Chapter 4

That night, Keith had nightmare after nightmare, every one of them replaying the moment Tori coughed up blood.

When he jolted awake, he was drenched in sweat, like he'd been pulled straight out of a river.

He suddenly remembered a story Tori had told him once.

Her aunt had been betrayed at twenty-seven, and the curse had taken her.

Tori had been there. She'd watched her aunt cough up a mouthful of blood, collapse, and never wake up again.

Tori had made him swear he'd find the Everroot for her before that happened to her too, or else.

"Or you'll never see me again."

An uneasy feeling rose in his chest, and he couldn't shake it.

Without waiting for sunrise, Keith rushed straight to my family's house.

When he saw the wedding decor on the doorway, he let out a breath of relief, grabbed one of the clan members helping set up, and said with a grin, "This is Tori's surprise for me, isn't it?

"Fine, since she's so eager to get married, I suppose I'll just have to accept. Where is she? Rehearsing her proposal?"

The clan member yanked his hand away and rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide his contempt.

"Whose proposal? Tori was already carried off to the ceremony by her groom!"

Keith went rigid.

"What did you say? The ceremony? Without me? What ceremony could there be without me?"

"Please," the man scoffed, not sparing him a shred of courtesy.

"Tori is beautiful and kind. Plenty of men would want her even without you. But you? Not only did you never treasure her, you toyed with her, gambled with her life like it was nothing. Do you have any idea that if her mother hadn't left her that life-saving elixir, she'd already be dead?"

Keith's face went white as the memory of me coughing blood flashed through his mind.

"That's, that's not possible! I checked her pulse myself; it was completely normal! You're lying to me! You and Tori cooked this up together, didn't you?"

He grabbed the man by the shoulders, his expression bordering on manic.

The clan member, who'd never liked him to begin with, shoved him hard to the ground and jabbed a finger in his face.

"Our family's curse has been passed down for generations. If there were any way around it in the outside world, do you think we'd just stand by and let our own people die?

"Tori told you the truth the very first year you were together, and you're the one who never believed her. You thought you were such a brilliant doctor that you dismissed her pain as an act, when the truth is you never trusted her, not for one single day.

"Do you even remember that day she coughed up blood? What did you do? Was her life worth less to you than one of Mindy's tears?"

Keith's mind felt like it was about to split open.

"No, no, it wasn't like that. I have to find Tori. I have to explain. I can't let her marry someone else. Where is she? Where is Tori right now?"

All he got in return were more contemptuous stares.

Nobody wanted anything to do with him.

At that, Keith grabbed a pair of scissors, pressed the tip to his own throat, and stared down the clan member like a man losing his mind.

"Tell me, or I'll die right here."

By the time Keith made it to the ceremony, all he could see was me standing there in my wedding gown, Noah at my side.

"The ceremony is complete. Now, the groom may kiss his bride."

"No!"

A furious shout rang out. Keith came stumbling and scrambling through the crowd, completely unhinged.

He tried to lunge at me, but the bodyguards Noah had arranged in advance held him back.

Unable to break free, he shouted at me instead.

"You can't do this, Tori! I won't allow you to marry him! You're mine! How could you marry someone else?

"And besides, what about the Everroot? Don't you still need me to pick it for you?

"Isn't that your family's rule? You can only marry whoever picks the herb for you, or you'll be branded as bad luck. Isn't that right?"

I looked at him coldly, disgust rising in my chest.

"Keith, I've given you so many chances already."

"Let this be the last one!"

He cut me off before I could finish, his voice turning pleading.

"Please?"

At that exact moment, a birdcall rang out.

It was the signal that Mount Elme had opened.

Keith jumped to his feet, practically shaking with excitement, and pointed at the shimmering gateway.

"See? Even the mountain is giving me one more chance!"

I frowned, but before I could respond, the Elder stepped forward and patted the back of my hand, his voice steady.

"In that case, let both Noah and Keith go in together. Whoever brings back the Everroot will be Tori's true match."

Noah said nothing, only gave me a reassuring smile.

The two of them stood side by side at the mountain's entrance.

Keith, his eyes bloodshot from a sleepless night and his hair a mess, still managed a smug taunt at Noah.

"Don't bother struggling. Family, background, character, I don't know how many times over I've got you beat.

"And more importantly, Tori loves me.

"So there's no question who's coming back with the herb. It's going to be me."

Noah didn't respond.

The two of them walked into the mountain, one after the other. An hour later, two stalks of herb lay before me.

One glowed faintly blue, pure white from top to bottom.

The other looked like nothing more than an ordinary weed.

Keith looked at the two of them and smirked, full of himself.

"Ha. Watch. Tori's going to choose me..."

The next second, I picked up the plain weed and swallowed it whole.

The whole room gasped.

"Three, two, one..."