AMELIE
"Mrs. Gilmore," he started slowly, rising to his feet. As he stood there, tall and imposing, I felt a lump forming inside my throat. "Did you just ask me to take down my pants?"
Jake's face twisted with anger as he stepped between us. "That's it––you're out of here."
He grabbed me by the shoulder, but I swiftly freed myself from his grip, standing my ground as confidently as I could. "I can try doing it through the suit, but I'm not sure how effective it will be."
Now, Jake's face turned impossibly red. "You're insane to think we're gonna buy this!" He turned to the two stone-faced bodyguards by the door and commanded. "Get her out of here before I snap and deal with her myself!"
The larger of the two men stepped forward, his expression making it clear he'd enjoy the task. I swallowed hard, my newfound confidence wavering. What was I thinking? I had nowhere to go, no one to help me if they threw me out.
Goddess, I had unwillingly dug my own grave.
"Wait."
Logan's voice cut through the tension like a blade. Everyone froze as his commanding alpha voice forced everyone into submission.
He studied me intently, his intelligent eyes searching for a hint of deception. "Ten minutes," he finally said. "After that, you're out of this house and my life forever. Understood?"
Jake still refused to comply, despite his boss's commanding tone. "Mr. Grant, get a hold of yourself––"
"Shut the fuck up." His tone left no room for argument. "I've seen many healers before, and since their treatment never worked as well, I might call all of them charlatans, too." He then turned to me. "If she's as stupid as to deceive me, I'll make her a warning case for every woman who will dare play around with me in the future."
My heart instantly sank, blood running dangerously cold.
I couldn't blame him for testing my claims, but at the same time, he had just made it clear that there was no way in hell he would ever believe me.
Logan Grant was just as ruthless as everyone painted him to be, and I was very close to getting a taste of his anger firsthand.
The bodyguards crowded me, their message just as clear: one wrong move and I was done.
Logan sat back into his chair, offering me a challenging glare. "So, how do you want to start?"
I moved toward him, desperately trying to hide the growing trembling in my hands. "Well... I can see where the seed of poison is located, so I need... to put my hand on that spot to make the contact."
"I'm not taking anything off," Logan warned me as he watched me lower on my knees in front of him. I gulped, my right hand hovering over his left thigh, heat rushing to my cheeks.
Why did it have to be in that place?
"This is absurd," Jake snarled, crossing his arms over his chest.
I ignored him and closed my eyes, letting my power guide me through it.
As soon as my palm connected with Logan's rock-hard thigh, I flinched, goosebumps spreading all over my skin like thousands of tiny insects. But just a moment later, a sudden wave of calm washed over me, and my hand slid confidently over his pant leg, drawn by the source of his pain.
Logan winced as the edges of my fingers stopped near his crotch, his muscles tightening as he groaned, "What now?"
"Just... relax," I muttered, more to myself than to him, struggling to focus as my thoughts kept going back to the outline of his manhood hidden beneath the cloths.
At last, my mind let go of everything else, leaving me face to face with the affliction I was desperate to cure.
It almost felt as if I were a vessel filled with intangible power, ready to bend and transform at my command.
And then, I felt it burst out of me. Hundreds of tiny rivulets of power rush from my fingertips straight to the red aura of pain, sticking to it like glue, and pulling the poison seed out, molecule by molecule.
Everyone remained quiet as I kept my concentration locked. I could sense the damaged pathways, the inflammation that had plagued Logan for years. This poison had been eating at his bones like rust ate metal, and the more I struggled to reverse this erosion, the more it felt like I was absorbing it instead.
There was so much damage, far more than I had initially sensed. And I was pressed for time.
Minutes ticked away in silence. I tried to stay focused, but Jake's impatient tap of the foot over the marble floors felt like a countdown to my ultimate demise.
"I don't feel any different," Logan finally noted in a cold voice, his disappointment cutting through me like a knife.
"The poison has left a lot more damage than I initially saw," I whispered, raising my other hand to my forehead to wipe beads of sweat that had already formed there. "It will take some time."
My confidence wavered once again as I suddenly realized that my progress had grown stagnant. I knew I shouldn't have expected any miracles since I was entirely new to this process, yet I had already reversed half of the damage. I had to keep going.
"This is ridiculous," Jake's impatience was growing. "Nothing is happening."
I didn't care for Jake's snide remarks, but I did feel bad about disappointing Logan.
It wasn't that I was scared he would kill me for lying about my powers, no. I was sad. He was of alpha blood––strong and powerful, with unlimited wealth and resources, yet one wrong move had left him with pain that could last a lifetime, and no amount of money or power could offer him any relief.
It was unfair.
And time was running out.
"That's enough," Logan said abruptly as he rose from his chair, nearly knocking me down. His voice had turned cold, and the shade of disappointment on his face had now transformed into anger. "You had enough time to showcase your... talent, but nothing changed. Just as I thought––you were a fraud."
I pleaded desperately, not willing to give up when I was so close to taking the poison out. "Please, Mr. Grant, I––"
"No." He brushed his hand over the place where my palm had touched him, his lips twisting with disgust. "I don't know why I agreed to this nonsense in the first place."
"But it was working!" I insisted, tears forming at the corners of my eyes. "I almost took it out, I––"
"If anything, the pain has gone worse," he cut me off, his eyes hard with disappointment. "You're either delusional or stupid. Either way, this is over."
My shoulders slumped under the weight of my failure.
Perhaps I was indeed nothing more than a delusional fool. I had been given this rare chance to prove my worth, and yet, I did the only thing I had ever done.
I failed.