Chapter 41 Chapter 41
Sophia's POV
The goblet fell from Lila's hand, the sound of it hitting the floor as it rang through the hall like a gunshot. The wine spilled everywhere, dark red against white marble, and suddenly everyone went quiet. All eyes turned to the platform where Lila stood, clutching at her throat like she couldn't breathe.
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst out of my chest. This was it. Yeah! The potion was working.
"Lila?" Marcus was already moving, practically running to her side.
His voice cracked when he said her name.
"What's wrong? What's happening?" Are you okay?” He kept questioning, got to his knees and tried to help her stand up.
She tried to answer but nothing came out. Her mouth kept opening and closing, no sound, just panic in those violet eyes. The color was draining right out of her face.
"Get a healer!" Marcus yelled, looking around wildly at the guards. "Now! Somebody help her!" He added.
People started shouting, chairs scraping back as alphas jumped to their feet.
The whole place erupted. I stayed right where I was, sitting next to Ethan with my hands folded in my lap like I was watching a play. Calm on the outside. Inside? My blood was racing, I couldn't wait to see how this ended.
"Sophia." Ethan leaned in close, his voice barely above a whisper. Those hazel eyes were searching my face. "Is this what you….." before he could finish I cut him short.
"Just wait," I whispered back, my eyes never leaving Lila.
Her legs buckled, Marcus caught her just before she hit the ground, easing her down onto that smaller throne beside his.
His hands were shaking as he held her face. I'd never seen him look scared like that, not once in all our years together.
"Stay with me," he was saying, over and over. "Lila, please. Stay with me."
That's when it started.
Her eyes changed first. The violet deepened, it got brighter and started to glow with this weird purple light that didn't look natural at all.
Then came the veins. Dark, almost black lines spread under her skin like someone had drawn on her with ink.
They crawled up her neck, across her jaw and branching out like cracks in glass.
Something rumbled low in her throat, it wasn't a human sound.
People in the crowd gasped.
A few of the alphas actually backed up, their wolves probably screaming at them that something was very wrong.
"What's happening to her?" someone shouted from the back.
"She's changing," another voice whispered, and I heard the fear in it.
Marcus's head whipped around, his blue eyes gone wild.
"Who did this?" The question came out as a roar. "Who poisoned her?"
I stood up, smirked and looked straight to where Lila was.
Every single person in that hall looked at me. Including Marcus.
His stare locked onto mine and for a second, nobody moved. The air felt electric, like right before lightning strikes.
"Sophia." My name came out like a curse. "What did you do?"
I walked forward, my heels clicking on the marble.
The crowd split down the middle to let me through, all of them staring, trying to figure out if I was guilty or not. I could feel Ethan behind me, he is always there for me, solid and steady.
"I didn't poison her, Marcus." My voice came out clear and calm. "But I did make sure everyone would finally see what she really is."
"You're lying." He spat the words at me, holding Lila tighter. "You've always been jealous, you couldn't handle that I picked her instead of you."
I actually laughed at that, then smirked! I couldn't help it. "Jealous? Of her?" I shook my head and took another step closer. "Look at her, Marcus. Really look, does that look like a wolf to you?"
His jaw clenched but he didn't say anything. Because what could he say? The evidence was right there in front of him.
Those dark veins under her skin, her eyes glowing that unnatural purple, her whole body shaking like something was trying to claw its way out from inside.
"She's a witch," I said, making sure my voice carried to every corner of the hall. "A half-blood who's been playing you this whole time."
The whispers started immediately, I saw alphas looking at each other, some of them reaching for weapons they'd probably left at the door.
"That's impossible," Marcus said, but he didn't sound sure anymore.
He looked down at Lila and I saw it, that tiny flicker of doubt crossing his face.
"Is it?" I asked him. "She poisoned my father. She tried to kill Ethan and she set me up to take the fall for all of it." I let that sink in for a moment.
"That emerald necklace breaking earlier? That was her too, it was just another distraction to make me look guilty while she hid what she really was."
"You're insane," Marcus hissed at me, but his voice shook.
"Am I?" I pointed at Lila, her fingers were curling in on themselves, the nails turning black and sharp. "Look at her, Marcus. Just look at your Luna!"
For half a second, I thought I'd actually gotten through to him. Thought he might finally see the truth.
Then his hand went to his pocket.
My stomach dropped. "No, this can't be happening."
He pulled out a vial, small, glass, filled with something that shimmered silver in the light. I knew what it was the second I saw it.
An antidote. Lila must have given it to him ahead of time, just in case her plan went wrong.
"Marcus, don't!" I shouted, but my voice got lost in the noise.
He uncorked it and shoved it against Lila's mouth, forcing the liquid down her throat. She choked on it, her whole body jerking, but he held her still until she'd swallowed every drop.
Nothing happened at first.
Then the veins started fading. Slowly, like someone was erasing them.
The glow left her eyes, the violet dulling back to normal. Her nails shortened, her skin smoothed out. The witch was gone, hidden again behind that pretty face.
No. This couldn't be happening.
"She's fine," Marcus said, and he sounded so relieved it made me sick. He looked up at me and all that doubt was gone, replaced with pure anger. "She's fine, Sophia. You just tried to kill her."
"What?" The word barely made it out. "No, I didn't.."
"You poisoned her," he said, getting to his feet. "You were so obsessed with destroying her that you actually tried to murder her. In front of everyone."
"That's not true!" I was shouting now but it didn't matter. The damage was done.
The crowd's energy shifted. I could feel them all looking at me differently now.
Judging me. Deciding I was guilty.
"Arrest her," Marcus ordered, pointing right at me. "For attempting to murder the Luna."
Two guards started walking toward me.
"Don't even think about it," Ethan's voice cut through everything else.
He was suddenly right there beside me, putting himself between me and those guards. I'd never seen him look so furious. "Touch her and I'll tear you apart."
Marcus actually sneered at him. "Of course you're defending her. The mate bond has you so blind you can't see she's just using you."
"The only person being used here is you," Ethan shot back. "Open your damn eyes, Marcus. Lila is…"
"Enough!" Marcus's shout echoed off the walls. "Sophia Evergreen, you're under arrest for the attempted murder of Lila Shadowvale, Luna of the Shadowmoon Pack. Guards, take her. Now."
The guards looked confused, stuck between Marcus's order and Ethan standing there ready to fight them.
The whole hall felt like it might explode. Everyone was holding their breath, waiting to see what would happen.
I tried to say something, anything to defend myself, but my throat had closed up. My mind was spinning, trying to find a way out of this mess. But there wasn't one.
The plan had failed. Lila was still pretending to be normal. And Marcus had just convinced everyone I was the villain.
This was falling apart.
"Wait!"
That one word cut through all the chaos.
Everyone turned to look at the entrance. Someone was standing there, backlit by those stupid neon lights Marcus had put up outside.
Violet.
She walked in with her shoulders back and her chin up, that bright blue hair of hers impossible to miss. She was carrying something, a vial that glowed with this weird light, the liquid inside it moving like it was alive.
"Wait," she said again, louder this time. "I have proof.”