lia

d, my mind

What was he doing here, bleeding

had to be a conspiracy. The King's decre

k over. The man in front of me was a patient, an

tter beneath my fingers. Severe blood loss, hypovolem

arret, wrung his hands. "

," I commanded, my voice sha

tension from the carriage's far corne

was a third person in the shadows. A woman, exquis

but I recognized the scent of privilege and ar

aded. "He's a physician. He

lver wound can't be touched! It will spread the poison!

time they arrived, Jude would be a corpse. Their methods

through her hysterics. "His abdominal aorta may be severed. The only way to sa

excise, tissue-we

t. "Open... his stomach? Yo

e a mask of conflict. My

se to Jude, my voice low and clear, willi

I need to cut you open to repair the damage. I will also need to perform a... blood fusion. Give you my ow

ng as possible. It was a

, clouded with pain, struggled to focus on

to him! He's a madma

Her use of his first name

d his gaz

into an eternity. His

his lips moved. A single, rag

Do

eeded. I straightened up, my

Guard the carriag

crambled

but I silenced her with a look. "If

her flinch. She stumbled out

door shut, sea

ined through my research. It was the universal blood I had created

ath, pulling on a

he floor. My husband. A stran

just my patient. And m

ght, focused beam of the lamp, the col