by Denise Carbo
Kate arrived to shoo them all away and commandeer Bethany’s attention. She sat on the corner of Bethany’s heavy metal desk with her arms folded and peered down at her.
“Didn’t expect the curiosity horde, did you?”
Bethany shook her head and gave her a wan smile.
“Tell them to mind their own business.” She waved an elegant hand with red-tipped nails in their direction. “Now, that’s them. For me, I still want all the juicy details.” She leaned in close and gave Bethany a wide-eyed expectant stare.
“I already told you and Celeste about Bryant and Davis.”
“Did you? I get the feeling there’s more than what you told us. Are you holding out on us?”
“Holding out on who?” Celeste appeared in Bethany’s cubicle wearing a short lilac skirt and peach silk blouse, holding a tray of beverages. She placed them down on the desk and handed one to Bethany. “Here’s your tea, and Kate your coffee is the one on the right.”
“I’m cutting back on my coffee intake. Since I’ve already had two cups this morning I better not.”
“Oh, poo, I didn’t know.” Celeste pouted.
“I made the decision this morning.” Kate waved her hand in the air dismissively.
“Would you like my tea? I had my fill this morning. I helped Bridget with her bird, and she gave me a cup after I had already had one at home.”
“Sure, why not, I’ll give it a try and see if I can convert.” Kate lifted the cup and wrinkled her nose after taking a sip. “Really doesn’t compare. There’s no kick to the system.” She shrugged. “Well at least there’s some caffeine in it. Wean me off the coffee.” She glanced at Celeste. “There is caffeine in this, right? Never mind, don’t tell me. I prefer to blindly believe there is.”
Bethany chuckled, and Celeste just stood there staring at Kate as she gulped the tea.
“I suppose I better get to work. I’ll see you two for lunch, and Bethany be forewarned I will expect more details about your little jaunt to the country with that sexy American.” Kate raised her cup in salute as she sauntered away.
Celeste watched her for a moment before turning back to Bethany. “What’s she talking about?”
Bethany forced a smile and a shrug. She hadn’t told them about sleeping with Davis or believing him to be her mate. She wasn’t ready to share that information yet. They were her best friends, but just thinking about discussing it made her cringe. She knew they would be supportive, but they both had men trailing after them. How could they commiserate on being rejected—not just by anyone, but your mate? The one who was supposed to love you above all others. The one who was meant to desire and cherish you. Not the one who awakened you and calmly walked away as if it meant nothing.
“I better get going, too. Tootles, see you at lunch.”
Her friend sashayed away. Bethany swiveled her chair back to her desk. Burying herself in work was just the distraction she needed. At first, the multiple conversations, tapping on the keyboards, opening and closing of metal drawers overwhelmed her senses, but soon she relaxed into the familiarity of the noise and tuned it out.
A few hours later, a murmuring drew her attention from the computer. She peeked over the top edge of her cubicle to see a cluster of people by the windows staring down. The rough texture of the cubicle wall scraped against her palms as she strained higher to see. Something was happening. She sighed and briefly thought about slumping back into her chair and ignoring the commotion. If it concerned her, eventually she would find out. Did she really want to involve herself in more drama right now?
Before she could decide, Maureen, one of her co-workers sidled up to her. “You’re friends with that Kate in legal, aren’t you?”
Bethany refrained from stating the obvious. Maureen knew she was. “Why?”
“She got sick. They’re carrying her out now.”
Bethany surged to her feet. “What! What happened?”
She ran to the window with Maureen trailing behind her. “As I said, she’s sick. They called the healer in, and they’re transporting now.”
Pushing her way to the window, she looked down to see one of the guards carry Kate out of the building and approach a waiting guard’s vehicle. She looked unconscious. Watching intently to detect any movement from her friend, her heart clenched in her chest. The guard bent and placed her in the backseat. Kate hadn’t moved.
Bethany whirled away and ran to her desk to grab her purse and pull out her cell phone. She hesitated briefly between the stairs and elevator. The elevators would take too much time. She dialed Celeste as she jogged down the stairs. The staccato of her heels tapping the concrete steps echoed up the stairwell.
Celeste picked up on the first ring. “Oh my gosh, Bethany, there’s something wrong with Kate!”
“I just heard. I saw them put her in the car. What do you know?”
“She started vomiting and collapsed is all I heard. The healer arrived and is taking her to medical.”
“No idea why?”
“No.”
Bethany entered the lobby and jogged across as fast as heels would allow. “I’m leaving the building now. Where are you?”
“Oh, of course, I’m coming too.” Celeste disconnected the phone.
Bouncing to a stop, Bethany balanced on one leg to remove one shoe and then the other. She stuffed them into her purse as best as she could. The heels hung over the side. She clutched her purse under her arm and sprinted out the door and down the road. The rough cobblestones scraped against her bare feet, and were hot from the sun, but her only thought was to reach her friend.
Medical resided in one of the smaller buildings by the entrance. Risharden didn’t often get sick, so it wasn’t much more than a couple of rooms on the ground floor. The healer’s flat took up the remainder of the floor.
Bethany ran across the square to the brick building. People turned to stare, but she didn’t care or stop. The guards she had seen taking Kate from the office building were exiting as she ran up. They held the door. She didn’t pause to question them what they knew. The door opened into the empty waiting room.
Opening the door to the examining room, she searched the room. Elizabeth, the healer, looked up and exclaimed, “Lady Bethany!”
“How is she?” Bethany stared at her friend lying unconscious on the exam table. Her skin was stark white. She released her tight grip on the door handle and approached the table.
Elizabeth frowned and returned her attention to Kate. “She’s been poisoned.”
Gasping, Bethany grasped the edge of the table. “Poisoned?”
“Yes, she’s ingested fallibar. How or why, I do not know. My concern is how much?”
“Fallibar? Is it…deadly?”
Elizabeth briefly glanced up. “It’s a plant native to our home world. We transported samples with us because it is used for medicinal purposes in tiny doses. See these purple striations around her mouth? That tells me it’s fallibar.”
Elizabeth’s competent hands continued to examine Kate. Only the small upward and downward movements of her friend’s chest telling her she still lived kept Bethany's panic at bay. Who could have done this, and why? Who could possibly want to hurt Kate? Had her friend come across something at work? She was a lawyer and privy to secrets.
The heavy outer door squeaked as it was opened, and Celeste called her name. “In here, Celeste.”
Celeste hesitantly opened the door and peeked inside. When she spotted Kate on the table, she burst into noisy tears. Bethany walked over and hugged her.
“Take her outside.”
Bethany frowned, but followed Elizabeth’s instructions and steered Celeste out of the room with an arm around her shaking shoulders. She didn’t want to impede Elizabeth’s examination by arguing or disturbing her with Celeste’s sobbing. Comforting her friend by giving her a shoulder to cry on and rubbing her back, she kept glancing at the exam room door trying to listen for any clue to Kate’s fate.
The pale green walls disp
layed landscape paintings. The brown-cloth chairs were comfortable enough. An assortment of plants, from tall green leaves to bright red flowers, were strewn about the room. All were probably meant to comfort and soothe, but she had to fight the urge to spring to her feet and demand entrance to the exam room.
Although it seemed like hours, the constant glances at the clock told her it had been less than one when Elizabeth stepped out of the exam room. Celeste had calmed down to hiccupping sniffles and clutched Bethany’s hand with her own.
“I’ve given her medicine to counteract the poison. I won’t know for sure until she wakes, but I believe she will make a full recovery.”
Bethany fell back against the chair and closed her eyes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
She opened her eyes and leaned forward, staring intently into Elizabeth’s earnest gaze. “Can we see her?”
Glancing back and forth between Celeste and Bethany, Elizabeth pursed her dark red lips. The smooth, caramel skin of her forehead wrinkled in thought. She gave a sharp nod. “As long as you don’t disturb her. She needs rest now.”
Bethany nodded and stood, pulling Celeste up with her. “Is she awake?”
“Not yet, but her pulse and breathing are much stronger. I need to notify the guards outside.”
Celeste gasped. “The guards? What for?”
“I doubt she put the poison in her tea herself. Someone poisoned her. The guards need to investigate.”
Celeste fell back into her chair, knocking Bethany off balance. She stumbled and flailed an arm out to steady herself with a palm against the wall.
“Tea?” she whispered.
“Yes, I took the cup off her desk and tested the contents. The fallibar was in the tea, along with some other ingredients I haven’t identified yet. Until I do, I cannot be certain about her recovery.”
Elizabeth walked away. Celeste hyperventilated behind her, but she couldn’t turn her body to offer her solace. She was frozen in place.
The poison was in the tea Celeste had brought. The tea meant for her.
Chapter Fifteen
Bethany cradled Kate’s hand in hers as she stood next to the cushioned, beige examination table. Celeste sat on an orange plastic chair in the corner of the room shredding a tissue in her lap. The monotony of the white walls was broken only by a single painting of a starry night sky, and the window on the opposite side looking out onto a small courtyard. Two small rows of herbal gardens were in the center. Heavy brown curtains hung at the window. Squeezing her eyes tightly closed to stem the tears threatening to fall, she blinked them open and gazed down at her friend.
Kate still hadn’t awoken yet.
A commotion erupted outside the exam room. Two guards had been placed to guard Kate. Bethany stared at the door. Her hand involuntarily tightened on Kate’s. Was whoever put the poison in the tea trying to finish the job?
“Get the fuck out of my way!”
She sagged into herself. Davis was here.
The sound of a body slamming into the wall had her take a step forward to intervene. Before she could, the door swung open to reveal Davis standing in the opening—his gaze cataloging the room before it settled on her, raking her from head to foot.
Bethany glanced at the guards scrambling up from the floor where he had apparently plowed through them. Her lips trembled when her gaze collided with his. She pressed them together and raised her chin.
Davis’ heart pounded so hard it felt like it would leap from his chest. When he heard someone had been poisoned at the office building, his breath had seized in his lungs. Even after learning it had been Kate, not Bethany, he had to confirm it for himself. He had to see her with his own eyes and know she was okay. He knew she would be by her friend’s side.
Her skin was pale, her eyes glistened, and he caught the slight trembling before she straightened her spine. His heart told him to take her in his arms to comfort the both of them, but his head argued that it was a slippery slope he needed to stay the hell off of.
She glanced away, and his head won the argument.
The guards gained their feet and surged into the room. He pivoted to meet their attack. Landing a few punches was just what he needed to get rid of the frustration eating at his gut.
Bethany stepped forward to intervene, waving a hand at the guards. The fact they both immediately stepped down both impressed and irritated him at the same time.
“Mr. Campbell is with me. Please excuse his abrupt methods. In the future, please allow him immediate access to wherever I am.”
The guards both nodded before casting a glare toward him and spinning on their heels to leave—closing the door behind them.
She hurried back to Kate’s side, smoothing the blanket covering her, and giving her hand a slight squeeze. He glanced at Celeste sitting in the corner sniffling and staring at a shredded tissue in her lap and back to Bethany.
“What happened?”
She rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes. “The healer said someone put fallibar in the tea she drank. It’s a plant from—”
“I know what it is. Do they know who did it? Will she recover?”
Before she could answer, a woman stepped into the room from another doorway. Her long cornrows hairstyle swung with her movements. Sedate navy pants were topped by a fire engine red top. Her chocolate gaze swept the room before she examined Kate.
“You are the American visitor I presume?” She glanced up at him while she shone a light into Kate’s eyes.
He nodded.
“This is Davis Campbell. Davis, this Elizabeth Deveraux, our clan healer.” Bethany introduced them as if they were at some formal engagement. He wanted answers not introductions.
“What’s her prognosis?”
The healer stared at him, clearly debating whether to tell him anything. She clasped her hands in front of her body and twiddled her thumbs.
“Davis is here on council business. You can speak freely in front of him.”
“Very well. I’m currently running tests on blood, saliva, and skin samples. They will take some time. I’m also doing a more thorough analysis of the tea she ingested. While I am confident fallibar was used, I need to ensure I have all the data available to make an accurate diagnosis. Her vitals have improved, but as you can see, she is still unconscious. I have treated her for the fallibar poisoning, but if she was given something else in addition, I cannot treat it without first identifying the ingredient.”
Folding his arms across his chest, Davis stared at the top of Bethany’s head as she anxiously watched her friend. It would be quite a coincidence if her attack and Kate’s poisoning weren’t somehow related, but not entirely impossible. But why poison Kate?
“Umm, Elizabeth, I was recently poisoned. I am not sure if it could be the same poison or have any similarities. It made me terribly ill and weak. I do not know what was used. Would speaking to the North American clan’s healer help at all?”
The healer stopped her examination and stared at Bethany. “Was fallibar used?”
“I don't know.” Bethany glanced at Davis. “Do you recall any purple marks around my mouth when I was found?”
He shook his head. She obviously thought the poisonings were related somehow, or maybe she was trying to grasp at straws in an effort to help her friend. Did she have more information?
The healer pinned her dark gaze on him. “She was found unconscious? How long? Symptoms? Anna Blake is your healer is she not?”
“Anna died a few years ago. Ashley Parnassus is our healer now. I can call her if you want to speak to her.” He looked at Bethany. “Why do you think it could be the same?”
Bethany twisted her fingers together. “I believe it is best to pursue any possibility if it might help Kate, don’t you?”
“Call her.”
Davis glanced at the healer after she voiced her demand and pulled the phone from his pocket. Bethany was holding something back. He dialed Ashley’s number while staring at Bethany. Maybe she didn’t want to
speak in front of an audience, but he would get to the bottom of this.
“Well, well, how’s Scotland, wolf boy?” He grinned. It was good to hear a voice from home, even if she was using the dreaded nickname she dubbed him with as a child.
“Hey, Ash, I’m with the clan healer here, and she has some questions about the poison used on Bethany. Do you know—”
The healer grabbed his phone and started talking. “What were her symptoms? Did you analyze samples?” She marched over to a counter which stretched along the wall and pulled some paper and a pen from a drawer and started writing things down.
He stepped closer to Bethany. “What aren’t you telling me?”
She peeked up at him and then away. “The tea was intended for me. I didn’t want it, so I offered it to Kate and she drank it.”
Son of a bitch!
Clenching his fists, he wanted to swing around and punch the wall, but he managed to stop himself. He rubbed his hand over his face. He shouldn’t have left her alone. Coming back from the Highlands he let her persuade him she wasn’t in any further danger. His need to put some distance between them had left her vulnerable. She could have been the one lying unconscious on the table instead of Kate.
What if her system had been compromised from the earlier poison? What if this second dose would have been fatal?
He started pacing the length of the room. He had to convince her to leave her clan and return to Wyoming. His clan would keep her safe, and he would find the bastard responsible.
Wait a minute. She said the tea was meant for her. She hadn’t brewed it herself. He swung about. “Who gave you the tea?”
She swallowed and stepped forward. Her gaze darted to Celeste and back to him. “Davis…”
Celeste whimpered softly and peeked up at him from her drenched, swollen eyes.