CASSANDRA
Anubis suddenly snorted and nced at me with irritation with yet even further cruelness.
“Healer Ca ssandra hasn''t even agreed yet,” he sneered, and his ck eyes shed. “It seems our king isn to illicit a response.”
As heughed. Raven appeared surprised. She folded her legs beneath her and sat forward.
“Why wouldn''t you want to marry Kaleb?” she asked me in confusion. “Every girl in Yurene dreams about the king.”
Anubis lifted a thick dark brow. “Including you, Raven?”
Raven’s jaw dropped and she shook her head firmly. “Me? Of course not! My sister, though she probably went nuts when she
heard about this.”
Anubisughed again, and | felt my face flush as | watched this exchange. Roxy had seemed intense when I’d met her, so | was
a little surprised to find out that she admired Kaleb. Then again, with how cruel and blunt the dark-haired beauty was, | couldn’t
be too shocked that the cruel Northern king was her type.
As | nced at Kaleb, | wondered if he expectell me to answer his proposal now. | began to panic, but before | could lose myself
in anxiety, the king asked Raven and Anubus to stop joking
“Enough,” he sighed, and then he turned his attention to Raven. How are the antidotesing along, Raven? Will you be able to
prepare enough of them in such a short time?”
“The cure to ck Ma
Marks, you mean?” Raven asked for rification, and after Kaleb nodded, he nced at me.
1 felt my heart quicken as | tried to keep up.
ck Marks.
Was that the official name of the poison? The one that was guing both Wega and the man | loved and missed with all of my
being?Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g
And was Raven the one who had invented the cure for it?
Before my mind could spiral further, the sorceress replied to the Northern king’s question.
“Of course, I’m able to she started to say, but Kaleb raised his hand to stop her before she could finish her sentence
“| need an amount of antidote sufficient enough to cure 50,000 people,” he said.
Hasen frowned and then stared at him with a look somewhere between shock and utter confusion. “Are you joking? Or at
vagecrating the number?”
the of Yurene said tly, and Haven uitz
arritated sigh.
“Whist Har hell wir jou uje tor” star grumbled, just loud enough for me to hear, and then she left silent. After a moment of
atu sjeike up. “It’s dithrode to get the antidote prepared in a short tune, cipecially that amount, without
would
of mumbers. But something like that would
Fadeli perefund the Dor opin
there he for our an annoyed sigh. Raven stopped
“Is it true that you used-the poison on 50,000 people?” she blurted out, and everyone in the room fell silent. “I though were only
going to use it on the guinea pigs since | invented the poison and...”
Raven''s words dulled in my mind until they were almost shut outpletely, and | suddenly frowned as | tried to make sense of
what was happening
Did the talkative sorceress just say that she invented the poison?
This made no sense at all. Wasn''t it Emmett?
And why did Kaleb bring up a number like 50,000 Had he somehow gotten an update about Wild Crawler? 50,000 people was
fifty percent of the remote Pack’s entire poption.
Had that many people gotten infected since I''d left Wega ande to Yurene?
As my heart raced in my chest, | followed Raven’s sight and looked at Kaleb
50,000 is an estimation,” the Northern king said.
Raven exhaled heavily and pursed her lips. “It better be. Since we haven''t learned how to control it yet, you''d better not use it on
that many people.”
j
He’s already done it! | wanted to yell at her. Clearly, these two weren''t on the same page when it came to the subject, but |
couldn’t determine why
No matter how confused and stressed out | was, however. | managed to hold in my anger. Anubis’ cold ck eyes were on me
and something told me | couldn''t slip up under his watchful gaze.
So instead, | asked Raven a question for rification.
“What did you mean when you said you ‘invented the poison?” | wondered. “I thought it was created by Emmett Keller.”
Raven didn’t seem all that surprised by my question, which told me she knew about my rtionship with Emmett. But she did
grimace.
“It''s true that Emmett created a powerful poison,” she exined. “Initially, | was just trying to recreate it. Though | failed. !
managed to create a poison that was slightly different than his, and | named it “ck Marks”
“Slightly different?” Anubis snorted.
Raven seemed agitated and shed a re in his direction. “I did my best! ck Marks is still powerful, even though it’s not as
potent as Inferno”
“Inferno” | repeated back and my heart dropped in my chest as 1 froze
Haven nodded oblivious to my shock. “It’s the name of the poison that Ermett created. | suppose he called it that because the
potion is just like an interno impossible to put our”
going to be sick. This was allmence wa
(the naine to the sukurtingie lux
The waste possiter way to has sated such thing after tha
LESTINA
C232
As | considered the answer to this insanity, another thought crossed my mind, one that made me feel weak and left me on the
urge of retching.
Had Emmett nned all of these things?
Was he involved in the inferno itself? Was he the one responsible for it all?
“Cassandra, are you alright?” Raven asked, bringing me back into the present moment. Her lovely face was full of concern. and
she reached out for me just as | began to slump. “You look positively green. Are you feeling alright?”
My lips parted to speak, though | wasn’t sure what to say, but before a full thought could escape my mouth, Kaleb cleared his
throat and crossed over to me. His handsome face was as calm as always, but | could detect an ulterior motive in his dark blue
eyes.
There was always a motive with someone as calcting as him.
“| believe Cassandra needs to speak with me in private,” he dered as he rested his hand on the back of the couch | was
seated on. “Raven and Anubis, you''re dismissed. | will see you bothter”
Though Raven didn’t seem like she wanted to leave, she nodded her head obediently, and then she and Anubis left the
room.
isi)