Page 100 of Fragile Oath

It was my turn to feel anger. I wouldn’t allow him to attack the father of my best friend when I knew full well where his loyalties lie, and how his years leading a rebellion haunted him to this day.

“You know MacKinnon didn’t condone those tactics,” I said more calmly than I felt.

MacBay’s expression was scathing. “I know he worked alongside a man who did, and now you’ve come to accuse me of doing the same without a shred of evidence.”

“What a difficult position that must be for you,” I said, wondering if he saw the irony as well as I did.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Thereisevidence in your case. Quite a staggering amount of it, in fact. And all I asked is that your family be accountable for once in itsstars-damnedexistence. That doesn’t make me a traitor.”

“Just an adulterer, then.” If he was telling the truth.

He set his glass down on the table a little too firmly. “My private life is none of your concern.”

I gave him a cold shrug. “It is if the woman you’re sharing a bed with is systematically destroying innocent lives.”

“She isn’t,” he spat. “And if I were you, I would be careful of the enemies you make when you’re in such a precarious position yourself.”

I got to my feet, snuffing out the end of my cigar. “You already made yourself an enemy without any help from me, and I will do what I have to in order to keep our people safe. Whether you believe me capable of it or not.”

With that, I strode out of the parlor, having less than no desire to be in a room with him any longer. He had told me what I needed to know, anyway. Either he was a much better liar than I had ever given him credit for, or he genuinely believed Fiona wasn’t the Viper.

That didn’t mean she was innocent, though. Not when she was a good enough liar for them both.

ChapterForty-Three

GALINA

Books were scattered allover the table. I had pulled tome after tome from the stacks, adding them to my pile to no avail. An ache formed behind my eyes that even a peppermint salve on my temples couldn’t mitigate.

I scanned each text, jotting down notes on different plants and a few nuts and herbs that were recorded to have some of the same reactions as the poison, but none of them were extreme enough.

There was a mushroom called death-cap that could make you vomit blood, and an herb that, if eaten enough, could restrict oxygen and slowly suffocate the veins until your heart stopped beating. Then there was the nut that, if consumed raw, could dissolve the lining of your stomach.

Hell, there was even a tree with a fruit described astiny apples of death. The milky white sap was enough to cause severe blistering and toxicity in the body, but the fruit was where the real poison lay. Their sweetness concealed the taste of poison, one that caused internal bleeding and suffocation.

The list went on and on, with each one offering more gruesome side effects than the last. Yet none of them were what I needed.

Each failure to find an answer drove me closer to insanity.

Shaking my head, I rubbed my temples, wondering if it really could be Fiona. Had I sat across the table at tea from the person responsible for trying to murder me? The one who murdered countless villagers and was so terrifying, her followers chose to die horrible, painful deaths rather than be disloyal?

I thought of Davin, the look of defeat etched into even his sleeping face, the frustration that continued to build, threatening to tear down everything his family had worked for.

If I didn’t find an answer soon, would the Viper win? Would she destroy everyone I had come to love so fiercely?

Slamming my book closed, I shoved it to the side before pushing my chair back to find another. There had to be an answer here, somewhere, and I wouldn’t stop until I found it.

I was so engrossed in searching the shelves in the secluded back corner that I didn’t notice the footsteps behind me until Malishka nudged my leg. I spun around to find Davin, his brilliant gaze sweeping over me like it always did when he first saw me. He never could seem to convince himself that I was safe these days.

It was a feeling I understood well.

“Have you taken a break at all today, Love?” he asked once he had assured himself of my wellbeing.

“Have you?” I countered, forgetting the books as I took a step closer.

Though he was as handsome as ever, there was fatigue etched across his features, and something else…an almost restless energy, closer to desperation. Like everything was slipping away from him and he wasn’t sure who or what would be taken next.

Stormsif I didn’t feel that, too.

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