Silver Rain

Chapter 36

Felix stared out the window, watching cars pass on the street below. The blur of headlights had become a norm, helping him think and mull things over in his mind. It gave him something to focus on, something to ground him when the weight of his emotions threatened to crush him completely. Each passing car felt like a reminder of the world continuing to move forward, even as his own seemed to be spiraling out of control.

His reflection in the glass stared back at him, eyes hollow with exhaustion. The sleepless nights were catching up to him, and his patience was wearing thin. He had sat in this seat for the last four days. The chair near her bed had practically molded to his shape, and the sterile smell of the place clung to him like a second skin.

The doctors couldn't find what was wrong with her, didn't know why Olivia hadn't woken up, or why she was still feverish. They'd run countless tests, and given her medication after medication, but nothing was working. Every time they came into the room with more updates, it was always the same—no progress, no answers. Just a helpless shrug and an apologetic look.

It was driving Felix mad.

He clenched his jaw, fists curling in his lap. There had to be something they weren't seeing, something they were missing. Felix's instincts told him there was something else at play, something darker. He felt it deep in his bones, the same way he could always sense when danger was near.

But this danger wasn't something he could fight.

Felix hadn't done any of the alpha work that he needed to. There were business deals, trading, pack maintenance, and everything in between that he should be doing. Instead, he had been thumbing through the book that had previously held Olivia's curiosity.

The late beta Eric Rhett's notebook sat in his lap. Its pages were wearing thin from the number of times Olivia flipped through it, and now he. Felix didn't realize how chaotic her handwriting was until now. The margins were filled with scrawled notes and diagrams, many of which were barely legible. Sticky notes in various colors and shapes cluttered the pages, some with hastily written observations, others with questions and connections that seemed to be only half-formed.

As Felix flipped through the pages, trying to decipher the notes, frustration gnawed at him. Olivia had been so focused on this book, so absorbed in its contents, and now he was left trying to piece together her thoughts in a desperate attempt to find something useful. It felt like trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces missing with the biggest piece right in front of him, unable to give him answers.

The page that he couldn't get out of his head was the one about a plant that would only bloom in the moonlight. Anconitum, scrawled in neat cursive in the header, clearly wasn't Olivia's handwriting. It was a name that had stuck with him, a piece of information that felt significant but he couldn't quite place why. It sounded way too familiar to him.

Felix stared at the page, the words and illustrations blurring together. The plant was described as having unique properties that were supposedly connected to mystical phenomena. According to the notes, Anconitum was believed to have both protective and harmful effects depending on its use, and it was mentioned in the context of magical rituals and healing.

And unfortunately for him, there was one sticky note that Olivia had on the page: Flower that bites the moon? The silver rain from the moon?

The witches had said that as much, but Olivia didn't leave any more theories behind on it.

A soft knock on the door broke his concentration. Mira, with her expression full of concern, stepped into the room. She looked around and then her gaze landed on Felix, noticing the book in his lap.