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I collapsed on the cot, relieved I didn’t have to fight any more. I didn’t regret what I had done. Not by a long shot, if it meant Renata and the others were still alive, but as I drifted unconscious while the doctor began to work, I couldn’t help but feel like I had done something wrong all the same.
ChapterSeven
CASTOR
As I stood before Father Marius at his desk, waiting for him to look up from the papers in front of him, a flurry of thoughts drifted through my mind.
All of them centered around Eddie.
When I had first arrived in the room and found him on the floor, surrounded by a sea of corpses—including one of my fallen hunters—I had come to the only logical conclusion. The fact that Renata had been willing to throw herself in front of him, misguided as it was, had assuaged my doubts as to whether Eddie was to blame for beginning the bloodshed, and it hadn’t taken long to realize most of the bodies belonged to members of the Order who had infiltrated while we were away.
Nonetheless, the trepidation remained.
Seven. He had killed seven members of the Order, and highly skilled hunters, at that. They wouldn’t send less than their best to attack the Abbey directly. If that was what he was capable of after being drained of blood for days on end, and a donor for even longer than that, were we fools to think we could keep him chained here as a pet without consequence?
The answer was, almost certainly, yes.
Father Marius finally looked up from his papers, dark circles beneath his eyes. His skin somehow looked paler than usual.
"All right," he said, heaving a tired sigh. "You may go ahead and give your report."
I bowed my head in respect, my hands folded behind my back. “The perimeter is clear, Your Excellency," I began. "All the invaders have been accounted for, and all but the one we found fleeing in the woods and spared as an informant are dead. There were twenty-three casualties on our side in total. Eleven injured, twelve dead. Nine on theirs."
"And how many of theirs fell to the wolf's jaws?"
I hesitated. "Seven altogether, sir."
He paused to consider that, his slender hands folded in front of him, partially obscuring his face. Not that he was particularly expressive as it was. He and his protégé were about as opposite as two people could be, not only in physical appearance, but in manner as well. When Arrow felt something, it was plain on his face and in his body language. That something was typically anger or bloodlust, but it was clear all the same. Father Marius, on the other hand, was a closed book. Closed, bound, and locked.
"And what is the wolf’s condition now?" he asked, his tone devoid of judgment, but I knew better than to think that meant he had none to offer.
"Stable," I replied. "He was stabbed and shot multiple times, but Dr. Kelly performed surgery to remove the silver bullets, and we still had enough of Edmond’s blood on hand to transfuse him as well as the other patients. The doctor expects he'll make a full recovery, but any further infusions are inadvisable for the time being, unless his condition shows signs of deteriorating."
"Understandable," Father Marius said. "And the source of the breach?"
That was something I felt a bit more comfortable answering, even if I was implicated in the failure.
"One of the new recruits. The informant claims he was a plant from the Order."
"I see," said Father Marius. "And where is he now?"
"In the interrogation room," I said, pausing before I added, "with Arrow."
"Ah," Father Marius said in a knowing tone. "I expect we’ll be getting that confirmation soon, then."
"Indeed, sir. I'd like to note that I take full responsibility for this evening’s events."
"Oh?" His voice lilted with curiosity. "And why is that?"
"The recruits are my responsibility," I answered. "I may not oversee them directly, but if anyone should be punished for allowing a traitor in our ranks, it's me."
"I see," Father Marius said, tapping his fingers together. "As expected of you. Which is one of the reasons you are first in the running to be my successor."
The pride that normally would have swelled within me in response to that statement was tempered by the recent losses. Whether he saw fit to punish me or not, I blamed myself all the same.
"I'm humbled by your mercy, Your Excellency,” I murmured.
"Something else is troubling you."
