"She's been injected with something else."
Celeste’s words froze everyone. Mila lay on the bed…breathing steady now, but that mark on her arm said trouble.
"What do you mean?" Damien asked.
"Look. This mark isn’t from the antidote. It’s new. She got it before we came back."
The doctor checked it. His face was drained of color. "You’re right. At least six hours old. Before the poisoning."
"What did they inject her with?" Elena asked.
"I don’t know," he said quietly. "But your mother planned this."
Damien started pacing, angry and tired. "So the whole thing was a setup. The poison. The antidote. Everything."
"She wanted us to run to her," Celeste said. "She wanted this exact moment."
"For what?"
"I don’t know yet. But we’ll find out."
They drew Mila’s blood. The doctor worked nons
