"Look at this bath bomb I found you," Ryder said from outside the tub. It had become our nightly ritual. He would carry me from my vegetation point on the couch to the bathroom and run a bath that was the perfect temperature for him. I preferred baths and showers that would melt my skin off, but I had no way of communicating that with him.

He would hoist me in the tub once I was bare and settle me gently into the water. We would watch one of his bath bombs fizzle in the water together – this one a beautiful plum that had a wonderful lavender scent and enough glitter for a parade. He would let me soak for a while as he chatted about his day. Right now, it was mostly just small things for Keiko and Ajax. I didn't know if it was because he no longer felt able to complete his previous job or if he simply refused to leave the property because I was here.

Once he would finish telling me about his day, he would gently dunk my head so my hair and scalp would get wet, then massage some shampoo in. well, it was more of a scrub, really. He didn't have the gentlest touch like the queen did, with him it felt like it was more about efficiency than it was pampering. The conditioner and rinse were no different, but I wasn't blind to the way that he was trying. Sometimes he had the queen show him new ways to braid my hair or would grill her about products to use. He even took my skin care out of my rental and brought it over. He didn't do the process in the order I would have, but I always started my day with SPF on my skin and ended with a moisturizer.

He tucked me into bed – plumping my pillow and silk pillow case every night – then he would give me a chaste kiss goodnight.

Tonight was different. I could see it in the hard lines of his face in the lamplight. Soothing fingers brushed over the scar on the side of my neck which sent a pulse of electricity down my spine, but my body refused to respond to it. "I didn't mean to," he whispered, like the quiet words could make the reality disappear. "I swear to God, I barely remember any of it. I was in the woods. I was far away from here. I remember feeling the heat, I tried to get further away from you in the beginning. Then, it just got worse. I couldn't stop. And then you were bleeding and..."

He swallowed hard, turning away. "George. Georgia, I'm so sorry. If I had known... I wish that I never walked into that café. Fuck, sometimes—" His voice got really quiet then and he couldn't stand looking at me, eyes locked completely on the wall above the headboard. "Sometimes, I wish that Keiko never found me after my parents were killed. I wish that I had just kept drinking and drinking. At the rate I was going, there's no way. There's no way that I would make it long enough to be here, to have done this to you."

The touch on his cheek was featherlight. He flinched as if he had been slapped. Frankly, I was so startled that it was my hand touching him, that I almost flinched too.

"Georgia?" Tears trickled down his cheeks, cutting down his jawline before dripping onto his soft teeshirt.

"Mine," I rasped.

And he was. he was mine with all of the scars on his fingers and arms. He was mine with his ugly tan lines for always wearing gloves on the mountain bike. He was mine with the scratchy stubble on his jaw line and the terrible jokes. And I wanted every stumble, every failure that he brought. It hurt me to think of him wasting away, drinking the ache away in bars, but that was the man I loved. The idea of losing him, even if it came with the freedom to move my body again, to speak my own words, it was brutal. Unbearable.

"I'm all yours, Georgia. I promise. And I promise that I'm going to stay sober and I'm going to take care of you."

I wanted to stay with him. I wanted to tell him that he was doing everything perfect. And that I could respect his decision and understand if he needed to take a break. But the dreams were calling. She was there, the woman with glowing freckles and her marbles. I knew it wasn't really her, just a ghost of what I knew. But I went to her anyway.

Time passed without me knowing. A woman with a stethoscope was there. The dreams were there too, nipping at me, trying to grab hold of me so they could drag me back in. And now, I knew I needed to stay.

"Ajax, you're looking much better," the woman greeted.

The king had a plastic tool set sprawled around him. The little girl with dark hair was using a replica of a drill on his knee, claiming he had loose bolts that needed to be tightened there.

"I'm feeling a lot better, but you were right, it did take some time for the potion to work."

The woman stiffened. "It's not a potion. I didn't pick some flowers and mushrooms and cast a spell on them. I took samples and made educated decisions led by the results."

"It's a scientific potion, then. Because magic is most definitely involved and if you took it to a human doctor, they would think you are insane," Ajax countered. "But I appreciate it, very much so. I couldn't take another day of feeling like that."

"And you didn't notice any side effects?"

"Nothing beyond what was already ripping through me."

"Good. I know that there is still a risk, but I think that we should try giving Georgia a small dose."

Ajax sat up at that, using one hand to prop himself up on the rug. Clementine was entirely displeased with this, huffing loudly and crossing her arms. Ajax smoothed his free hand down her dark hair. "So, you think she was poisoned then?"

"I think there is a chance. It's impossible to know for sure. The only reason we were able to trace anything was because we had the source there. It was undetectable in your blood stream and showed no other physical signs. As it stands, Georgia is a perfectly healthy girl. So this is the only thing we really have to go on."

The sound of the front door opening and closing made everyone still. I felt his presence like stepping into a heated building on a cold winter's day.

"The conversation dying as soon as I come into the room is never a good sign," Ryder said.

It was like watching a movie, all of the action happening out of frame and I could do nothing to pan the camera. I wanted to crane my neck and shoot him a grin that would melt him into a puddle. Alas, I would have to settle for Ajax. Who suddenly got a little pale and tenser.

"We need to talk, Ryder," the king sighed.

Ajax explained his ordeal with the baked good seeming to almost kill him. Ryder commented that he had been entirely unaware of this, but a simple glance was enough to remind him that, at the time, he hadn't given a single damn about his king. Ajax continued on, explaining that the doctor had found something odd in the baking, something that was similar to slow acting poison. Magical certainly, but not entirely werewolf. She had been able to form an antidote, a liquid that could counteract the effect on werewolves.

"Someone tried to poison you," Ryder reasoned. "It seems a little...quiet and sneaky for the werewolf hunters considering they sent her in to shoot you. And how would someone even gain access to your personal fridge. You guys prepare all of your own food when you're here."

Ajax sucked in a breath, scraping his hand through his hair. "When we moved Georgia out of the assisted living complex, we cleaned out her fridge. We wanted to make it easier on the staff, even if it was going to be an entire mess for them one way or another. And some of that food ended up here."

For a moment, there was nothing but heavy silence. "I'm not understanding, Ajax. Are you saying that she planned this somehow? Or are you implying that she was poisoning herself?"

"We don't know where she got it from or if she made it herself. We have no idea," Ajax said carefully. "I'm not here to imply anything. All I'm trying to tell you is that we might have a remedy for it. I consumed the elixir and have had no issues. She could be our first—"

Ryder took a few long strides, entering my frame of few. "No." Fingers flexed at his sides and I wondered how many times in the past while that he wanted to punch Ajax.

"Ryder—"

"I said no," he snapped.

"I took it and I am completely fine. If I hadn't taken it, I might still be lying in bed and vomiting every time I tried to eat something."

The redness started at his cheeks, spreading rapidly. And with each word, his volume rose. "You have taken a medicine designed for werewolves. You are a werewolf. She is a human. A fucking human, Ajax! And whatever is in her now, has led her to be like this! We can't just mix up some cocktail of spells, science, and magic and shove it down her throat. Human mates have died from far less experimental things."

"Ryder, this may be our only chance right now."

"No," he seethed. "You've done enough, boy-king."

It was the first time that I had realized that Ajax was indeed visibly younger than Ryder. Most of the time, with a child nearby and a kingdom to run, it was easy to think of him as a man. But there was no denying that he was terribly young to be a monarch.

Somehow, he didn't even flinch at Ryder's lash.

"What would she want?" he asked. "Because this isn't about me or you, is it? It's about saving her, and maybe some others."

"Until she can say or indicate what she wants, I'm not agreeing to it. I'm her partner, not her ruler. I do not understand the medical field in the slightest, regardless if it's the human side or the werewolf side. I cannot ask her to take risks like this."

Slowly, the redness began to recede. He stood deathly still in that room, looking rumpled and torn, but thousands of miles away. "The café sold cinnamon buns," he whispered to himself.

"As cafes often do," Ajax agreed.

Ryder's chin ticked up. "I'm going to busy for the next couple of days. I think someone owes me some answers."

~~~Question of the Day~~~

What is your favorite recent purchase?