h4Chapter 62: 62 - I’ll be next/h4

    62

    ~Lisa’s POV

    I couldn’t believe my eyes.

    One minute, Petra wasughing and mocking me, and the next... she was hunched over, her hands on her stomach, groaning in pain.

    "Ugh... what’s... happening?" she whimpered, her body trembling.

    I took a step back, my heart thudding. "Petra?"

    Cecilia gasped beside me. "No... no, no, no..."

    Petra fell to her knees, coughing violently. Blood sprayed from her mouth, sttering across the tiled floor. My eyes widened. My breath caught in my throat.

    "She’s... she’s vomiting blood," I whispered.

    Cecilia looked panicked. "She wasn’t supposed to eat that! That food..."

    My head whipped around. "What was in the food, Cecilia? What did you give me?!"

    Cecilia reached for me. "Lisa, calm down. It was meant for you, not her. I didn’t know..."

    I stepped back. "You didn’t know what? That it would kill someone?"

    "No! I didn’t know Petra would take it. I was testing... testing something. You weren’t supposed to..."

    My hand shot out before I could stop myself. I grabbed Cecilia by the cor and pushed her against the wall.

    "You were trying to kill me!" I shouted, my voice cracking. "You acted like you were helping me. You brought me food... but it was poison, wasn’t it?!"

    "No! I swear...it wasn’t poison... it was... I just needed to see..."

    "See what? How long it takes for a human like me to drop dead?!"

    Petra let out one final choking sound. We both turned to her. She copsedpletely, her eyes wide open, ssy. Her bodyy still.

    Dead.

    My fingers loosened from Cecilia’s cor. I backed away slowly.

    "She... she’s dead," I said in a whisper.

    The noise must’ve drawn attention, because other maids rushed into the kitchen.

    Gasps. Shouts. One of them screamed.

    "What happened?!"

    "She’s not breathing!"

    "Oh my goddess... she’s dead!"

    They all looked between Petra’s body and me... and then at Cecilia, who was trembling.

    I was shaking too. My stomach twisted in fear, disgust, and confusion.

    "I... I didn’t do anything," I muttered. "She ate the food... Cecilia brought it for me."

    One of the maids looked at Cecilia. "You gave her something dangerous?!"

    Cecilia looked like she was about to faint. "I... I didn’t know it would... I didn’t mean..."

    I couldn’t breathe. I stumbled out of the kitchen, heart pounding.

    Cecilia tried to follow. "Lisa, wait! I can exin!"

    I turned to her with tears in my eyes. "Don’t. Just stay away from me."

    I ran blindly through the hallways, my breath sharp and uneven, my legs shaking beneath me. I didn’t know where I was going, I just needed to get away from that room. From Petra. From her body. From Cecilia’s cold voice. My chest hurt. My stomach twisted. Was I going to throw up too?

    Tears blurred my vision, but I kept running until I almost mmed into something, or someone.

    "Whoa, whoa!" a voice said.

    I looked up and froze.

    Kael.

    Rowan.

    Damon.

    The triplets.

    They stood in front of me, dressed in matching ck and silver robes. Their faces looked surprised, even a little amused at the sight of me, breathless, panicked, eyes wide like a trapped animal.

    "What’s going on?" Rowan asked, stepping closer.

    "Are you okay?" Damon added, brow furrowed. "You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

    "I..." My lips trembled. I looked back down the hallway. "I... I didn’t... she tried to..."

    "Lisa, calm down." Kael’s voice was more firm. He raised his hand a little. "Breathe. What happened?"

    I clutched my stomach and swallowed. My whole body was trembling. "Cecilia... sh-she tried to poison me."

    Their faces all changed at once.

    "What?" Damon blinked.

    Kael frowned. "Poison you? Cecilia?"

    Rowan scoffed. "Why would she do that?"

    "I don’t know!" I burst out. "She brought me food....like a real meal. I was so hungry. But then Petra took it and ate it and...she... she started vomiting. Blood. A lot of it. She died."

    They stared at me.

    "What?" Damon said slowly, blinking like he misheard me.

    "She... she died?" Rowan repeated.

    "Yes!" My voice cracked. "I swear, I didn’t touch the food. I didn’t even eat it! Petra took it. Cecilia...she said it wasn’t for her. She kept telling her to spit it out. That she wasn’t supposed to eat it. Then Petra... she just copsed!"

    "You’re not making sense," Kael muttered, rubbing his forehead.

    "I’m not lying!" I cried. "Why would I lie about something like that?!"

    Just then, I heard footsteps behind me.

    I turned around and saw Cecilia walking toward us, quickly but nervously. Her eyes flicked to me, then to the triplets. She bowed immediately.

    "My Lords," she said, her voice unsteady. "Forgive me. I was just trying to catch up to her. She ran off in a panic."

    "Yeah," Kael said, his tone suddenly colder. "We heard. Lisa says you tried to poison her."

    Cecilia froze.

    "Is that true?" Damon asked, stepping forward. "Why would she say something like that?"

    Rowan folded his arms, eyeing her. "You brought her poisoned food?"

    Cecilia looked down at the floor, her hands shaking. "I... I swear, I didn’t mean for anything to happen."

    "What does that mean?" Kael demanded. "Did you poison the food or not?"

    "I..."

    "Answer him!" Damon snapped.

    Cecilia swallowed hard. "It wasn’t for her," she whispered.

    "What?" Kael’s voice was sharp. "What do you mean it wasn’t for her? You brought her the food."

    "I did," Cecilia said, her voice barely above a whisper. "But not because I wanted to be kind. I... I was ordered to give her the food. But it wasn’t just any food. It was meant to... test her."

    "Test her?" Rowan echoed. "What kind of test involves poison?"

    Cecilia’s mouth trembled. "Not poison... exactly. Just... something that only someone special could survive."

    Damon stepped closer, his eyes narrowing. "Who sent you?"

    She didn’t answer.

    "Cecilia," Kael warned, his voice deadly quiet. "If someone ordered you to harm Lisa, you better start talking. Now."

    Cecilia dropped to her knees.

    "I swear, I didn’t want to do it!" she cried. "I was just following orders. I thought... maybe it wouldn’t affect her. I thought she was stronger than that!"

    "But Petra ate it instead," I said hoarsely, staring at her. "She’s dead because of you."

    Cecilia buried her face in her hands. "I didn’t mean for her to die!"

    Damon crouched beside her. "Who gave you the food?"

    "I can’t say..."

    "You can," he said. "And you will."

    She looked up at him, fear written all over her face. "If I say it, I’ll be next."

    "You’ll be next if you don’t," Kael said darkly. "If Lisa had eaten that food, she’d be dead right now. We don’t take that lightly."