Free Fated Healing [Kindred of Arcadia 5] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) by Alanea Alder Page B

ass.”
    Felix forced a smile.
    “Go on, take care of your mate. After everyone has recovered we have a party to plan,” Bran said,
    smiling at Felix. Felix smiled back and turned to walk out.
    “I’m gonna get so fucked up,” he whispered to himself.
    “Heard that!” Emmett called out.
    “Busted!” Duncan yelled. Felix smiled a genuine smile and flipped them both off, causing them to
    laugh. Feeling better than he had in a few days, he went to feed his man.

    * * * *

    “You shouldn’t have let me sleep so long,” Claybourne complained. Though he had to admit he did feel
    better. Felix rolled his eyes.
    “Oh no, you slept a whole four and a half hours! Gasp! Eat your sandwich,” Felix ordered.
    “What about the patients?” Claybourne asked, sipping on the soup.
    “The Arkadions, Bran, and Liam are walking the gym. They know what to do. Sandwich. Now. While
    we eat lets go over some of our notes. We’ll be productive and eating at the same time.” Felix handed
    Claybourne his notebook. Claybourne rubbed his eyes and looked down at his notes.
    “You’re the best, Felix. All right then, let’s look at what we know,” Claybourne began.
    “It’s a short list,” Felix grumbled.
    “Okay, we know that Brayburn was the first case,” Claybourne said. Felix stopped him.
    “Technically we don’t know that she was the first case, she was the first case we saw. We can’t use that
    to establish a timeline,” Felix said. Claybourne’s mouth dropped. He had never considered the possibility
    that she wasn’t the first case.
    “You know, if you keep giving me looks like that, you’re going to give me low self-esteem. I’m smart, I
    went to college and nursing school. Give me some credit.” Felix glared at his mate.
    “Sorry, you were just so hot right then my brain got stuck,” Claybourne admitted.
    “Well when you put it like that, entirely okay.” Felix leaned in and kissed his mate.
    “Okay, so Brayburn was the first reported case. Then Damian, then Ma. They all were sick enough to
    search me out on the same day. Brayburn is worse off due to her age. Whatever this is, it zaps your strength
    and she didn’t have a lot to begin with. It affects only shifters, regardless of animal group, not humans or
    vampires. Epinephrine has no effect at all. We tested on Brayburn and then later on Damian. It didn’t even
    increase the heart rate, which is a physical impossibility.” Claybourne read from his list.
    “It has an incubation time between twenty-four and forty-eight hours. It hits hard and fast, like it means
    to kill,” Felix said. Claybourne looked up sharply. His small mate’s keen perceptions always seemed to
    contradict his sometimes spastic behavior. But he had to admit that his mate was truly brilliant. Felix simply
    didn’t care what people thought about him and said whatever popped into his head.
    “Why do you say that?” he asked. Felix put his notes down.
    “Most illnesses don’t hit this quick. The way this one affects the host. Makes it weak and tired. Not
    many people would go to the doctor for that, they would just go to bed. Once in bed this thing has eight to
    twelve hours to really spread. When they wake up and still aren’t feeling well they may go to the doctor, but
    there are no visible symptoms. You examined all three and came up with the same diagnosis that I would
    have. Dehydrated and run down. So we advise them to go home and get more rest. This thing has another
    eight to twelve hours to spread, but this time with a fever to further weaken the body. By the time we begin
    to administer more fluids and Tylenol, this thing has a solid foothold. But by then it’s too late, they are too
    weak to fight this off.” Felix shook his head. “I’m just guessing,” he said.
    “No, that’s good. It’s really good. But we caught it, we had three people come down with it at the exact
    same time, which put us on alert. That alone may have saved the town.” Claybourne put