Chapter 88: A daring escape
Celeste’s room was empty.
Clothes were strewn across the floor and a trunk sat half-packed on the bed. The window was open, curtains billowing in the night wind.
"Fuck," Damon hissed.
Cassian moved past him, checking the balcony. "She is gone. She must have climbed down."
Damon crossed to the window, looking out. The drop was steep, but not impossible.
"She is heading for the gates," Damon said. "Or the stables."
"Then we cut her off." Cassian was already moving. "I will take the east path. You take the west and we will corner her at the gates."
Damon nodded, and they split.
He ran.
He reached the gates just as a figure emerged from the shadows on the other side.
Damon’s hand went to the blade at his hip.
"Going somewhere?"
Celeste froze.
She was still wearing her banquet gown but her hair had come loose from its pins, falling in wild tangles around her face. She clutched a small satchel to her chest.
"Damon." She rasped. "I can explain."
"Save it!"
"Please, Damon. You have to understand. I did it for us."
"Us? There is no us, Celeste. There never was."
Her face crumpled. "You do not mean that."
"I have never meant anything more in my life."
Cassian emerged from the shadows behind her, cutting off her retreat.
"You are going to come with us."
Celeste’s head swiveled between them, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps. "You cannot do this. My father..."
"Your father is not here." Damon closed the distance between them in two strides and grabbed her arm. His fingers dug into her flesh. "And even if he were, it would not save you."
She struggled against his grip, but it was useless as they dragged her back through the gates.
...
Back in the healing chambers, Ares still held onto Ayla’s limp hands, staring at her pale face and hoping he could wake her with the sheer force of his mind.
The door opened and Alpha Kieran walked in followed by Ayla’s mother who was weeping.
"What happened to her?" she ran forward, sinking to her knees beside Ayla’s bed.
Ares watched her theatrics.
She did seem sad about Ayla. Had he misjudged her?
"What happened?" Alpha Kieran asked.
"Poison, my lord" Master Aldric answered.
"Please," Brenna wept, "Please, you have to save her. She is all I have..."
Master Aldric’s face was drawn with exhaustion. He had been working over a bubbling cauldron in the corner.
"I am doing everything I can," he said. "But the poison is unlike anything I have seen. It moves fast, and it..."
"How did this happen?" Brenna wailed, cutting him off. "Who would want my daughter dead? She has done nothing to anyone. Nothing!"
Just then as if on cue, Damon shoved the door open, dragging Celeste in with him.
Every head in the room turned.
Celeste stumbled as Damon released her, catching herself on the edge of a table. Her eyes swept the room, landing on Ayla’s still form.
Master Aldric straightened, wiping his hands on his apron. "My lords," he said, his voice strained. "I need to be alone with the patient. Whatever this is, it must be taken outside. Time is of the essence."
Brenna straightened, her tears still streaming. "I will stay with her."
She crossed to the bed and lowered herself into the chair beside Ares, her hand finding her daughter’s. "I am not leaving her."
Alpha Kieran nodded once. "The rest of you. My study. Now."
They filed out in silence.
The walk to the Alpha’s study was a funeral procession without a body. Damon kept his grip on Celeste’s arm, his fingers digging in every time she tried to slow her steps. Cassian walked on her other side, his presence was a wall of cold fury.
Ares walked behind them all, his fingers curled into fists.
Alpha Kieran pushed open the doors to his study and strode to his desk. He did not sit. He stood behind it, his hands braced on the wood, his eyes sweeping over the assembled group.
"How did this happen?"
Damon shoved Celeste forward. She stumbled and fell to her knees on the stone floor.
"She did it," Damon said. "She poisoned Ayla."
Alpha Kieran’s gaze dropped to the woman kneeling before him. "Is this true?"
Celeste did not speak. Instead, she stared at the floor, her shoulders trembling.
Ares moved.
One moment he was standing by the door, the next he was in front of her, his hand cracking across her face with enough force to snap her head to the side.
"Your Alpha is speaking to you," Ares snarled.
Celeste pressed her hand to her cheek, her eyes wide with shock. A red mark was already blooming across her skin. Tears spilled over her lashes and tracked down her face.
"I... I did not..." she stammered.
"You did not what?" Damon demanded. "You did not mean to poison her? You did not mean to almost kill her? What exactly did you not mean to do, Celeste?"
She shook her head, sobs wracking her body.
Alpha Kieran studied her for a long moment before he spoke.
"Where is your father, Celeste?"
She looked up, her face streaked with tears. "What?"
"Your father. Lord Harrick. He did not attend the banquet tonight. Where is he?"
Celeste shook her head. "He is home."
Alpha Kieran signaled to a guard.
"Get him here, now."
Just then the door to the study opened, and Soren stepped inside. His eyes swept the room, taking in Celeste on her knees.
"I heard commotion," he said. "Something about someone being poisoned."
Damon spun to face him. "Yes. Your daughter. You know, the one you have refused to ever acknowledge."
"Damon." Alpha Kieran’s voice carried a warning. "Not now."
He turned to Soren. "Ayla is in critical condition. Master Aldric is doing his best, but the poison is potent." He gestured toward Celeste. "She is responsible."
Soren blinked. His mouth opened, then closed. For a long moment, he seemed incapable of speech.
Ares let out a scoff. "Nothing to say, Beta?"
The door opened again and Alpha Kieran barked.
"For goddess sake, what is it?"
Master Aldric stepped in.
His shoulders were slumped and his hands hung from his sides in defeat.
"What is it, Aldric?" Alpha Kieran asked. "What news do you have for us?"
Master Aldric shook his head slowly.
"I am sorry but the poison has spread too far. There is nothing more I can do." He raised his head and looked at them "Ayla is going to die."