn’t answer, his eyes fully closed now. I shot a glance at his chest. His breathing was too slow, too shallow. “Orsen?”