Chapter 456: The Cost of Drawing Poison

Two days ago

Lysander let out a quiet, resigned sigh.

He wasn’t surprised that his wife and Orion were making plans on what to do to Holly. And honestly, that was Holly’s issue.

Brynhild inclined her head once toward Orion, her expression composed.

The unspoken agreement between them was brief—but complete.

Immediately they were done, all three stood up and headed toward the door.

Brynhild was the first to leave, and Orion was about to step out when Lysander called out to him.

"Is something the matter?" Orion asked him.

"Remember I told you that Sophia ingested Trihydra venom in the morning?" Lysander asked him.

Orion nodded. "Yes, and I’m confused as to how that happened, but I just figured Sophia would be in the position to explain."

Lysander nodded. "That’s fair, yes, but I think I know how the venom entered her system."

Orion’s attention sharpened at once.

His shoulders squared slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Lysander exhaled slowly.

"You remember Tarin. The boy Miles and Genevieve brought in. He was bitten by a Trihydra," Lysander told him.

Orion nodded. He had been there after all when Genevieve and Miles decided to take Tarin to the pack and he had given the go-ahead.

He tilted his head faintly.

"I don’t see what that has to do with Sophia."

Lysander lifted one hand gently.

"I’m getting there."

"When Tarin arrived," Lysander began, "the venom had already been in his system for several hours."

Orion frowned. "Okay?"

"And under normal circumstances... after that amount of time, his chances would have been significantly worse."

Orion felt a familiar, creeping unease curl in his chest.

"But they weren’t," Lysander continued. "I was able to stabilize him within a few hours."

Orion’s gaze sharpened. "I sense a but coming. There’s something else, isn’t there?" Orion asked him.

"Yes. When I examined him properly," Lysander said, "I noticed something that didn’t sit right."

He paused.

"The venom concentration in his blood was lower than it should have been."

Orion nodded.

"It was partially removed, to a point where Tarin could have even survived for more hours even though he was burning up," Lysander added quietly.

"Miles mentioned something to me yesterday when I asked how that was possible. He wondered whether Sophia might have interfered."

Orion turned fully toward him. "Can you get straight to the point?"

"I’m getting there. I wondered how Sophia could have interfered, but after seeing her condition earlier this morning, I’m very certain," he told Orion.

Orion stared at him.

Lysander spoke quietly.

"Sophia sucked the venom out of Tarin’s wound."

Orion stared at Lysander as if he had begun speaking an entirely foreign language.

"...Repeat that."

His voice came out low and controlled because he was almost certain that he did not just hear from Lysander that Sophia sucked out a deadly venom from a child.

"Orion..."

"No, I just want to be certain what you said. Could you repeat it?" Orion asked him.

Lysander swallowed, then spoke again. "Sophia sucked the Trihydra venom out of Tarin."

Orion’s expression twisted sharply.

A stunned, disbelieving frown cut across his face.

"No," he said.

Then shook his head once.

"No. You have to be wrong."

But even as he said it, he knew Lysander wasn’t wrong, neither was Lysander lying.

Lysander just stared at him. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Orion dragged a hand slowly down his face.

"You are telling me," he said carefully, "that Sophia—"

His voice faltered.

Just slightly.

"—took Trihydra venom into her body... deliberately?"

Lysander nodded once.

"Yes. I suspect it was a last resort to save the boy. And I’m going to be honest with you, brother, what she did saved the boy’s life," Lysander told him.

"That doesn’t help," Orion told him with barely controlled emotion.

Sophia chose someone else over herself? The thought, though irritating, was not one he couldn’t fathom. He knew how Sophia was and he knew she likely did it because she had no other options, but that didn’t stop him from being mad at how she put someone else’s life before her own. Did she not think she was important at all?

"And... and what about her?" Orion asked quietly, voice tight. He was more worried about her.

"You told me before that her collapse was mostly from exhaustion," he told Lysander.

"That is true," Lysander said. "But yes, this also adds just a little bit."

Orion lifted his gaze sharply.

Lysander continued.

"The venom residue in her system is minimal. Very minimal. So there’s no cause for alarm."

Orion’s heart thudded painfully.

"But—"

"Yes, it still affected her," Lysander said. "It compounded the strain she was already under and, truthfully, I suspect it will weaken her and slow her recovery. But it’s not life-threatening."

Orion swallowed. "Will there be any permanent effects that could likely cause her issues later?"

"Nothing of the sort. The venom she ingested was minimal, after all," Lysander told Orion.

"So she’ll be fine."

Lysander met his eyes.

"Yes. If my calculations are correct, she should return to consciousness around tomorrow," Lysander told him.

Orion closed his eyes briefly again.

Just for a heartbeat.

Then opened them.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Lysander inclined his head.

But unlike what Lysander thought, the next day came and Sophia still wasn’t awake. Orion had peppered him and Marta with numerous questions. At some point, he even wondered if this was like the last time when Sophia had collapsed.

He moved everything he had to do to her room just in case something happened. With every hour that passed, he asked more questions, holding her hand whenever he got the chance to do so.

There were numerous things he had to do after all. One was meeting with Jarek, the one who had come from the black market. Sophia wasn’t awake, but Jarek was, and though most answers would be gotten when Sophia and Ronan were available, some answers could be gotten now—one being from the man who was currently sitting upright on the bed, his leg in a cast.

Orion took one of the chairs near the bed and sat on it while Daniel and Caspian stood beside him.

"I..." Jarek swallowed. It looked like he was in trouble. "Am I in trouble?"