Chapter 99

Olivia POV

I had achieved a kind of patience while waiting for Iris to finish her analysis. Rodin was quietly helpful, and Brady had returned from her errand to organize getting Iris whatever equipment she needed.

I was so impressed watching her. How nice it would be to have a demonstrable skill, something like being a good gardener or a decent cook.

I was hardly without skills, of course. I knew the bloodlines of all the politically significant families; I knew the importance of placating political interests without giving the religious lobby too much power. I knew the law, both in books, in court, and behind closed doors.

But political knowledge was so ephemeral. As Luna, I would develop my skills with the Moon Goddess, and I hoped I would develop the wisdom and compassion needed for the position. But watching Iris as she worked with her reactive solutions and muttered about Breonadia salicina under her breath, I felt true envy.

That settles it, I thought. I need a hobby.

“I’ve run the test twice now,” Iris said. “There’s no doubt. Claudia was poisoned by a solution so rare I don’t know if it has a name.”

I nodded. I had suspected poison from the beginning. It was a relief to know I was right, but the next question was, I suspected, not going to give me the answer I desperately wanted.

“Is there an antidote?”

“Perhaps, but I don’t know it.” Iris looked over her bottles and vials. “The closest thing I can think of is a sedative, diisopropylphenol, but for it to keep someone unconscious, it has to be administered continually.”

I felt myself grow cold. “So, it’s likely that someone here is continuing the poison.”

Iris pursed her lips in thought. “I would say it’s possible more than it’s likely.”

“I need to get her out of here. I need to take Mother back with me to the palace.”

Rodin and Iris both stared at me in disbelief.

“You want to remove the Alpha from her keep?” Iris demanded.

“I want to keep my mother safe.”

“You’ll never get the Moonshadow Council to agree.”

“Then I’ll just take her.”

“Moonshadow Pack would see that as the ultimate betrayal.” Iris held up a hand. “There are ways to protect Claudia that don’t involve moving her. And besides, we still haven’t discussed the source of this danger or how you’re going to deal with it.”

I scowled, my wolf, as muted as she was, scratching at the ground in rage. “What do you mean?”

“I told you the acetone must have come from Ravencrest Territory, but more than that, Ravencrest Pack is the only pack I know of who would possess the technology and skill to create this poison.”

I was rocked back by that. Someone from Ravencrest poisoned my mother, the Moonshadow Alpha? It seemed too overt an act by them, too flagrant.

I shared my thoughts with Iris, finishing with, “I always thought, if she were poisoned, it would have been by my stepfather to gain power.”

“Does Greg have access to the Moonshadow Keep?” Iris asked Rodin.

“Officially, he’s been told to keep out,” Rodin said, looking quite shaken by the conversation he was overhearing. “But I’ve seen him in the halls.”

“I’ll see he’s kept out from now on, but there’s no way he’s acting alone.”

“Olivia,” Iris said, almost sharply. “We cannot just make guesses and theories now. If Ravencrest and your stepfather are behind this, then it’s been a very long time in the works. If we move without being absolutely certain of ourselves, we’ll be easily outmaneuvered.”

I nodded. She was right. “I’ve always wondered,” I mused, “why not just kill her? Why the coma? Why keep her alive?”

I shrugged. “My only answer was that as long as she lived I had more status in the pack, and that was good for Greg and Damian.”

“Which is no longer the case,” Iris said. “But if that’s why her conditioned worsened, why would Greg wait so long?”

“To avoid looking suspicious, I would think.” I pondered everything I knew so far. Iris was right: it wasn’t nearly enough.

“Suspicion,” Iris said. I was realizing she said words aloud as mental notes. She shot me a wry look. “I’m know someone who’s almost too good at suspicious.”

“If I can’t move Mother to the palace, I can ask Elroy to help me establish better security for her here.” I made a face. “That is, if he’s still speaking to me.”

“You and I came here to protect Alpha Claudia, and we’ve made an extremely important discovery for the future of Lunaris,” Iris said. “Elroy knows to appreciate that.”

“Goddess, I hope so.”

Elroy POV

“What does that mean, she needs to tell you in person?” Jordan wanted to know, squinting at the letter in her hand. Then she looked irritated with herself. “I mean, I know what that means, but what could need that level of security?”

“I suspect she has information about her mother’s illness,” Sam said.

Jordan shook her head. “Alpha Claudia been unconscious for years. Could she have woken up?”

“Alchemist Iris went with her,” my beta responded. “Perhaps she’s discovered something.”

“She says she’ll be back in the morning. We’ll get answers then,” Jordan said.

“Sam, just what sort of political fallout would there be if I went over there now and demanded her return?”

Sam, Goddess bless him, knew I wasn’t asking about the obvious issues of demanding anything from Olivia when she was at her mother’s side. Moonshadow would throw a fit at the disrespect, and I wouldn’t particularly blame them.

He knew I was really asking about the Lunaris Council. So many things had threatened to destabilize the city recently: the omega scandal, Olivia’s sudden installation as Luna. But I wanted to know how this would affect the campaign against Denis.

My half-brother was fighting without honor, hiding his forces, making bold claims with no evidence, and attacking military factions and civilians alike without warning. Lunarian citizens were dying, and I needed to resolve the situation as soon as possible. Running off after my wife, particularly when she was evidently safe in her own childhood home, would send all the wrong sort of messages.

So all Sam said was, “We’re meeting with your war master in a few minutes. She’ll be reviewing all the intelligence we have on Denis’s position as well as the recent attacks by several Rogue Wolves. We have news of abductions and looting, and you need to make an official announcement of his raised criminal status.”

I nodded. He was right, but everything in me was screaming to go get Olivia and bring her home before something horrible happened.