Page 150 of Esperance

“What happened?” Carver demanded.

Samuel’s bloody hand gripped Carver’s wrist. He was shaking so hard, even his teeth clicked together. Tendons stood out of his neck as he struggled to speak. “Trap,” he rasped out, his voice barely carrying to Carver’s ears; Ford leaned closer to hear. “Wasn’t—me. Tam . . . She made me—tell Amryn—everything. Tam poisoned us. All of us. The wine. We’re . . . dead.”

Carver stared at him in shock, denials cutting through him. No words could come out of his sealed throat.

Tears burned in Samuel’s eyes and spilled out from the corners. “Sorry. So sorry. She . . . promised. This wasn’t supposed to—happen. Sadia . . .” His head listed to the side.

Carver squeezed his shoulder. “Samuel, what does Tam know? Where is she?”

“She . . . knows you switched—places. Went to—library. Took—Amryn.”

Carver’s ears rang.Amryn.Amryn was in danger. So were Argent and Jayveh.

They’d all been manipulated. ByTam.

A shudder wracked Samuel and he cried out, clutching his bleeding stomach.

“Samuel!” Sadia screamed his name and shoved against the guards that held her back.

Samuel’s eyes skipped to her, and his breath caught. “I’m sorry . . .”

Sadia’s eyes were wide as she took in the sight of her husband, covered in blood.

Ford made a sharp gesture, and the guards let her through.

Sadia stumbled forward, tearing off her mask as she crashed to her knees before Samuel, her blue skirt billowing around her.

He stared up at her, eyes glassy, lips barely moving as he said, “I love you.”

Sadia was crying. Samul was dying.

Carver stood, stumbling back one step as his mind raced.

Tamwas their real enemy, and she’d poisoned them all.

There was a low burn in his stomach, and somehow he knew. “The wine.” He looked to Ford. “Tam poisoned the bloody wine.”

“She must have had help in the kitchen,” Ford said tightly.

This was a disaster. They’d all been poisoned, and Tam wasn’t done. She had Amryn. And she was headed to the library. To Argent and Jayveh.

She could already be there.

Carver ripped the mask off his face, and Ford followed suit. They both ignored the gasps as people realized he wasn’t Argent.

Carver grabbed Argent’s nearest guard. “Secure the room. No one leaves.” He lowered his voice. “We’ve all been poisoned. I think it might be the wine. Question the kitchen staff—figure it out. If there’s an antidote, get it to everyonenow.And don’t let anyone eat or drink anything else.”

The man’s eyes were wide, but he jerked out a nod.

Carver’s blood roared in his ears, and he swore the sweat on the back of his neck was from the poison coursing through his body. But he couldn’t think about that right now.

He ignored the sharp whispers of the crowd, the shouted questions. He ignored Sadia’s sobs as she tried to stop Samuel’s bleeding, and he didn’t linger to hear Samuel’s fractured goodbyes as he died.

There was nothing he could do right now about the poison inside of him. But there was another fight he refused to lose.

Carver looked to Ford and the rest of Argent’s guards. “You’re all with me,” he barked. “The prince is in danger.”

Chapter 39