Chapter 272
Chapter 272
Nolan POV
The call came just after dusk.
I was halfway through a briefing with Lance when the security channel cut in-tight,
clipped, uneasy in a way that immediately set my nerves on edge.
“Alpha,” the guard said. “We need you in the prison. It’s the rogue p>
I went still.
Lance noticed immediately. “The one who poisoned Ellie p>
“Yes,” I said, already moving. “What’s happening p>
“He’s… not violent,” the guard replied after a pause. “But he’s not lucid either. He hasn’t slept in two days. He’s been talking nonstop p>
Talking was rarely good news.
I dismissed Lance with a nod and headed for the car. The drive was a blur of anxiety and soon I was walking toward the rogue’s cell, my steps echoing through the stone corridors.
The air grew colder the deeper I went, heavy with damp and iron and old magic that never quite left places like
this.
The rogue’s cell sat at the end of the corridor, reinforced wards etched into the walls and floor. Two guards stood outside, tense but not alarmed.
“He hasn’t stopped,” one of them murmured as I approached. “Just keeps… saying things p>
“Open it,” I said.
The last time I’d been summoned because of him, he was at least coherent enough to be brought to an interrogation room. This was escalating. They hadn’t told me.
The door slid aside with a low groan.
The man sat cross-legged on the stone floor, his back to the wall, head bowed. He looked thinner than the last time I’d seen him, his hair matted, skin sallow. His wrists were bound, but loosely-no need for restraints when someone barely seemed aware of where they were.
He was rocking slightly.
Muttering.
I stepped inside, the wards humming faintly beneath my boots.
“Look at me,” I ordered.
He didn’t.
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Chapter 272
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His lips kept moving, words spilling out in a low, rhythmic cadence-almost a chant.
“The shadows hunger,” he whispered. “The shadows hunger p>
My skin prickled.
I crouched several feet away, keeping my voice steady. “What shadows p>
His rocking slowed.
For a moment, I thought I’d reached him.
Then his head snapped up.
His eyes were wide, unfocused, pupils blown as if he were staring at something far beyond the stone walls.
“The shadow woman is coming,” he rasped.
Cold slid down my spine.
“What woman?” I demanded.
He laughed softly—a thin, broken sound. “She wears love like a blade. She leaves blood where she walks p>
My jaw clenched. “You poisoned my mate,” I said. “You nearly killed her. If this is a game p>
“Blood follows the castaway,” he interrupted sharply, voice suddenly clear. Too clear. “Always has. Always will p>
The words landed hard.
Castaway.
My pulse kicked up.
“Who?” I asked. “Who follows her p>
His gaze flicked past me, toward the door, toward something unseen.
“Children of the storm,” he whispered. “Hidden once. Not hidden now p>
The air seemed to thicken.
I stood abruptly, every instinct screaming danger. “Enough,” I snapped. “Who is the shadow woman p>
His
eyes rolled back, his body sagging against the wall.
“The hunger wakes,” he murmured faintly. “You cannot outrun what loves you wrong p>
Then his head lolled forward.
Unconscious.
“Get a healer down here,” I ordered immediately. “And increase the wards. Double the watch p>
The guards moved at once.
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I backed out of the cell slowly, my thoughts racing.
Shadow woman.
Blood follows the castaway.
Children of the storm.
None of it sounded like random madness. Not after everything else. Not after Ellie’s visions. Not after Felicity’s volatility, Kieran’s obsession, the way the kingdom felt like it was holding its breath before a storm.
By the time I reached the upper levels, my jaw ached from how tightly I’d been clenching it.
I didn’t go back to my office.
I went straight to Ellie.
She was sitting up in bed when I entered the room, one of the low lamps lit beside
her. She looked tired, but calm -August and lan sleeping peacefully in the adjoining nursery, their presence a steady hum in the back of my mind.
She looked up the moment she sensed me.
“Something’s wrong,” she said quietly.
I sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing my hands together once before meeting her
eyes. “The rogue p>
Her shoulders tensed. “What about him p>
“He’s deteriorating,” I said. “But before he passed out, he said some things.” I
hesitated. “Things I think you need to hear p>
Ellie nodded once. “Tell me p>
I repeated the words exactly as he’d spoken them.
With each phrase, the color drained from her face.
By the time I finished, she was gripping the blanket so tightly her knuckles had gone
white.
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