Chapter 180

Iris

“She’s been poisoned,” the doctor says, lifting up an empty cocktail glass with sapphire blue residue inside.

My heart nearly stops. Poisoned? Who would poison Veronica?

I glance at Arthur, whose face has gone pale. The crowd around us erupts into panicked whispers as the doctor leans closer to examine the glass. I think I hear someone calling the police, but I’m not certain over the sound of my pounding heart rushing through my ears.

“This residue…” The doctor holds the glass up to the light, squinting as he turns it in his fingers. “It looks like Blue Hydrangea extract. Very rare, very potent.”

“Is it fatal?” Arthur asks.

The doctor’s grim expression is answer enough. “Without treatment, yes. Within the hour, she will begin to go into cardiac arrest.”

My stomach twists as I look down at Veronica’s limp body. Her face is unnaturally pale, lips already turning the faintest hint of blue. Despite everything, I don’t want her to die. Especially not like this. No matter how I feel about everything, she’s still family, and she’s not a bad person.

At least, I don’t think she is. And no one else seems to think so, either.

Except for whoever poisoned her.

“But,” the doctor goes on, “The antidote is simple enough: a common household ingredient. We need pure honey—raw and unfiltered. And we need it fast.”

Arthur immediately turns to Ezra. “Find it. Now.”

Ezra nods and disappears into the crowd. I kneel beside Veronica, taking her cold hand in mine. Her pulse is weak, but it’s there, and that’s a small comfort. Arthur kneels on her other side, his eyes meeting mine briefly before returning to her face.

Minutes pass like hours as we wait. The crowd has thinned somewhat as the hosts try to maintain some semblance of the celebration away from the medical emergency, but many curious onlookers remain. I hear them whispering, speculating. Some even mention Arthur and me by name, wondering what we might do next.

Just as I’m about to lose hope, Ezra reappears with a small glass jar. “Found it in the kitchen,” he says, handing it to the doctor.

The doctor works quickly, mixing a spoonful of the golden honey with water from a nearby glass. He lifts Veronica’s head gently, parting her lips with his fingers, and carefully pours the mixture into her mouth.

For a long, terrifying moment, nothing happens. Veronica doesn’t move, her breathing remaining shallow and irregular. Then, suddenly, she gasps, her body jerking upward. Her eyes fly open, and immediately land on Arthur.

“My mate,” she whispers, then grabs Arthur by the lapels, pulls him down, and crushes her lips against his.

The crowd gasps. Cameras flash. Arthur’s eyes widen in shock… and then they begin to glow briefly before they flutter shut.

My heart shatters into a million jagged pieces, and I whip my head away, refusing to look.

I want to run away, just as I have so many times before. Running… it’s the one thing I know best, the one thing I’ve always done when things get too difficult to bear. Every cell in my body is screaming at me to flee, to get as far away from this nightmare as possible.

But this time I find myself paralyzed, trapped. Humiliated.

Finally, Arthur manages to disentangle himself from Veronica, gently but firmly pushing her back down. Her red lipstick is smeared across his mouth, and his eyes are still glowing enough that he has to blink several times to get them back to normal.

Goddess, I can’t even bear to look. I don’t meet his gaze as his eyes snap to me. I just stare at my knees, where my hands are fisted into the autumnal fabric of my gown.

“We need to get her someplace private,” the doctor says. “She needs rest and monitoring.”

“I’ll help,” I hear myself say, although my voice sounds far away, like it belongs to someone else. Some braver, stronger version of myself who isn’t currently dying inside.

Arthur continues to stare at me. “Iris—”

“Not now,” I cut him off with a whisper. “Let’s just get her somewhere safe.”

With the help of the security team, we manage to move Veronica to a private room within the mansion. It’s a guest bedroom, tastefully decorated in cream and gold, with a large four-poster bed in the center of the room.

As soon as Veronica is settled on the bed, the doctor begins a more thorough examination. Ezra stations guards outside the door, keeping away snoops and the press.

I sit in an armchair by the window, as far from the bed as possible without actually leaving the room. Arthur comes to stand beside me, and although his hand is warm on my shoulder, and the squeeze he gives me is as reassuring as ever, I hardly feel any of it.

All I can do is keep thinking about that damn kiss.

Deep down, I know Arthur didn’t intend for that to happen—he didn’t want that to happen. Not logically, at least. But his wolf…

I hardly dare to think how it must have felt for him when Veronica, the woman his wolf has been pining for, kissed him. The pure ecstasy that must have flooded his body… Did it feel the same way it did when we kissed for the first time?

For now, I tamp those thoughts down, if only to keep myself sane. Whether Arthur wanted the kiss or not, it doesn’t matter; everyone saw it. And by morning, that image will be on every news site, every social media platform.

And everyone will be talking about my public humiliation. About how Veronica would make a far better Luna than I ever could. About the star-crossed lovers. Veronica the Illustrious. Veronica the Perfect.

Iris the Worthless.

“You’re sure it was poison?” Arthur asks the doctor, his voice breaking through my spiraling thoughts.

The doctor nods and glances at Veronica as he checks her heartbeat. “Blue Hydrangea poisoning is quite distinctive, and, as you can guess, it’s not something that can happen accidentally. The poisoner had to have crushed the petals of hydrangea and nightshade, reduced them to an oil, then slipped them into her drink without anyone noticing.”

“Veronica,” Arthur says, “do you have any enemies?”

Veronica’s eyes flick to me, and for the briefest moment, my breath catches. Does she think that I would do something like this? But then she shakes her head and looks at Arthur. “Not as far as I’m aware.”

“Well, whoever did this knew what they were doing,” the doctor replies.

“Will she be okay?” Arthur asks.

“She should make a full recovery,” the doctor assures us. “But she’ll need rest. Lots of it. And she certainly shouldn’t travel anytime soon.”

My stomach drops. “What do you mean?”

“I mean she needs to stay in Ordan, under medical supervision, for at least a few weeks. A month, preferably.”

Well. So much for Veronica leaving for Bo’Arrocan. So much for giving Arthur and me space to fix our relationship. The universe seems determined to keep her here, in our lives, between us. Fate works in mysterious ways, I suppose, whether I like it or not. And I certainly don’t like it this time.

“Is there anything special she needs for her recovery?” Arthur asks. “Anything we can provide?”

The doctor looks at Arthur. “Actually, yes. The presence of a mate can significantly speed up the healing process.”

The room goes deadly silent. I feel like I can’t breathe, like all the air has been sucked out at once. My eyes are locked on Veronica, waiting for her response, even though I know—I know—what she’s going to say.

Veronica’s gaze slowly shifts from the doctor to Arthur. Her expression is carefully neutral, but we all know what’s coming next.

My heart completely shatters. It’s one thing to know about their mate bond in the abstract. It’s another to see it acknowledged so openly, so brazenly, in front of me.

I can’t do this. I can’t sit here and watch as another woman tries to claim my mate, as history repeats itself in the cruelest way possible. First Selina, now Veronica. When will it end?

As quietly as I can, I rise from my chair. No one notices at first, all eyes on Veronica and Arthur. In a strange way, I’m glad for it.

But as I move toward the door, Arthur’s head snaps toward me. “Iris, wait—”

“I’m just getting some air,” I reply curtly, and my voice comes out with more strength than I feel inside. I hope no one—especially not Veronica—can see the way my hand trembles as I turn the doorknob.

And yet, as I slip past Ezra and down the hall, even once I’m out of sight completely, I swear I can feel her watching me.