CHAPTER 64: BE A DEAR AND DIE 2

FIA

The silence stretched between us like something alive and breathing.

Thorne turned to face me fully. His hands were still. His shoulders squared. When he spoke, his voice was cold.

"Are you accusing me of treason?"

I held the bottle tighter. My knuckles went white around the glass.

"I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m telling you what’s in this bottle."

Morrigan stood from her chair. She didn’t move closer. She stayed where she was and her hand gripped the armrest like it was the only thing keeping her upright.

"Do not antagonize her, Thorne."

"I have no choice, Grand Luna." He took a step toward me. His eyes burned behind his mask. "She is a manipulative woman who is known for trickery. I have no idea what you are trying to pull here but it will not be here. Not with the Grand Luna."

My chest tightened. Heat rushed through my veins and I wanted to throw the bottle at his head. But I forced myself to stay calm. To keep my voice steady.

"I’m not trying to pull anything."

Morrigan looked between us. Her face was pale. Her breathing had gone shallow.

"Perhaps you made a mistake," she said. Her voice was softer now. Almost pleading. Ome of the stages of grief I knew too well. "Perhaps you smelled something else and—"

"No." I cut her off. I hated how sharp my voice sounded but I couldn’t stop it. "Hemlock is poison to Lycans and werewolves. Nightshade is just as bad. But together, they can..."

I stopped. The words caught in my throat because the full weight of what I was saying finally hit me.

"Someone is trying to kill you, Luna Morrigan." My voice shook. "And they’re ensuring nobody will notice it while blaming it on the rot."

Her hand flew to her mouth.

I looked at the bottle again. At the dark liquid inside. My mother’s face flashed in my mind. The way the rot had crawled across her skin. The way it had eaten away at her until there was nothing left.

But this wasn’t the same.

"I don’t think..." I swallowed hard. "I don’t think you have the rot. I believe that you were misdiagnosed while you were being poisoned."

"Ridiculous!" Thorne’s voice exploded through the room. He crossed the space between us in two strides and grabbed the bottle from my hand.

I stepped back. My heart hammered in my chest.

He yanked off his mask and brought the bottle to his nose. He inhaled sharply.

Then he dropped it.

The bottle hit the stone floor and shattered. Glass scattered across the ground and the liquid spread in a dark pool. Thorne stumbled back. His face had gone white. He pressed a hand to his mouth and shuddered.

"Goddess," he whispered. "She’s right. I smelled hemlock."

The room tilted.

I stared at him. At the way his hands shook. At the way his eyes went wide with horror.

He hadn’t known.

He hadn’t known what was in the bottle.

Morrigan’s breathing grew faster. She gripped the armrest harder and her knuckles turned white.

"Someone is poisoning me?"

Her voice broke on the last word.

Thorne spun toward the door. "Sentinels! Get in here!"

The doors burst open. Two sentinels rushed inside. Their hands went to the weapons at their sides.

"Get word to Alpha Cian that there was an attempt of treason on the Grand Luna’s life!" Thorne’s voice was raw. Desperate. "Now!"

The sentinels didn’t hesitate. They turned and ran.

The sound of their footsteps echoed down the hall and then faded into nothing.

Morrigan stood frozen in place. Her eyes were distant. Unfocused. She stared at the broken bottle on the floor and the dark liquid seeping into the cracks between the stones.

"Cian is now Alpha of Skollrend," she said. Her voice was barely a whisper. "And that is still not enough to make them stop?"

Thorne rushed toward her. He reached out like he was going to touch her shoulder. To comfort her. But he stopped at the last moment. His hand hovered in the air and then fell back to his side.

He was afraid to touch her.

Afraid that it might not be poison on her skin but the rot. For him, there was still a possibility. Even when he has a glove and a mask on.

I watched them; watched the way Morrigan’s face crumpled; the way her hands trembled.

"You think this was political?" I asked.

Morrigan nodded slowly. She didn’t look at me. She kept her eyes on the floor.

"My late husband’s brother."

My breath caught. I only got to know of him recently but I had to know. "Alpha Aldric?"

"Goddess, no." She shook her head. "Aldric is a saint. His other brother. Gabriel."

I blinked. The name meant nothing to me. Bo had only ever mentioned one uncle. Aldric. I hadn’t even known there was another.

"Does this mean I am not actually sick? I don’t..."

She didn’t finish.

Her legs buckled.

She fell forward and I lunged. My hands caught her shoulders before she hit the ground. Her weight was heavier than I expected and I staggered under it. But I held on.

"Luna Morrigan!"

Thorne dropped to his knees beside us. His hands hovered over her but he still didn’t touch. His face was a mess of panic and guilt.

I lowered her to the floor. Her head lolled to the side and her eyes were closed. Her breathing was shallow. Too shallow.

"Help me get her on her side," I said.

Thorne finally moved. He grabbed her arm and we rolled her onto her side. Her robe fell open and I could see the red patches on her neck and collarbone. They looked angrier now. More inflamed.

But I saw them for what they were now. They weren’t the rot.

They were burns.

Violent reactions from whatever cocktail of poison had been in that bottle.

"We need to get this off her skin," I said. "Now."

"With what?" Thorne’s voice cracked. "We don’t have—"

"Water. Soap. Anything."

He scrambled to his feet and ran to the small washbasin near the corner of the room. He grabbed a pitcher and a cloth and ran back. His hands shook so badly that water sloshed over the sides.

I took the cloth from him and dunked it in the water. I wrung it out and pressed it gently against the red patches on her neck.

She didn’t stir.

"Is she breathing?" Thorne leaned closer. His face was pale.

"Yes."

I worked quickly. I wiped away as much of the residue as I could. The cloth turned dark and I rinsed it and started again. My hands moved on instinct. On training. On everything my mother had ever taught me.

Thorne knelt beside me. He watched my every move.

"I didn’t know," he said. His voice was hollow. "I swear I didn’t know."

"I believe you."

And I did. The way he had reacted. The way his face had gone white. The way his hands still shook. He hadn’t known what was in that bottle.

But someone had.

If it was made by Thorne, someone has maliciously swapped it.

What was clear that that someone had made it... Someone had planned this.

I pressed the cloth to Morrigan’s collarbone and she let out a soft groan. Her eyelids fluttered but didn’t open.

"Stay with us," I whispered. "Stay with us, Luna Morrigan."

Thorne stood and paced. He ran a hand through his hair and muttered something under his breath. Then he stopped.

"Gabriel," he said. "It has to be Gabriel."

I looked up at him. "Who exactly is this Gabriel and why are you so certain?"

"Cian’s uncle. The younger brother of the late Alpha." Thorne’s jaw clenched. "He was supposed to be next in line after Aldric. But Aldric passed on ruling Skollrend. Gabriel thought he would get it all. But when the pack council chose Cian instead due to popular vote, he left. He said he wouldn’t serve under his nephew."

My stomach turned. "And now he’s trying to kill the Grand Luna?"

"If she dies, the pack destabilizes. Alpha Cian destabilizes. If the pack is compromised and trouble starts to brew, the council might reconsider their choice." Thorne’s voice was bitter. "Gabriel could challenge Cian for the title. And if he wins, he becomes Alpha."

I looked down at Morrigan. At her pale face and the shallow rise and fall of her chest.

This wasn’t just about her.

This was about Cian.

This was about power.

I rinsed the cloth again and pressed it to her skin. The red patches were starting to fade. Just a shade lighter. But it was something.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway. Heavy and fast.

The doors slammed open.

Cian stood in the doorway. His chest heaved like he had run the entire way. His eyes swept the room and landed on his mother.

"What happened?"

His voice was low and full of rage.

Thorne stepped forward. "There was poison in the medicine. Someone has been poisoning the Grand Luna."

Cian’s face went dark. His hands curled into fists at his sides.

"Who?"

"We don’t know for certain," Thorne said. "But we believe it’s Gabriel and he must be using someone on the inside. An Omega or Sentinel."

Cian didn’t respond. He crossed the room in three strides and dropped to his knees beside his mother. His hand hovered over her shoulder. Then he touched her. Gently. Like he was afraid she might break.

"Mum," he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered open. Just barely. She looked up at him and her lips moved.

"Cian."

"I’m here."

She reached up and her hand found his. She squeezed weakly.

"Don’t let them win," she said.

"I won’t."

Her eyes closed again. Her hand went limp in his.

Cian looked at me. His face was hard. Unreadable. But his eyes burned.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"I do not know."