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  Ellie was at a loss. She had no idea what was wrong. She needed to get to the lab and start on their bloodwork. It was quite possible it would take all night. She looked up to see two of the mothers in tears, their mates looking extremely worried.

  As her grandmother began gathering a second set of blood samples, she waved the distraught parents over to one side. They gathered around her. "Doctor..." one of the women started. Ellie held up her hand.

  "Listen, I am going to be very honest with you. I have no idea what's wrong with your children, but I haven't even been here a day, so that's to be expected. I'm going to let you know what I'm going to do and what our next steps are." They nodded. "As their parents, I need you to make sure they are eating and getting lots of fluids. Most of them are dehydrated due to the low fever, which will only exacerbate any kind of joint or muscle pain. My grandmother will give you a chart. Since there are so many children, we will need help keeping track of some of their activities, like bowel movements, time of complaints, and water intake. Keep track of everything. With any luck, after I look at their bloodwork tonight, we might have a better understanding of what's going on. The medicine I've given them seems to last about six and a half hours, so they should be fine for this evening. I'll come back up around midnight and give them another dose so they sleep through the night. A good night's rest should help them immensely. Sleep is one of the best healers."

  "Why do they attack us?" one mother asked brokenly.

  Ellie thought about it a moment. "I truly believe that it's not them, that it's their animals reacting. Dr. St. John"--she nodded in his direction--"may have been on to something when he used the analogy of a wounded animal. Animals in the wild tend to lash out at anything and anyone that gets near them when they are hurt and confused. They don't understand that someone may be trying to help them. All they know is that they are in pain and are scared."

  "Human children don't react like this," one of the fathers protested.

  "True," Ellie agreed. "Then again, these children aren't human. Humans are raised from infancy getting and being sick. They have runny noses and low fevers, strep throat, ear infections, even cancer. Almost from the time they are born, the world attacks them. They are simply used to that type of pain and stress on their bodies. Your shifter children have never been sick, so of course they're confused."

  The parents began to nod as if beginning to understand what the children were going through. Ellie continued. "Now, Dr. St. John and my grandmother will be with me at midnight, and we'll get everybody dosed again, but until then, we will be relying on you a great deal. I'll be heading down to Level One to attend a dinner meeting with Prince Magnus. I'll be apprising him of the situation here. He has assured me he is willing to do anything and everything it takes to make sure the children receive the best care possible."

  "Of course he has. He loves the children," Susan said, leaning into her mate.

  "Yes, he does," Eleanor agreed. "From what I understand, I can be reached with a walkie-talkie."

  Tobias held one up. "Micah left us an extra."

  "Perfect." She turned to her mate, knowing without having to look where he'd be. He met her eyes and nodded. She continued. "If you need us, call Grant and we will come as soon as we can get a level escort. We're just moments away," she assured them.

  "Thank you for coming, Doctor," Susan said, wiping her eyes.

  Grant stepped forward and once again placed a hand on her back. This time he walked in measured steps as they made their way toward the transport tunnel. Ellie watched him covertly. He was trying so very hard to walk with her. She felt a small glimmer of hope spring to life in her heart.

  When they reached the tunnel's edge, she looked around; there was no escort to be found. She frowned. "I see what you mean."

  Grant looked down at her. "What?"

  "Waiting for an escort sucks."

  He grinned at her, and her heart jumped up into her throat. He was simply gorgeous. His square jaw had a dark stubble that gave him this roguish look, and when he grinned, a little dimple appeared in his cheek. His eyes twinkled, and then she blinked and it was gone. His face was back to scowling.

  "Too late."

  "What?"

  "I saw it."

  "What?" He truly looked confused.

  "Your sexy smile."

  His eyes widened. "You think I'm sexy?"

  She didn't answer him; she simply hummed beside him. When he wasn't looking, she continued to watch him. She tried not to laugh when she noticed that as they waited, his mouth twitched furiously as if he was trying to smile again on purpose.

  After a few minutes of waiting, Grant growled and grabbed his walkie-talkie. "Casanova, come in."

  "Casanova?" she whispered.

  "Micah," he explained, and she laughed.

  "Casanova here, what do you need Big Bad Wolf?"

  Ellie covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

  "A tunnel escort."

  "There should be one up there."

  "Yes, there should," Grant muttered sarcastically.

  "Right dear, be there a minute. Casanova, Love God, out."

  "Love God, my ass," Grant groused as he reattached his walkie-talkie at his waist.

  It wasn't two minutes later when Micah appeared in the tunnel. He held out both hands. "Come, my lovelies, time to fly!"

  Grant growled and placed his hand on Micah's arm. Ellie did the same. Micah floated them down to Level One. This time she kept her eyes open. It was fascinating to see the different levels go by.

  Micah dropped them off and then waved. "Aren't you staying?" she asked. He shook his head. "Despite the abundance of beauty that is sure to be at the dinner table, it's really not my scene. Besides, I've got a game going with the twins. If I leave them alone too long, they cheat. Adieu!"

  When they could no longer see the witch, Grant turned to her. "You seem comfortable around him."

  "He's easy to talk to." Ellie saw his scowl and realized he was nervous. Feeling like she was about to risk everything, she reached out and took his hand in hers. He stared down at her in shock, his eyes riveted where their hands were joined together. It seemed like he had stopped breathing, so she started to pull away.

  "I can let go, if you don't want..." His hand tightened on hers almost to the point of pain.

  "No!" He cleared his throat. "I mean, no. This is fine." He relaxed his hand a bit. She smiled up at him, and this time, with him at her side, they made their way to the door. Grant raised his other hand to knock, but the door swung open before he had a chance to.

  Sebastian smirked at them. "Heard you were coming."

  "You heard?" Eleanor asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.

  Sebastian shook his head. "No, with the walkie-talkie. This way."

  CHAPTER FOUR

  They walked into the dining room. Unlike the antechamber, the dining room was a thousand times more intimidating. The extremely long wooden table looked like something that would have been used to serve a medieval royal feast.

  There were no less than a dozen people chatting around the large dining table and only a few she recognized from the earlier that afternoon. The men rose from their chairs as she entered.

  She smiled at everyone in turn. When she got to Aiden, the small woman at his side caught her attention. The petite woman was watching her with a slightly unfocused look in her eyes. Her short brown hair laid flat against her head, giving her an elven look. Ellie stared at her, and the woman stared back.

  Grant cleared his throat. "Eleanor, I would like you to meet Meryn McKenzie, Aiden's mate. Meryn, this is my mate, Dr. Eleanor Kimball."

  Ellie's breath caught at the sound of pride in his voice when he said the word my mate.

  Meryn tilted her head. "Pillows and blankets."

  Ellie blinked. "Excuse me?"

  "You're pillows and blankets. Something soft, comforting, and warm. Someplace to go when you're afraid." The small woman exhaled and closed her eyes. A second later, th
ey popped back open again, and the green orbs twinkled at her in an impish way. The unfocused look was gone, and a strong personality shone behind her eyes. "Yep. Pillows."

  "That was very good, Meryn. I could tell your magic only flared up a bit."

  Ellie glanced down the table at the gentleman who had spoken. He bowed. "Law Ashleigh, a pleasure to meet you. To answer the question I can see from your expression, I've been helping Meryn with her empathy. Sometimes it can get away from her."

  She smiled. "Thank you for the explanation."

  Magnus indicated the two empty chairs. "Please, join us."

  Grant steered her to the chairs, and they sat down. Once Ellie was seated, the men around the table resumed their chairs.

  "We heard you had a busy afternoon," Magnus started.

  She nodded. "A little bit after lunchtime, the children seemed to be okay, but then they started to toss and turn in their cots. A little while ago, just before we were about to come down, they all had another episode. We gave them more medicine, but I have a feeling all we're doing is putting a Band-Aid on the situation. I haven't had a chance to look at the bloodwork yet." She sighed.

  "But I have," Broderick piped up. "I just looked for basics like you said. Besides a slightly elevated white blood count, I don't see much that could explain their symptoms."

  "Thank you. I'll be looking at them again later. My grandmother is currently collecting a second set blood samples before she comes down, and I'll compare the two."

  "Grandmother?" Meryn asked.

  "Yes, she should be here any moment now."

  "Right behind you, darling," a familiar voice called.

  Ellie turned in her chair as the men once again stood. She smiled up at her grandmother; even though they had seen each other throughout the day as they treated the children, the change in their daily routine had set her on edge. She missed her evening coffee and wind down time with her.

  "Glad you could make it."

  Sebastian offered Marjoram his arm and personally escorted her to the empty chair beside Ellie. When she sat so did the men. Her grandmother leaned in and kissed her cheek. "The parents had more questions after you left, and I had to show them how to fill out their charts."

  Ellie quickly introduced her grandmother to the table. As everyone sipped their drinks, Magnus turned to Kari. "Can you let everyone know of our newest concern?"

  Kari winced. "It looks like word of the children's sickness has already reached levels three and four. Some of the noble families are concerned about their children. They are saying the wolves brought sickness to Noctem Falls, and are petitioning to get the refugees moved."

  "Nowhere is safe for them to go," Elizabeth stated.

  Ellie shook her head. "We don't even know if this is contagious. This is so unprecedented; there's no way to know where the sickness came from. If you look at this logically, the children didn't come here sick; they came here and then got sick. So whatever the cause, it's in the city; it's not because of the children."

  Elizabeth chuckled. "Yes, but you said the word logically. That attribute doesn't quite apply to some of our bigoted citizens."

  "I'm afraid I can't tell them much more, not without additional information," Ellie said.

  "Which is exactly what we told them. Until the cause can be determined, the children, of course, will stay. We will not move them while they are sick," Kari promised.

  Under the table, Grant had still not let go of her hand. She was curious to see if he was left-handed. Eating would be interesting if he wasn't, since his right hand was securely fastened to her left.

  Sebastian and a handsome Asian man came out of the kitchen and began to serve the first course.

  As they started to serve the soup, she heard her grandmother speak up. "My dear, if you keep making that face, it's going to freeze that way."

  Ellie looked over, confused. Across the table, Meryn was scowling at her grandmother. Aiden leaned over to his mate and rubbed his chin on her head, an easy feat since she was almost half his height. "Baby, what's wrong?" he asked.

  "I don't like grandmothers. They are evil," Meryn announced.

  Ellie's eyes widened. "They are not evil," she protested.

  Meryn crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes, they are."

  Elizabeth rubbed both temples with her fingers. "Meryn, you can't judge all grandmothers based on your experience."

  Meryn shrugged. "It wasn't just my grandmother; all her friends were mean, too, and they were also grandmothers. So that's like all the grandmothers I've ever met, and they were all evil. Statistically speaking, that's a one hundred percent evil grandmother ratio."

  Elizabeth just shook her head. "I've got nothing this time."

  Gavriel leaned toward Meryn. "What about Lady Fairfax? She is Sydney's grandmother."

  Meryn pursed her lips together. "Yeah, but I met her and thought she was cool before I knew she was a grandmother, so she doesn't count."

  Ellie looked over at her grandmother, unsure what say. She turned back to the small woman. "Meryn, I can guarantee you not all grandmothers are evil. Mine has been nothing but my greatest supporter, and she loves me unconditionally."

  "Maybe she's just hiding her evil." Meryn still didn't look convinced.

  "Meryn!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "That's rude." Meryn shrugged.

  "Meryn, what is she?" Law asked.

  Meryn shook her head. "I don't want to look."

  "Meryn," Law insisted.

  Meryn took a deep breath and stared at Marjoram. Her eyes narrowed and then widened as a grin tugged at her mouth. "Cookies. She's cookies."

  Ellie laughed. "Of course she is." Her grandmother rolled her eyes. Ellie leaned forward slightly. "Meryn, you're looking at the best cook ever. My grandmother's chocolate chip cookies could win world wars. Her oatmeal raisin is to die for, and her snickerdoodles will have you crying."

  Meryn eyed Marjoram as if she still wasn't sure. "I like snickerdoodles."

  "I'll tell you what, Meryn, how about I make you batch? But to get any, you have to tell me about your evil grandmother while we eat them," Marjoram bargained.

  Ellie should have known there was no way her grandmother would let Meryn live with the delusion that grandmothers were evil.

  Meryn nodded. "I could do that. I can cuss right?"

  Her grandmother sighed. "I have a feeling you'll need to."

  Meryn snorted. "Got that right."

  "You mean you will eat something besides magic pudding?" Magnus teased.

  "Pudding?" Ellie asked.

  "Ever since we came to the city, all she's been eating is meat kebobs from Level Six and Sebastian's pudding," Elizabeth answered.

  "That's not healthy. You need to have more than that in your diet," Ellie started.

  Meryn held up a hand. "I'm taking supplements."

  "Still not good enough, you need a full balanced meal," Ellie protested.

  "Especially since she is pregnant," Gavriel chimed in.

  Ellie's head snapped back around. "You're pregnant?" she asked.

  Meryn nodded. "Yup, Meryn two-point-oh is still baking."

  Ellie looked but she couldn't see Meryn's waist. Meryn was so short, everything from her breastbone down was hidden by the table.

  Meryn grinned wickedly. "I would get up to show you, but I'd have to stand on the chair. They don't like it when I do stuff like that at the dinner table."

  Ellie smirked at the woman's sense of humor.

  "Excuse me," a light male voice interrupted from her side. She looked up to find the beautiful Asian man holding up a serving spoon. "Would you care for some soup?"

  Blushing, she nodded. "Yes, please." She leaned back so that he could serve her.

  "That's Sei Ryuu. He's my squire. He's really good about keeping me breathing and bathed," Meryn informed her.

  "It is my life's struggle." He looked down at her. "Ms. Eleanor, it is wonderful to meet you. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. While my denka resides
here. I am assisting Sebastian in serving this home."

  "Thank you, and please call me Ellie." She looked around the table. "Eleanor sounds so formal."

  Her grandmother chuckled. "Your mother wanted you to have a regal name. But it wasn't five minutes after you were born that your father was calling you Ellie. Your mother was furious."

  "Why would she mad at that?" Meryn asked.

  Ellie grimaced. "Because I'm an elephant shifter. She was mad that he dubbed me 'Ellie the Elephant'."

  "Your mother didn't speak to him for a week."

  Meryn's eyes were as wide as saucers as she stared at Ellie. "Did you have huge ears?"

  Ellie frowned. "Compared to what?"

  "Your body. Like in Dumbo."

  Aiden chuckled. "Baby, in Dumbo the baby elephant was ridiculed because he was abnormal."

  Everyone turned to stare at Aiden. He blushed. "What? I believe watching human animated movies depicting other creatures greatly helps us understand their mentality toward animals."

  Meryn grinned at the others. "He also has a clownfish named Jaws." She turned to her mate. "No. Baby elephants have huge ears when they are born, and they grow into them the way kittens grow into their ears and puppies their paws."

  Aiden stared down at his mate. She was dead serious. "No baby, they don't."

  Meryn blinked. "What?"

  Beside her, her grandmother cleared her throat. "He's right Meryn; baby elephant's ears are proportionate to their bodies. They aren't floppy like in Dumbo."

  "Great! Another childhood memory down the tubes." Meryn swirled her soup with her spoon.

  "Meryn, I absolutely adore you." Magnus' smile was kind. Meryn ducked her head down, looking embarrassed.

  Ellie hesitated then met the prince's eyes. "Sir, I'd like to be able to visit the gardens tomorrow. I'd like to eliminate as many outside factors as possible."

  He nodded. "Absolutely. Whenever you are ready tomorrow, let either myself or Sebastian know, and we will open the door for you."

  "Thank you."

  "You are very welcome."

  "I hate to ruin the happy atmosphere, but has anyone found out who Marcus was referring to when he said 'they'?" Kari asked.