Chapter 38
Lemon
Nerves clang in my belly as I look around the opulent entryway to House Nerazar. The Nerazar castle is more like a compound at the top of their high rise in the city. Not to mention, I didn’t tell Father or Hunter I was coming to the city today.
Varitius Nerazar appears in the entryway, having been summoned by his servant. He narrows deep red eyes at me. “Miss Denton. What in the actual fuck are you doing in my home?”
At my side, Furyon slides his hand up between my shoulder blades while he pushes support through our bond. It warms me from the inside out.
“Zayle,” he says smoothly. “Her last name is Zayle now.”
Varitius narrows his eyes at us, cocking his head to the side as he examines Furyon. “Zayle as in House Zayle?”
“The very one,” Furyon confirms with a big, toothy grin. “We’re here to see Serafina.”
“Oh, you’ve done enough,” Varitius snaps. “She still—”
“It’s okay, Father.” Serafina Nerazar gracefully descends the red-carpeted staircase to her father’s right.
He blanches when she emerges from the darkness. Gods, her entire face, neck and chest are covered in welted hives. They look as angry and red as ever. Embarrassment and sorrow for her fill me.
She pauses at the bottom of the stairs. Despite the hives, she’s timelessly elegant and beautiful. “I spoke with Lemon earlier, Father. She asked to come. I heard her out and agreed.”
Varitius takes his daughter’s hand and clutches it to his chest. Something in mine cracks open at seeing how he stares adoringly at her. I wish I’d had that with my father, but I’m glad for her that she has it with him.
“I think I’ve got a cure,” I say, willing confidence into my tone.
“Absolutely not,” Varitius snaps.
“Hear her out, please,” Serafina says softly, hand still clutched in her father’s.
For the next half hour, I explain what happened with her potion, careful not to name Hunter and seem like I’m pointing fingers.
House Denton is still in high standing, and I need to take responsibility for my part in what happened to her.
I share everything about the Giant Arakna and what happened in Pine Gulch.
And then I share my theory with Varitius and Serafina.
When I’m done talking, he scoffs. “So you think the Arakna venom will basically kill Serafina’s hives?”
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 I can tell in the way her ears droop sometimes, although she seems happier following Bebop around.
But I don’t think Varek’s story’s quite done.
We’re finding out more. I think he’ll be outta jail soon because, despite what I heard, I don’t think he was part of Letitia’s deal.
That’s a problem for another day, though. The pit hells follow Furyon as he heads toward the storage shed to grab food for the chickens.
On the porch, I pause and turn, looking out at the stunning landscape in front of us.
The mountain range soars up into the sky off to my right.
Pale light from downtown is barely visible off to the left.
The gulch is somewhere past that, hopefully full of safe, healed mustangs.
They weren’t happy with the antidote vaccine, but we made it through.
I never would have fashioned myself a country girl. I thought I was city lights and skyscrapers till death, but I don’t think I could leave Pine Gulch. Not for any reason. Even despite Furyon.
This place has unleashed something inside me. Something wild. Something free. Wind buffets my hair from side to side, and for the first time since I came here, I don’t think about it ruining my curls.
I smile at that realization. Elle Woods and Bruiser would be so proud.
A growl echoes from the direction of the shed. “Lemon Zayle, if you’re not in that house in five seconds…”
Chuckling, I turn and pull the screen door open, disappearing into the depths of his—no, our—home.
Walking through the kitchen, I head to the back where Furyon’s been working on something he hasn’t allowed me to see yet.
The cottage clatters the kitchen cabinets, drawing my attention to where he’s been working.
I know it’s some kind of addition because I can hear the hammering and the slam of wood panels against one another.
He hung a drop cloth over the opening, and I’ve been so good, not even peeking a single time. But now that I have permission…
Sliding the drop cloth to the side, I poke my head through.