Chapter 283
Atasha’s POV
The King did not answer immediately.
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“That might not be possible,” he said as he leaned back against the stone, one forearm resting on his knee, the firelight catching the worn edge of his armor as if it were mapping every mark left behind by things that should not have existed.
“Based on the records that survived,” he said, “Shadows cannot procreate. They are infertile, and they cannot infect others the way lesser creatures do. There is no spreading, no lineage and no inheritance.”
Cassian’s hand stayed firm against my back as I listened.
“That limitation,” the King continued. “Was the reason they turned to experimentation. They could not multiply, so they created alternatives. Eventually, that led to the creation of supernaturals.”
My chest tightened.
“Shadows themselves are almost immortal,” he said. “They age slowly, heal rapidly, and are immune to poison. There are ways to kill them, but those methods were rare and costly. So they sought to make themselves stronger.”
I shifted slightly, the stone beneath me cold even with the fire nearby.
“They began draining the blood of supernaturals,” the King said. “Not killing them outright at first. Stripping power, siphoning it in controlled amounts. The records describe it as harvesting rather than slaughter.”
Something about that phrasing made my jaw clench.
“According to what fragments we recovered,” he went on. “A revolution followed. Supernaturals turned on the Shadows. Entire strongholds fell. The Shadows were defeated, but the aftermath frightened the victors more than the war itself.”
I frowned. “That part does not make sense.”
The King’s gaze lifted to me.
“Why would they prevent anyone from knowing about the Shadows?” I said, keeping my voice even. “Why erase the records? Wouldn’t it be safer for everyone to know what they did and what they were capable of, so no one could repeat it? Shadows were… described as god–like creatures. While no one knows where they come from, everyone should know how to deal with them… right?”
The fire popped softly.
The King exhaled through his nose and shook his head once. “Because knowledge invites curiosity. Because fear fades faster than ambition. The conclusion they reached was simple. If no one remembered the Shadows, no one would go looking for their methods.”
I stared at him, the weight of that logic settling in ways I did not like.
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Chapter 283
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Then something else clicked.
“Hold on,” I said slowly. “What happened to the Shadows themselves? You said they are close to immortal. Did all of them die?”
The shift in the King’s expression was immediate.
The lines around his eyes deepened, his jaw tightening as if he had bitten down on something bitter. He looked at the fire, then away, then back at me, and the pause stretched long enough to feel intentional.
“The records are incomplete,” he said. “Pages missing and entire sections were burned. We do not know their final fate.”
Cassian’s fingers pressed slightly harder into my back.
“But I am certain of one thing,” the King continued. “They did not simply die. Killing them is not straightforward. They heal too quickly, regenerate too efficiently, and poison has no effect on them at all.”
My eyes narrowed.
“So you are telling me,” I said carefully. “That they are still alive somehow.”
The King’s gaze did not waver. “Sealed,” he said. “That is our best conclusion. Bound somewhere beyond reach. The erasure of records was not negligence. It was intention.”
A chill crept up my spine.
“The truth was buried,” he added. “Because someone feared it would be found again.”
My teeth clenched as Lady Kenneth’s voice surfaced in my memory, her warning threading itself through the pieces laid out in front of me. I leaned forward slightly, ignoring the faint ache that protested the movement.
“Lady Kenneth said the ones who created me,” I said.“Might be someone who found old records and tried to imitate the experiments.”
The King nodded.
“That is consistent with what we suspect,” he said.
The fire crackled, louder this time.
“Then,” I said, the word scraping out of my throat sharper than I intended. “Do you think it is possible that these same people tried to recreate the undead as well?”
The King did not look away from me when he answered.
“We traced a group once,” he said. “We found actual records with names, locations, and witnesses who did not live long enough to be questioned twice.”
Cassian shifted slightly behind me, his presence steady, silent.
10:23 Mon, Feb 9
Chapter 282
A 67
55 Vouchers
The King sat opposite the fire, shoulders squared even in the cramped space. His armor was scuffed and dusted with dried blood, but he was upright. His sword lay within reach.
“What happened?” I asked, and my own voice sounded rougher than I expected.
Cassian’s hand stayed firm at my back. “You lost consciousness,” he said.
My memory snapped in fragments. Nicho’s body rising again. The headless movement. The pressure in my chest. The figure behind it.
My posture tightened, and my gaze locked on the King.
Cassian caught the shift instantly. “I checked him,” he said before I could speak. His eyes flicked to his brother, then back to me. “He is alive.”
I held the King’s gaze for a moment longer, then nodded once. “Your Majesty,” I said, voice controlled. “I apologize. I have to be cautious in this place.”
The King’s expression did not change much. He gave a small nod that accepted it without argument, then lifted a piece of meat and extended it slightly in my direction. “Eat,” he said. “These are supplies I had on me. You will not stand properly if you keep running on nothing.”
I accepted the meat without wasting time pretending I was not hungry. The first bite grounded me more than I wanted to admit, salt and smoke and rough texture, something real in a place that kept turning the dead into
weapons.
As I chewed, my eyes moved again, scanning the blocked entrance, the gap, the shadows beyond. My fingers flexed as if they were looking for my sword.
Then my attention snapped back to what mattered.
“Nicho,” I said, and the word came out flat. “Did either of you see his body after… after it moved again?”
Cassian’s expression tightened, the anger from earlier shifting into something harder to read. He did not answer immediately. His gaze slid toward the small gap in the stones as if he could still see the clearing through solid rock, then returned to me.
“The last time I saw it,” he said, voice low. “It did not stay down.”
The King’s jaw clenched. His eyes dropped briefly to the fire, then lifted again as if he was forcing himself to look at the problem directly. “It’s gone. I took care of it.”
I nodded. I wanted to say something that might comfort the King but ended up saying nothing. Nicho is the King’s friend. Him taking care of it meant…
A sigh left my lips.
Cassian’s hand pressed against my back, steadying me. For a moment, silence wrapped around us like a
blanket.
“The undead…” The King started. “I have never seen one but I have read about them when I was younger.”
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Chapter 283
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“They were experimenting on newborns,” the King continued. “Infants taken before their blood could settle into anything stable. Some were supernatural by lineage. Some were not. The intent was the same. They wanted vessels that had not yet learned resistance.”
My throat tightened, but I did not interrupt him.
“The earliest record we recovered was from thirty years ago,” he said. “Possibly older, but that was as far back as the paper trail survived. The rest had been erased too thoroughly to reconstruct.”
Thirty years.
The fire snapped, a sharp sound that made the space feel smaller.
“Our father found them,” the King went on. “Or rather, he followed the aftermath of their work.”
Cassian’s jaw tightened, though he still said nothing.
“He issued an order that did not leave room for interpretation,” the King said. “End the experiments, destroy the facilities and leave no survivors who could continue the work.”
My breath slowed.
“Everyone involved was marked,” the King continued. “Everyone was instructed to be burned and killed. Researchers, guards, those who provided supplies. those who looked away. The order included the newborns.”
My fingers curled against my palm.
I saw it then, not as a memory but as a shape carved around my existence.
Alpha Collins receiving an order that did not ask for mercy. A child that should have been nothing more than another name crossed out in a report. A decision made in silence rather than obedience.
He spared me.
He took me home.
He gave me to his wife instead of ending me where I lay.
The realization settled inside my chest, pressing into places I did not know how to defend. Gratitude did not feel clean. Neither did resentment. They tangled together until I could not tell where one ended and the other began.
“To survive,” the King said, pulling me back. “Those who escaped had to disappear completely. They could not remain in Arecor. The orders were thorough.”
“They went west,” I said quietly.
His gaze sharpened, then he nodded once. “Yes. Beyond the borders where law thins and records vanish.”
My mouth felt dry.
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Chapter 283
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“And the Demon Fangs,” I said, lifting my eyes to him. “They were never meant to exist as they are.”
The King’s expression hardened. “They are not an origin,” he said. “They are a result.”
Cassian’s hand pressed more firmly against my back.
“One of their failed experimentations,” the King finished.
AD
