Isla’s PoV~
Bella’s hand was still there, hovering in the space between us.
My wolf was screaming inside my skull.
“Don’t touch her.
She smells like lies.”
Absolutely not.
There was no way in hell I was taking that hand.
I’d rather cut my own arm off than let Bella think she had won.
“I appreciate the apology…” I started.
My voice sounded steady, which surprised me.
I was proud of that.
Bella’s smile tightened.
Just a fraction.
The muscles around her eyes didn’t move.
“But?” she prompted.
The sweetness was dripping off her tongue like syrup.
“But I don’t think we should be friends,” I said.
I finished the sentence before I could lose my nerve.
Bella’s face twitched.
A flash of something ugly in passed through her eyes but I saw it.
“I don’t want to be enemies either,” I added quickly, cutting off whatever retort was forming on her lips.
“I just want peace.
We can leave each other alone.
Stay out of each other’s way.
That’s it.”
I held my breath.
I was laying out the terms of a treaty I didn’t even want, just to get out of this bathroom alive.
For a second, pure, unadulterated hatred flashed in Bella’s eyes.
I saw the urge to scratch, to scream, to rip the smile off her own face.
Then, she blinked.
It was gone.
The mask slammed back into place.
A soft, understanding smile returned, but it looked stretched now.
“Of course,” Bella said.
Her voice was airy.
“I understand completely.”
I fought the urge to raise an eyebrow.
But I kept my face blank.
If I showed I didn’t believe her, she’d know she still had power over me.
Of course I didn’t believe her.
Bella didn’t do “peace.” And right now, looking at her, I could practically see the gears turning in her head.
She was calculating.
She was plotting how to rip my throat out while still smiling.
“You’re right, Isla,” Bella said, taking a small step back.
She let out a little laugh that grated on my nerves.
“Friendship might be… too much and too fast.”
She turned her head, looking over her shoulder toward the hallway.
She snapped her fingers.
Suddenly, two of her minions appeared in the doorway.
I stiffened, my muscles locking up.
They were blocking the exit.
One of them was holding two bottles.
They were the expensive sparkling water ones from the vending machine, the ones that cost five dollars.
They had labels and were unopened.
“A peace offering,” Bella said.
She reached out and took the two bottles.
“Literally.”
She held them out to me.
“If you really want peace, then let’s seal it properly.”
Bella’s voice was light, almost musical.
It didn’t match the look in her eyes.
“Seal it?” I asked.
My throat felt dry.
“Yes, with a drink.
We drink together.
A treaty.”
She held the bottle out again.
The pink label caught the light.
It looked innocent.
It was just sparkling water.
Bella smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes.
But my head was ringing with loud, high-pitched warning bells.
My wolf was pacing inside my skull, growling for me not to do it.
I stared at the bottle.
Then I looked at Bella.
Then I looked past her to the two girls standing in the doorway.
They were watching me.
Waiting.
I looked back at the bottle.
The plastic wrapper was intact.
The seal around the cap was unbroken. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
It looked safe.
“Unless… you don’t trust me?” Bella asked.
She tilted her head, feigning being hurt.
I gritted my teeth.
My jaw ached.
If I refused now, I looked weak.
I looked like I was still the scared little Omega.
I had to show I wasn’t afraid.
Even though I was terrified.
I reached out and took the bottle from her hand.
The plastic was cool against my palm.
“Wonderful,” Bella breathed.
She twisted the cap of her own bottle.
It popped with a soft fizz.
She lifted it to her lips and took a long sip.
She swallowed, her throat moving visibly.
“See?
It’s just water.
Nothing sinister.” She lowered the bottle and waited.
I stared at her.
My heart was hammering against my ribs.
I twisted my cap.
It resisted for a second, then gave way with a crack.
I raised the bottle to my lips.
I could feel their eyes on me.
Bella’s, and her friends’.
There was something in their gaze.
Was it anticipation ?
They were waiting for me to swallow every drop.
I took a sip.
The liquid hit my tongue.
It was cold.
It tasted… Normal.
Just normal sparkling water.
I swallowed.
Bella immediately clapped her hands together.
The sound echoed.
“There, see?
This is peace.”
I said nothing.
I just stared at her, trying to keep my face blank.
Trying to hide the fact that my hands were shaking.
“I have to get to class, but I’m so glad we did this, Isla,” Bella said.
Her smile was wide now.
Triumphant.
She turned on her heel.
Her friends giggled and followed her out the door.
They disappeared into the hallway, leaving me alone.
The bathroom was quiet again.
I put the empty bottle down on the counter.
I turned toward the mirror.
I needed to splash water on my face.
I looked at my reflection.
My eyes looked wide.
Panicked.
Then the floor moved.
The room slanted to the left, hard and then fast.
“What…” I whispered.
But the word even slurred.
My knees buckled.
I didn’t fall, but I had to grab the edge of the sink.
My fingers clawed at the porcelain.
The room was spinning.
The white tiles were blurring.
Nausea that started in my stomach and surged up my throat hit me instantly.
I gripped the sink harder.
My knuckles turned white.
I tried to focus on the faucet, but it was swimming, moving away from me.
The dizziness was overwhelming.
It felt like the world had been dropped and was now shattering around me.
No.
The water.
How could I be so blind?
How could I be so fucking stupid?
I stared at the empty pink bottle on the counter.
Ur sat there innocently.
But I saw the drink.
I saw her open it.
I saw her drink.
Think, Isla.
Think.
My vision swam.
My legs turned to water.
One second I was standing, the next my knees were folding inward.
I hit the floor.
The impact shook my teeth.
Pain shot through my hip, but it felt distant.
Like it was happening to someone else in another room.
Then the realization hit me hard.
Bella must have switched them.
She held two bottles.
She drank from one, and gave me the other.
But somewhere in the motion, when she turned to her friends, when she clapped, she swapped them.
Or maybe she had two identical bottles, and only one was spiked.
She drank the safe one.
I drank the poison.
I tried to reach for my wolf through my mind.
Nothing.
Just silence.
Absolute silence.
It was like reaching into a chest cavity and finding nothing but air.
My wolf was being suppressed.
I tried again.
Still nothing.
My entire body began to shake from panic.
I couldn’t believe it.
Bella had outmaneuvered me with a bottle of sparkling water.
I tried to push myself up.
My hands slapped against the cold tile.
I strained, gritting my teeth, putting every ounce of willpower into lifting my torso.
Nothing happened.
My arms wouldn’t lock.
The connection between my brain and my body was fraying.
Darkness began to dance at the edges of my vision.
My mouth opened.
I tried to form the word “Help.”
But my tongue felt like a swollen slug.
It lolled in my mouth.
No sound came out.
Then I heard the bathroom door creaked open again.
Footsteps.
Multiple sets of footsteps that were heavy and quick resounded.
I couldn’t turn my head.
My neck muscles had given up.
I was staring at the base of the sink cabinet, at a dead spider in the corner.
Hands began to grab me.
They hooked under my armpits.
They hauled me up like a ragdoll.
I tried to fight.
I wanted to kick.
I wanted to scratch their eyes out.
I wanted to bite.
My body didn’t respond.
I felt the air shift as they moved me.
I was being carried out.
The cool air of the hallway hit my face, but I couldn’t shiver.
I tried to scream again.
I pushed air from my diaphragm, forcing it up through my throat.
“Mmmphhh…” that was the only sound I made.
Then, the world tilted one last time.
And the last thing I felt was the hardness of a shoulder against my cheek.
Then, nothing.