Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 36 The poison

CA SSANDRA

As my assistant walked toward me, my mind ached with a million questions. What were the results? Was this dire? Were we going to be able to save Asher after all?

Becky pushed her round glasses up the bridge of her nose. She was a beautiful girl- petite with short dark red hair and a pale, angular face full of freckles- and under normal circumstances, she had a pleasant demeanor. But tonight, her russet eyes were underscored by dark circles. She looked visibly worn out. Her lab coat had been hastily pulled on over her night clothes. I felt bad that she’d been awoken at this late of an hour.

“Ca ssandra,” she greeted me as she approached, and then her eyes fell to Asher. “How is the Alpha King?”

“Not great,” I admitted, and then I gestured toward the stack of papers in her hands. “You have the results?”

“Sort of,” Becky replied, and her eyebrows creased together. “But sort of not at the same time. I… I couldn’t identify the venom.”

My heart dropped in my chest.

“Oh,” I whispered, and when my lower lip began to tremble, it took all of my effort to keep from falling to the ground. The world spun around me a little until I took a long, deep breath.

“It doesn’t resemble any of the ones in our texts,” she continued on.

“Did you check the book in my laboratory?” I asked.

Surely the book that Emmett had recorded strange poisons in would have the answers we needed.

But Becky shook her head and frowned.

“Which one?” she asked.

I realized then that I hadn’t actually taken the time to show my assistant the book. Things had been so frantic and hectic around here lately that I hadn’t gotten

around to it.

“We need to go back to the lab,” I said. “I think there’s an answer in that book. somewhere. There has to be.”

can go-” Becky insisted, but

if I come with,” I said, and I peeled my gloves off and dropped them into the waste basket

Becky nodded. “Right.”

pair of us crossed over to the double doors and stepped out into the hallway. The guards seemed surprised to see us.

anyone to enter the chamber,”

and the pair raised their

go.”

said with a courteous smile, and then I turned to Becky.

no time and traveled down

I headed over to my station. The room was enormous compared to what I was used

and a small testing station that allowed me

to my desk and scanned the rows until | found Emmett’s book. I held it aloft to show Becky, and after my assistant’s face brightened with understanding,

hand me the results?” I asked Becky, and without any hesitation, she brought the papers over to me. Once they were in my hands, I set them on

seemed promising. My eyes widened as I took in the information on the page, and my

something,” I proclaimed.

compared the composition of the venom to the description

surprise, what was plaguing the Alpha King was

pages, I caught sight of a sentence that made me hesitate. It

was invented by a sorcerer named

I froze.

What?

out in the empire of Wegalla. What did

understand. Either way, I didn’t have time to ponder it. We needed

save Asher.

the lab and continue studying the venom, meanwhile, I assembled some medicines and herbs from the lab’s supply shelves. I worked quickly and filled a spare kit with the other necessary things like gloves, syringes, and cotton pads, and then I rushed out the door

carry me.

quiet at an hour like this, but time. was of the essence. I figured no one had entered the Alpha King’s chamber while I was gone, but I didn’t want

in my tracks. Kane stood there against a pillar, his arms crossed against his chest,

greeted me with a tilt of his head. “Have you found the