Violet
"You don't look well," I said, and my voice shook more than I wanted it to.
He let out a breath that might have been a laugh. "I'm fine."
He wasn't fine!
His skin was pale, far too pale, with a greyish tinge that made him look almost like a corpse. Black veins stood out against his temples and the sides of his neck, dark and prominent, and pulsing visibly with each heartbeat. A thin sheen of sweat covered his face despite the cold, and his breathing was shallow and uneven.
His jaw was clenched tight, and every muscle in his body coiled with tension.
'No. No. No…'
"Rowan," I said slowly, my voice tight. "You are not fine."
"Just poison," he grumbled, wincing.
"Poison?" I whispered going still.
A slow dread built up along with a numbing sensation in my head. I felt so stupid for not realising sooner.
My mind raced back to the chaos. The serpent lunging at me. The creatures rampaging through the clearing. And Rowan fighting in the middle of all of it, surrounded.
