Serena’s knees buckled.It happened so fast that for half a second, my mind refused to accept it. One moment she was coughing—confused, struggling—and the next, her body tilted forward as if the ground had suddenly betrayed her.
“Serena!”
The glass slipped from her fingers and shattered against the deck, liquid splashing across the wood like spilled gold.
She hit the ground hard as I dropped to my knees beside her instantly, the world narrowing to the sound of her gasping breaths and the way her chest rose too fast, too shallow.
“Help!” I shouted, my voice cracking. “Someone help—please!”
Her face had begun to change color,not dramatically—not yet—but there was a tightening around her mouth, a subtle swelling at her lips that made cold fear crawl up my spine.
This wasn’t choking,it wa
