Page 144 of Once the Skies Fade

Jocelyn rushed back to the large hutch against the wall. The bottles and jars clinked and thudded as she shoved them around, knocking them into each other and sending others toppling.

“Where is it?” I asked, though I knew my badgering her wouldn’t help.

“It should be here,” she muttered, but the next shelf down didn’t offer any hope either. She slammed her hands down the hutch, sending more glasses rattling. “I just made more.”

Despite the agony of it, I rushed from Calla’s side to help Jocelyn search.

“It should be right here,” she said, her voice cracking. She shook her hand at one of the shelves. “But it’s gone.”

“How can it be gone?” I asked.

She didn’t look at me, but continued to stare at the shelves, bringing her trembling hand to her forehead. “We don’t have any.”

Grabbing Jocelyn’s elbow, I swung her around to face me, but she looked right through me, her eyes glossy.

“Jocelyn! Are you saying there’s no way to heal her?”

She didn’t respond.

I shook her just hard enough to force her to focus on me and bent lower to look her in the eye.

“Can you make more?”

“Yes—wait, no. I can’t.” Her shoulders lifted high and shook. “We used most of the poison to make the antidotes for the rest of you. The rest was supposed to be used to poison your wine, but…”

“They gave it all to Calla? There’s no more?” I asked, the bottom of my stomach dropping out. I was going to be sick. I was going to lose her. I was going to fail her.

I couldn’t.

“If we had a little bit of poison, maybe?—”

I straightened, my thoughts spinning furiously.

“How much do you need? Does it need to be theexactsame poison?”

“Well, it can’t be a completely separate poison.”

“Obviously. What about the same poison, just a different concentration? Say, one that could kill a fae within seconds? Would that work?”

Suspicion clouded Jocelyn’s expression, and she let out a slow, “Yes, but…when did she drink the poison?”

“An hour ago. I think. How long does it take to make the antidote?”

“Depends on its potency.” She fumbled with her hands in the air as if doing mental calculations. “But I’d need it now.”

“Give me a few moments. I’ll be right back.”

I dashed out of the room, allowing myself one lingering glance at my mate before I left her. If she didn’t end up hating me for kissing her, she would when she learned how I saved her. But I’d gladly accept all her wrath and endure a lifetime of her hatred if it meant she lived.

Chapter 63

Calla

Ididn’t know how long I’d been stuck in that white emptiness, but when everything began to dim, panic gripped my heart.

The poison had killed me, the Assembly had won, and I would die without ever hearing my mate’s voice again.

The stars were cruel indeed.

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