Betrayed By One. Bound To Three-Chapter 73: Tricked?

Edris stood near Selena, his eyes fixed on her face as the healer pressed a damp cloth gently against her forehead.

Her skin had grown paler since they returned, the faint flush from earlier now gone entirely. Even her lips had lost their color.

Kael paced a few steps away, dragging a hand through his hair before turning back again.

"She’s worse."

The healer didn’t look up. "I know."

Selena’s fingers twitched weakly against the blanket.

It was a small movement—barely noticeable—but it sent a sharp tension through Edris’s chest. Like her body was fighting something it could no longer contain.

Her breathing hitched.

Then steadied.

Then hitched again.

It was hard watching her suffer like this but there was nothing else they could do.

Edris crouched beside her, his hand hovering just above hers before finally closing the distance. Her skin was cold.

Colder than it should have been.

"We don’t have time to wait," Kael said, his voice tighter now. "If Ronan—"

Footsteps.

Fast. Approaching.

All three of them turned at once.

A moment later, Ronan broke through the trees, a filled container clutched tightly in his hands. His chest rose and fell as he caught his breath, strands of hair sticking to his forehead.

"I’m back."

He moved straight toward them, dropping to one knee beside the healer and setting the container down carefully this time.

"I had to go a little further—the stream’s lower than it was before."

Edris watched him for a beat.

Nothing obvious. No visible injury. No hesitation.

Just... something slightly off in the rhythm of him. A fraction too measured.

But Selena’s breathing hitched again, sharper this time, and the moment slipped away.

The healer reached for the water immediately.

"Good. We can’t wait any longer."

She set the cloth aside and took the vial from where she had placed it beside her earlier. For a second, she didn’t open it. Her fingers turned it slowly, the liquid inside catching the light in a dull, amber glint.

Her expression tightened.

"If the witch lied..." she murmured, almost to herself.

"She didn’t," Kael said instantly.

Too quickly.

The healer’s eyes flicked up to him.

Kael held her gaze, only for a moment before returning to Selena.

"She wouldn’t send us back empty-handed after all that we gave to be there," he added, quieter now.

Edris didn’t speak.

He was watching the vial.

Watching the way the liquid clung to the glass.

Praying silently that it was truly the antidote.

"Help me lift her," the healer said.

Ronan moved first, sliding an arm carefully beneath Selena’s shoulders. Kael supported her head, his movements gentler than Edris had ever seen from him.

Edris shifted closer, steadying her arm as the healer uncorked the vial.

A faint scent drifted into the air.

Bitter.

Sharp.

Something about it scratched at the back of his mind—but before he could place it, the healer tilted the vial.

"Slowly," she said.

As the first drop touches her lips: The bitter sting of it clawed at her throat, and the triplets hearts lurched.

Please... work, they begged silently.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the healer carefully poured more, guiding it between her lips as Kael tilted her head slightly.

"Come on..." Kael whispered. "Come on, Selena..."

The last of the liquid slipped into her mouth.

The healer pulled the vial back and set it aside, her eyes fixed on Selena’s face.

They waited.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Selena’s breathing stuttered—

Then steadied.

Kael let out a sharp breath. "It’s working—"

"Wait," the healer said quickly.

Edris didn’t move.

Something in his chest had tightened again. Not relief.

Not yet.

Selena’s chest rose.

Fell.

Rose again.

Her fingers twitched—stronger this time.

Kael’s grip tightened slightly around her shoulders. "You see that? She’s—"

Selena’s body jerked.

Violently.

Not a tremor. Not a small reaction.

A sudden, brutal convulsion that arched her back off the ground and tore a raw, broken sound from her throat.

Kael recoiled instinctively. "What—"

Her body seized again.

Harder.

Her head snapped to the side, her breath ripping in sharp, uneven gasps like she was choking on something that wasn’t there.

"Hold her!" the healer snapped, her voice sharp with alarm.

Ronan grabbed Selena’s shoulders, trying to keep her from thrashing, while Kael struggled to steady her head.

Edris moved instantly, pinning her arms as another violent spasm tore through her body.

"This isn’t right," the healer muttered, already reaching for Selena’s pulse. "This isn’t—"

Selena’s eyes flew open.

Wide.

Too wide.

Her pupils blown dark as her gaze locked onto nothing.

Or worse—something none of them could see.

A strangled sound clawed its way out of her throat.

Her body bucked again. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Selena!" Kael’s voice cracked. "Selena, look at me—"

She didn’t.

Her breathing hitched—

Stopped.

For one terrifying second, her chest didn’t move at all.

The brothers stared helplessly as they to held her with one thought running through their minds.

What if the witch had tricked the them? What if this wasn’t an antidote at all?"

"No—no, no—" the healer’s hands moved quickly now, pressing against Selena’s throat, her chest. "Breathe. Come on—breathe!"

Then Selena dragged in a sharp, ragged inhale—

And screamed.

The sound ripped through the clearing, raw and unnatural, filled with a pain that didn’t sound entirely human.

Kael flinched back like it had struck him.

"What did you do to her?!" he demanded, his voice breaking.

The healer didn’t answer.

Her eyes had dropped to the vial lying beside her.

Her hand moved slowly toward it, fingers trembling just slightly as she picked it up again.

She stared at it.

Turned it once.

Twice.

Like she was seeing it for the first time.

Behind her, Selena’s body convulsed again, the sound of her strained breathing scraping through the air.

Edris’s grip tightened on her arms, his jaw locking as he fought to keep her still.

The healer’s lips parted.

"...No."

It wasn’t relief.

It was dread.

She looked up at them, something cold settling into her expression.

Then back at the vial in her hand—

As if she no longer recognized what they had just given her.