Bella is unconscious and won’t wake up. I’ve tried everything and now I’m panicking. There’s a roaring sound in my head, and the predator in me looks around for a threat, but there’s none in the sunny greenhouse.
My fingertips are red from where they touched Bella. I touch her again, using my opposite hand to wipe away more sweat, and after a few minutes, my skin starts to burn.
I have to think. She has to have been poisoned, right? I look around to see what Bella might have been working on, but there are no plants at her favorite workbench. It could be anything in this place.
The predator in me wants to smash every pot and kill everything with fire, but I need to be smart.
I call everyone I can think of. I even call the number for the Poisoner, but the line seems to be dead. I throw my phone across the room, where it lands in one of the mushroom trays. At least it didn’t shatter.
I need to get a hold of myself. I want to destroy everything. Instead, I go stand over Bella, watching for signs of her waking up. What else can I do? Jaeger roars up in his Lykan. He brought Atticus with him.
“Be careful not to touch her,” I say, showing them my hands.
Atticus frowns but wastes no time checking Bella over. “She’s in a coma. No sign of why. Heart rate is normal. Vitals, all normal. Temperature slightly elevated, but not enough to be concerned.”
“It has to be poison,” I say. “Can’t you give her medicine?”
“Not until I know what poisoned her. Inducing vomiting might cause more harm than good. When my team gets here, we’ll do bloodwork and run some tests. Did you contact the Poisoner?”
“I couldn’t get through.”
Atticus has me move Bella back to her bedroom, which is better suited for a sickroom. He sends Jaeger to call St. James and connect with Bella’s father. Then he turns to me. “Let me see your hands.”
I show them to him. The red has faded. The burning sensation is distant, like a sunburn.
“It looks like you touched a toxic plant.”
“I didn’t. I just touched her.”
“Could she have smeared something toxic on her skin? Like she was working with a plant and wiped her forehead, transferring it to her skin?”
“That’s probably it,” I tell him about how she touches poison ivy and other toxic plants. “She says she’s immune.”
“Hmmm.” Atticus takes a skin sample and offers me a salve and a bandage, which I refuse. I want all his attention focused on Bella.
Atticus’s assistants arrive. I recognize them as his submissives from Club Empire. They must all have medical training. They surround Bella, drawing blood, setting up an IV. They have all sorts of portable medical equipment. St. James makes sure Atticus has an unlimited budget for this sort of thing. Their ambulance-like van is like a lab on wheels.
Fraternitas members don’t go to hospitals. Hospital staff can be bribed, and Atticus is more skilled than any regular doctor. If anyone can save her, it’s him.
I watch from the doorway, feeling helpless. Bella looks so small. So lifeless. Jaeger hovers at my shoulder. He doesn’t touch me; he knows I can’t stand it. But he stays close enough to make me feel like I’m not alone. An assistant approaches Atticus and whispers in his ear. Atticus frowns. “What is it?” I ask.
“Her liver enzymes are slightly elevated,” Atticus says.
“What does that mean?” Jaeger asks.
“All signs are pointing to her being poisoned. I don’t think it’s just from wiping something toxic on her forehead, though. Could she have eaten something, drunk something poisonous?”
I flex my hands. I wish I could put my hands around an enemy’s neck and squeeze. “This whole house is filled with poisons. She’s the Poisoner’s daughter.” For fuck sake, she’s still poisoning me somehow. There’s no way I’d be sleeping so deeply every night if she weren’t.
And I’m letting her do it because I want her. I want everything from her. I’ll drink her poison down and ask for more.
“All right. We test everything. I can’t create an antidote unless I know what did this.” Atticus gives his assistants instructions to take samples from all the plants downstairs. “Be careful and collect anything else that might be poisonous. Solvents, cleaning solutions, room sprays, balms, lotions?—”
“Candles,” I add to the list.
Atticus’s team leaves to search the house. Two head to the bathroom and start pulling bottles off the shower shelf.
“If it’s here, we’ll find it,” Atticus says.
