“For you, sir,” the boy said, thrusting a small vial at me. “Lady said to give this to the prince.”
Of course. The fate of my mate and child, delivered by a seven-year-old with sticky fingers and a missing front tooth. This day just kept getting better.
I took it. The vial was filled with a pale, silvery liquid.
“What lady? Where did she go?”
The boy shrugged. “Didn’t see her face. She was wearing a hood. Said you’d know what to do with it.”
I wanted to shake the child, demand more answers, but the boy clearly knew nothing. He was already scampering away, his duty done.
I stared at the vial.
The antidote.
It had to be. The poison for my compliance, the cure for my obedience. Whoever was behind this was rewarding me for the rejection.
Good boy, Caelan. You destroyed your mate’s heart. Have a treat.
I ran to the infirmary. Handed the vial to the healer with orders to test it immediately. Confirm what it was. Confirm it was safe.
The wait was agonizing. I paced the room, unable to stand still, my mind racing through possibilities. Where was Riley? Where had Thessa taken her? Were they safe?
Finally, the healer emerged.
“It’s an antidote,” she confirmed. “Specifically designed to counter the poison we found in her system. This would cure her completely.”
Relief flooded through me, but it was short-lived. Riley still needed to take it, and Riley was nowhere to be found.
The door opened. Thessa.
“Where is she?” I demanded.
“Safe.” Thessa’s expression was cold. Furious. “No thanks to you.”
“Thessa, I can explain...”
“Can you? Because from where I was standing, you just publicly humiliated your pregnant mate in front of the entire court. You rejected her, Caelan. REJECTED her. Do you have any idea what that does to a wolf?”
“It was staged. There were threats. Someone was going to kill her if I didn’t...”
“I don’t care.” Thessa cut me off. “She doesn’t know that. All she knows is that the man who claimed her, who she thought loved her, just threw her away in front of everyone.”
“I know. That’s why I need to find her, tell her the truth...”
“No.” Thessa stepped forward, snatched the antidote vial from the healer’s hands. “You stay here. You find whoever did this. You end them. And when you’re done, when there are no more threats, no more poison, no more danger, then you can come grovel.”
“Where are you taking her?”
“Somewhere safe. Somewhere she can heal.” Thessa paused at the door. “The Mirabelle lake cabin. It wasn’t touched by the fire that killed her family. There are still some of her mother’s things there. I thought... she might find some comfort in it.”
Guilt twisted in my gut. Even now, my sister was thinking of Riley’s well-being in ways I couldn’t. She was giving Riley a piece of her past, a connection to the mother she barely remembered.
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
“Don’t thank me. Make this right.” Thessa’s eyes were hard. “Find Vix. Find whoever helped her. And when you do...”
“I’ll kill them.”
