Chapter 57

[Evelyn’s POV]

Even though I couldn’t fully see him, I knew that Alexander was sitting no less than a foot away from me. I could literally feel the heat of his breath against my cheek as he spoke.

“I will not have you continue to keep things from me,” he said.

“Alexander,” I hissed. “It’s not...It’s not that simple.”

“You’re purposely withholding information that could be vital to this situation. How about you let me decide if it’s too complicated?”

I bit the inside of my cheek and lowered my head for a moment. A cold shiver raced down my spine which made a harsh contrast with the hot water I was sitting in. I slowly lifted my arms to wrap around myself only to discover that I was completely without clothes.

“Am I naked?” I asked bluntly.

“Yes,” he answered swiftly.

“Why?”

“I couldn’t very well put you in the bath with your clothes,” he said pointedly. “When I found you, you had broken out into a cold sweat. Your whole body was trembling. It was imperative that we got you warm.”

Did that mean that a bunch of other people saw me? Hell, it shouldn’t have mattered. Even if that was the case, whoever got me undressed and into the bath was strictly doing it for my benefit and to ensure that I would get better.

“Get back to the topic at hand, Evelyn.”

I let out a shaky breath. “Alright, as I was making my way toward the greenhouse, I noticed Fiona. She looked as though she was heading out of the tent where I keep all the dried herbs for the tea mixtures,” I went. “I knew that she was supposed to return back to the pack today. I figured it would be best if the two of us didn’t interact given our past. But I still found it strange that she was over in that area, to begin with.”

I didn’t need to see Alexander to know the kind of expression he was wearing. Doubtful. Skeptical.

Fiona had been back for not even a full day and already there was trouble stirring up between us. Of course, he had a right to be hesitant toward any accusations I had.

“Are you saying that you believe Fiona to be behind this?” he inquired.

“I’m not ‘saying’ anything,” I remarked. “You asked if there was anything I saw that I believed to be strange and that was what I saw. I obviously don’t have a shred of evidence that would prove she is behind what happened. Although...”

“Although, what?” he pressed.

“She’s the only person who would within their legal rights as a registered medical physician to possess Belladonna.”

The energy in the room shifted drastically. Alexander’s questioning tone turned over to that of pure astonishment.

“Belladonna...”

I gravelly nodded and let out a dry laugh. “You were certainly right about one thing,” I told him. “It’s not going to be easy to flush this out of my system right away.”

This specific kind of poison liked to linger in its victim’s blood for as long as it could. It was like thorns growing beneath the skin, struggling to find any way to latch on and cause mindless pain.

Out of nowhere, a sharp pain struck me right in my lungs. A broken cry slipped from the back of my throat as I lurched forward, trying to brace myself for the next side effect.

My stomach coiled and churned, knowing all the air out of my chest. Meanwhile, I was fighting to keep a hold on my breathing but it was like someone was trying to dissect from the inside out.

“Ahh!”

“Evelyn.”

“I-It feels like it’s slicing th-through me,” I cried out. All the air had been stolen from my lungs as the piercing pain spread through me. “Oh my God!”

[Third-Person’s POV]

Alexander watched in fear as Evelyn, practically, convulsed from the unbearable pain. All his previous feelings of frustration and suspicion were abandoned when he saw her entire body constrict. Her fingers were coiled so tightly that they were turning white.

“Shit,” he hissed to himself.

He raced back to her side and tried to gently pry her hands off from the bathtub. It was clear that the heat from the water wasn’t enough to ease her muscles. Evelyn continued to shake and wither, causing Alexander to alter his original plans.

“Evelyn.” He tried to soothe her. “You have to stay with me. Okay? Try and stay awake.”

“I...I c-can’t. It’s too much. T-The pain...It’s too much—ahhh God, make it stop!!”

His heart clenched in sympathy for the affliction she was suffering. He wished he could take it from her, or at the very least share in the agony so that she wasn’t facing it alone.

It reached a point where the feeling had become too much for her to bear. Evelyn’s eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her entire body went limp and fell against the headrest of the tub.

Through wide, astonished eyes, he watched his wife literally pass out from the pain.

“Evelyn? Evelyn? Damnit,” he whispered. “Okay. Okay, okay. I’m going to take you out of here and get you into bed.”

He had to be strategic about this. Alexander drained all the water out of the tub and then went over to grab a large, fluffy towel. He draped the towel over Evelyn and carefully scooped her out of the bath. Having gently patted her dry, he moved them out of the bathroom.

For a brief moment, he paused. He stared at the large bed that sat in the middle of the room. He fell into a silent debate with himself. Should he place her down in the bed in front of them, or should he move her back to her own room?

In truth, Alexander was still finding it hard to sleep at night, knowing that Evelyn wasn’t there. A part of him knew he should have done the honorable thing and returned her to her room, at least for the sake of her privacy. However...

Alexander was fighting the darker side of himself which was spiteful and selfish. He wanted to keep her close.

Sorry, Evelyn. But I’m not letting this opportunity slip away from me.

He carried them over to the bed and gently laid her down. He adjusted the towel around her and fixed the covers to lay over her. Brushing the hair back from her face, Alexander called for one of the staff members to come back with a cool damp cloth.

In the meantime, he got himself situated for the evening. When he got his hands on the cloth, Alexander strained most of the water out of it and placed it over Evelyn’s forehead.

Her muscles were still twinging and spasming from the scorching pain that was spiraling through her. His eyes softened as he took her hand in his own.

“I’m so sorry,” he said quietly. “This shouldn’t have happened.”

In a way, he was glad that she wasn’t awake to face the pain. As pathetic as it may have sounded, he already missed the sound of her voice.

“I’m going to make sure that you get through this,” he promised her.