The past week has been a whirlwind of activity—training, exploring, relaxing, and a ton of long conversations. So, I shouldn't be surprised when I wake up coughing in the middle of the night. The force of it causes me to sit up in bed immediately. My head is pounding, and I have sinus drainage from hell.

Ugh, I hate these end of summer colds. How did I think I would avoid it just because I'm living in Aevum now, especially when I've spent afternoons out in the cold. I cough again and glance down at Cane, who shifts onto his other side, and I take that opportunity to slide out of bed.

As soon as my feet hit the hardwood, I feel it. That telltale tightness in my chest. I'm not having an attack yet, but it could easily turn into one.

I need my inhaler. I tiptoe across the room and close the door behind me with a quiet click and make my way to my room. Pulling the backpack I took when I ran away out from under my bed, I retrieve the plastic canister out of the side pocket, and when I shake it, my heart sinks.

It's empty.

I put the inhaler to my lips and inhale anyway, and I get less than half of a puff of medication, which doesn't do much to combat the shortness of breath.

Fuck. I never asked him about getting me more inhalers. How could I be so stupid?

I dig through the other pockets in the backpack, looking for a second inhaler, even though I already know there isn't one. I know there can't be. Because the only one I had was the one Cane was carrying around the island for me...

My heart squeezes when I remember that little tidbit, which doesn't help the tightness in my chest situation.

Being with Cane this past week in our new...situationship has honestly done a number on my heart rate as it is. He hardly lets me out of his sight, but it's no longer because he thinks I'm going to run away or because he doesn't trust me not to go through his stuff—the man always wants to be close to me.

We are always near each other, sometimes even touching, even the smallest of touches gets me all twisted up inside—his legs ending up tangled with mine when we sleep, my head resting on his shoulder as we watch tv on the couch, our fingers intertwined as we walk down the streets of the Yeti village, which I have since learned is called Snjókarlaþorp, which is literally Icelandic for Snowman Village. Cane informing me of that fact was the cutest thing I've seen or heard in a while.

Believe me, I know it's bizarre. To be with Elias's twin brother after being with him. But I'm mated to Cane too. I can't ignore my connection with him any more than I can ignore being a Dreamwalker.

Cane is a part of me.

So is Elias. But he fucked that up.

I cough again, startling myself with the volume of it. It's been a long time since I've woken up feeling like this, and the last time, it was because I was sick with the flu. For fuck's sake, I hope that's not what's wrong now.

I get to my feet and feel the room spin around me. Grabbing onto the bed to steady myself, I slowly walk into the bathroom and open the medicine cabinet out of pure desperation. Why would there be an inhaler in there when—

The little yellow handheld device with an orange cap sitting right there on the shelf at eye level freezes me in place, my heart beginning to race.

"What the hell?" I murmur, pulling it out and reading the label just to make sure it's actually the medication I use.

It isn't easy to just...get inhalers. They're by prescription only. Cane would've had to go through a lot of trouble to do that. And not just in the last couple of days. He had to have done that when I first got here...when we were still at each other's throats.

When I see the name of the medication is indeed correct, I'm popping the cap off to take a dose as I walk back into the bedroom. Just as I do, the lightheaded feeling returns, my heart racing faster, and not because of Cane's sweet gesture.

This is an asthma attack, just a quieter one than usual. I struggle to get the cap off because my hands are shaking so badly, and before I can get the inhaler to my lips, the world tilts, and Cane's name barely leaves my lips on a whimper before I crumple to the carpet.

The inhaler breaks free of my grip, and the panic of hitting the floor sends everything into overdrive. I gasp for Cane again, terrified that he won't hear me. My hands fumble around the floor, searching for my inhaler. Everything on the outer edge of my sight goes fuzzy as I fight to get enough air in my lungs. This can't be how it all ends, not when I still have so much to explore.

The bedroom door slams into the wall, sending my already racing heart into light-speed. Like a slow-motion action sequence, Cane sweeps his hand along the floor behind me and has me in his arms administering my medication. I stare up at him as I breathe in, and my lungs begin to open again.

"Fuck, you're burning up, Cordelia," he says, brushing my hair away from my damp face.

"No, I—I'm freezing," I say through chattering teeth.

He tilts his head to the side. "I assume you can breathe now, since you're arguing with me again?"

I narrow my eyes at him but just burrow into his chest. "I'm cold," I insist.

He shakes his head and scoops me into his arms. I'm starting to believe that the vampire not only doesn't want to let me out of his sight, but he is determined to carry me everywhere.

Walking back to his room, he places me in his bed and grunts his disapproval when I pull the blankets around me. Hurrying to his side of the bed, he grabs the tablet he reads from off his nightstand. His deft fingers move over the screen, and he is set into motion.

I close my heavy eyes, listening to the sound of a faucet, and the shaking of pills. Cane's footsteps are swift against the floor as he carries on with his tasks. He returns to my side of the bed and gently says, "I need you to sit up for me, Delia."

He helps me up, and I look at everything in his hand—the glass of water, two pills, and a damp washcloth. After swallowing the fever reducer, I say, "Where did you get that?"

He shrugs and presses the damp cloth to my forehead as he guides me back into the pillows again. "I ordered a human first aid kit when you first arrived."

If my body didn't feel like I was being crushed under a boulder, I would have told him how sweet that is. You know, minus the fact that the only reason he needed the kit was because he kidnapped me. Still, I do manage to tell him thank you.

"Is that where you got the inhaler too?" I ask after I swallow the pills.

He chews the corner of his lip and avoids my gaze. "Not exactly. That one was a little harder to come by."

"What do you mean?" I press, playing dumb like I don't know how difficult it would be to get them to the supernatural realm without my prescription in hand.

"Well, since those are a human prescription, I couldn't just order them from where I order all my other stuff." He gives me a wry look. "Or where you go on your shopping sprees. I had to get...creative."

"What'd you do, pretend to be a doctor and write out a prescription?" I ask, and when I laugh at my own joke, I start coughing again.

Cane shakes his head and drops down onto the bed next to me, patting me on the back soothingly until I settle down. "Sorry." I shoot him a sheepish smile.

"That's what you get for thinking I'd ever commit fraud." When I raise an eyebrow, he shrugs. "Yeah, I totally would. Especially for you. And in this case, I had to. Supes don't suffer from the same aliments as humans. Thankfully, our realm isn't as oblivious to your realm as yours is to mine. Human things are in high demand in Aevum and there is a black market, if you will. I had to hire an acquisitionist to help me. I made sure to keep checking that your other inhaler didn't run out while I was waiting for them to acquire a few for me."

My heart swells at his admission. He went through all that trouble. For me.

"Wow," I say, no trace of sarcasm in my voice. "Thank you. That—that means a lot to me." Another thought enters my mind and I look up at him. "Hey, did you...did you carry an inhaler around the island all the time? Just in case—you ran into me, and I needed one?" It sounds stupid the minute it comes out of my mouth. Why would he have done that back then? "It's okay if you didn't, I mean, I would never expect that of you. Honestly, I thought Elias had been doing that but then there at the end when I desperately needed it, you're the one who came through, and—"

He looks around the room and slides his hands in his pockets like he might find my inhaler in there now. A beat passes as he gathers his thoughts and then says, "I might have. But I knew that last night on the island was bound to be a shit show, so I made sure to have it with me if you needed it."

I shake my head in disbelief. "You're something else, Cane Dagon. You saved my life that night. You're getting pretty good at that. I—" A thought strikes me, and I cock my head to the side. "Wait. How did you get one of my inhalers to carry with you? You couldn't have known about my asthma before you got to the island."

His face flushes and he scratches the back of his neck. "Well, I started getting concerned when you were out at all hours of the night. You didn't always carry a bag or anything with you, so I worried. I went to your room one night when I knew you were staying with Elias."

"You what?" I ask with halfhearted indignation. It's actually a sweet gesture.

He holds up his hands. "I tricked the ghoul into letting me in just to grab the inhaler. I pretended I was Elias. It was easy. I swear I didn't go through your stuff."

I chew on the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. "You're such a stalker."

He scrunches his nose and shrugs. "Caught me."

Something else crosses my mind. "You said you saw me out late at night..." I start, wringing the blankets between my fingers. "Did you ever—" I take a deep breath before a cough escapes my throat.

He leans down and pulls the blankets under my chin. "Enough questions. We will have time for you to bombard me with all your thoughts when you are feeling better. Now is time to sleep."

I open my mouth to put up a fight but end up yawning instead. "Okay. Okay. You're right. But this conversation isn't over."

"I didn't expect it to be. I'll check on you in a bit, just call for me if you need anything."

"I will."

Cane smiles and leaves the room.

A thousand thoughts swim through my head. First and foremost is how sweet Cane can be. Yet a nagging feeling contaminates the positive. He has kept a close eye on me from the start, and he wasn't forthcoming in telling me who he was. I have to wonder if it was our soul bond or did Cane have another reason for doing the things he did? Too many questions and not enough strength to ponder them all, but I will get my answers.