Chapter 143
Chapter 143
ATASHA’S POV
“We found her like this,” Kelan said.
Reina lay on the floor of the small stone cell, half in shadow, hair spread like dark straw. There was blood on her chin and down her throat, a dark smear across her collar from where she’d bitten her own tongue. Her eyes were open, unfocused, staring past the ceiling. Someone had draped a blanket over her waist, but it didn’t change anything.
On the wall behind her, someone had scrawled in shaky strokes: A WITCH IS AMONG US!
The letters ran where the moisture had bled them. My stomach turned.
Reina had been the one accusing me since we met. Seeing it written there, like a final accusation, made my jaw lock. I breathed and let it out slow.
Kelan shifted, waiting. He was one of the men who’d escorted us to the outpost the first night. I nodded to show I’d seen enough.
Across the room, Cassian spoke in a low voice with Mendez. The words were clipped and quiet, but the tone told me everything. I could hear him telling Mendez to lock down the dungeons, count the blades, keep the rumor from spreading for at least one night.
“Did anyone hear anything?” I asked Kelan, keeping my voice low.
“Nothing, my Lady,” he said. “Guard swears the corridor was clear. When they changed posts, they found her like this.”
I nodded. It was either she ended her own life or… someone else did. Either answer was going to burn through the camp by morning. I swallowed and looked away from the message. It wasn’t going anywhere.
“I’ll speak with Cassian,” I told Kelan. He nodded and stepped back.
I slipped out of the dungeon into colder air and the scrape of boots in the hallway. Then I saw Prince Kaelith near the stair, arms folded, posture impatient. He straightened as soon as he saw me.
“What took you so long?” he asked.
I frowned. “There’s a dead woman on the floor.”
His mouth tightened, then he sighed like he remembered how to be human. “Agape wants to speak with you.”
“All right,” I said.
That seemed to surprise him. He blinked, then shrugged and turned on his heel. “This way.”
We crossed the yard by a darker route, avoiding the last of the bonfire crowd. He led me to one of the cabins near the storage sheds and knocked twice in a pattern I didn’t recognize. Then, the door opened. Kaelith
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Chapter 143
stepped aside and let me in, then stayed outside and pulled the door closed.
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Agape was inside alone. The room smelled faintly of herbs and old paper. A map lay open on the table, marked with charcoal.
“I’d like to apologize for making you come,” he said. “It should have been me going to you.”
“I don’t mind,” I said. “You can’t walk into the camp whenever you please. I figured there was an agreement.”
“There is,” he said. “Part of the bargain with the Lord of the North. We stay out of sight, he keeps his men from hunting us on principle.”
I nodded. I’d guessed as much. Agape and the others kept to the quiet edges, always present and never seen. Even when he taught me potioneering, he would only stay inside the cabin.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He didn’t waste time. “Earlier, I sensed a presence,” he said. “Fae. Not ours. I sensed…. darkness. I believe he or she may be corrupted.”
The room seemed to shrink a little. “When?”
“Just after the cheering started,” he said. “It was a heartbeat. Like like a brush. It was gone before I could anchor it. I sent the others to follow the trace, but they lost it at the east rampart.”
I thought of the dungeon wall and the words chewing into the stone. A witch is among us. Reina’s slack face.
“You think the fae was following you?” I asked.
Agape shook his head. “No. If they were trailing us, they wouldn’t walk this close to the outpost, not with the Lord here. Unless…” He paused, then shook his head again. “They wanted to die, even the corrupted still have to follow some rules.
“Rules?” I asked.
“We are not allowed to interact with the Northern Lord or antagonize him or interact with anyone else from the northern outpost. Aside from those directly doing business with them,” he said. “I do not need to bore you with the details as those were not important.”
I nodded at that. I knew some snippets of these… rules. “What do… corrupted fae’s do?” I asked.
“Aside from hunting other fae?” he asked. “Nothing. They hunt to survive.”
That made me frown. “You thought-
“Yes, my lady.. I thought that fae must be after you.”
Atasha frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
Agape didn’t hesitate. “I meant exactly what I said. Corrupted fae are hunters. They feed on other fae– especially halflings or anyone with even a trace of fae blood. To them, your kind is… a weaker version of what
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Chapter 143
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they used to be. Easy to catch and easy to drain.”
“Drain?” I repeated, my voice low.
He met my eyes. “They drink the blood. It sustains them. The blood of a pure fae gives them halfling blood is easier to find. It’s weaker, but it keeps them alive.”
power, but
I stared at him, unsure if he was exaggerating or if that was truly what he meant. “You’re saying there’s a blood–drinking fae somewhere near the outpost?”
“Yes,” he said simply.
The thought made my stomach twist. “That sounds… dangerous.”
“It is,” Agape said. “Corrupted fae are creatures driven by instinct, not reason. They hunt, they kill, and they feed. It’s what corruption does, it strips away what made them sentient in the first place.”
I thought of Reina’s body again. The message on the wall. The look in her dead eyes. “Is it possible the fae came here for someone else? Maybe it wasn’t after me.”
Agape frowned, considering it. “Possible,” he said slowly. “But unlikely. Corrupted fae don’t follow logic or plans. They move toward whatever draws them, strong energy, traces of power, or bloodlines that shouldn’t exist. They fear one thing only.”
I raised a brow. “What’s that?”
“Someone stronger than them.”
“The Northern Lord,” I said, more statement than question. That’s why he mentioned corrupted fae’s not coming here!
He nodded. “Yes. Especially him. If I’m right, Lord Cassian Valemont is currently the strongest living being in Arecor. Even corrupted fae would think twice before crossing into his reach.”
“So…. as long as I stay near him,” I said slowly, “I’ll be safe.”
Agape’s gaze softened just slightly, though his tone remained even. “Exactly. Whatever that thing was, it wouldn’t dare touch you if the Lord is near.”
AD
