When Roxy closed her eyes and fainted, her body simply shut down.

The loud crying, the massive heartbreak, and the huge relief had all been way too much for her human heart to handle. She was completely worn out.

Zarek caught her easily before she could hit the floor. He lifted her up into his strong arms like she weighed nothing at all. He held her close to his chest and carried her quickly down the hallway to the big, soft bed in the master bedroom.

But sleep did not bring her any quick peace.

That night, a terrible, scary fever took over her body. Her skin turned bright red and felt as hot as a burning fire. She tossed and turned on the soft mattress, sweating and shivering at the exact same time.

She mumbled quietly in her sleep, having bad dreams because her body was fighting so hard to recover from the awful stress of the past few months.

The six men went into full protection mode. They were totally terrified.

They locked the penthouse doors tight. They absolutely refused to let any human doctors come near her. They didn’t trust the human hospitals at all. The last time she was in a hospital, a human doctor had told them her heart might stop, and it had scared them half to death. They decided they were going to fix her themselves.

Ren and Caspian used to be the greatest healers in the entire Beastworld because they bore magic of a trickster and the sea. Even without their magic, they still knew exactly how a body worked. They knew how to listen to her heartbeat, how to check her breathing, and how to tell when she needed water.

But Earth sickness was a little different from Beastworld sickness. They needed human medicine to bring the hot fever down.

So, Syris went to work. The Swamp King was the smartest of them all. He sat in a chair right next to her bed with a giant stack of heavy human medical books and a bright computer screen. He didn’t sleep for a whole day. He just read and read. Because his brain was so fast and clever, he easily learned Earth’s whole ideology of medicine.

He figured out exactly what human pills would fix her fever and what sweet syrups would stop her from shaking. He told the guards downstairs to buy the best medicine in the city and bring it up immediately.

For three straight days, the fever burned. And for three straight days, none of the six men ever left the bedroom.

They didn’t sleep in their own beds. They barely stopped to eat. They just crowded around her, taking turns making sure she was safe. Torian sat at the foot of the bed, his big hands gently rubbing her tired legs. Zarek sat by her side, holding her hot hand and rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.

Whenever she got too hot, Kaelen and Caspian would dip soft, white towels into bowls of freezing cold water. They would wring the water out and place the cool towels very gently on her burning forehead. When she whimpered in her sleep, they leaned down and whispered sweet, loving words into her ear until she calmed down.

They nursed her around the clock. They poured all their love into keeping her safe.

On the morning of the fourth day, the room was very quiet.

The sun was shining brightly through the big glass windows, filling the bedroom with warm, golden light. The birds were singing somewhere far outside.

Roxy took a slow, deep breath. The air didn’t burn her lungs anymore. She didn’t feel hot, and she wasn’t shaking. Her body felt light and rested. Slowly, she fluttered her green eyes open.

The horrible fever had finally broken in the middle of the night.

Roxy blinked at the ceiling. Her head felt completely clear. The heavy fog that had been sitting in her brain was entirely washed away.

But the most amazing change wasn’t just in her body. It was deep inside her heart. The heavy, dark depression that had been killing her—the awful, crushing feeling that made her want to jump off a bridge—was totally gone.

In its place was a quiet, beautiful peace.

She had finally said her goodbyes. She had seen her beautiful children smiling at her. She knew they were strong, she knew they were happy, and she knew they loved her.

The giant, bleeding hole in her chest had finally closed up and started to turn into a scar. She would always miss them, but the pain wasn’t dragging her down into the dark anymore. She was ready to live again.

Zarek was sitting in the chair beside her bed. When he saw her green eyes open and looking around the room, he let out a huge, shaky breath of pure relief. He leaned over and kissed her forehead softly, checking her temperature one last time.

"You’re cool," Zarek whispered, giving her a tired but incredibly happy smile. "You came back to us."

Roxy smiled back at him. Her throat was a little dry, but she felt wonderful.

A few minutes later, Ren walked into the bedroom. When he saw she was awake, his silver eyes lit up. He hurried out to the big kitchen and came right back carrying a pretty bowl of warm chicken soup. It smelled like salt, butter, and rich broth.

Ren helped Roxy sit up, placing a bunch of fluffy pillows behind her back so she was comfortable. He sat on the edge of the bed and carefully fed her a spoonful of the warm soup.

It tasted absolutely perfect. As she ate, the warm soup made her tummy feel full and happy. She felt so safe and so incredibly loved.

She was just finishing her fifth bite of soup when the heavy bedroom door opened a little wider.

Kaelen and Syris walked into the room. They were both wearing nice, clean clothes. They looked very serious, like men who were on a very important mission, but they had soft, happy smiles hiding on their faces. Kaelen was holding a sleek, dark folder in his hands.

They walked over to the bed. Ren moved out of the way, giving them space. Kaelen sat on one edge of the mattress, and Syris sat gracefully on the other side.

"It is so good to see the light back in your eyes, my sweet Matriarch," Syris said gently, his green eyes shining.

Roxy swallowed her mouthful of warm soup. She gave them a bright, real smile. "I feel much better," she whispered. "Thank you for taking care of me. All of you."

Kaelen nodded. He looked down at the sleek folder in his hands, tapping his long fingers against the cover. He looked back up at Roxy, his bright blue eyes very serious.

"Before you fell asleep for three days, you gave us an order," Kaelen began smoothly. "You told us that we should start all over."

Roxy nodded slowly. She remembered. She had meant it, too.

"We took those words very seriously," Kaelen continued, opening the sleek folder. Inside were lots of fancy human papers with stamps and shiny seals on them. "Since we are starting over in this world, we want to do it right. We want to seal our bond under the laws of this Earth, so the whole world knows that you belong to us, and we belong to you."

Roxy blinked. She stopped chewing.

Syris reached out and gently tucked a dark curl behind her ear. He gave her a perfect, devastating smile.

"We are getting married in New York," Syris said simply, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Roxy’s green eyes went as wide as dinner plates. She gasped, choking on the broth. She leaned forward and completely spewed out a mouthful of warm soup right onto the white blankets.

"What?!"