Chapter 273

[ 979 words ]

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & SEVENTY THREE

Talia’s POV

I lifted my father up and turned his head to allow the blood to rush out of his mouth to keep him choking. The convulsions stopped but he was still coughing.

“What is happening?!” I exclaimed.

“Talia, move!” Della called and snatched me out of the way as Leslie and healers rushed into the room. My father was unconscious before the coughing stopped. He was struggling to breathe as he was still choking on his blood that had now stained his lips black.

Leslie checked his pulse and her jaw tightened.

“Purification agent, now,” she ordered to the healer behind her. “We need to flush the compound out.”

The healer moved immediately. Leslie stepped back just far enough to give him room to work and stood with her arms crossed.

She did not look at me or Della.

When the healer stepped back Leslie examined my father again. She checked his pulse a second time and straightened slowly.

“Damn it,” Leslie growled.

“What? What is wrong? Tell me what is going on,” I begged.

“His body is not responding the way the book described. The compound was designed to recognize external blood intervention and use it as fuel rather than resist it. Instead of the descendant’s blood supporting the wolf, it gave the poison a new pathway to accelerate,” Leslie explained.

“What does that mean? Are you saying that I almost killed him?” I demanded.

“Whoever created the poison must have studied ancient texts. I never considered it,” Leslie admitted.

“This is not your fault,” Della said. “There is no way you could have known that.”

“How much time does he have?”

Leslie did not respond immediately. She would not meet my eye. It only made me more anxious.

“Leslie. How long?”

“A month at most.”

The words hit me hard. I stumbled backward and Della gripped my shoulders to keep me upright. I could see her mouth moving but I could not hear her. All I could hear was my own heartbeat.

“A month?” I repeated. Just like that, one mistake took two months off my father’s life span. I pressed the back of my hand against my mouth and breathed. In. Out. I focused on that until the roaring in my ears quieted enough that I could think.

“Then we find another way,” I finally said. “There has to be something we have not tried. Another compound, another approach, something we missed!”

“Talia, I think we need to begin preparing for what comes after.”

“What? I beg your pardon.”

“I have gone through everything available to me. I have tried every combination I know. I have contacted other healers and cross -referenced every text in three libraries. There is nothing I missed,” Leslie explained.

“You did not know about this remedy until today,” I argued.

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13

ARTEN SEVENTY THREE

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“I am not saying this to hurt you. I am saying it because it is the truth and someone needs to say it,” Leslie pressed.

“I cannot believe you, Leslie. Are you telling me to plan for my father’s funeral? Are you telling me to give up now?” I questioned. I could hear my voice rising but I did not care.

“Talia, she did not mean it like that. She is just…”

“No, she meant it,” I snapped, cutting Della off. “Do not try to defend her. She wants me to give up on him.”

“I am only telling you what is true. It’s time!” Leslie shot back.

“No, Leslie, shut up!”

“Talia, calm down,” Della said as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

“You have to be reasonable about this, Talia,” Leslie stated.

“I do not accept it!” I snapped, shrugging Della’s hand off me. “Jason has the antidote. We know he has it. We find Jason, we get the antidote, and my father does not die. That has always been the plan!”

“And if Jason is not found in time?” Leslie asked. “What then?”

“Then we try something else. We try everything else. We do not just give up!”

“Stop!” Leslie snapped, causing the healers behind her to jump and shrink back. I felt her Luna aura, and I pushed back with my own. I was not backing down from this. I wasn’t going to give up on my father just because she wasn’t as great of a healer as she

claimed to be.

‘Calm down, Talia. You are going too far,’ my wolf urged but I pushed her down.

“Do you think you are the only one hurting right now? Everyone cares about him. Have you ever thought about what this is doing to me? Stop being selfish and act like a Luna. You know I am right,” Leslie said.

“This is just like you to give up,” I spat.

“Talia, that’s not fair,” Della gasped, trying to pull me back before I could push it further.

“You always ran away from your problems, but I am not like you,” I continued.

Leslie looked at me for a long moment. Her face was flushed with anger and for a moment she looked hurt. I expected her to argue back but she said quietly, “I have done everything I can do. I am sorry.”

She pushed past me, leaving a heavy silence in her wake. When Della reached out to touch my shoulder, I flinched away.

“Don’t,” I warned, my voice trembling. “Not right now.”

My knees finally buckled, the agony swallowing me whole as I slid to the floor. I didn’t even try to stop the tears this time. When Della wrapped her arms around me, I just let her. My eyes stayed locked on the door to my father’s room, my mind a frantic

scream.

Moon Goddess, please. How can I save my father?

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