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  Grant sighed. "So do I, especially since I can't float." He turned, looked around, and was about to pull the walkie-talkie from his belt when two redheaded figures came bouncing toward them. "Perfect," he muttered.

  "Grant, we were looking for you. They want you and the new doc in a meeting down on Level One." The redhead turned to her. "Are you the new doc?" Ellie smiled, she couldn't help it. He reminded her of an enthusiastic puppy. "Yes, my name is Eleanor Kimball; I'm a pediatrician."

  "I'm Nigel Morninglory. Kari has told us great things about you."

  "And my name is Neil," the second redhead said, popping up from behind his brother.

  Two puppies.

  "It's wonderful to meet you both."

  The twins offered up their arms and floated them down the tunnel. Ellie squeezed her eyes tight.

  "You know, it's not so bad once you get used to it," Nigel said, leaning in to whisper. She opened her eyes to look at the young witch.

  "I just don't like floating," she explained.

  "Why don't you like it?" he asked.

  "Because I am afraid of falling."

  "Oh."

  "Grant hates it too," Nigel volunteered.

  Grant shrugged. "Because I can't float, so I have to have an escort to go everywhere."

  Neil blinked. "Oh yeah, that would so suck."

  Ellie had to hide a grin at Grant's sour expression.

  Once the reached Level One, the twins waved and headed off to the left.

  "Where are they going?"

  "Prince Magnus set up a communications hub to get the city Wi-Fi. Meryn took it over. They must be working on another project." He shuddered. "I'm afraid to even ask," Grant muttered under his breath.

  "Why?" Ellie asked, intrigued.

  "Those two and the Unit Commander's mate are nothing but trouble," he paused. "Entertaining trouble, but trouble nonetheless."

  Ellie watched as the twins disappeared down a long hall. She already missed their smiling faces. Grant strode forward and knocked on the door. It opened moments later, and a man bowed at them. Grant nodded at the man before walking in. Ellie hesitated, unsure of what to do. The man smiled gently at her. "Hello, my name is Sebastian Hearthstone. I'm the squire for the House Rioux."

  She gulped. "This is the prince's home?" she exclaimed.

  Sebastian smiled. "Yes, he has been waiting for you. We understand that you went to see the children first. He is very appreciative. Come this way, you are more than welcome here." He opened the door and indicated for her to step inside.

  CHAPTER THREE

  She walked into the prince's home and looked around in wonder. It was one of the most beautiful rooms she had ever seen. It was elegantly decorated but not ostentatious. In the antechamber, a group of people sat with notebooks, legal pads, or clipboards in front of them, pens in hand.

  "Can I interest you in tea or coffee?" Sebastian asked.

  "Coffee would be great, thank you."

  "Grant, is this the doctor?" a man asked as he and the other men in the room stood.

  Grant nodded. The man waited. "Are you going to introduce her?" the dark haired man asked. Grant growled at him. "Dr. Eleanor Kimball, Adriel Aristaios." Grant waved his hand back and forth between the two. Ellie waited for him to announce that were mates, but he stayed quiet.

  Adriel gave him a sardonic expression. "That had to be the worst introduction I have ever heard." Adriel turned to her and smiled. "Welcome to Noctem Falls. I am the Unit Leader here, and this is my mate, Eva Mae Miller." He smiled down at the gorgeous blonde before looking back up at her. "She came in with the refugees from Wolftown. Over there is the Unit Commander, Aiden McKenzie, and his second-in-command, Gavriel Ambrosios. Beside Gavriel is his mate, Elizabeth Monroe, who is niece to our prince. In the corner on the two-seater is my second in command, Declan Lionhart, and his mate, Kari Delaney, whom I assume you know, and last, but certainly not least, our Prince, Magnus Rioux."

  "It's nice to meet me, I mean you, I mean..." Ellie stammered.

  Prince Magnus walked over and took her hand in his, patting it gently. "No need to be nervous here. Come sit down. We have lots of questions for you." He steered her toward the chair. She sat down, feeling overwhelmed. Around her, the men resumed their seats.

  "How are the children?" Magnus asked.

  "When I arrived, two began to have fits. I've never seen anything like that even among humans. I can understand them not feeling well and lashing out, but for all of them to exhibit this type of aggression, I'm treating it as a symptom. Unfortunately, nothing I've seen so far explains them acting that way. From what I heard from Dr. St. John, the fevers have elevated almost overnight, and the children are complaining of pain in their limbs. There seems to be no correlation between the patients; they are different ages and from different households. My grandmother, Marjoram Johanson, who is also a trained nurse, is gathering some more information from the parents and will be collecting blood samples. We will be reviewing all factors such as recent foods or drinks that they may have ingested."

  "You think this may be an allergic reaction?" Aiden asked, interrupting.

  She shrugged. "It could be. It would make a lot more sense than them being sick; shifters just don't get sick. That's why I'm leaning toward an outside cause like a food allergy or a reaction to some type to foreign plant."

  Magnus inhaled sharply. "What type of plant?"

  "I have no idea. It could be anything. Since most of the children are wolves, it could be something specific that just affects canines. I won't know more without doing additional research. But right now, they're resting. I gave them a very low dosage of pain reliever, fever reducer, and sedative. So far, it seems to be working."

  Magnus nodded. "I am glad to hear they are feeling better. I will provide anything you need to treat them. Children are treasures, and their care has the highest priority. If you need any supplies, let Kari or me know, and we will take care of it," Magnus offered.

  Ellie was pleasantly surprised at the passion in his voice. He truly cared about the children. "Thank you so much, I will reach out to Kari if I run across anything that is needed. I've never received this type of support in any of the hospitals I've worked in. I may get spoiled." She smiled at the prince. "As of right now, I'm afraid it's a waiting game. I need to see how they react to the medicine. The next step for me is to check the blood samples my grandmother's gathering. I understand you have the start of an infirmary here?" she asked.

  "We do." Magnus nodded.

  "I have to say I'm very impressed with the equipment you have. It's all state-of-the-art. You also have every supply known to man for a NICU." She hesitated. It seemed rude to say she found it curious they had a NICU at all since there hadn't been any vampire births in decades.

  Magnus' chest puffed out. "Yes, my niece is with child so we wanted to be prepared for any eventuality."

  "Well, whoever set up the infirmary and NICU deserves a pat on the back; it's amazing. You have a lot of the heavy imaging equipment and almost everything I'll need for bloodwork, including centrifuges, electron microscopes, and refrigeration units." She paused when she saw the prince grimace. "I'm so sorry, did I step in it?" she asked.

  Magnus shook his head. "The reason most of the equipment is new is because we had to replace nearly everything when my brother's lab was destroyed. We lost a great deal of blood samples and all of his research equipment."

  Ellie winced. She couldn't imagine losing her own personal lab. She had everything set up exactly the way she liked it. "I'm sorry to hear that, what a devastating loss."

  Magnus studied her face. "I think you truly understand, more than any of us here, how much that hurt Broderick."

  "Broderick? Dr. Broderick Monroe?" she asked incredulously. Everyone in their world knew of Dr. Monroe. His research on synthetic blood was groundbreaking. "It was his lab that was destroyed?" she demanded. She was overcome with anger. That man had made strides in medicine years before his time. "Who would d
o such a thing?"

  Magnus chuckled. "He would appreciate your indignation, but yes, Broderick Monroe is my brother-in-law. He is mated to my younger brother Caspian. I have assured him that this was just a wonderful excuse to upgrade all his equipment, but he told us is not the same."

  "Of course it's not!" she exclaimed.

  Magnus's eyebrows rose, and she hastily apologized. "I'm sorry; I meant no disrespect. It's just that even if it's older equipment, it's yours. I'm not sure I can explain it. When you work in a lab like that for so long, you know without even looking that a certain microscope, let's say, has a dent in the plastic of the turning knob, and you know exactly how much to turn it to get the magnification you want. You know without looking where your tools are. It's almost like you know the calibrations for the machines better than machines do."

  "Exactly!" a voice crowed from behind them. She turned in her chair to see two men standing in the doorway. She saw relief and understanding in the smaller man's eyes. He smiled and stepped forward. She popped up out of her chair. He shook her hand. "I'm Dr. Broderick Monroe, and this is my mate Caspian Rioux. You must be Dr. Kimball."

  Ellie stood in awe. "Sir, it's such an honor to meet you."

  He shook his head. "No, thank you," he said simply.

  She looked at him in confusion.

  "Thank you for understanding. If there's anything you need as far as labwork, let me know. I'm assuming you pulled blood samples." He gently sat her back down as he and Caspian got comfortable on one of the sofas.

  "I may actually need some help later. My grandmother is getting the blood samples of the children now. I'm curious to see if they have any kind of the elevated white blood count, that sort of thing."

  Broderick nodded. "Absolutely. I would've done it sooner but the symptoms escalated almost overnight. By the time it was reported to us here on Level One, you were already on your way. We figured we'd have you run the bloodwork the way you want, so it's not secondhand for you."

  She grinned at him. "Thank you for understanding," she echoed back his sentiment.

  Caspian chuckled, and Broderick turned to his mate. "What?"

  "I think this is the first time a woman has ignored me because she cannot take her eyes off you."

  Ellie twisted her hands in her lap. "It's not that I don't think you're lovely..."

  "Oh?" Caspian teased.

  She blushed. "You are, but nerds and geeks are my rock stars."

  Caspian threw back his head and laughed. Ellie covered her mouth with both hands and turned to Dr. Monroe. "Not that I think you're a geek..."

  Broderick was smiling broadly. "I am very happy to hear that. They're my rock stars too."

  Magnus was grinning when he cleared his throat. "Was it just your grandmother or did you bring somebody else with you?" Magnus asked.

  "Just my gram came with me. She insisted on coming with me, as if I'd say no. I really didn't want to travel alone."

  "Completely understandable." Magnus smiled. "We have made arrangements for you both to stay and dine here on Level One."

  "Level One?" Ellie stared. "The royal level?"

  Magnus nodded. "Yes, the royal level," he teased. "We will want to be briefed as much possible, and it might be easier for you to do so over breakfast and meals as opposed to pulling you away from the children for additional meetings."

  "She'll be staying with me," Grant said quietly from across the room.

  She didn't know what to make of his austere manner. She felt a blush work it's way up her neck.

  "And why would she be staying with you?" Adriel asked.

  "Because she's mine," Grant said simply. The announcement silenced the room.

  Elizabeth leaned forward, meeting her eyes. "Eleanor, is that true?"

  Ellie nodded. "Yes, we figured it out upstairs." She watched him closely. Was he upset that he was forced to admit that they were mates?

  "That's wonderful news! Congratulations to both of you!" Elizabeth exclaimed, her face lighting up. She turned to her uncle. "Unky, we have to add them both to the dinner list. I want to learn all about her." She smiled at Ellie. "Grant practically helped raise me. Don't let that fierce expression fool you; he's a softie."

  "Looks like I am not the only one who found their mate in Noctem Falls," Kari teased. When Ellie turned to look at her friend, Kari had tears in her eyes. Kari knew more than anyone how much Ellie had longed for a mate.

  Ellie stuck out her tongue, and Kari laughed then retaliated, wiping her eyes.

  "All the same, you are still welcome to stay here if you prefer," Magnus offered. A low growl echoed through the room. Magnus' eyebrows rose as did Adriel's.

  "Grant?" the unit leader asked.

  Grant cleared his throat looking contrite. "Sorry, that sort of slipped out. My wolf doesn't like the idea that she will be away from us."

  "Grant keeps to himself, but you couldn't ask for a more fierce protector." Elizabeth tilted her head, smiling. "There's something to be said for the strong, silent type." She winked at Ellie. Beside her, Gavriel leaned down and nipped at his mate's neck until she squealed. Ellie had to hide a smile as she rose from her chair again. "If it's all right with you all, I'd like to head back up and sit with the children for a few more hours." She was unsure of how to act around the prince.

  "Of course," Magnus said as the men stood.

  "Promise you will make it to dinner," Elizabeth practically demanded.

  Ellie nodded. "That sounds wonderful, thank you. Though I don't know if I brought anything to wear." Her eyes went to the prince.

  Elizabeth waved her hand at her concern. "Trust me, anything will be fine. Meryn comes to dinner in zombie Care Bear tee shirts. I'm sure whatever you have will be perfect."

  "Zombie?" Ellie asked.

  "Don't get me started," Elizabeth muttered.

  Grant placed a hand on her back and steered her to the door. He looked back at the room. "We will need an escort."

  Adriel stood and walked over. "I can take you."

  "Eleanor, it was wonderful meeting you. Thank you for all you are doing for the children," Magnus said, smiling kindly.

  Blushing, she just nodded. They were about to leave when Sebastian rushed into the room from the kitchen carrying a Styrofoam cup. "I figured you will need this," he chuckled. He handed her a small Ziploc bag, which held creamer and sweetener. "Let me know whenever you need a refill." He stepped back to stand behind the prince.

  She wanted to kiss the squire. "Thank you! I so needed this." She carefully carried her coffee as she followed behind her mate and his unit leader.

  Adriel escorted them up to Level Six and then waved goodbye. Beside her, her mate didn't say a word. They walked back toward the courtyard where the children waited for them. The quiet stretched between them. Just outside the home that led to the courtyard, she stopped, unable to take the silence anymore.

  He turned and frowned at her. Behind them the bustle of the marketplace was a droning buzz, but where the houses stood was quieter. He stared down at her.

  "I..." she hesitated.

  "Yes?"

  "So, we're mates." Ellie wanted to smack her hand against her forehead. She sounded like a complete idiot.

  He nodded frowning. "Yes, I don't know how that happened."

  Ellie felt her mouth go dry. Without saying a word, she walked past him up to the door. Without knocking, she hurried through the doorway, closing the door behind her. She felt as though the weight of the world was crushing her. She had a mate who didn't want her.

  *****

  Grant frowned as Ellie walked away, shutting the door behind her. He had no idea what to say to her. Did he make her nervous? Was she scared of him? He could see that being a very plausible explanation. He was gruff and at times insensitive. He'd never received a proper education, and geeks were her rock stars. Why on earth did Fate stick her with a monster like him?

  She was beautiful, kind, and warm. He couldn't get enough of her. He reached out to touch he
r whenever he could, took advantage of any excuse to lay his hand on her back. He craved the contact. Her body was perfect, so soft to the touch. His hands were nearly shaking with the need to hold her. All he wanted was to wrap her in his arms, but he hesitated. He didn't know what she would do. Would his advances be welcome? She would probably scream. He wished he could be more like Micah. He paused, no, he didn't, well, maybe a little. Micah always seemed to know what to say to people, how to get them to smile.

  He would give anything to have Ellie smile at him like that. He'd come to terms with the fact that he was a monster years ago. But lately, it surprised him when the children latched on to him without fear. He thought children were supposed to see past face value and were good judges of character, but they all seemed to want him around. He racked his brain trying to think of a way to make her feel more comfortable around him. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt his beautiful mate. At the very least, he had to avoid distracting her while she helped the children.

  *****

  For the rest of the afternoon, Ellie threw herself into her work. As the children began to wake up from their light naps, she introduced herself. They seemed like different children than before. They were calm and smiling, nothing like the screeching banshees she'd seen earlier. Her mate was behind her the entire time. He stood like a silent sentinel. Wherever she turned, he was there. He was never in the way, just always present. She had to admit, she could understand why the children felt comforted when he was near. He seemed to exude this quiet strength, and if they were scared being sick, of course they would want him nearby.

  It was late afternoon almost evening when the symptoms began to emerge again. One by one the children began to scream, clutching at their knees, arms, and legs. Like before, they began to flail about, lashing out at their parents. Her grandmother and Dr. St. John helped her by racing around to administer more medicine. They could see it begin to take effect as the children quieted down once again on their cots.