Chapter 15
Rhea’s POV
.e, it was really
“A… Alaric Vale?” I whispered, my jaw dropping. Grunting, I tried rolling him over to the side and promĮ him. With trembling hands, I slightly caressed his face, running my fingers down his handsome face. He was younger than the last time I saw him, before I died. I touched his closed eyes, frowning slightly, these eyes that had cried for me despite our
relationship, despite my scorn for him and his circumstances, and yet…
“Mhm…” He groaned, pain filling his features as he turned his head slightly to the side. He was feeling uncomfortable. But I
didn’t know what to do!
“Okay think, Rhea, think.” I muttered under my breath, shaking my head. I looked around desperately and spotted the bathroom door slightly open. Maybe if I could get him into a cold bath, it would help bring down the effects of the drug. But first, I had to get
him there. Somehow.
“Alright, big guy.” I huffed, crouching beside him, “You are lucky I’m the one you met.” Bracing myself, I hooked my arms under
his and started trying to drag him toward the bathroom.
It was, without exaggeration, like trying to drag a sleeping bull. He slumped against me, dead weight, nearly toppling me face-
first onto the carpet.
“Good grief, what do you eat, bricks?!” I gasped, struggling as I inched us forward a few pathetic centimeters at a time.
At one point, his hand somehow managed to land on my butt, and I yelped, smacking it away.
“Hands to yourself, Mr. Vale!” I hissed, my cheeks burning.
He only let out a soft groan, completely unaware of his crime. After what felt like an entire Olympic event, I finally, miraculously, managed to half–carry, half–drag him into the bathroom. Sweating and panting like I’d just climbed a mountain, I looked at the
bathtub.
Then at him.
Then at the bathtub again.
How the hell was I supposed to get him inside?
“Alright, Rhea.” I muttered, squaring my shoulders, “You’ve survived worse. You can do this.”
With all the strength I could summon, I heaved him up by the waist, muttering words of encouragement to myself (and a few curses) under my breath. At one point, he slumped fully onto me and I almost went splat against the tub.
“Sweet mother of-! You are officially banned from ever coming into a hotel, you absolute unit…!”
Somehow, some miraculous way, I tipped him over the edge and he landed inside the bathtub with a heavy thud and a low grunt.
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Chapter 15
+25 Bonus
“Sorry!” I winced. Without wasting another second, I turned on the cold water and grabbed the detachable shower head, spraying
him ruthlessly.
He jerked slightly under the icy blast, mumbling incoherently.
“Yeah, that’s right. Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.” I muttered, soaking him until his dark hair clung to his fr
pooled around him.
and the water
Once I was sure he wasn’t about to combust into flames, I quickly pulled out my phone with trembling fingers and called the club
manager.
The line picked up after the first ring.
“Miss Rhea?” The manager answered breathlessly, almost as if she had been waiting for my call.
“Come to Room 619.” I said, wiping the sweat from my forehead, “Now.”
A brief pause.
“Yes, Miss Rhea. Right away.”
I hung up, dropping the phone onto the counter and staring down at the dripping, half–conscious Alaric Vale in the bathtub.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long as within minutes, the manager came. She took one look at the situation and immediately
got to work without asking questions.
“He was drugged.” I explained quickly.
“I felt that was the case.” She muttered and rushed to the cabinet at the side of his bed, unlocked it and took out a box, “He’ll
need medication to neutralize the aphrodisiac.” She said, reaching into the small medical kit she’d brought with her, “And hydration. Lots of it.”
“You just took it out from…”
“Yes Miss Rhea, this has happened before. A lot of times. Please help me carry him up.”
I helped her prop him up slightly while she administered the antidote shot, my arms straining again under his weight. Alaric groaned, his head rolling against my shoulder as if even that small movement was too much. After the injection, the manager
handed me a few cold packs wrapped in towels.
“Apply these to bring his fever down. I’ll have some electrolyte fluids sent up.”
And then she was gone, as quick and efficient as she’d come.
I looked down at Alaric and sighed heavily, “You’re really putting me through the wringer tonight, you know that?” I muttered, pressing a cold pack gently to his forehead.
He whimpered slightly, a soft sound that made my heart pinch painfully.
“Delicate.” I said out loud before I could stop myself, brushing a wet strand of hair away from his forehead, “The great Alaric
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Chapter to
Vale… so delicate.”
A huff of laughter escaped me, half exhausted, half hysterical.
+25 Bonus
twenty
ons the staff had
The night stretched long and heavy, I sat beside the bed where I had moved him to, replacing the cold packs- minutes, wiping down his face, making sure he stayed conscious enough to drink the water and electroly! dropped off. His fever spiked at some point after midnight, and panic gnawed at me. I whispered soothing nonsense to him, wiped his chest with cool clothes, and muttered prayers I hadn’t said in years.
“You’re going to be fine.” I told him fiercely, squeezing his limp hand in mine,
“I didn’t bust my back dragging you across this room just for you to check out on me now.”
Somewhere between switching out another cold compress and adjusting the towel under his head, exhaustion finally caught up with me. I curled up on the floor beside the tub, resting my head on my folded arms, watching his steady, shallow breathing.
“I think I’ll close my eyes just for a second.” I murmured before falling asleep.
A soft rustle stirred me awake.
Blinking against the pale morning light filtering through the bathroom door, I shifted, my neck stiff and sore from the hard floor. A strange weight pressed on my arm, and when I lifted my gaze, I found myself staring straight into a pair of vivid, dazed gray eyes. Alaric Vale was awake, and he was staring at me like he was seeing a ghost.
“A… Alaric?” I called out his name softly, tilting my head to the left. His eyes followed by movements and he let out a breathy
gasp.
“R… Rhea? You… You’re alive?”
