Chapter 36


    Chapter 36 The poison


    CA SSANDRA


    As my assistant walked toward me, my mind ached with a million questions. What were the results?


    Was this dire? Were we going to be able to save Asher after all?


    Becky pushed her round sses up the bridge of her nose. She was a beautiful girl- petite with short


    dark red hair and a pale, angr face full of freckles- and under normal circumstances, she had a


    pleasant demeanor. But tonight, her russet eyes were underscored by dark circles. She looked visibly


    worn out. Herb coat had been hastily pulled on over her night clothes. I felt bad that she’d been


    awoken at thiste of an hour.


    “Ca ssandra,” she greeted me as she approached, and then her eyes fell to Asher. “How is the Alpha


    King?”


    “Not great,” I admitted, and then I gestured toward the stack of papers in her hands. “You have the


    results?”


    “Sort of,” Becky replied, and her eyebrows creased together. “But sort of not at the same time. I… I


    couldn’t identify the venom.”


    My heart dropped in my chest.


    “Oh,” I whispered, and when my lower lip began to tremble, it took all of my effort to keep from falling to


    the ground. The world spun around me a little until I took a long, deep breath.


    “It doesn’t resemble any of the ones in our texts,” she continued on.


    “Did you check the book in myboratory?” I asked.


    Surely the book that Emmett had recorded strange poisons in would have the answers we needed.


    But Becky shook her head and frowned.


    “Which one?” she asked.


    I realized then that I hadn’t actually taken the time to show my assistant the book. Things had been so


    frantic and hectic around heretely that I hadn’t gotten


    around to it.


    “We need to go back to theb,” I said. “I think there’s an answer in that book. somewhere. There has


    to be.”


    “I can go-” Becky insisted, but I shook my head.


    “It’ll be faster if Ie with,” I said, and I peeled my gloves off and dropped them into the waste basket


    beside me. “I’ll just need to alert the guards before we go.”


    Becky nodded. “Right.”


    Without another word, the pair of us crossed over to the double doors and stepped out into the hallway.


    The guards seemed surprised to see us.


    “Please don’t allow anyone to enter the chamber,” I requested, and the guards nodded.


    “Yes, Healer Ca ssandra,” one said, and the pair raised their staffs to show they were serious.


    go.”


    “Thank you,” I said with a courteous smile, and then I turned to Becky. “Let’s


    The two of us wasted no time and traveled down the halls until we reached theboratory.


    The lights were brighter than I’d anticipated, and after I took a moment to let my eyes adjust to the


    harsh light, I headed over to my station. The room was enormouspared to what I was used to back


    in my clinic in Wild Crawler territory. I’d been assigned my own workspace in the white-paintedb, fit


    with a


    I approached the bookshelf adjacent to my desk and scanned the rows until | found Emmett’s book. I


    held it aloft to show Becky, and after my assistant’s face brightened with understanding, I began to sort


    through the pages.


    “Can you hand me the results?” I asked Becky, and without any hesitation, she brought the papers over


    to me. Once they were in my hands, I set them on my desk. and began to rifle through Emmett’s book.


    My eyes scanned the pages quickly while my brain processed the various entries.


    It took me nearly fifteen minutes to sort through the book until finally, something seemed promising. My


    eyes widened as I took in the information on the page, and my lips curled into a smile.


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    “I found something,” I proimed.


    There was a particr entry in Emmett’s book that seemed promising. When Ipared the


    composition of the venom to the description in the book, I found a good amount of simrity.SIO


    Much to my surprise, what was guing the Alpha King was technically poison.


    Before I bookmarked the pages, I caught sight of a sentence that made me hesitate. It was written very


    tinily in the margins of the book.


    “The poison was invented by a sorcerer named Udosyn.”


    I froze.


    What?


    Sorcery had long since been wiped out in the empire of Wega. What did the sentence mean? How


    could a poison be the work of a sorcerer?


    Surely Emmett was mistaken or the sentence was a joke I didn’t understand. Either way, I didn’t have


    time to ponder it. We needed to act fast if we were going to


    save Asher.


    I instructed Becky to remain in theb and continue studying the venom, meanwhile, I assembled some


    medicines and herbs from theb’s supply shelves. I worked quickly and filled a spare kit with the other


    necessary things like gloves, syringes, and cotton pads, and then I rushed out the door as fast as my


    feet could


    carry me.


    Normally, I would have taken care to remain quiet at an hour like this, but time. was of the essence. I


    figured no one had entered the Alpha King’s chamber while I was gone, but I didn’t want to waste a


    second anyway. Asher needed me and he needed me quickly.


    However, the moment I turned a corner toward the right hallway, I was stopped in my tracks. Kane


    stood there against a pir, his arms crossed against his chest, and his blue eyes s


    “Healer Ca ssandra,” he greeted me with a tilt of his head. “Have you found the


    cure?”


    I gave him a polite expression.


    “Yes,” I said, and then I corrected myself. “Well, at least I think so. I need to administer the treatment to


    be sure-


    “I see,” Kane remarked.


    “If you’ll excuse me-” I started to say, but then Kane stepped away from his perch and blocked my way.


    “I don’t understand any of this,” he said in a suspicious tone. “My brother isn’t a weak man. The viper,


    the garden… something about all of these events is rather strange,


    His brilliant eyes narrowed at me and his dark eyebrow raised up.


    “You seem very worried,” Kane continued on. “I noticed it even there in the chamber. You seem to care


    in a more personal way than the other royal healers. Do


    you… have you… perhaps, fallen in love with my younger brother?”


    I froze and heat rushed to my cheeks. Had Kane really just asked me such a


    question?


    “No,” I insisted, and I raised my hands up. “No, my Lord, I don’t have any such feelings. He’s my


    patient, that’s all. Any show of caring is simply professional. He is our king after all.”


    Kane didn’t seem convinced. He continued to study me until I spoke up again.


    “Now, if you’ll please excuse me, My Lord, I need to attend to the king-”


    I took a step forward and much to my surprise, Kane stepped aside. Asher’s stepbrother’s expression


    softened, but only slightly.


    “As you wish,” he said, but then he let out a smallugh. “But just so you know, Healer Ca ssandra, if


    you’re holding something back, you’d better do it well. My brother is much smarter than I am. He’ll


    discover your secret. Mark my words.”


    I held back a shiver and then continued walking down the hall, pretending I hadn’t heard his warning.