Chapter 7

Two months earlier, the day after Carla died, leaflets condemning Serena appeared all over Black Pine. Evelyn had demanded accountability for Carla's death for the first time, and everyone pointed the finger at her.

Serena wept and accused Evelyn of trying to destroy her. She said Evelyn had always been jealous and wanted to drive her to her death.

So the family locked Evelyn in the cell.

That night, the suppression mist stirred the dormant silver. First, Evelyn lost feeling in her legs. Then fever swept through her. She knocked on the door for help.

From beyond the wall came laughter from dinner in the main house. It carried through the wall, warm and lively, mingling with the sound of Evelyn's chattering teeth.

The guard reported to Adrian when Evelyn's fever wouldn't break. Adrian told him to keep watching. The pack doctor warned him again that her reaction was far worse than any normal punishment. Still, Adrian kept the key and waited for Serena to fall asleep.

"One more hour. She's only in there to reflect. It won't do any harm."

In that hour, the silver spread across her spine and caused permanent damage.

Adrian didn't open the cell door until the third alarm. Evelyn was unconscious when they carried her out. The attending doctor asked about her medical history. Her parents insisted she was strong and healthy, and Serena flatly denied that she had ever been exposed to concentrated silver.

The doctor could only treat the fever, and they lost their chance to stop the poison.

When Evelyn woke, she asked Adrian, "I didn't make the leaflets. You knew that all along, didn't you?"

After a long silence, he admitted it.

"I didn't think it would go this far," he said. "I'm sorry you went through that."

Evelyn turned to leave, but her right leg gave way on the step. Adrian caught her and felt the heat of her wrist. Once the fever passed, she recovered enough to walk, but the numbness in her right leg never fully went away. No one knew the silver was still spreading deeper into her marrow.

That night, for the first time, he wasn't called away by Serena's crying.

He sat beside her bed, wiped away her cold sweat, and fed her medicine one spoonful at a time. Near dawn, he took her hand and promised softly, "Next time, I will choose you first."

Evelyn kept her eyes shut and gave no answer.

His promise still stirred something in her. The pain it caused showed how badly she had once wanted to hear it.