"Achoo!"

"You idiot." Brown eyes stared down at her as she sat huddled on the sofa. "You've gone and caught Black's cold... I don't even want to ask what the two of you were doing to transfer germs."

"All I did was give him a bath." Juniper grumbled, glaring up at Alpha Hunter as he pulled the thermometer out from her mouth. "And sit on top of him while giving him his dinner..."

"That'd probably do it." He sighed, his eyebrows knotting together as he stared at the reading.

"What's wrong?"

"Your temperature has gone up... quite dramatically I might add..." Hunter's eyes narrowed. "Are you in any pain down below?"

"I'm not in Heat, if that's what you're asking." Juniper folded her arms. "I'd know. Besides, you said that I probably wouldn't be going into Heat anytime soon..."

"Probably being the key word there."

"Pft."

"Just checking." He raised both hands. "But if you're not in Heat, then you seem to have a severe fever."

"I feel fine."

"The thermometer says otherwise."

"Check again."

"Happily." He said, sticking the thermometer back under her tongue, and when he pulled it out again a few minutes later, the result was the same. "Clearly you don't just have Black's cold..."

"Apparently not."

"Well, I need to get you down to the hospital-"

Something pounded deep within Juniper, her hearing cutting out rather abruptly as she stood in the middle of the dark room. Hairs on the back of her neck were on end, her eyes widening as realisation struck her.

The fever. The odd sickness she felt. The reason the room was swaying slightly.

"I've been poisoned."

"What?!"

"I know the feeling. I've been poisoned plenty of times before..." She shook her head. "I should've realised it sooner..."

"If you've been poisoned, then why haven't we all?!" Hunter folded his arms. "It doesn't make sense."

A feeling of dread rose in Juniper's stomach as the world began to spin. "Unless it's that poison... The one that only works on women..." She mumbled, checking her fingernails, her skin turning an unhealthy shade of white as she spotted the purplish tinge in her fingernails. "It's Nightblade Vera."

"What's that?"

"If you don't know what it is, then I'm screwed!" Juniper muttered, grabbing a hold of him to steady herself. "I can't remember how to treat it... my parent's doctor did it last time..."

"I'll call Finar." He said, moving to leave the room, but Juniper's hand stopped him.

"I can't fight right now." Juniper said, panting slightly as she struggled to remain standing. "Neither can Black."

"What are you on about?!"

"I'm talking about that annoying Light God's Chosen whose standing in the corner of the room!"

"Oh."

"Hurry up and defeat him."

"Happily." Hunter muttered, slamming his fist into the man before he could even blink, watching as the blonde crumbled into a pile of earth.

"He's managed to infiltrate the Castle..." Juniper groaned.

"Is it safe to leave Black alone?!"

"I can't sense any others in the vicinity."

"How did you even notice him?" Hunter asked, helping her out of the door. "I didn't even realise he was there until you pointed him out..."

"He was invisible." She panted. "I only realised because I activated one of my detection Gifts as soon as I realised I'd been poisoned."

"Can you sense any other clones?"

"None nearby, and I can sense anything within a radius of fifty metres... maybe one hundred metres if I don't mind bleeding from my eyes and nose."

"Got it." Hunter mumbled, rescuing his mobile phone from the floor.

"He got the drop on me this time..." Juniper grumbled, barely paying attention. "I let my guard down... dammit..."

Hunter put down the phone, blinking. "He just hung up on me..."

"Was that before or after you mentioned Nightblade Vera?"

"After."

"Juniper." A familiar figure emerged from the shadows, dark blue eyes narrowing on her matching ones.

"Elder Blythe..." Hunter mumbled, staring at the man in shock. "What are you doing here?!"

"I'm here to take Juniper to Finar."

"Lyra's been poisoned too." She held a hand up, blinking as she was tucked under Blythe's arm.

"Nightblade Vera is a Poison of the Apocalypse, so she'll be fine. You, on the other hand..." He said, stepping into the nearest shadow, emerging onto a dark road that Juniper knew well.

The Shadow Roads.

Blythe, like her, was a master of navigating them. So, within a matter of minutes they were in Stonewall Castle, being greeted by the previous Luna Queen.

"What's up with you?" Carol asked, staring between the two curiously.

"She's been poisoned." Blythe sighed, brushing past her as he carried Juniper to the hospital.

"I've got everything set out." Finar met them at the entrance, worry written across his face as he stared down at the brunette under Blythe's arm. "You do know about its effects, don't you?"

"I'll be careful when putting her down." The other Elder sighed, cautiously setting her down on the bed for reasons that Juniper soon remembered when her arm struck the bed railing.

Crack.

The was the sound her arm made.

Her teeth ground together. "I thought he said to be careful!"

"I was!"

"My broken arm says otherwise!"

"It's not my fault you decided to move your arm!"

"Enough, you two." Finar scowled, hospital gown at the ready. "Blythe, you're helping me." He ordered. "We don't have any time to waste... I hope you're OK with this, Juniper."

"Just hurry up and put it on me." She sighed, far beyond the point of caring about the pair of them seeing her in her kitten-print underwear.

They'd seen her in her bunny-print underwear, after all.

"You'll be bedridden for a little while... even after its out of your system." Finar sighed, sticking a needle into her skin without any warning. "I also suggest that you don't move too much in the meantime. You saw how easily you broke your-"

"Blythe broke it, actually."

"Oh, shut up." The Elder in question muttered as he swiftly got about repairing the damage. "Otherwise I'll break your jaw."

"Finar." She glanced over at the brunette. "Blythe's being mean."

"Children." Finar shook his head. "You've been poisoned with one of the deadliest poisons around today, and I'm dealing with children..."

"Um..." Juniper blinked. "Sorry about that?"

Green eyes rolled. "Just be a good patient and behave yourself."

"You should be telling that to Blythe."

"Well I'm not currently a patient."

"Key word being currently."

"You can hardly do anything to me in your state."

"You wanna bet?"

"Pookie Bear..."

Black's voice made Juniper freeze, her gaze shooting over to the three guys now standing at the foot of her bed, a certain purple-eyed brunette having teleported them into Stonewall Castle. "Black..."

"Hunter told us about the situation." The red-eyed blonde sat at the foot of her bed. "So Blaine brought me here to help guard you."

"I'll help too." Black's hand rose weakly in protest.

"Blythe." The red-eyed blonde turned to the Elder. "Handcuff him to the bed next to Juniper's."

"So, he's finally given up alcohol..." Finar mumbled, watching as Blythe did as he was asked. "No wonder he looks like a truck's hit him..."

"Will you two be staying here?" Blythe turned to the other two Alphas.

"Duh." Blaine said.

He folded his arms. "Just checking."

"Juniper." Finar's voice pulled her attention back to the Elder at her side. "You're going to feel really rough for the next few days, so you probably ought to try and get some sleep in the next few hours it takes for this to kick in." He said, holding up another needle. "Trust me. The side effects of this are nasty."

"Yay me."

"I'm not kidding."

"They can't be any worse than the last time..."

"If you've already been poisoned once before, then this second time will be hell." Finar said, gritting his teeth as he injected the contents of the syringe into her arm.

"Well isn't that just dandy?"

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ILLENIS HERE

Sorry about the delay in getting this up.

Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter.

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