27
This day had been a nightmare.
It started with the horrifying news we woke to this morning. Slaughter. That was the only word for it. Scores of ex–rogues, murdered in cold blood. Whoever left those corpses behind wasn’t content with just the violence; they’d gone so far as to implicate Elias. A sign placed near the bodies claimed that the king had been their executioner.
But I knew better.
Elias wouldn’t do such a thing. He’d worked tirelessly to integrate those rogues into his pack, to give them a place where they could feel safe, where they could belong. Still, the sight of those notes, paired with the lifeless
bodies, made me almost vomit. Someone was trying to dismantle everything Elias had built.
Dr. Helen had been the one to uncover the truth. Her sharp, unflinching examination of the corpses revealed what we both suspected. It was Jester.
Elias was furious when she told him. His rage shook the room, and for a moment, I thought he might lose control, It took all my resolve to calm him.
“We can get back at him in a different way.” I said softly, placing my hand over his clenched fists. “No more bloodshed. We’ve had enough wars in the past. Your people can’t take another devastating blow.”
He looked at me. “How?”
I turned to Dr. Helen, who stood silent but resolute. Then, with a sigh, I said, “Jester is selling the hospital.
That was all Elias needed to hear. He nodded, a plan already forming in his mind. And when Elias returned from
Shadowpine, relief flooded me when he said, he’s in the dungeon.
“Where?” I asked. “Here at Redwood?”
He shook his head. “I’m not allowing him to step foot here even in my prison area. For now, he’s in the Capital’s prison before I decide the final sentence.”
The next morning. I decided to check on Magnolia. Her room was quiet, save for the soft noise of machines keeping her alive. A nurse greeted me politely as I entered.
“How is she?” I asked.
The nurse hesitated before replying. “Still the same, Luna Mauve. We’re doing everything possible, but there’s been no improvement. If this continues, she may remain like this for years. The doctor hasn’t told King Elias yet, we’re still holding onto hope. But most of these cases, even for royal lycanthropes, don’t end well.”
My heart broke all over again. I approached Magnolia’s bedside and gently took her hand. Her skin was warm, but she lay motionless, her face serene as if she were simply asleep. Her beauty was as though she was preserved in time, a fragile porcelain doll waiting to be awakened
I leaned closer and whispered, “Please, Luna Queen, come back to us. Come back to your husband. He needs you. We all need you.”
Memories of my own time in a vegetative state flooded back. I knew she could hear me. I just hoped my words. would reach her.
Before leaving, I offered the nurse a small, strained smile. “Thank you for your care,” I said, though hopelessness was crushing me so bad.
Breakfast felt unusually lonely. Elias was always insistent that we share meals together, but today he was gone. When I asked the maid about his whereabouts, she replied, “He already left, Luna. He said not to wait for him and that I should serve you immediately when you came down.”
Her answer unsettled me. Elias was never one to leave without explanation. Something
wrong.
g was wrong As I ate, I noticed the maid avoiding my gaze, her face partially obscured by a scarf. There was something familiar about her scent, but I couldn’t pin it down
“How long have you been working here?” I asked, hoping to ease my unease.
“I just started yesterday, Your Highness,” she replied, placing bread and butter on my plate. “I hope you find everything to your liking.”
I nodded absently, reaching for the bread knife.
But before I could, the maid grasped my hand.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, panic rising in my chest.
She said nothing, only stared at me with a chilling intensiveness. Her scarf slipped, revealing a face I hadn’t seen in a long time
“A–Amber?” I stammered.
Amber’s lips curled into a sinister smile. “Long time no see, Luna. Are you ready for my third attempt to kill you?” Before I could react, she moved with lightning speed, grasping my arm and slicing it open, Pain flared, and I screamed.
“Ah!!!”
Elias burst into the room moments later, his eyes wild and his canines bared. “Dare to hurt her, and you’ll rot in the dungeon,” he roared.
Amber didn’t flinch. “You’re too late, your majesty,” she sneered. She turned to me, her eyes gleaming with malice. “Consider this part of my plan B.”
“What do you mean?”
Instead of answering, Amber brought her lips to my wound, drinking my blood in a swift, horrifying motion. Then, before Elias could lunge at her, she darted to the window and disappeared.
8:40 AM
I was still shocked when I felt Elias hold my arm. He had me stand and directed me to the faucet to wash the wound “I can’t believe some fucking intruder just drank your blood right in front of me,” he muttered, his grip on my arm tightening. “I will not forgive myself if something happens to you!”
“I’m fine,” I said, trying to control the trembling of my arm. “At least she hadn’t killed me. You saved me just in
time.”
But Elias shook his head. His eyes were red, but his face seemed to be filled with rage and fear.
Dr. Helen arrived shortly after, finding Elias tending to my wound. She took one look at me and frowned. “What happened?”
*Amber attacked me,” I said between my sobs. “But she didn’t kill me. She… she drank my blood. Why would she do that?”
Dr. Helen’s expression darkened. “She might be planning to use your DNA. If she has it, she could…”
Before she e could finish, my phone rang. I picked up the phone, trying not to drop it
“Who is this?” I demanded.
Jester’s cold, mocking voice filled my ear. “Come to Shadowpine Hospital, or I’ll blow the whole building to pieces.”
My blood ran cold. “Don’t you dare hurt those patients!” I hissed.
“Then come to me. Alone,” he replied. “If I see that bastard of yours, everyone here dies.”
The line went dead. My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the floor.
Elias’s arms were around me in an instant. “What did he say?”
I looked up at him, tears streaming down my face. “He wants me to go to him. Alone.”
