Page 95 of Protected Promise

“Abby, I already told you, it’s fine. You two didn’t do anything wrong, at least not that I’m aware of.”

Both of them shook their heads.

I couldn’t help but be a little concerned though. After all, I was pretty convinced their friend was still trying to kill me.

“Clover hasn’t brought me any tea this morning. Where is she?” I asked.

The two girls looked at each other and I had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Um, so, about Clover,” Abby said.

“Oh, just tell her. That ungrateful wench packed up and just left,” Cadence blurted out. “We were just starting to fit in a little. People weren’t looking at us with daggers in their eyes every time we came in here to help you. And now, rumors are already starting and fingers pointing.”

“About what?”

“With Clover’s hasty departure and your sudden recovery, they are saying we had something to do with it all.” Abby shook her head in disgust.

“All we’ve tried to do is help you and make amends for what River did. She never should have attacked you. Clover knew that too. She just wanted to help,” Cadence insisted.

I shook my head. “I don’t think she was helping me at all. We’ll know for sure soon.”

“What do you mean?” Abby asked.

“I asked Clover what was in the tea she was giving me and she rattled off several things. I am positive I heard her say hemlock and she smirked at me when she did it, like I was too stupid to know what that was.”

“But hemlock’s poisonous to humans and our animal spirits,” Abby said softly.

I could see her brain fast at work, no doubt going through my symptoms and comparing them to the side effects of hemlock poisoning.

“That bitch!”

“I guess that’s why I haven’t been able to help speed up your healing. Did you stop taking it?” Cadence asked.

“Yesterday,” I admitted.

“I’m so sorry, Kaitlyn. I should have seen the signs. In hindsight, they’re so obvious.”

“It’s okay, Abby,” I said. “We trusted her.”

“I don’t blame the others for looking at us as evil psychopaths. I guess she heard about your improvement and bailed. What a coward.”

“We aren’t like that though,” Cadence insisted. “Abby and I have been working nonstop to try and help you. Please don’t punish us for her. We didn’t even know her before coming here.”

“Yeah, none of us knew each other,” Abby added.

I didn’t want to trust them, but I did.

“Do you want me to try to expedite your healing?” Cadence asked. “I won’t blame you if you’d rather not. Honestly, it’s a little weird for me. No one outside my immediate family knows about my powers. My parents have always been scared of them. Mostly I’ve only healed animals, but our human sides aren’t so different really.”

I was still feeling a little rundown and easily wiped. Anything she could do to help would be a blessing. For some reason I wasn’t scared at all. Landon probably wouldn’t be happy to hear I told them, but I’d watched their reactions closely and I had no doubt they were just as horrified by her actions as I was. They were truly only trying to help and caught in a crappy situation. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

“I’d like that, Cadence. The faster I’m back to full strength, the better.”

“But just know I’ll be watching,” Tobi warned.

“Maybe it’s not such a good idea,” Cadence said, wavering on her confidence.

“It’s okay, Cadence. You haven’t done anything wrong,” Abby reminded her.