SEVENTY-TWO
CAZ
I leave the tent feeling worse than I did before arriving.
“Wasn’t Alora, was it?” Rowan asks, following me through the forest.
“No.”
“What about Danica? What is Korah doing with her?” he asks.
“Let’s find out.”
We make our way back to the castle, but my attention catches on two figures in the distance swallowed in lavender light.
Korah and Danica.
I make my way to them, and Danica is on her knees, her face pointed to sky as she convulses.
“What’s happening to her?” I ask, watching as she grunts and jerks.
“Reading,” is all Korah says. With a flourish of her hand, Danica stops shaking and collapses on the ground. “Take her back to camp.”
“Not her either?” I ask as Rowan lifts Danica up.
Korah responds with a shake of the head.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” I mutter.
Footsteps rustle through the grass, and I peer over my shoulder, spotting Killian. “Conan is in the village with armor and weapons,” he pants. “He wants your approval on them before heading back to make more. I’d go with you, but I need to check on Mum and all.”
“Right. Go on. I’ll bring Cerberus with me.”
When I’ve made it to the village with my wolf, I spot Conan standing near a large merchant cart. On the cart are suits of armor made of silver hanging from built-in racks inside. On the bed of the cart is an assortment of weapons—swords, daggers, knives, scythes.
“Ah, Caspian. Just the man I was looking for,” Conan says, smiling. “I have the first round of weapons. The rest should be ready within the next few hours. A few other Whisper Grovians should be traveling here as we speak and arriving soon.”
A deep growl comes from below, and I look to see Cerberus staring at Conan.
“Oi. Shut it,” I command, snapping my fingers at Cerberus. “You’re cutting it close, eh, Conan?” I ask, inspecting the weapons.
“Yes, well, between taking care of my people and the Rippies, it’s been a bit of a headache.” He chuckles, and Cerberus growls again.
When Cerberus gnashes his teeth, I lift my gaze to Conan. It’s not like my wolf to growl while he’s with me…unless he senses a threat.
Conan puts on a wary smile as he eyes Cerberus, but it hardly reaches his eyes. His hands rub together as he shifts from foot to foot, like he’s waiting for something. Or growing impatient.
“You in a hurry?” I ask.
“No, ‘course not, but I am hoping to return before the Rippies get too rowdy. You know how they are.” Another laugh slips out of him. Cerberus barks now, and I can’t help frowning at the man in front of me.
“Conan?”
“Hmm?” he answers, cutting a glance at me.
“How long have you been in Blackwater waiting for me?”
“Oh, just a few hours. I figured you were busy so I grabbed a couple of drinks from your tavern and cleaned a few of the swords and shields again. I didn’t mind waiting.”
“That so?”
“Yes—although, I was hoping to get ahold of you a lot sooner. I saw some of your clan roaming the village, but everyone looked so busy. Didn’t want to bother much. Glad Killian caught me before it got any later though.”
I stare at him, saying nothing.
He licks his lips. Swallows. “So, the armor? Looks good? Shall I have this particular design continued? I can probably squeeze more in and have them sent on a fast train before that bloody war.”
I withdraw one of my guns and aim it as his forehead. With a gasp, he throws his hands in the air.
“Caz? W-what are you doing? Are you all right?”
“The question is are you all right, Conan? Or are you too busy betraying me to provide an answer?”
He falters over his next set of words but ends his sputtering when I press the barrel to the center of his head.
“Regals tell me there’s a traitor roaming in Blackwater. And this traitor has been touched by Selah. This traitor has invited her in, and I believe that is you.”
“Caz, please,” he pleads, hands shaking.
I narrow my eyes, refusing his pleas. “Walk toward the forest.”
He doesn’t hesitate as he turns, shuffling through the grass and away from the village.
“What did she promise you?” I ask, my gun pointed at the back of his head. Cerberus walks a few feet ahead of me, growling again as he glares at Conan, daring him to make a move.
“My wife,” Conan whispers. “My…daughter.” His voice trembles far too much for him to say more.
“Stop here.”
Conan stands a few steps away from where the forest begins.
“Turn around,” I command.
He turns slowly, hands still raised.
I press my thumb down on the hammer.
“She promised I’d see my wife and daughter again. They died…in a fire. This was long before Manx arrived.” He gulps. “I—I couldn’t save them. And I live with that guilt every day. The Rippies started that fire, raped some of our women and killed many of our men. It’s why we created the barrier, so that anyone who was a threat couldn’t infiltrate. I invited them to my territory to have the advantage.”
I frown. “Of what?”
“ Destroying them,” Conan responds, peering over his shoulder. “They’re all dead, Caz. Selah helped me kill them all.”
All the Rippies? My heart pumps faster, but I grip my gun tighter, refusing to let him get a reaction out of me. “On your knees.”
He sighs, and when he drops to his knees, his shoulders slump like he’s been relieved of a great burden.
“I know you’re angry, but there is no way we can win this war, Caz,” he says. “My people suffered long enough under Decius’s spell. Most of our lives were robbed from us, and we were used as pawns. We don’t want that again— I don’t want that again. And before you go chasing after the Whisper Grovians, you should know it was only me who took the Rippies out. I poisoned their food. No one else knows about Selah, but she spoke to me in my dreams. She promised that once the war was over she’d create my wife and daughter again, just as I last remembered them.” He swipes at his face to remove the fallen tears. “She said she’d make me the new leader after the war. Said I would be the one she chose to rebuild Vakeeli.”
“She lied to you,” I rasp. “Have you learned nothing?”
“I know that so far she has attacked every single territory but mine,” he counters matter-of-factly. “She hasn’t done anything to Whisper Grove, and that must be for a reason. She chooses us . I’ve learned that the best way to beat this is to join the winning side. She’s a lot stronger than the other two. I’m sure you can sense that.”
“But she’ll never be stronger than what I become,” I tell him.
I clench my jaw and tap in with Willow.
Willow, tell Korah to meet me near the forest behind the tavern. I found our traitor.
You did? Who is it?
Conan.
I throw up my mind’s wall. I don’t want her hearing what comes next.
As I keep my gun pointed at him, I feel a familiar buzz on my skin. Korah appears out of thin air, standing a few steps away and glaring down at Conan.
“Search him,” I say, and she doesn’t hesitate to rush him and grip his head, digging deep.
Conan cries just as Alora did, possibly louder, until Korah snatches her claws away. With a step back, she looks at me and nods.
“He watched Maeve in the gardens for a while. Waited before he spoke to her,” Korah says. “He took her hand and shook it before he departed and forced Selah’s energy onto her. Maeve assumed he was making a casual visit to prepare for the war.”
And he did all this right under my fucking nose. Tainted my aunt. Nearly killed her, Willow, and Juniper.
I was wrong about Alora.
Wrong about Danica.
Wrong about Valden.
All of these were people ready to help me. None of them asked me for a damn thing, and I broke their trust. Even if we survive this war, my alliances with them will never be the same.
I’ve been wrong so many times in the span of hours, and I feel like I’m failing. I feel like I’m losing my fucking mind, and it’s exactly what that evil bitch wants.
She wants me to lose my trust, to lose my faith. She wants me to lose myself .
She and Conan hit me where I was weakest. They forced my hand on the people who were only willing to assist.
The rage courses through me, and I swear the silvery moonlight bleeds red the longer I stare at him.
Korah shifts closer to me. “Caspian, allow me to handle hi?—”
The blast of my gun ricochets through the hollows of the forest. With a bullet in the middle of his head, Conan’s body thuds to the ground.
I drop my arm, still staring at the space where he kneeled before.
Korah says nothing, but I feel her looking right at me.
I turn away from her to face the forest.
“Tell Willow I’ll return soon.” I leave before she can ask where I’m going.
The prickles appear, scraping the inside of my head. She already knows where I’m going, and it won’t take long for Willow to figure it out too.
Regardless, I need to be alone right now because if I face or commit another betrayal, I’ll break.