Chapter 35 Khal
Khal
Feray has living family members. And somehow my people are involved in her wolf's containment.
The guilt still lingers from when my scale made her deathly ill. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though—the black mass she puked up was a clue. Now, the amulets seem irrelevant. The more sinister component was the basilisk blood.
How did her family get a hold of it?
Why dose a baby of all beings?
Or was it Fi's family that dosed Feray?
My phone chimes, and the answer makes me sick to my stomach.
The magic school the girls attended keeps a supply of basilisk blood on hand.
They use it to root out non-witch beings from the school.
I stumble back, staring at the message. They poisoned children.
Systematically. To maintain their precious "purity. "
I move over to Diaval and Easton. "Guys... We have an answer."
"Oh?" Diaval leans forward, taking my phone when I offer it to him. His eyes dart over the screen quickly, and his hand shakes. I take back my phone before he breaks it.
"I'm going to burn that school and their council to the ground." He shoves his chair away from the table and stands by the window, seething.
"What happened?" Easton asks.
I hand him my phone next. His face contorts several times before he looks up at me with burning orbs. "Diaval, I'll help you."
"If it wasn't for the amulet, she would have been outed years ago.
Instead, her wolf was weakened, its magic bound painfully.
" I glance toward the bathroom door, hearing Feray moaning with Torben in the shower.
Shaking my head, I look back down at the messages.
"It explains why she was so timid in the beginning.
She was living a half-life." I shove my phone back in my pocket and sigh.
"Half-life or not, we don't know what kind of permanent damage having basilisk blood in her system did," Diaval says, moving closer to us. His normally stoic demeanor shifts. Something vulnerable flickers across his face.
"She wants a family. What if they took that from her?" He whispers, his eyes darting between us. The words hit me like a physical blow.
What if they took that from her?
Easton's eyes lower, staring at the ground. "Hopefully, my feather and blood reversed whatever damage was done." He raises his eyes, now back to being human. "I'm afraid to tell her. I can't bear to see her cry over things we can't fix."
"To hide it does her a big disservice. Lying by omission is still lying," I say as I message the scientist about side effects related to long-term exposure.
Diaval stares out the window, the soft light casting shadows across his face. "Let's agree to give her today to enjoy finding her family. Tomorrow we can tackle the newest revelation."
"Agreed," Easton replies. "Hopefully, we can get into her mother's old room here, and she can get to know her through her aunt. Then we'll tell her what we found out." He glances toward the bathroom, where I hear Feray giggling behind the closed door.
"Why is Torben the one always on distraction duty?" I laugh.
Diaval shakes his head, the corners of his mouth twitching.
"That's easy. He doesn't have the connections the three of us do.
" He coughs lightly. "I call dibs next time.
Torben can be the grumpy, dashing dragon, and I'll be the bear.
" The thought of Diaval pretending to be Torben makes us all laugh.
"We really should put in some sort of rotation cycle for who gets to distract Feray," I say playfully. "I swear Torben gets out of a lot of work."
My phone buzzes incessantly, each notification piercing the silence like a pinprick. We were just enjoying a rare moment of light-heartedness. That's gone now. As I read the list of side effects, my heart hammers in my chest. The side effects are nothing short of catastrophic:
Immediate death of the injected.
Death of their shift.
Weakened shifts.
Inability to contact their shift.
Deformity.
Premature death.
Constant sickness.
Inability to reproduce.
Sensory loss.
The last note chills me to the bone—extremely toxic to prey species, causing instant death with even a minimal amount of blood.
I can't tear my eyes away from the screen. Feray has experienced several of these side effects. My hands tremble, the phone almost slipping from my grasp. I pass it wordlessly to Diaval, who freezes, his eyes widening as he reads. The room seems to shrink around us.
Slowly, he meets my gaze, then hands the phone to Easton. "Question the reproduction. She had her cycle. We need to know if, even though it came late in life..." His voice trails off as the bathroom door clicks open. The sound of the lock disengaging is loud in the stillness.
"Because it came, everything is alright," he says carefully, taking the phone back from Easton.
I nod, my mind racing as I fire off a question to the scientist. I have a test subject who had their cycle when they shouldn't have. Are they still able to bear young? The seconds stretch, each one heavier than the last. Finally, the reply comes through.
Yes, they can still bear young. A larger dose, maybe two, would be required to sterilize the subject.
Relief floods me. I exhale slowly, sharing the message with Diaval as Feray emerges from the bathroom with Torben, both of them laughing. Diaval slips my phone into his pocket at the sound of Feray's voice.
"Enjoy your shower?" he asks, his tone light and teasing.
Feray blushes, a delightful pink spreading across her cheeks, and nods.
I catch Torben's eye, mimicking the action of drinking, and he nods in understanding.
Tonic day. She pouts at the drink but takes it, showing Torben she's swallowed it.
The room feels different now. Charged with unspoken tension.
I try to focus on Feray's smile, but my mind keeps drifting back to the message. To the terrifying implications of the side effects. To the fact that someone looked at a baby girl and decided to poison her. To steal her birthright before she even knew she had one.
Feray stands before me, her pale rose gown catching the soft light of the room. The fabric shimmers delicately, the color reminding me of the blush of dawn. The ribbons at the back of her dress flutter as she moves. Torben, with his broad shoulders and large hands, struggles with the delicate ties.
I can't help but chuckle. "Need help, big guy?"
Torben rolls his eyes. "Yeah, these aren't meant for delicate work."
I move behind Feray, meeting her gaze in the mirror.
Her reflection shows a faint blush on her cheeks.
My outfit, stark in its all-black simplicity, contrasts sharply with her fluffy, ethereal gown.
"You look beautiful," I whisper, pressing a gentle kiss on her bare shoulder.
I turn my attention to the tangled ribbons, carefully unraveling Torben's handiwork.
"Thank you." Her eyes meet mine in the mirror. "You seem stressed, and smell stressed. What happened?" Her super-sensitive nose always picks up on the things I wish I could hide.
"Work crap. Everything is okay, though. I'm waiting on more information before I share what I've learned." The lie tastes bitter on my tongue. But she deserves one day of happiness before we destroy it with the truth.
"You're a good man, Khal."
I look up from the ribbons. "I don't feel like it some days. My work isn't exactly honest, nor is it gentle and kind. I'm not a banker, or a doctor, or even a skilled builder." When I finish tying the last ribbon, Feray spins to face me, her eyes searching my face like she's reading an open book.
"I see a good man that was placed into his family's business. I see a man that is very intelligent and skilled at what he does." Her hand reaches up, gently turning my face back to look at her when I try to look away.
"A man of your talents would be very valuable in a hospital," Easton interjects.
"What if you choose to remain up here? What would any of us do for work?" I look down at Feray. She lowers her gaze for a moment, contemplating.
"Torben can continue with his work here." She glances over at Diaval. "He doesn't always have to be at the bank. He can almost work remotely if needed, with occasional trips back to Briarvale." I see Diaval nodding in agreement.
"Every community needs medical care, and I am sure that Dunnum and Crescent Valley are severely lacking doctors.
" Her eyes meet Easton's. "As for you—I'm sure, as this trip has proved, you don't have to be present for your work to continue.
Worst case, we set up something here for you to work remotely and have Diaval drop stuff on his way to Briarvale.
" She makes it sound so simple. Yet, she also avoided my question about what she would do.
"My flame." I watch as she steps away from me and moves toward Easton. This is the moment I truly see him for who he is. He carries a regal presence, something I've previously dismissed as mere arrogance from a mythic.
"We will do whatever your heart desires," he says. "Like you said, we have things we can do." He kisses her forehead with gentle tenderness. "I would, however, like to remind you it will take us all months to tie up loose ends in Briarvale."
"You need to meet back up with Fi at some point once you find your answers," I say softly, touching the back of her arm.
Her eyes widen suddenly, and she spins around, taking in the grandeur of the Alpha house. "What's she going to think about all of this?"
Sensing her rising panic, I step into her line of sight. "Precious, remember you have several hundred wolves that can sense your fear or anger and will react accordingly." She halts, closing her eyes, likely reaching out mentally to reassure her pack.
Torben's voice breaks the tension. "I would believe she would be happy for you.
After all, Revelin is a prince, so she's eventually going to have a kingdom of her own.
Even if he abdicates the throne, he will still need to be present for certain holidays and events.
Then there's his band's constant yearly tours.
Fi will not miss a constant party across realms."
"That's true." Feray smiles and turns to the door. "Let's find my aunt so I can get into my mom's old room." She loops arms with Easton and they move toward the door.
Diaval stops both of them and holds out their diadems. Easton and Feray roll their eyes at the same time and reach for each other's diadems to place on the other's heads.
Torben moves forward with the bone collar and bracers. "For fuck's sake, Tor!" A low, frustrated growl escapes Feray's lips as she begrudgingly puts them on. "Better?" She looks between Torben and Diaval, and I can't help laughing.
I know exactly whose bed she's going to end up in tonight. This guy's, right here. But even as I smile, the weight of what we're hiding presses down on me.
Tomorrow, we tell her the truth.
Tomorrow, we watch her world shatter again.
But today—today she gets to be happy.
It's the least we can give her.