Chapter 99 Until dawn finds us
DARIAN
The moment Adira dashes through the door, the world tilts.
Iris collapses.
I lunge forward, catching her just before she hits the floor, her body limp in my arms. Her skin is ice, lips pale and trembling. “Iris,” I choke. “No, no, no, no, look at me.”
Her grandmother looks worried, fretting as she frantically asks, “What happened?”
“She drank it,” I manage. “The water…Adira put something in it.”
“Oh, my goodness,” nana gasps, dropping to her knees beside me.
I look down at Iris. She’s barely breathing. I press my ear to her chest. There’s a heartbeat, but it’s too slow, too weak. My pulse races in panic.
“Darian,” she whispers, her voice like smoke.
I grip her hand, shaking my head. “You’re going to be okay. Do you hear me?”
Kelvin bursts in through the door with Adrian close behind. Adrian’s eyes snap straight to Iris. “What happened?”
“Poison,” I growl. “Adira was here. She laced the water.”
Adrian’s face hardens. “Where is she?”
“Gone.”
Kelvin’s already moving, shutting the door behind him and locking it tight. “We need to move her,” he says. “We need to leave this place at dawn.”
Adrian nods. “Agreed. But not yet. Darian, she’s still too weak.”
“I know.” My hands are still shaking as I lift Iris into my arms and lay her down gently on the couch. Her body feels weightless.
Fuck. I should have been here sooner.
“I’ll get the leaves,” Nana mutters, scrambling up. “There’s something we can try…uhm… to slow the poison.”
I sit beside Iris, gripping her cold hand. My heart’s unraveling in my chest. “Stay with me,” I whisper. “Please.”
Her lips part. A breath, shallow and dry. “I’m tired…”
“Don’t close your eyes,” I beg. “Don’t you dare.”
She doesn’t answer.
Adrian crouches in front of me. “This isn’t your fault.”
“I let this happen,” I spit.
“No,” Adrian says firmly. “She did this. Not you. You stopped it in time.”
I clench my jaw so hard it aches. My fists curl until my nails bite into my palms. I can’t speak, the rage is too thick, coiled in my throat like smoke. But I swear, my voice not loud enough for anyone else to hear, “She won’t get another chance.”
Nana returns, a bundle of crushed green leaves in her wrinkled hands. “Lift her head.”
I do as told, carefully sliding my arm beneath Iris’s neck. Nana crushes the leaves further in her palms and places a paste beneath Iris’s tongue.
“This will slow the toxins,” she says. “Maybe give us time.”
Iris’s breathing hitches. Her fingers twitch in mine. Her skin, still clammy, starts to regain a touch of color. But she doesn’t wake.
“She’s not dying anymore,” Nana says, her voice tight with worry. “But she’s far from safe.”
I nod. “Then we leave at first light.”
Adrian agrees. “This safehouse’s compromised. If Adira could find it, others can too.”
Kelvin glances out the window, jaw tight. “I’ll prep the car. Fuel it and load what we need.”
Nana squeezes my shoulder. “There’s an old cottage deeper in the woods. Belonged to my brother. No one knows of it. I’ll gather the maps and keys.”
They scatter into motion.
But I don’t move.
I sit beside Iris all night, watching her breathe. I count every inhale. Every exhale. I hold her hand when it twitches. I brush the sweat from her forehead when it beads again.
She stirs once in the dark.
Whispers something I can’t catch.
“I’m here,” I say. “You’re okay.”
She falls back asleep, with her lips slightly parted.
When the candles have nearly burned out and the house is quiet, I brush my lips gently to her temple and whisper, “I wasn’t fast enough today. But I will be next time.”
I don’t sleep.
Morning seeps in through the windows, pale and unwelcome.
Iris’s skin is warmer now, but her body is weak, too weak to move. When she does stir, it’s only to open her eyes halfway and close them again, murmuring nonsense. Still, it’s more than we had hours ago.
Nana gives her another dose of crushed herbs to steadies her breathing and brought her a boil of soup. I take the bowl of soup from her. “Let me feed it to her,” I say.
I help Iris sip warm broth from a spoon.
She takes three sips before slipping away again.
“Where will we go?” Adrian asks me softly, standing behind the couch, arms crossed.
“Your old hunting ground,” I say. “The one near the east ridge. Nana says there’s a cabin there. No one checks that far anymore.”
Adrian nods. “We’ll make it safe. Kelvin’s packing weapons now. Just say the word.”
I look back at Iris. “At dawn.”
By sunrise, the safehouse is stripped clean of evidence we were here.
I carry Iris into the back seat of the car myself, wrapping her in a thick blanket. Her head leans against my chest, lips barely parted, breath shallow but steady.
Kelvin takes the wheel, Adrian is in the passenger’s seat and I hold her the whole way.
Every time her hand flinches, I squeeze tighter.
Every time her breath catches, my chest clenches.
We drive in silence, the road winding into the misty trees of the eastern forest.
We don’t speak of anything.
Not yet.
But I know the silence is temporary. Because this attack isn’t the end.
It’s only the beginning.
And next time, I’ll be so fucking ready.