“No,” Remy barked. “We don’t know who we can trust in the halls.”
“She needs helpnow,” Naia snapped. “Meri?”
“I’m trying,” Meri said, her voice thin, focused as light pulsed harder from her fingers into Ferrula’s skin. “But this isn’t something I’ve seen before. Whatever it is… it’s fast.”
Zander knelt beside her, his face set in grim lines. “Hold on, Ferr,” he said. “You’re not dying today.”
But Ferrula’s hands were trembling now, her breath rattling through her chest as her eyes rolled.
Ferrula’s body shuddered violently, her lips tinged with blue as her head lolled back against Jax’s chest. He cradled her there, arms locked around her like he could hold her soul inside her skin by sheer will alone.
“Stay with me, Honey,” he whispered, brushing his finger over her clammy forehead. “You hear me? I’m not letting you go. So don’t you dare give up on me.”
Meri’s hands trembled as she pressed her glowing palms to Ferrula’s chest. “This is an aggressive poison,” she said, breath catching. “It’s already in her bloodstream and spreading fast.”
“You’ve got this, Meri,” Tae said from behind her, his voice firm. He was out of bed now, pale and still recovering, but sure on his feet. “Come on. You can do this.”
Cordelle’s face had gone pale. “I’m going to the archives. There’s a book on bloodborne toxins. I saw it last week.” He didn’t wait for permission. Just turned and sprinted out the door, his boots echoing in the hallway.
I knelt beside Meri, fumbling beneath my armor for the vial nestled at my chest. My fingers closed around the cool glass as I yanked it free.
“Give her a drop of this,” I said, thrusting the vial into Meri’s hand.
She didn’t hesitate. Just uncorked the top and tilted the vial, allowing a single glimmering drop of the fae elixir to fall between Ferrula’s parted lips.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then Ferrula sucked in a short breath, her body jolting like lightning had kissed her chest. Her limbs stiffened, her back arching, and Meri pressed harder into her sternum as golden light flared.
“I can see it,” Meri murmured. “The poison. It’s disintegrating.”
Her fingers danced faster now, tracing glowing patterns through the air that Ferrula’s body seemed to respond to. The tremors slowed. Her color returned by degrees, flushing her cheeks with a healthy warmth. The tight wheezing gave way to longer, deeper breaths.
Then, sluggishly, Ferrula’s eyelids fluttered open.
“I smell... seaweed,” she croaked.
Jax let out a choked laugh. “That’s likely the elixir.”
Ferrula blinked, then groaned and lay her head back against his chest. “Well… that was dramatic.”
We all exhaled at once.
“She’s stable now,” Meri said, slumping backward onto her heels with sweat streaking down her brow. “But someone tried to kill her. That wasn’t an accident.”
My hand tightened around the elixir, the vial still glowing weakly.
Someone in this castle wanted her dead. And they almost succeeded.
Naia grabbed the plate of biscuits and tossed them in the garbage container. “It could have been any one of us.”
“Or all of us,” I said.
“Someone wants Thrall Squad off the playing field.”
Kaelith’s voice tore through my mind like a thunderclap.Find Kasstovian’s rider. Now. He cannot connect with him.
My heart stopped.Cordelle.
