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Carefully, I laid the slide in the opening of the tester and allowed the giant machine to swallow it up, a hiss and hum filling the room as it began to work without me doing anything else.
“What are you doing?!” I turned to see Odette’s pale gray eyes glaring at me.
I scowled at her ridiculous question. “I’m running tests. What does it look like I’m doing?” I shot back, settling against the edge of the counter as she strode fully into the lab, shaking her head.
“You shouldn’t be touching that, Nyx!” she complained. “You don’t even know how it works!”
She moved to stop the tester, but my tone stopped her in her tracks. “Don’t!” I growled, fangs throbbing at my gumline. “It’s working just fine. Leave it alone!”
Odette eyed me warily and then looked nervously at the tester. “Why didn’t you just wait five minutes?” She backed away as she read the near madness in my eyes. “I would have done it for you.”
“I wasn’t going to wait around,” I said, pushing myself off the counterspace and folding my arms over my chest. “Someone tried to kill Maren today.”
She blinked rapidly at my statement. “Tried to… kill her?” she repeated slowly. “What do you mean? What happened?”
It was hard to tell if she genuinely cared or if she was just trying to appease me. Although she had never said anything outwardly insulting toward Maren, there had been little snide comments that made me see how little Odette respected my lover. And I had no doubt that she was part of the reason that Maren had left in the first place.
“She was hypnotized and sent to…” I choked on the last words, the image of Maren flying over the side of the railing sending shockwaves through me. “She was put under a spell.”
Odette’s frown deepened, as if she didn’t believe my assessment.
“How do you know?” she pressed. “Did she tell you that?”
“She didn’t have to tell me that. I was there when it happened,” I retorted. “I saw it, and she doesn’t remember exactly what happened.”
The enchantress’ eyes narrowed. “She doesn’t remember?”
“Stop repeating everything I’m saying,” I growled, dropping my arms and retreating back toward the tester. “I think whoeverdid this to her spiked her food with something. That’s why I’m running tests.”
“Or maybe she’s just making up a story because she’s embarrassed that you caught her doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing,” Odette said slowly. “Did you ever think of that?”
I gaped at her. “What is wrong with you? Maren is pregnant with the heir to the kingdom. You should be outraged that this happened.”
She grimaced, but I ignored her expression.
“You should stop babying her,” Odette fired back. “You act like she’s some delicate flower or something, and I assure you that she’s not.”
“You don’t even know her!” I hissed, my eyes narrowing as I dared her to step out of line.
Odette immediately appeared to sense my mood and shifted the tone of the conversation. “So what are you going to do about it?” she sighed, taking my stance against the tables to fold her arms over her chest. Her long hair fell over her shoulders and cheeks, like fire on snow.
“I’m doubling security, and Maren’s not leaving the grounds until I get to the bottom of this. This is one hell of a coincidence. The fires, this attempt on Maren’s life, the murders. They’re all connected somehow.”
Odette gawked at me. “How?” she demanded, eying me like I had lost my mind.
“I don’t know yet, but I will figure it out,” I vowed. The machine beeped obnoxiously, and Odette strode toward it, but I intercepted her, reaching for the output from the printer. The results had come in faster than I had expected.
My hand clutched the page, the words staring back at me in impersonal black ink. But they made my heart drop as if they were spoken directly in my ear.
“What is it, Nyx?” Odette pressed when I said nothing, my eyes scanning the results over and over, hoping for a different result.
“Ebonleaf,” I muttered.
“What?” Odette sounded shocked. “Warlock plant?”
I raised my head and stared at her stonily, but I wasn’t really looking at her. I looked right through her as my mind whirled wildly.
“She was drugged with ebonleaf. That’s why she was susceptible to the spell,” I breathed, utterly dismayed by the outcome.
