Sarah placed the card back in its original spot with the kind of precision a serial killer might use to stage a cri scene. Satisfied, she turned on her heel and left the room.
She closed the door and smacked right into Zari.
Sarah recoiled, her heart catapulting itself into her throat.
Zari’s narrowed eyes drilled into her. "Can I help you?"
Sarah was fast, though. A professional liar. She recovered quickly, smoothing her features into a mask of innocence so practiced it could win an award.
"I... I ca to see if Ava was back," she said, voice dripping with fake concern. "How is she doing?"
Zari, who had never trusted Sarah a day in her life, resisted the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes.
"No word yet," she responded curtly.
Sarah scoffed. With an exaggerated shrug, she turned on her heel and strutted down the hallway.
Zari watched her go, arms crossed, suspicion settling into her bones.
That was weird.
Sarah had never cared about Ava before. Why now?
Sothing wasn’t right.
Once Sarah was out of sight, Zari slipped into Ava’s room, closing the door behind her.
She stood still for a mont, inhaling deeply. There was an unsettling stillness, a quiet that felt too unnatural.
Her eyes swept across the room.
Everything seed the sa.
She had cleaned the sheets earlier but the scent of blood in the air still made her feel like a murderer. The closet door was ajar, just like she had left it.
And yet, sothing felt off.
She walked over to the dresser, running her fingers along its edge. Had sothing been moved? Stolen? Planted?
A part of her wanted to tear through every drawer, but she forced herself to breathe. To think. To be patient.
But her mind was still distracted.
She needed to fix this ss but first, her sister had to be safe.
The weight of the tiny glass vial hidden in her pocket was a burning reminder of the horrific decision she had made.
She had poisoned Ava.
She had let herself be blackmailed into it.
And now, she was desperate to undo it.
Zari wasn’t stupid. The mont she had gotten her hands on the substance, she had researched like a madwoman.
She had figured out exactly what she had given Ava:
A slow-acting aconitine poison.
Zari clenched her fists, guilt gnawing at her insides.
But there was still hope.
She had the antidote which if administered soon could reverse the effects before Ava’s body shut down completely.
She had prepared it days ago because deep down, she had never been a monster. As soon as she got word her sister was safe, she would administer the antidote. She was counting on the fact that whoever was pulling the strings would consider her stupid.
But there was one problem. Ava had been moved to the Alpha’s quarters.
Lucas’s quarters were the most heavily guarded part of the entire fortress. Even getting near the place without a damn good reason was impossible.
She groaned, dragging a hand down her face.
She needed a plan.
And fast.
Because if she didn’t get that antidote to Ava in ti, there would be no fixing this mistake.
And Zari wasn’t sure she could live with deliberately killing soone.
*****
Lucas trudged back to his quarters, his steps slow and heavy, as if the weight of the world had finally settled on his broad shoulders. His usual aura of power, commanding and invincible was nowhere to be seen.
The clothes Dorian had brought him felt foreign on his skin. Not because they weren’t his, but because at so point in the last few hours, he had stopped feeling like himself.
Lucas Raventhorn, Alpha of one of the most powerful packs in the region, the man who had faced wars, betrayals, and bloodshed without flinching looked like he had aged fifty years overnight.
The mont he pushed open the door to his room, the sterile scent of antiseptics and the soft beeping of machines greeted him.
His bedroom had turned into a hospital ward.
A drip line hooked into Ava’s fragile arm.
She looked so small, so unnaturally still.
His chest tightened painfully as he crossed the room, his legs carrying him to the corner sofa where he all but collapsed.
How had this happened?
How had they gone from confessing their love to each other just days ago to this?
To her lying there, hooked up to machines, fighting for her life?
She had to wake up.
But when she did...
Would he have the strength to tell her the truth?
To tell her that they had lost sothing she never even knew she had?
For a man who had never thought much about fatherhood, who had always assud he’d have ti before the idea of children ever mattered, he was shocked by how deeply the loss of one burned.
Mary and the nurses entered every few minutes, checking vitals, adjusting drips, doing everything they could to keep Ava stable.
Lucas barely acknowledged them.
Every second, every mont, his gaze flickered to Ava, searching for sothing, anything that would tell him she was still in there.
First, she was shot.
Now, poison.
And all of these within forty-eight hours.
That ant one of two things, either there were multiple people who wanted Ava dead... or one person was close enough to strike twice.
Neither option was comforting.
If his mind could function properly, he might be able to piece this puzzle together.
But his thoughts kept drifting to the woman lying in his bed.
*****
Lucas sat at his desk, fingers steepled as he tried to look intimidating.
Was he succeeding? Probably.
Was he even thinking straight? Absolutely not.
But intimidation was a necessary tool, and right now, he needed answers.
Dorian was already investigating the gunshot attack at the town square, hunting down leads.
That left Lucas to handle the poisoning incident.
Which ant looking inward.
Soone within these walls had tried to kill Ava.
The door creaked open, and Zari entered.
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