Chapter 28 Caelan #2
The pregnancy announcement. My mother’s hand flew to her mouth, eyes brightening with joy before my expression made her pause.
The confrontation with Vix. How I’d been going over security documents, reviewing who had access to which areas of the castle.
How Vix had appeared uninvited, knelt beside my chair, placed her hand on my thigh despite my immediate attempts to push her away.
How the conversation she’d engineered, taken out of context, sounded damning.
“She asked when I was going to tell Riley about her,” I said, jaw tight. “I said I wouldn’t. Because there’s nothing to tell. Because Vix is delusional and I’ve never given her encouragement.”
“But Riley only heard...” my mother started.
“Riley heard me say ‘everyone knows about us’ and ‘Riley won’t change our relationship.’ Out of context.
Without knowing I was talking about Vix’s obsession with me, not any actual relationship.
” I ran a hand through my hair. “And Vix positioned herself perfectly. Hand on my thigh, kneeling beside me, laughing about Riley discovering ‘the truth.’ It was a setup. A perfect, deliberate setup.”
“That bitch,” Patt muttered.
Finally, someone who understood the situation perfectly.
“And then there’s this.”
I handed over the note. My father read it, passed it to my mother, to Patt.
“Who sent this?” Elspeth asked.
“I don’t know. I found it on my desk. Vix has disappeared.”
“You think she...”
“I think she’s involved. Whether she wrote it or she’s working with someone, I don’t know yet.”
“We need to find her,” Patt said. “Bring her in for questioning.”
“Obviously. But the note...” My jaw tightened. “The threat is real. Whoever this is, they have access to the castle. Access to my office. They could have access to Riley.”
“She’s with Thessa,” my mother said. “She’s protected.”
“Is she? If someone can leave a note on my desk without being seen...”
A sound at the door made everyone go silent.
I crossed to the door and yanked it open, but there was nothing. No one. Just an empty corridor and a note on the floor.
Another one. Our mysterious villain was nothing if not prolific.
I picked it up, my hands steady despite the dread coiling in my stomach.
REJECT HER, OR THE BITCH AND HER KID WILL DIE. HER FATE IS IN MY HANDS.
They knew she was pregnant.
How did they know she was pregnant? The healer had only just confirmed it. The news hadn’t left the infirmary. No one should know except family and...
Someone was watching us. Someone close.
“They know about the pregnancy,” my mother breathed, reading over my shoulder. “How could they possibly know?”
We tried to track who left the second note.
I was out the door in seconds, my senses extended, searching for any scent that didn’t belong. My father and Patt followed, all three of us dropping to our knees to examine the floor, the walls, any surface the intruder might have touched.
Duskmere’s royalty crawling around on the floor sniffing stones. Our ancestors would be so proud.
We found nothing useful, or rather, too much to be useful.
“There are dozens of scents here,” Patt said, frustration bleeding through his voice. “Servants, guards, nobles. Anyone could have walked this corridor.”
“They knew we were here,” I growled. “They knew exactly when to drop the note. They were watching us.”
“Or they have someone on the inside,” my father added grimly.
We returned to the study, the door firmly closed and locked behind us.
“Her fate is in my hands,” Elspeth repeated, examining the second note. “What does that mean? How could her fate be in someone’s hands?”
“A curse?” Patt suggested.
“Possibly.” My mind was racing. “Mother, do we have any witches in the castle? Anyone who could examine Riley for magical interference?”
“There’s one. Morena. She lives in the lower town, but she’s worked with the crown before. Discreet, trustworthy.”
“Bring her. Now.”
Morena arrived within the hour, smuggled into the castle through a servants’ entrance to avoid attention.
She was older than I expected. Silver-haired, with eyes that seemed to look right through you, seeing things others couldn’t.
The kind of presence that suggested she’d seen horrors that would break lesser beings and emerged stronger for it.
“You need me to check someone for magical influence?” she asked without preamble. No pleasantries. No small talk. No bowing or “Your Highness” nonsense.
I appreciated that. Finally, someone who didn’t waste time.
“My mate. She’s in the healer’s quarters. Someone has threatened her life, and we need to know if she’s been cursed.”
Morena studied my face for a long moment. Whatever she saw there made her nod. “Take me to her.”
The walk to the healer’s quarters was tense. I led the way, Morena following, my parents and Patt bringing up the rear. My wolf paced inside me, anxious to see Riley again even though I knew she didn’t want to see me.
When we arrived, Thessa met us at the door.
“She’s resting,” Thessa said, her gaze moving to the witch with obvious curiosity. “Finally asleep. Took forever to calm her down. What’s going on?”
“Someone is threatening her life. We need to check for curses. Quietly. Don’t wake her.”
Thessa’s face went pale. “Curses? What the hell...”
“Later. Let us in.”
Riley was asleep when we entered. She was curled on her side, one hand resting protectively over her stomach even in sleep. Her face was tear-streaked, exhausted. Dark circles under her eyes. She looked fragile in a way that made my chest clench, made my wolf whine with the need to protect her.
I wanted to go to her. To brush the hair from her face, gather her in my arms and hold her until she woke and tell her everything was going to be okay.
But she didn’t want me near her. Even unconscious, her body was angled away from where I stood. My mate had excellent instincts for avoiding me, apparently.
So I stayed back and watched from across the room, aching.
Morena approached the bed slowly, carefully, making no sound. She held her hands above Riley’s form, closed her eyes, and went still. The air around her seemed to shimmer slightly, magic I couldn’t see but could feel pressing against my senses.
Minutes passed. Long, agonizing minutes. I barely breathed. None of us did.
Finally, Morena stepped back. Her expression was unreadable.
“Well?” I demanded, keeping my voice low but unable to hide the urgency.
“There’s no magical signature on her. No curse, no hex, no enchantment of any kind.” Morena shook her head. “Whatever threat she’s facing, it isn’t magical.”
Relief and frustration warred in my chest. Not a curse. That was good. But then...
“If it’s not magic,” my father said slowly, “how could her fate be in someone’s hands?”
We all looked at each other, minds racing. The note’s words echoed in my head. Her fate is in my hands.
“Poison,” Elspeth said suddenly.
Everyone turned to her.
“Poison,” she repeated, and the word sent ice down my spine. “If someone has been poisoning her slowly, gradually, they would control when she dies. Whether she dies. Her fate would literally be in their hands. They could give her the antidote or let her suffer.”
Dread pooled in my stomach. Someone had been poisoning my pregnant mate.
“Poison.”
The word echoed through the room. Hung in the air. Made everything suddenly, horribly clear.
Her symptoms. The nausea, the dizziness, the fatigue that wouldn’t go away. We’d all assumed it was the pregnancy, the stress, the realm change. But what if it wasn’t? What if someone had been slowly killing her right under our noses?
I turned to the healer, who had been hovering in the background. “When you examined her, did you check for toxins?”
The healer’s face went pale. “I... I checked for illness, for the pregnancy symptoms, but poison... we would need a different kind of examination...”
“Then do it. Now. Quietly. Don’t wake her.”
The healer scrambled to gather supplies. Vials, instruments, tools I didn’t recognize. My mother stepped in to help, her own healing knowledge from decades of queenship proving useful. They’d worked together before, I remembered. During past crises, past illnesses. They knew what they were doing.
They worked in silence, careful not to disturb Riley’s exhausted sleep. Blood was drawn. Tests were run. I watched every moment, my wolf pacing restlessly inside me, unable to help, unable to do anything except wait.
Patience had never been my strong suit. Tonight, it was nonexistent.
The minutes crawled by, each one stretching into an eternity.
Finally, the healer straightened. Her expression was grim. The kind of expression that preceded bad news.
“There are traces,” she said quietly. “A foreign substance in her system that shouldn’t be there. I can’t identify it specifically. We would need an alchemist for that. But there’s definitely a toxin.”
Poison, confirmed. Someone had been poisoning my mate, my pregnant mate, for goddess knows how long.
The rage that flooded through me was calculated fury. My wolf wanted blood, wanted to destroy whoever did this with our bare hands.
“Vix,” I snarled, barely keeping my voice down. “She must have been planning this for a while. Started poisoning Riley long before today’s confrontation.”
“Which means she has help,” my father said. “Someone with access to Riley’s food, her drink, her personal items.”
“We need to find whoever helped her. Healers, servants, anyone who had access to Riley since she arrived.” My voice was cold, every inch the alpha prince who would tear apart anyone who threatened his family.
“Every person who has touched her food, entered her quarters, or been alone with her. I want them questioned. All of them.”
“And Vix?” Patt asked.
“Find her. I don’t care if you have to search every inch of this kingdom. She’s not acting alone, and I want to know who’s behind this. Bring her to me alive.”
“What about an antidote?” Thessa asked. “If she’s being poisoned, we need to stop it. Reverse it.”
“We need to identify the poison first,” the healer said. “Once we know what it is, we can work on countering it. In the meantime, I’ll prepare a general detoxifying treatment. It won’t cure her, but it should slow the effects.”
“Do it.”
My parents exchanged glances. My father put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed, the gesture saying everything. We’ll find them. We’ll make them pay.
I looked at Riley, still sleeping, unaware of the danger she was in. She thought the worst thing happening was that I’d betrayed her. She had no idea that someone was trying to kill her. Trying to kill our child.
And she wouldn’t find out. Not until I’d fixed this. Not until Vix was in chains and whoever helped her was exposed, until I could come to her with answers, with solutions, with proof that she was safe.
I moved to her bedside, careful not to make a sound. She was turned away from me, even in sleep, her body remembering the anger she felt, the hurt, the betrayal she believed had happened.
It hadn’t. I would never betray her. Never. I leaned down and pressed the softest kiss to her hair. She smelled familiar, comforting, mine. She didn’t stir.
“I’ll fix this,” I whispered, so low only my wolf could hear. “I swear to you on everything I am. I’ll fix everything. I’ll find who did this. I’ll make them pay. And then I’ll spend the rest of my life making you believe in us again.”
My wolf howled in agreement, in determination, in fury. I straightened and looked at my family, saw the same resolve reflected in their eyes.
“Go,” Thessa said softly. “I’ll watch over her.”
I nodded and took one last look at Riley, at the woman I loved, the mother of my child. Then I walked out of the room.
The hunt began.