Chapter Twenty-Five
Audrey drifted in and out of consciousness, unable to tell how much time had passed or whether it was day or night.
She existed in a strange space between waking and sleeping, where the world felt distant and muffled.
Her body was numb and cold, as if she’d been submerged in ice water.
She couldn’t move, could barely lift her head.
When she tried to speak, no sound came out.
She was in a bed, surrounded by darkness broken only by candlelight that danced on the walls in flickering shadows.
Sometimes, she opened her eyes and saw Morgath sitting beside her, his dark eyes watching her.
He wasn’t wearing his skull helmet, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that meant something.
Something important. Other times, she found Nezhar the Sharp leaning over her, his features tense as he worked some kind of magic over her body.
Voices drifted through the haze, but she couldn’t distinguish the words or who was speaking.
The sounds blended together into a low murmur that seemed to come from very far away.
She wanted to ask what had happened, if her friends were safe, but her mouth would not obey.
The numbness spread through her limbs like frost, and the cold settled deep in her bones.
This went on for what felt like forever. Until one day she finally woke up.
Sun streamed through the window, bright and warm against her face. Her mind was clear for the first time in what seemed like ages, and when she opened her eyes, the world came into focus with blessed clarity.
Morgath slept in an armchair beside the bed, his large frame bent over awkwardly so he could hold her hand. His usually perfect hair was a mess, falling loose around his face, and dark circles shadowed the skin under his eyes.
She looked down at their joined hands and slowly pulled hers free.
She felt shaky. She lifted her arm to examine it and saw that the skin had a gray hue spreading from her hand up to her forearm, fading gradually toward her elbow.
She flexed her fingers and felt weakness in the muscles, but everything seemed to work.
Morgath jolted awake. He groaned and rubbed a hand over his face.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“What happened?” she answered with another question.
Her throat felt dry and sore.
He ran a hand through his tangled hair, pushing it back from his face.
“The dagger poisoned you. The magic wasn’t settled. Imprinting magic on weapons is a complex process that takes time and precision. That’s why the room is locked, so no one would go in there and get accidentally poisoned by touching something that isn’t ready.”
She tried to sit up, but her body felt so heavy that she collapsed back onto the pillow.
“How long was I asleep?”
“Three days.”
“No…”
She dragged in a breath. Bad idea. She started coughing.
Morgath reached for a cup of water on the nightstand. He held it to her lips, and she drank greedily, spilling some down her chin.
“My friends?” she asked.
“They’re fine. They’re being kept in one of the houses under watch.”
“And Jorrad?”
His expression hardened slightly. “He’s under watch too.”
Audrey looked at him more carefully. He was wearing a shirt, so she couldn’t see where she’d shot him. The memory came back in a rush, and guilt twisted in her stomach. She hadn’t expected to feel bad about it.
“Are you all right? I’m sorry I shot you.”
Morgath laughed, a short sound without much humor.
“I’m fine. You shouldn’t worry about me. It stung a bit, I won’t lie, but you hurt my feelings more than my flesh.”
She dropped her face in her hands, as if she was trying to hide from him.
She didn’t know what to say to that, didn’t know how to process the fact that she cared about his feelings at all.
She was supposed to hate him, supposed to want him dead, but somewhere along the way, everything had gotten twisted and confused.
Morgath got up and lowered himself on the bed next to her. He touched her shoulder gently.
It was embarrassing to admit she found his presence grounding. She found herself leaning into him.
“It might have been true once that I didn’t want a human bride,” he said. “But it’s not true now. I care about you, Audrey. I feel deeply sorry and ashamed of what happened to you and how your family died.”
She looked at him reluctantly, searching his face for any sign of deception. His sincerity was written in the set of his jaw and the sadness in his dark eyes. She knew him well enough now to recognize when he was being honest, and this was one of those times.
“Now what? Where do we go from here?”
He shrugged, at a loss for answers. His shoulders sagged, and he looked more tired than she’d ever seen him.
Audrey took a deep breath and forced herself to ask the important questions.
“What about Jorrad? Will he be let go despite what he did? What about all the humans you and your horde killed during the war?”
“It was war. Lives were lost on both sides. I remember your town. There was a human military base there. That was why my horde attacked it. Not only my horde. Three hordes attacked the town that day. It’s true, we left it burning. But it was war.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
“I know.”
She’d expected him to defend himself, to argue that he’d had no choice, but he did none of that. It made everything harder somehow.
“Jorrad burst into my home unprovoked,” she said. “I barely had time to hide in the basement, which my parents had turned into a storm sheltered years before. They stayed behind because they couldn’t find my brother. In the end, they all died.”
“I didn’t know about any of that,” he said.
“I saw him return covered in blood, but we were all covered in blood. I didn’t question him.
Jorrad the Brutal has always been reckless.
Quick to anger. That’s why the name. I fully believe he would be capable of what you described.
Sometimes, he goes crazy with bloodlust and cannot be stopped.
It’s why I didn’t choose him as a raider. Because I can’t control him.”
“What are you going to do?”
“My plan is to bring everything to the Orc Council, so they can judge what happens next.”
Her stomach dropped.
“My friends and I too?”
“Hunting orcs in a time of peace is illegal.”
He hesitated then, looking at her with an expression she didn’t know how to read. He cupped her face with his hand, his palm warm against her cheek, and kissed her gently. The kiss was soft and careful, as if he thought she might break.
“I can’t let anything happen to you. I won’t.”
He kissed her again, and she responded. She poured everything into it, all her confusion and fear. She almost believed his promise, though he was contradicting himself.
When they pulled apart, she looked at him with a pleading look in her eyes. The game was over. Her plan had failed spectacularly, and now she was at his mercy. She was too tired to fight the situation she was in.
“Then your plan isn’t a plan at all,” she said. “You can’t hand us all over to the Orc Council and still protect me. What are you really going to do?”
He got up and straightened his clothes.
“Leave it to me. I will send Maika and Zulka with food for you. Your job is to rest, eat, and get well. I will take care of everything. I swear that nothing will happen to you.”
“What about my friends?”
“Nothing will happen to them either.”
Audrey watched him leave. Without him there to distract her from the turmoil inside her, she felt helpless again. She’d lost control of everything. She was completely dependent on him to keep his word.
She didn’t know if she could trust him, but she had no other choice.
She’d messed up. Now she could only hope the consequences wouldn’t destroy her and get the Tusk Hunters hurt.
The uncertainty gnawed at her, but exhaustion pulled at her limbs and made her eyes heavy.
She’d slept for three days, and it still felt like it wasn’t enough.