Chapter 41: Sena - Fated to the Night King

Alkan was moving slowly, but it was clear he was feeling better. Before we ventured out of the hidden infirmary, though, I needed to seek out the information I had to know.

“Would you answer a question for me?” The answer I’d gone looking for when Valmont grabbed me was important. Danvers was the one person I believed could answer it. When he nodded, I took a deep breath. “You told me that my inability to speak when I got here wasn’t linked to my illness. At least, not in any case you’d ever seen before.”

He looked thoughtful. “That’s correct. There’s nothing about the Silver Sickness that should affect the vocal cords or the speech centers of the brain. And you even reported to us that you’d been ordered not to speak. It took days after your arrival before that compulsion released you.”

Understanding landed in my gut like a blow. Confirming something I’d come to consider only a possibility. Pain tore at me. Because while I hated what this meant, it also laid out what I had to do. There was only one who could steal a shifter’s voice. Compel them not to speak. And there was only one reason to do that.

They knew something you wanted kept secret.

“Are you all right. Sena?” Danvers asked, concern in his eyes.

“I am. Just trying to understand my past more, that’s all.” He didn’t look like he truly believed me, but he didn’t press. “The cure you’ve been working on. how do you administer it?”

He rubbed his hands together, excited to discuss his findings. “It’s best injected into a vein directly. More effective. Quicker response. When we’ve tried oral doses, it isn’t as effective, likely because it has to pass through the stomach lining, reducing the amount that actually makes it into the blood stream. But I must add, it’s made me question how the Silver Sickness spreads exactly. We originally thought it was airborne, a contagion. But I’m starting to doubt that. Based on what we’ve seen.”

I understood his hesitancy. Danvers was a man of facts.

“You think someone did this to them.” If he was shocked by my presumption, he didn’t show it. Which made me believe I was right.

He frowned, and it wasn’t judgment or censure I saw on his face. It was sadness. “I do. But Sena, anyone who would do this to others, they have no true concern for the people they’re harming. The lives lost from this, it’s unforgivable.”

Determination settled firm within me.

“You’re right. It is unforgivable. And they should be made to pay.” I didn’t give him a chance to ask any other questions. “Thank you for the work you’re doing here.”

The healer bowed his head slightly. “I am happy to do so. And will continue to do so as long as I am able.”

Alkan made his way out from behind the screen, his pallor relieved even with the limited feeding I’d offered him. My body went warm as he gave me a long look, and again came that feeling of rightness. The wolf within me wanted to rub against him, learn his scent and cover him in ours. It was a startling thought, but also, natural. Like this was exactly the way I should react when I saw my mate.

When he offered me his arm, I accepted it without hesitation. A plan was forming in my mind, my own healing now proof that the sickness that had defined my life since I was a child was no longer my fault. Not the result of a failing. Or even a lack of faith in the Goddess, as Thalon relentlessly preached at us.

This was the result of a flesh and blood being.

Which meant they could be stopped.

They could be killed.

Dethroned.

And I could be the one to do it.