5. Jasmine

5

JASMINE

J asmine observed the wide, industrial-style corridor as she followed Negal and Dagor, who were carrying the prince's stasis chamber.

The bowels of the keep looked very different than the top portion, and not only because they were underground—there were no windows ,and the only light was artificial. No interior decorator had bothered to spruce up the space, and everything was utilitarian. There were naked concrete floors, walls made from blocks painted some off-white, and no pictures or plants in sight.

"I need coffee." Frankie stopped in front of the open doors of a huge commercial kitchen. "Do you think they have the stuff to make it here?"

"They do," Gabi said. "Follow me."

As Margo joined the two, Ella fell in step with Jasmine. "I wonder if the stasis chambers could hover when they were still working. It doesn't seem right that such advanced technology needs to be carried."

If self-driving cars were a reality on Earth, which was primitive compared to the planet of the gods, then the stasis chambers could probably drive themselves too.

Jasmine tried to imagine them hovering into the pod, perhaps guided by a technician or maybe self-guiding. The latter made more sense, given the advanced technology of the gods.

"Over here." Bridget waved Negal and Dagor into the clinic and then straight into one of the patients' rooms. "Put it right here on the floor."

The hospital bed had been shoved against the wall to make room for the stasis chamber, and as the two gods carried it inside and lowered it to the floor, it took up most of the floor space in the room. There were about two feet left on each side, so the doctor and the nurse could attend to the patient while he was still inside his chamber.

There was no room left for observers, though, and Jasmine hated having to stay out in the waiting room.

"Where do you want the princess?" Aru asked as he and Julian arrived with the other stasis pod.

"The next room!" Bridget called out. "It's ready for her."

Jasmine moved to stand against the wall to let them through, and when they cleared the waiting room, Kian walked in.

"Hello, Jasmine." Kian offered her his hand. "I want to thank you in person for helping us find the pod. It wouldn't have been possible without you."

"I'm glad that I was able to help." She put her hand in his and let him shake it. "I just have one favor to ask in return."

It was bold, but she had rehearsed the request for hours.

Kian let go of her hand. "What is it?"

"I want to be present when the prince is revived. The cards foretold his arrival in my life for months, and I'm eager to meet him."

Kian nodded. "I have no problem with that, but you might. He's not looking pretty at this time. Wouldn't it be better to wait until he looks less corpse-like and has some flesh on his bones?"

Jasmine swallowed. "I can't. I need to be here when he opens his eyes." She put a hand over her chest. "I feel it here that it's the right thing for me to do."

"As you wish," Kian said. "Don't say that I didn't warn you, though."

Behind him, the tall redheaded Guardian nodded. "I've seen a dude wake up from stasis once, and it turned my stomach. It's nasty, and I'm not talking just about the looks. The stink is almost worse."

Jasmine grimaced. "Thanks for the warning. I'll make sure not to breathe through my nose."

Kian walked into the first patient room, where Bridget was still fussing around the prince. "Don't do anything yet. I need Merlin to scan them first. In the meantime, Aru and I also need to discuss a few things." Jasmine couldn't see the doctor because Kian was blocking the entrance to the room, but the silence that followed was telling.

"They don't have much time, Kian," Bridget said. "I can't even hook them up to monitoring equipment because their skin is frail, and it will break if I try to attach anything to it. The sooner we douse them with pure water, the better."

Why was it so important to use pure water?

Jasmine looked around until she located the two containers each with twelve one-liter bottles of mountain spring water. That was all that was needed to revive two ancient beings from stasis?

Surely, they had more containers stacked up somewhere?

"Shouldn't you do that in the operating room?" Kian asked the doctors.

"It won't make a difference," Julian said. "We are not operating on them, and we have all we need in the patient rooms." He ran his fingers through his shoulder-length tawny hair. "I should shower and change first, though." He looked at Kian and then shifted his gaze to Aru. "When will you be ready?"

"That depends on the results of our talk." Aru looked at Kian. "Can we talk in your office?"

"Of course."

What was that all about? What did Aru have to discuss with Kian, and did it have anything to do with the prince?

Jasmine had a feeling that it did.

When the two left, Ella pushed away from the wall. "Coffee?" she asked Jasmine. "I'm sure Frankie has a fresh pot by now."

Julian had ducked somewhere inside the clinic, probably to shower and put on scrubs, but Bridget and the nurse could take care of the twins. No danger lurked down in the depths of the keep, and Jasmine felt it was safe to leave her prince in the clan doctors' capable hands.

The only thing that made her uneasy was the conversation between Aru and Kian, but it wasn't as if she could find Kian's office and eavesdrop.

"I would love some."