Fated for Forever [Kindred of Arkadia 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (10 page)

dance floor to the bar as everyone moved out of their way. It also wasn’t hard to get one of the coveted

leather couches in the bar area, two local vampires practically tripped over themselves when attempting to

get out of their way. Ashby would have found it amusing if he wasn’t so embarrassed.

“Prince Ashby, it’s an honor to wait on you. My name is Micah, what will you have tonight?” the waiter

asked.

“I guess the cat is completely out of the bag now,” Daniel said, sitting down.

“No hiding anymore, Ashby,” David added, sitting on the other side of Ashby.

“I’ll just have water, thank you,” Ashby said, fanning himself between the twins.

“Yeah I’m going to have water, too.” David threw himself back on the leather sofa trying to cool down.

“Make that three,” Daniel said, wiping his face with a napkin.

“Right away, sirs,” Micah said and hurried away.

“I could get used to hanging with you Ashby,” Daniel said, putting his feet up on the coffee table.

“Yeah we never get treated this well,” David said, putting a pillow behind his head.

“But you guys live here,” Ashby said, confused.

“Yeah, that doesn’t mean we get VIP treatment,” Daniel said, wiggling around on the comfy sofa.

“The staff knows us, so they serve customers first,” David explained. All three turned their heads at the

sound of glass shattering on the floor. David winced.

“Noel will kill him if he drops anymore glass,” Daniel said, shaking his head.

“That’s the third time this week,” David said, sitting up, straining to see over the crowd to see what had

dropped.

“Who the waiter?” Ashby asked, turning his head toward the bar as well.

“Yeah, he’s a great waiter, everyone loves him, he’s just clumsy,” Daniel said, shrugging.

“I think it’s funny that as clumsy as he is, he works around a lot of glassware.” David grinned evilly.

“You’re bad,” Ashby said, smiling.

“Well yeah, but we’re fun,” Daniel said, wagging his eyebrows. Ashby rolled his eyes and all three

started laughing. After a few minutes the waiter came back out of breath, carrying a tray with three water

bottles.

“I’m so sorry it took so long. I had these ready, and someone knocked over a stack of beer mugs. Of

course the bartender thought it was me. Thank goodness they’re still cold,” the waiter said, smiling, and

handed over the three bottles of water. Ashby reached into his pocket as if to pull out cash when the waiter

backed away, eyes wide.

“You…you don’t have to pay, you’re our prince. Of course you don’t have to pay,” the waiter

stammered. Ashby blushed furiously. David and Daniel just grinned. The waiter hurried away to another

table that was flagging him down.

“See. VIP treatment,” Daniel said, chugging his water. Both Ashby and David unscrewed their water

bottles and also began to drink. They had worked up quite a thirst on the dance floor. David and Daniel put

down empty bottles and turned to Ashby.

“So, when you think we could try pizza?” Daniel asked, rubbing his hands together. Ashby set his half-

drank bottle of water on the table.

“We could order some tomorrow. My favorite is pineapple, chicken, and feta. I love pizza,” Ashby said.

All three watched the crowd, commenting on outfits and dance moves, as the music continued to blare from

the dance floor.

“I don’t know about skinny jeans on guys, it just looks odd,” Ashby said, pointing out one of the male

cheetahs. He was in the middle of laughing with the twins when Ashby looked up feeling funny. He rubbed

his stomach with a shaking hand.

“Hey guys, I don’t feel so good,” Ashby said, his words slightly slurred as his tongue felt too large for

his mouth.

“Yeah you don’t look so good,” David said, standing, looking around for Baptista. Daniel stood, trying

to help Ashby to stand.

“Hold on, we’ll get Baptista. He can help you to the VIP room,” Daniel said, wrapping an arm around

Ashby’s waist.

“Need…Gabriel,” Ashby said, his breathing becoming labored. Ashby staggered and swayed between

David and Daniel. On uneven feet he made his way to the stairs that led to the VIP room. He was about to

take the first step when he collapsed onto the stairs between the twins. In the background he heard Gabriel

yelling for him. Before anyone had a second to panic, Baptista was there scooping up Ashby and running

up the stairs. The twins ran behind Baptista trying to keep up.

Gabriel met them at the top of the stairs and immediately took Ashby from Baptista’s arms.

“
Mon
ange,
what is wrong?” Gabriel asked frantically, his hands moving over the body of his mate.

Ashby looked up, but his eyes were glazed over and he blinked repeatedly.

“I’m dizzy,” Ashby whispered barely audible, before his eyes fluttered shut. Gabriel leaned forward

nearly pressing his nose to his lover’s lips.

“Daniel, David, come here!” Gabriel demanded. Both men ran forward and dropped to their knees

beside Ashby. Gabriel leaned forward and smelled their lips as well.

“Almonds,” Gabriel said, right before Ashby started convulsing.

“No!” He yelled and turned to Roman who stood behind them stunned.

“Call that lone wolf pack and see if they have someone trained to care for sick shifters. We can’t wait

for the doctor from Arkadia to get here. Tell them he is a fennec fox and that he has been poisoned with

cyanide,” Gabriel said, easily lifting his small mate in his arms. He turned to Baptista.

“Find out what happened and bring me whoever is responsible.” Not waiting for an answer he rushed

up the stairs to his apartments. He kicked open the door and gently lay Ashby down on the bed. He

removed Ashby’s shoes and clothes, replacing them with a loose pair of boxers. He grabbed a small garbage

can before he turned Ashby on his side. With tears in his eyes, he stuck his fingers down his mate’s throat.

He did it twice more before Ashby was able to vomit a small amount of liquid. He prayed that it made the

difference.

“Is there anything we can do?” David asked timidly from the door, Daniel standing behind him.

“Can you sit with him? I need to call Arkadia,” Gabriel said, grabbing Ashby’s phone from the

nightstand. They nodded and eased themselves onto the bed on either side of Ashby, who seemed to be

having difficulty breathing. They rubbed Ashby’s back gently and moved his hair out of his face.

Gabriel turned the phone on and went into his mate’s contact list. He scrolled through until he found the

contact he was looking for. Looking at the smiling face of Rebecca Arkadion on the contact profile he

pressed Call. After a few rings a soft voice answered the phone.

“Ashby? Why are you calling so late? Is everything OK? Why do I feel so dizzy?” she asked, sounding

sick.

“This is Gabriel, I’m afraid…” His voice failed him as his throat choked up.

“Gabriel! Where’s Ashby, why are you on his phone, what has happened?” Rebecca began rapidly firing

questions. Clearing his throat he tried to speak again.

“Ashby has been poisoned, it was cyanide. Is there anyone you can ask about treating a poisoned

shifter?” Gabriel asked hurriedly.

“What! I knew something was going happen!” Rebecca cried into the phone before dissolving into

sobs.

“What? What the hell is going on! Who is this?” Gabriel heard Aleks demand when he suddenly came

on the line.

“Aleks, Ashby has been poisoned, how do I treat him?” Gabriel asked. The low sounds of grief coming

from Rebecca was almost his undoing.

“Hold on, I’m on my phone…Ma, I need you over here now, Rebecca has received a shock. I’m not

sure how this is going to affect the baby, I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night,” Aleks said to his ma

from his own cell phone.

“OK, I’m back. What is his state?” Aleks asked in a steady voice.

“Before losing consciousness, he was complaining that he was dizzy, he is having trouble breathing, and

I can’t wake him,” Gabriel explained as Roman came up behind him. “Report,” he said to Roman holding

the phone away from his mouth.

“One of their pack is a medic, he’s on his way. ETA should be ten minutes,” Roman said, watching

Gabriel pace the floor with Ashby’s cell phone.

“Gabriel, do you have any idea how much he ingested?” Aleks asked. Gabriel turned to the twins.

“What did you three have downstairs that could have been poisoned?” Gabriel asked.

“All we had was water. David and I finished our bottles, but Ashby only had half of his,” Daniel

explained wiping his eyes.

“He had about half a bottle of water. When we got upstairs I got him to vomit maybe two to three

ounces,” Gabriel said, waving Baptista over to his side when he appeared in the doorway.

“He may have a fighting chance. But whoever did this knew about shifters. Certain poisons and drugs

we just piss out. Cyanide is one of the few that actually hits us harder than humans,” Aleks explained.

“I can get Doc Claybourne out there, he can be there in about an hour,” Aleks said.

“Send him. I have a wolf pack medic on his way that should be here in about five minutes. But I want a

doctor to examine him as well. I want to take every precaution. Mating with me will give him immortality

but he is still vulnerable to shifter weaknesses,” Gabriel explained.

“Of course you do, he’s your mate.” Aleks’s voice became slightly muffled as if he turned his head.

“No we are not going to Purgatory, you can barely stand. You better get that sassy ass of yours back in

bed. We’ll visit him when he’s feeling better,” Aleks said gently to his mate.

“Call us with any and all updates. As you can hear, my mate is not taking this well, she and Ashby are

extremely close. She’s getting the effects of the poison through their bond,” Aleks said, his voice sounding

stressed.

Suddenly it struck Gabriel exactly how this could also impact the Arkadions. Could Ashby dying hurt

the young Alpha Mother?

“They’ll be OK,” Gabriel said with a shaky voice.

“There’s no other choice,” Aleks replied.

“I’ll call as soon as his condition changes.”

“Doc is on his way.” Aleks said and then the call ended. Gabriel turned to Baptista who stood beside the

shaking Micah.

“Just tell him what you told me,” Baptista said gently. Micah nodded.

“I was the one who served Prince Ashby, David, and Daniel their water. After I took their order I ran

back to the bar to get their water. I was excited that I got to serve Prince Ashby, so I wanted to be quick. I

placed the water bottles on my tray when a stack of the beer mugs was knocked over. But I swear it wasn’t

me this time Prince Gabriel! Of course Rhys didn’t believe me, so I helped clean up the glass. When I was

done I picked up the tray and gave Prince Ashby his water. It didn’t look tampered with or I would never

have given it to him!” Micah said emphatically.

“I believe you Micah, can you go back downstairs and help Noel close up the club?” Gabriel said.

Micah nodded and hurried from the apartment.

“I remember hearing the glass break, but I assumed it was Micah, too,” Baptista said, running a hand

over his shaved head.

“Whoever poisoned Ashby knocked over the glassware to distract Micah and either poisoned the bottles

on the tray or replaced them with tainted ones,” Gabriel said, walking over to stand at the foot of the bed.

“They were replaced. We don’t sell this brand of water,” Baptista said, holding up a zip lock bag with

the three water bottles in it.

“I’m telling you he called us here!” A voice was heard from downstairs.

“Let them up now!” Gabriel yelled and seconds later the rapid steps heralded the arrival of the lone wolf

pack living outside of Brighton.

“This way,” Gabriel said, pointing to the bed. Immediately the man in front went to the bed. David and

Daniel got off the bed and stood to one side as the wolf shifter began to gather Ashby’s vitals.

“I heard downstairs you think it was cyanide, do you have any proof?” the man asked as he was taking

Ashby’s pulse.

“You don’t believe our prince?” Baptista bristled beside Gabriel, who raised a hand to quiet him.

“I smelled almonds on his lips and on the lips of Daniel and David. It evidently hits shifters harder than

humans, but has no effect on vampires, which explains why Daniel and David are fine. We have the water

bottles we believe to have been used to poison my mate,” Gabriel said, indicating to Baptista to hold up the

bag.

“Your mate?” the tall man who stood behind the medic asked, his eyes wide. Gabriel nodded.

“Fuck me running, listen, no one said anything about treating your mate. We won’t be held responsible

if nothing can be done,” the tall black-haired man said, his eyes unyielding.

“As long as you do everything you can to save my mate, then there won’t be any consequences. You

didn’t poison him nor are you God. I understand this,” Gabriel said, hating but understanding the wolf

leader’s fear that his pack could suffer if anything happened to Ashby.

“The name is Eirik Lyall, the man treating your mate is Nathaniel Hamilton. I brought one other pack