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Tzidal caressed the skin around my quickly healing wound as if to wipe the curse from my body. It felt good to have her hands on me.
Lex gave me a playful wink, and I couldn't help but smile. Byriel, on the other hand, kept his head down, pretending he couldn't hear us.
"Byriel!" Lex said with far too much energy, making Tzidal flinch. "Since this lovely tea is keeping you honest and chatty, I think I might have a few questions."
Looking around the cluttered space, filled with plants, jars, and a library's worth of books, I could only assume we were in the home of a healer, but more likely a witch. It was common for the magical humans to poison visitors, and it made me smirk to know Byriel had been forced to drink a spell.
"I don't suppose you'd offer me mercy?" Byriel asked in a gruff voice, making Lex snort.
"Mercy is for the divine and the boring. I am neither." Lex crossed one leg over the other, eyeing Byriel with a devilish smirk. "Now," he paused, letting his impending question hang in the air. The muscles in Byriel's jaw twitched as he waited for Lex to continue. "Do you plan on killing us?"
"No," he said without a moment's hesitation. "Of course not. Why would I do so much to help you just to kill you?"
Lex raised a brow. "Fair point. Do you plan to kill that last wolf you've worked so hard to find?"
"No," he said much softer this time, then his eyes widened as if he hadn't realized it himself.
"Do you still want to save the King?" Tzidal whispered, still pressed to my chest, her hands resting on either side of my goopy wound.
"I do." Byriel looked deep into my omega's eyes. It wasn't an angry or challenging look—just one filled with honesty. "I'm sorry if that upsets you. I have no intention of killing innocents, and I know what that might mean for my father's reign, but I will find another way to save him." He inhaled deeply, squaring his shoulders. "It's my duty."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I snapped, unable to help it.
"Joon," Tzidal squeezed my bicep, "the King is still his father. Byriel has kept his word. He helped us find Hida, and he helped us navigate the mountains. Let him deal with his kin. We'll deal with the last wolf."
Shock stole my ability to speak, and I nodded, not wanting to upset her. I couldn't deny that I owed Byriel a great debt—a fact that left a bitter taste in my mouth—but his allegiance to a murderous King wasn't something I could just ignore.
Tzidal tipped her head back, looking me over. There was so much fear and relief in her beautiful, golden eyes. I hated that I hadn't been able to watch over her and protect her these last few weeks, lost to a fever and the horrible visions in my mind.
"Here!" the small woman returned, handing a slip of weathered paper to Byriel. He immediately gave it to Tzidal. It was stiff and faded, and the lettering bled as if it had sat in a puddle for several days.
"I read it for the King well over a year ago," Haxa said. "I don't do prophecies. I'm a green witch. But when Mother Nature fills you with vision, you must share it, or it will tear you apart." Her voice dropped, sadness pulling her brows together. "I'm just sorry for my part in this."
Lex clapped his hands, ignoring her somber words. "Read it," he squealed.
Tzidal cleared her throat and read it slowly.
Marked children of the blushing moon,
their end to start it all
The dawn of a new era,
sparks the reason for the fall
Trust the blue path paved in grief,
to free the fractured King
I was enraged. And I could tell from the look on my omega's face that she was too.
The words on this paper had condemned so many to death; they had changed my life, Tzidal's life, and so many others. I wanted them to be a bold proclamation of the end of times, something so horrible that only the death of the marked wolves could save Havre. I wanted it to spell out Fennah's name, explicitly condemning my mate to death.
But this was just a jumble of words that didn't mean anything.
"It doesn't even rhyme." Lex grimaced, glaring at the paper in Tzidal's hand.
"I have to admit," Byriel said. "It's…disappointing."
