Page 84 of Live Love Lasso

I nod. “I do. I’m very confident it will, given everything I know. The venom essentially causes a type of allergic reaction, but I theorize it’ll have the opposite effect on Serafina because of her current condition.”

I’ve never seen Varitius so pale as he struggles with the information.

“Father, I want to try.” Serafina waves at me. “Lemon confirmed this with Rykan from Glimmer Potions House. He’s senior-master-level, and he’s also confident this will work. I’ve got to try it. Nothing else has worked, and honestly, ceremony aside, I just want to get back to my life.”

He nods as she drops his hand and steps toward me. Furyon pulls the antidote from his pocket and hands it to her. She takes it with trembling hands, looking at me.

“So, I just drink this?”

“Yeah.” I resist the urge to cling to Furyon for comfort. “The effect should be immediate.”

She lets out a nervous-sounding laugh. “And this won’t kill me or make me worse, right?”

“It won’t,” I confirm. I should have brought Rykan for backup. I’m too nervous to explain the chemical interactions happening on the back end to make this potion an antidote for her.

Serafina uncaps the bottle and dumps the contents delicately into her mouth. She swallows, then recaps the bottle, brows lifting.

“Mmm, tastes surprisingly good.”

I force a smile. “We aim to please, Miss Nerazar.”

For a moment, no one breathes. In fact, I think Furyon might be the only one of us who isn’t frozen and waiting for something to happen. He stands by my side, staring down at me like he can’t believe I’m his.

Serafina lifts a hand to her chest, sucking in deep breaths. “Gods…I feel…something.” Clutching her chest, she doubles over and cries out.

Varitius is across the room in a moment, wings flared and fangs bared, ready to protect his daughter.

Serafina rises, steadying her breath. “Gods, okay, that was…like a child trampolining on my diaphragm.”

I frown. “My apologies, this is a wholly new potion, so we couldn’t be sure of the side effects.”

She looks into my eyes. “Is anything happening?” There’s obvious terror in her tone.

Focusing on the red welts covering her skin, I watch. Edges begin to blur and fade, the lumps smoothing out.

“It’s working,” I breathe.

Serafina lets out a sigh of relief, her fingers trembling as she reaches up and feels the welts along her exposed collarbone. “Gods, it’s working. Oh my gods, thank you, thank you, Lemon!”

“For fixing the problem you caused,” Varitius barks, crossing his arms, although tension drains from his face as her hives disappear one by one.

“We’re real sorry for your distress,” Furyon says smoothly. “We came as soon as we thought we could fix things. All we wanted to do was make this better. Lemon’s been workin’ night and day since she came up with the idea for the antidote.”

I love, love, absolutely adore how he’s talking about it like we did this together, like he’s in my corner no matter what. I wanna jump his bones so hard right now.

Not the right time or place.

Serafina throws herself into my arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. I pat her back awkwardly as she sobs into my hair. Varitius glares. Furyon beams at me with pride.

When we part, Serafina wipes her tears and levels me with a grateful look. “I’m team Lemon, all the way. I can’t express how much I appreciate you, friend.”

Team Lemon sounds pretty damn good. House Zayle sounds even better. Maybe one day, if the Gulch never finds a Keeper, I’ll build House Zayle potions house and use her as the office. Something tells me she’d like that a whole lot.

We did a good thing today. We righted another wrong. And I feel pretty damn good about that.

Hours later, Furyon rounds the front of his brand-new Fish & Wildlife truck, opening my door. When I slide out, he yanks my ruffled dress strap off my shoulder, exposing my arm and right breast to the cool evening air.

Pale eyes drop to my chest, and he snarls, “Get this off and get inside, Lemon. I’m gonna throw some feed for the chickens and horses and check on the pit hells, and then you’re mine.”