Chapter Text
Something nags at the back of my mind as icy cold water drips from Xaden's hair to my collarbone. His lips are cold, but is mouth is warm and insistent, and I'm desperate for him. He kisses me thoroughly and recklessly, the way I adore, when he doesn't treat me like I'm some fragile porcelain doll.
My hands move to his chest, to his rain-drenched leather jacket. He'd appeared at Riorson House in the middle of a downpour, soaked to the bone with heat in his eyes, ranting about control and some magic number of days until he could trust himself. How he couldn't stay away.
He's kissing me like I'm the only thing grounding him, the very air he needs. It's breathtaking and overwhelmingly good — but a little nag of worry has been tugging at me. Not about his ability to stay in control. I'm not afraid of him. I trust him.
He's soaked, his skin is cold when I reach up to graze the stubble on his cheek. I thought he was trembling with anticipation, but I've just realized he's shivering.
I pull back, and he chases my lips with his mouth.
"Xaden," I murmur, my fingers moving to unbutton his flight jacket. "You're shivering."
He blinks like he hadn't realized it.
"You should get into dry clothes," I say as I tug the jacket off his shoulders, struggling as it sticks to his wet shirt beneath.
"I don't think I need clothes," he says coyly, reaching for me again, pressing his mouth to mine. Gods, that mouth, that talented tongue. I'm pressed up against him now, and he's definitely shivering. Even he can't ignore it.
"Fuck," Xaden mutters as he pulls back. He reaches for the hem of his shirt, but his fingers are stiff and his hands are shaking. He can't get a good grip to peel off his shirt, so I do it for him, worry starting to cloud the elation I'd been feeling since he showed up at my door.
His boots are next, his numb fingers ineffective as he tries again to help, cursing when he fumbles the laces. I help him out of his pants, concern washing away the remains of my arousal as I get a good look at him. His skin is gray and damp, his toes nearly white. I go to the armoire to get a set of fresh clothes for him, but when I turn back he's tripping toward the bed. He pulls the quilt from where it's been tucked around the mattress and gets it wrapped around himself.
I drop the clothes in a pile on the floor and take his hands in mine. I channel a bit of power, warming my hands, pressing the heat into his.
"Shit, sorry, shit," Xaden rambles.
"You should lie down," I whisper to him, wary of the dazed look that's taken over his eyes.
He doesn't protest, and that worries me more than anything else. He slowly shifts into bed, wrapped up in the quilt, the shaking only worsening.
"You're so cold," I say empathetically. "I'll start a fire." I do so in the hearth across the room, fanning the flames and encouraging heat into the room. Then I return to Xaden, crawling in on the other side of the bed and scooting close to him. His eyes are gently closed, lips parted and slightly gray-blue in color. His tremors are slowing, but his skin is ice cold when I brush my hand across his forehead.
Something isn't right. He's not warming up in the slightest.
He's had trouble with temperature control since nearly dying from burnout, but that hasn't affected him since… well, at least not since he's drawn power.
But it's happening now.
I can't wrap my head around what it might mean. I kiss Xaden's cheek, and his eyes flutter open and then shut.
"I have to get help," I tell him. "Be right back, don't you dare move." He doesn't nod or respond, and I can't wait for confirmation that he's understood me. I'll just have to be fast.
I go to my brother's room first. Brennan answers my coded knock immediately, so I know he wasn't asleep yet. It's past eleven now, but he's often up late with new reports coming in all the time.
"What's wrong?" Brennan asks immediately on seeing my face, flushed from my quiet sprint down the hallway.
"Xaden is here. He just got here, he flew through the storm, he's hypothermic."
Brennan's eyes flare.
"Let me get a med kit. Did you wake Durran?"
"Next on the list," I reply, leaving his door open as he goes to retrieve his things. I spin and jog back toward my room — Xaden's room, stopping one door before ours.
It takes a few sharp knocks on his door before Bodhi answers, his eyes clouded with sleep.
"Violet?"
"Come next door. Xaden just got in, but he flew through the storm and he's hypothermic."
"Shit," Bodhi mutters, stepping immediately into the hallway in his sleep clothes. Brennan has reached us by now, and I eagerly push open the door to our bedroom.
My eyes quickly scan the bed, where Xaden had been curled in the quilt, but it's completely bare.
"Oh no," I moan quietly, as we all step inside. Bodhi spots Xaden first, striding toward the fireplace and dropping next to his cousin, quick arm around his shoulder.
Xaden is huddled in his blanket, sitting upright on the hearth with his long legs folded to his chest, shivering.
"Fucking dumbass," I catch Bodhi muttering as Brennan and I approach, but there's a fond, worried edge in his tone.
I kneel next to Xaden, taking his cold hands and attempting to transfer power to them. His eyes are blank, expression dazed.
"How are you feeling, Riorson?" Brennan asks as he pushes in at my side, pressing a finger to Xaden's neck for his pulse. Xaden doesn't respond, does nothing to indicate he's even heard Brennan.
I feel my brow furrow with confusion. "He seemed so much more lucid when he got here. We were talking for a while… he's only gotten worse."
"Yeah, I never understand how this temperature regulation disorder works for him," Brennan replies, giving Xaden a quick and efficient physical exam. Xaden scowls when Brennan shifts the blanket from his shoulders to examine his back and chest. "In the past it's seemed to spiral worse and worse regardless of what we've tried to control his temperature.
"This is bad, though. Bodhi, get your shirt off so he can transfer some of your body heat." Brennan holds Xaden steady while Bodhi shimmies out of his shirt.
"This hasn't happened in a while," Bodhi says thoughtfully, taking Xaden back under his arm, as Brennan continues to check his skin and muscle tone. "Unless I missed something?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Brennan responds, and I shake my head in agreement.
"I thought maybe… being part venin had cured him of it," I admit quietly, feeling foolish even as I say it. "I don't know, it's stupid."
I keep my eyes on Xaden's hands, but I can feel Brennan's look of pity and I hear Bodhi's sigh.
Xaden shudders and groans, head falling to Bodhi's shoulder as he starts to shake again. Bodhi adjusts hold around Xaden, and Brennan tucks the quilt around both Xaden and Bodhi.
"That's good, shivering is better than unresponsive," Brennan says. "Xaden?"
"Fuck," Xaden grits out, curling into himself as Bodhi pulls his cousin closer still, his other hand wrapping around Xaden's arm and rubbing for friction heat.
"Keep him by the fire, Bodhi. Violet, come with me. We'll be back with hot water bottles and something warm to drink."
I stand and retrieve another blanket from the armoire, draping it around the two men huddled by the fireplace, and then I leave with my brother.
It takes a while to boil enough water to fill a few hot water bottles and have some left for tea and cocoa. When Brennan and I return twenty some minutes later, Bodhi has moved the armchair closer to the fire so he can lean his back against it, and he's got Xaden's back against his chest. Both blankets are wrapped around Xaden, and I can hear them talking softly.
I smile as I set the tray by the fireplace, kneeling to pour mugs of tea for me and Xaden, cocoa for Bodhi and Brennan.
"There's the one I want to snuggle," Xaden snickers weakly, trying to push up off of Bodhi to move closer to me, but Bodhi tightens his hold.
"You can snuggle her when you can retain body heat," Bodhi says, keeping Xaden close.
I nod encouragingly at Xaden. "You're looking better," I say with a hopeful smile.
"Anything feel numb or painful?" Brennan asks.
"I can't feel my feet," Xaden mutters, reluctant to admit it.
Brennan lifts the blanket from Xaden's feet and sets a hot water bottle over them. He instructs Xaden to hold another on his chest, and directs Bodhi to get the third settled behind Xaden's neck.
I coax more warmth from the fire and settle next to Xaden and Bodhi, my hands around Xaden's as he attempts to drink. He's still trembly and clumsy, but he manages to drink most of his tea, and it seems to help. His shivers become less and less frequent, and the color is coming back to his face. He's quiet, though, worn out and exhausted from shivers and tight muscles.
Xaden slips into sleep while the rest of us finish our drinks, and Bodhi's head soon falls atop Xaden's. I smile at the sight of them, two giant Tyrs asleep on the floor, wrapped up together.
Brennan leaves for his own bed, telling me with a yawn that I should wake him with any concerns. I find a new blanket and curl up in bed, my eyes on Xaden until I can't keep them open any longer.