For a few moments, I don't say anything. I'm practically stunned into silence. 268Please respect copyright.PENANARspuSn1z8U
268Please respect copyright.PENANAM1LCPpikHs
I'm not sure why, to be honest. Liam needs my support, yet the simple words he just told me can't seem to digest in my stomach. They churn and thicken like cake batter - and suddenly, it's like I'm going to vomit.268Please respect copyright.PENANAvx2ENLMKdd
268Please respect copyright.PENANArqN7gDZhN3
"She's...poisoned," I repeat, just to make sure I've heard him correctly.268Please respect copyright.PENANAfpizO48ilp
268Please respect copyright.PENANAgmFelxzYMF
Liam nods. "Yes," he says, and there's no pain behind his voice. He's completely stone-faced, and it's not surprising, but I wish he would show some emotion, or even sound sad. He doesn't, though. His voice is firm and confident, confiding in me something that normally would make a person's cold exterior crack - even someone as strong as Liam.268Please respect copyright.PENANAzvPnv2HTiw
268Please respect copyright.PENANATtzOMl9pQX
"H-How?" My voice cracks.268Please respect copyright.PENANAXZ33DEDBj3
268Please respect copyright.PENANAAJPfYtcags
He shrugs. "I don't know," he says. "I just found out from Nick."268Please respect copyright.PENANAamuIFsazB4
268Please respect copyright.PENANAKv3fWPJx96
"What?" I snap out of my stupor, now, blinking my eyes ferociously. "You found out from Nicolas?"268Please respect copyright.PENANAgnbijDhp5B
268Please respect copyright.PENANAPiDEcke6hd
"Yes," Liam says, his jaw clenching. He stares at me, as though I'm supposed to be aware that Casey had been poisoned. "Why do you keep making me repeat myself?"
"Maybe because I'm trying to understand what the hell is going on!" I shout, raising my voice without thinking. "Liam, this is...insane!"
"Not really," Liam mumbles, rolling back and forth on his heels with his hands clasped behind his back tightly. "I expected something like this would happen after the rogue attack."
"Oh, really?" I snap, raising my eyebrow towards him. I'm lucky he didn't put me in my place for yelling, and I shouldn't be getting too cocky, but I just can't help myself. I don't understand how he's so calm about this situation. His fucking wife was poisoned, for God's sake! I mean - how does he not care?
"Yes, really," Liam replies, his eyes narrowing into thin, irritated slits. "Adhira, I'm the Alpha King. I know the risks, and you should too."
"But to know that you're own wife would be poisoned?" I ask, just barely managing to control my simmering rage. It burns ferociously in my stomach, like a volcano just about ready to erupt.
"I didn't know that," Liam's voice is a hoarse whisper. "But I knew something was going to happen. I tried to protect Casey, Adhira, trust me. I told her not to go out today, but since when does she ever listen to me?"
Now, his words were tinged with bitterness, one I didn't notice before. I lick my dry lips, taking a couple of deep breaths to compose myself. In my pocket, my phone buzzes constantly, but I ignore it. Now's not the right time anyway, Mabel.
"I do trust you," I reply, my own voice soft. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have overstepped my boundaries like that." I bow.
Liam blinks. "Overstepped your boundaries?" He repeats. "What are you talking about?"
"Lashing out at you," I say, swallowing so thickly that I feel my throat bob. "It was out of line, and I'm sorry." I practically force the words out of my mouth. They taste so foreign - I've never had to apologize before, at least, not to my best friend.
"Adhira..." Liam's voice is sympathetic, and he walks around the table. Moving close to me, he grasps my chin, tilting my head up to meet the black void of his eyes.
"Yes?" I whisper, resisting the urge to cling to his shirt, just as I had done the night of the dance.
"You did nothing wrong, okay?" Liam says. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you for my insensitive behavior. You're right. I shouldn't have said what I did. Casey is my...wife."
"Yes, she is," I respond. It's just then that I become aware of his fingers burning into my skin, and hastily, I take a step back, heat blooming on my cheeks that are probably a crimson color by now.
I clear my throat, smoothing down my jeans. "So," I say. "Where do we begin? What do you want me to do?"
"We have to find the person responsible," Liam says, tapping his chin. "But first, we need to know what exactly Casey was poisoned with, and how."
"Why do you need me for that?" I ask, tilting my head.
Liam smiles. "You've always had a peculiar sense of smell," he says by way of explaining. "That can help us."
"So, basically, you want me to sniff Casey's unconscious body?" I ask.
Liam nods. "Somewhat, yes."
"Okay," I shrug, not really caring as long as it helps our cause. "So, where is the body, anyway?"
~***~
When I was young, I fell ill. And it wasn't your run of the mill illness - it was actually a big thing. I remember getting uncontrollable coughs and wheezing; the ability to breathe became a foreign thing to me as a child. My chest hurt so much and my vision swarmed in front of me. For a while, I was bedridden, forced to stay on my back and whimper as my life went on around me.
Then, when my parents finally took me to the hospital, they discovered that I'd had a seizure. It explained a lot back then, but the doctors never took the time to understand where the seizures had come from, and why. It's not that it mattered to them, though. They could've cared less about my problems - after all, they were human doctors.
After that visit, I vowed to myself never to go to the hospital again. No matter what the issue was, after my parent's untimely deaths, I promised to myself that I would never go back to that hellhole. No matter what, I would never step foot in that place again.
Now, as my footsteps clicked behind Liam, my head bent and my eyes trained on the white, black-spotted tiles underneath us, I felt as though I were breaking my vow. I mean, technically, I am, but I couldn't do anything about it. Besides, I'm not the one getting treated.
The walls around us are completely white, like an asylum. Patients are getting wheeled around on their beds, hooked up to machines feeding them air and liquids that I don't care about knowing. I shiver when one tries to touch me, but a sharp glare from Liam stops them. His hands shoots out behind him, grabbing mine.
"Stay close," he murmurs. "We're in the...mentally unstable part of the hospital."
"We have an asylum?" I hiss, gripping his hand so tightly that I'm sure that I'm cutting off his blood circulation.
"Not exactly," Liam says, his eyes shifty. "It's more so the ward where patients who have, er, mental breakdowns come."
"Ah," I nod, bringing my bottom lip in between my teeth and biting gently. From somewhere ahead of us, I hear a woman screaming. She's crying, pleading with what I assume to be the doctors, and they say nothing to her. They let her cry and it makes my heart squeeze.
"Why aren't they doing anything?" I snap, my eyes darting up to capture Liam's, making sure that he's paying attention to me and not to the ward around us.
"Adhi..." Liam begins hesitantly. "These patients...they aren't okay. There's something going on in their head's that we don't understand. Sometimes, we just have to listen to them - maybe that's all they want."
"Maybe..." I respond, biting my tongue. The lady stops screaming, suddenly, and it shocks my heart. What happened to her? Is she alright? Did the doctor's do anything?
"Don't look," Liam murmurs as we pass a bedroom. His hand comes up to cover my eyes, gripping my free hand tightly as he swiftly pulls us past the room. I claw at his hand, victoriously pushing it away, but my victory, I soon realize, is futile. We've already well passed the room. He let me go on purpose.
"What was that?" I demand. "What did you hide me from?"
"Something that would've scarred you for life," Liam snaps. He lets go of my hand abruptly and I stumble at the loss of his support. "Don't ask me about it. I won't tell you."
I scoff, pausing in front of a shielded bedroom to cross my arms over my chest. "Liam," I begin, "Why are you suddenly so insistent on protecting me?"
"What do you mean?" Liam turns, facing me as he stops in front of the door. "I'm just doing what any friend would do."
"No, you aren't," I say. "Liam, you've been acting like this ever since the Moon Mating day. Is it because of the rogue attack?" I take a step closer to him, and he takes a step back. "I don't understand you sometimes, you know that?"
"Good," Liam growls. "You don't need to understand everything about me, Adhi."
"But you're my best friend," I point out. "And I'm your Beta. I'm not afraid of anything, Liam."
"Well, you should be," Liam's voice takes an aggressive path. "Adhira, everyone is afraid of everything. Hell -" he runs a hand through his tousled hair. "Even I'm afraid of something."
"You?" I sneer. "Afraid? Of what? A rabbit?" I make fake bunny teeth and he rolls his eyes, scowling.
"Yeah," he says. "A rabbit." Then, he sighs, running his hand down his face. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I just didn't want you to see that. I know how you feel about hospitals, so..."
"It's alright," I shrug, walking closer to him. He doesn't move away this time. "I'm glad you're taking my feelings into account, though."
He smiles, but it doesn't really meet his eyes. "Anytime," he says.
I nod. "So..." I roll back and forth on my heels. "Why did we stop, again?"
Liam takes a deep breath, glancing up at the door number. "This is Casey's room," he says. "Are you ready to go inside?"
"Yes," I nod firmly, and Liam doesn't hesitate. Reaching for the door, he turns the knob, his hand drifting to mine. Taking it, I squeeze him gently, and he grins down at me, tugging my hand into the bedroom.
Casey lays flat on her back, hooked up to different machines just like all of the other people who we met in the hallway were. Some of them are beeping, some aren't. One of them has little lines making mountains and valleys on the graph, and I know they're monitoring her breathing.
She's pale, almost deathly so. Her eyes are closed, and she has a tube hooked up to her nose, providing her air. I look at Liam, searching for any type of emotion, but all I see is a composed, even cool expression. He doesn't look the least bit unperturbed or depressed.
Odd, I think, but I don't question him about it. I approach Casey's body instead, bending down right by her mouth. Carefully, I sniff just above her lips, feeling some of my shift take over me. I shake my head, fur sprouting from the sides of my cheeks and on the top of my head.
"Well?" Liam asks, tapping his foot impatiently behind me. He's tense now, a sudden shift in his demeanor, I notice. He approaches me, his hands coming out from his pockets and gripping my forearm, sending tingles running down my spine.
"She has cyndicie in her," I say calmly, although deep down I'm panicking. "Before you ask, it's a gas, so she easily could've smelled it. I don't sense anything being forced down her throat."
"Cyndicie..." Liam repeats softly and I gulp. He doesn't look angry, at least, not yet, and I remember the last time Liam was angry. Just by looking at him, it was like my body was on fire, burning with every ounce of fury he emanated.
However, instead of getting angry, Liam just nods, looking up at me from under his dark, thick eyelashes. My heart spikes.
"Well, at least now we know what it is," he says. "Cyndicie...the cure is down south, right?"
"Yes..."
"Good." Liam nods. "I know an Alpha who lives in the south, Nero. I'll see if I can ask him about the cure."
"Oh," I mumble, glancing at Casey. She looks so serene, almost happy, that I nearly feel sorry for having to find a cure for her. I don't tell Liam, though, choosing to keep my mouth shut.
I look up at him, a grin finding its way to my lips as he shares my smirk. "So, when do we leave?"268Please respect copyright.PENANALkv9FqQc4Y