Chapter 5: Conditions

*Ada*

I forced myself to stand there and watch as the man convulsed on the ground. It was harder than I would have expected to stand by and not help him, but I needed to stay strong so that I could get what I wanted as well.

Plus, what did I owe this man?

"So what's it going to be?" I asked. "Will you take me to the gardens?"

The man didn't answer me, but his eyes found mine, and I could no longer stand by.

"I'll take your silence as a yes," I said.

I bent over and quickly unscrewed the lid of the bottle and attempted to pour it in his mouth. His spasms made it difficult, but I was eventually able to stabilize his head in my lap and pour the medicine down his throat.

It didn't take long for his body to still before me. His head remained in my lap, his eyes closed as his breathing started to calm down. I reached down and tucked a wild stray hair away from his face, causing his eyes to flash open and stare right into mine.

This time I didn't look away.

We sat there in silence for a moment, just staring at each other. I wondered if he felt the same odd connection that I did…but there was no way he could. Why would he? In fact, I was sure he didn't like me at all.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, breaking the silence.

I felt my eyebrows raise in surprise.

"I'm sorry for not believing you, and thinking you were trying to deceive me," he continued, noticing my confusion. He moved his body slowly, as if testing out each part of it to make sure it was really better. "It turns out that you really were trying to help me."

I just nodded, unsure of what to say to that. I knew I was right about the poisoning, but I didn't know how to describe my desire to heal him either. In honesty, I didn't blame him for being suspicious of me, I would have been to.

The man held up his hand to me suddenly.

"I'm Bryson by the way," he said.

I awkwardly grabbed his upside down hand and gave it a small shake. "Ada."

"Thank you, Ada," he said, and I looked away as he said my name.

"Don't mention it," I said. "We made a deal."

Bryson moved off of me and slowly sat up, turning in my direction.

"About that…" he said, and now he was the one that looked slightly confused. "Why do you think I can take you to the Grandmoon gardens? They are private."

I pointed to the badge that was hanging from his open shirt still. "I know you are a member of the Grandmoon leadership."

Bryson looked down and I noticed panic in his eyes. He hurried and closed his shirt, covering the badge from sight. I tipped my head to the side, confused by his reaction.

"Please, you can't tell anyone," he said quickly.

I interrupted him before he could panic any further.

"Don't worry, if you are afraid of being punished for taking me, you could just take me to the mansion territory and I could sneak in by myself," I told him. "If caught, I give you my word that I will not tell anyone that I was helped in any way, and won't bring up your name as well."

My words seemed to instantly relieve Bryson, but his eyes stayed glued on me, as if waiting to see if I had a different reaction. Or maybe to see if he thought I was lying. He had just made a whole apology about not trusting me, but I guess I couldn't expect him to trust me just like that.

"Sounds reasonable," he said slowly. "So what is your reason for going to the gardens anyway?"

"I, well it's nothing really," I stammered out. I don't know why, but I was suddenly nervous. If I told him, would he help me or stop me? Was it safe to tell him my plan?

He might trust me now, or at least be trying to, but he had shown me nothing to indicate that I could trust him. Knowledge could be a very powerful tool.

"If you don't tell me the reason that you need to go then I am afraid I won't be able to take you," Bryson said. "I know the Alpha of Grandmoon, and if I bring a stranger into the pack without a reason, my life is in danger."

I pulled my lip into my mouth, chewing it as I thought.

Bryson knew the Grandmoon Alpha? He must be even higher up in the pack than I had thought if he had those sort of connections. And what was this Alpha like if even the pack members were scared to displease him?

"Come on," Bryson pushed. "It can't be that bad…or is it? Are you wanting to murder-"

"No!" I stopped him before he could carry on. "No, nothing like that."

"Then just tell me."

I stared into his eyes, and without realizing I had made a decision, the answer came spilling from my mouth.

"I just need to get in there to get an herb, okay?" I told him. "There's an herb that can be used to permanently cure your poison, along with other poisons, that only grows there."

Bryson seemed to process these words. "And you know this herb is there for certain?"

"Yes."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Bryson asked, standing up. Then he surprised me by holding out his hand to help me up as well.

"Let's go."

***

*Bryson*

Ada, the beautiful mystery girl, stared at my hand as if it was a mirage, or a trick, and she was afraid of falling for it.

Then she hesitantly reached out and took my hand, allowing me to pull her to her feet.

I continued to watch her, waiting for any sign that she was putting on a charade.

As I pulled her up I could feel the cold metal of my badge against my skin. When she had pointed to it I was sure that she knew my real identity and had panicked and told her not to tell anyone. However, she had played it off like she didn't really know me.

And the more I watched her, the more sure I was that indeed was the case.

'Ethan,' I called out in my head, attempting to mind-link my best friend and future beta.

It was something I should have done right away, but self-preservation had taken precedence. I didn't have to wait long to get a reply.

'Oh my Goddess! Bryson! Where are you?! What's going on?! I've been trying to reach you for over two days!' The worried voice came rushing into my mind.

'I apologize, I have been unconscious.'

'Unconscious? Wait, what? What's going on? Are you hurt?'

'Ethan, just calm down.' I had to try harder to keep the annoyance out of my mind than I did when I talked. 'It's a long story, and I will explain it soon. I'll be coming back to the pack house. I need you to do something for me though.'

'Yes, of course, what is it?'

'I need you to look into what kind of herb is only available in Grandmoon Gardens.'

'Herb…' he said slowly.

'Yes, I know it sounds weird, but please just do it,' I paused, but continued. 'I might have found a lead to cure my disease.'

'Really?! That's amazing!' Ethan said back. 'I'll get on it right away then!'

'Oh, and while you are at it, I need you to research another herb for me as well, something called…wait, hold on. I can't remember the name. Give me a sec.'

"Ada," I said, speaking aloud and looking down at her. She looked surprised at my use of her name. "What was the kind of poison you think I've been poisoned with? What was the name again?"

"I don't think it, I know," she replied with a small roll of her eyes. "It's called Whisperbloom."

I hurried and relayed the information to Ethan, who agreed to look into it immediately.

"And how do you know that's what I have?" I asked, still a little foggy on the details.

"Well, the symptoms are consistent with Whisperbloom, but the main piece of evidence is how you reacted when you went through my garden tonight."

"What? Why?" That made no sense.

"Do you remember entering the garden?" she asked.

"Yes," I said slowly.

"And as soon as you walked in, you felt weak, right?"

"Yes," I said, surprised by her knowledge.

"That's because I have Silkgaze in my garden," she said in answer. "Silkgaze is one of the main ingredients to the Whisperbloom antidote, but without the other ingredients it has a terrible side effect.

When a victim of Whisperbloom poison smells or comes in contact with Silkgaze, said victim would become weakened and incapacitated. Which is why you ended up collapsing."

"Can you cure it?" I asked, knowing she was telling the truth. It made sense with what had happened to me; my sudden weakness, my collapse, my injuries.

"I've spent the last two days trying to negate the Silkgaze's side effects, but it's hard without all the ingredients," she answered.

"No, not the Silkgaze, the Whisperbloom," I said. "This antidote you gave me…can it cure me?"

Ada was silent for a moment.

"This poison is very rare, and therefore is rarely curable," she said, and the hope that had been growing inside of me started to diminish. "However, you were lucky to meet me, because I know I can cure it."

My hope soared.

"I gave you an antidote I created. It won't cure you completely, because I am still missing the herb from the gardens, but it should at least put your symptoms into remission for a solid period of time," she continued. "Once I can create the full antidote, the poison should take a while to detoxify from your body after so many years, but I believe it is possible."

"What do I need to do?" I asked in a tight voice, trying to contain my excitement.

"Well, until we finish the antidote you will need to take the medicine I gave you today regularly to keep your symptoms controlled," she suggested. "And get me to the gardens."

"I can do that," I said with a nod.

"And I know you don't want to hear this, but you need to make sure you don't get any more Whisperbloom in your system until then." Her eyes shifted as if she was uncomfortable. "That means finding out whoever it is who's been poisoning you."

My excitement dimmed again at the realization. This was the part I was not looking forward to thinking about. I already had trust issues, and now to find out that someone close to me had betrayed that trust…

"All in all, making the antidote and administering the doses will be a long process, so I don't want you to think this is some magic quick fix," she said with a serious frown.

"How long are we talking?" I asked.

She looked up, appearing to do the math in her head. "A year, give or take."

I thought about it, but really what was my other option? At least this one resulted in me staying alive.

"I can live with that," I said finally. "I have lived with this pain for over a decade. How bad could one more year be?"

"Well, you would have to spend it with me, so pretty bad I'd say," Ada said, and even though her face was serious, I thought I could detect a hint of a smile in her lips.

For some reason, I didn't think that would be bad at all.

"I will take my chances," I said, smiling as well. "If you are willing to do this and help me I vow I will repay you later."

"I'll hold you to that."