Chapter 35 035

Chapter 35 035

Claire's POV

Cal's eyes found me first like I was some kind of magnet he could not resist looking at.

A slow smile spread across his face, the kind that never reached his eyes. "Well, well. I thought you were my brother's human pet." His gaze dragged over my swollen face, my split lip, the bruises already blooming purple on my skin. "Why do you look like you have been deserted?"

I kept my mouth shut. Words would waste time I did not have. All I could think about was getting past Austin, getting through that door, reaching Lucien before it was too late.

Austin straightened, his hostile energy shifting into something more formal. "Cal. We were not expecting you."

"I am sure you were not." Cal moved closer, with both his hands tucked inside his pocket. "I heard my dear brother was sick and already at the stage of Dying"

Austin and shark froze, but I frowned at the way he spoke about his brother like he was some sort of an object.

"He is stable," Shark said, but his voice lacked conviction.

"Stable?" Cal laughed, and it made my skin crawl. "Is that what we are calling it? Come now, let us not pretend. I heard the poison has him in the throat and there is nothing anyone can do."

He tilted his head, that mocking smile still in place. "I thought it was my duty to be with my brother during his final moments. Family should stick together, don't you think?"

Austin and Shark exchanged a look. I caught it even though I was not supposed to. Something passed between them. They wanted to stop Cal, wanted to tell him to leave, but they could not move. Could not speak.

They were afraid of him and it was written all over the..

But what I could not fathom was how he was able to get this information and not to mention, he got it so quick. Which made me suspect that he probably heard someone working from the inside.

Cal was not just Lucien's brother. He was something else, something that made even these strong wolves hesitate.

"I will just check on him," Cal said, already moving toward the door. "Make sure he is comfortable."

Austin stepped aside. He had no choice.

The door started to swing open and panic surged through my chest. I lunged forward, trying to slip past them, trying to get inside before Cal blocked my way.

His hand shot out faster than I could track. Fingers wrapped around my arm like iron bands and yanked me back.

"Where do you think you are going?" His other hand caught my chin, forcing my face up. His grip was not gentle. "Eager to see him one last time?"

He teased with that disdainful smirk still on his lips I tried to twist away but he held firm.

"You know, Claire." His voice dropped lower, intimate in a way that made my stomach turn. "Soon enough, this castle will belong to me. Everything in it." His thumb brushed across my jaw. "Including you. It would be better if you started becoming obedient now. Save us both the trouble."

His eyes flickered red. Just for a second, but I saw it. Saw whatever darkness lived inside him trying to crawl out.

Most people would have frozen, Would have submitted.

I shoved him hard, my hands hit his chest and I pushed with everything I had left.

"Touch me again," I said through my teeth, "and I will break your hand!" I scrunched up my face while I threatened.

The hallway went silent.

Cal stumbled back a step, more from surprise than force. Then he seemed genuinely amused.

"Feisty." He drew the word out like he was tasting it. "I like that."

I did not wait for him to say more. The door was open and I ran through it, my ribs screaming, my vision blurring at the edges. But I ran.

Behind me, I heard Cal's low chuckle, but I did not care to look back.

The chamber was dim, lit only by a few candles scattered around the room. The air smelled wrong. Thick and sour, like rot trying to take hold.

And there, on the massive bed, lay Lucien.

My feet carried me forward without conscious thought. I had seen him strong, had seen him angry, had seen him cruel. But this? This was different.

He looked small somehow. His skin had gone gray, slick with sweat that soaked through the sheets. His breathing came in shallow, ragged gasps that rattled in his chest. Dark veins spread from his neck like twisted roots, crawling up toward his jaw and down toward his heart.

The poison was killing him from the inside out.

I reached the bedside and my hands hovered over him, shaking. I wanted to touch him, to check if he still had warmth in his body, but I was afraid. Afraid of what I might find.

"Lucien," I whispered.

No response. Not even a flicker behind his closed eyelids.

Three nights. I had three nights to find that plant, to brew the cure, to somehow force it down his throat and pray it worked.

But first I needed to get to the garden. I needed to find those silver leaves with purple veins. Needed moonstone and bleeding heart root and—

The door clicked shut behind me.

I spun around. Cal stood just inside the chamber now, leaning against the doorframe like he owned the place. Maybe he thought he already did.

Austin and Shark crowded in behind him, their faces grim.

"Well?" Cal gestured toward Lucien. "Are you going to stand there staring, or did you actually have a plan?"

"I need to go to the garden," I said. My voice came out steadier than I felt. "There is a plant. It can cure him."

"A plant." Cal's eyebrow lifted. "How wonderfully convenient."

"I am telling the truth."

"Of course you are." He pushed off the doorframe, moving deeper into the room. "And what plant would this be? What miraculous cure did you suddenly remember?"

I described it. The silver leaves are traced with purple. The exact location in the garden where shadows met light. Every detail the voice had given me poured out in a rush.

Austin's frown deepened with each word. Shark watched me with that same conflicted expression, like he wanted to believe but could not quite manage it.

Cal just laughed.

"You expect us to believe that you, a human who knows nothing of medicine, can cure what the best healers in the territory cannot?" He moved to stand beside Lucien's bed, looking down at his brother with something I could not read. "That is quite a claim."

"I do not care if you believe me or not." I stepped forward. "Just let me try."

"And if you fail?" Cal's red eyes fixed on me. "When you fail, what then?"

"Then kill me or Torture me. I already told them I do not care." The moment I blurted the words, I instantly regretted it.

Cal studied me for a long moment. Then, surprisingly, he smiled. "Very well. Go to your garden. Find your magical plant." He waved a hand toward the door. "But know this—if my brother dies while you are playing herbalist, I will make sure your death takes days. Maybe weeks."

I did not wait for him to change his mind. I ran.