Briar’s stomach twisted. The warmth in her chest pulsed frantically, as if confirming their words. "I'm not human anymore?"
"You're something unprecedented," Eliam said, his arm tightening around her. "Something that shouldn't exist but does."
"Which is why he's so desperate to get her back," Sian said. "It's not just about reclaiming the fragment—"
"It's about what the fragment has become," Arion concluded. "What she's become."
“There is something I don’t understand,” Thaine said. “How did Malus manage to conduct any sort of ritual when he was locked in your dungeons?”
Eliam frowned. “He must have had help.”
"Who would know about such a ritual?" Arion demanded. "This isn't common knowledge."
"Someone with access to old texts," Eliam said. "Forbidden knowledge. Someone who'd been studying—"
"Ferria," Halian said suddenly, his face paling. "She's been requesting access to the restricted archives for years. Said it was for historical research."
"We need to question her," Arion said immediately. "Find out what she knows, what she told Malus—"
"Bring her here," Eliam commanded, his voice carrying the authority of a king despite being in Star Court territory.
Halian hesitated, torn between defending his sister and acknowledging the threat she represented. Finally, he nodded and left the room.
They waited in tense silence. The fire had burned low, casting long shadows that seemed to move on their own. Outside, the snow had thickened, reducing the world to white nothing. Briar found herself counting heartbeats, feeling the warmth pulse with each one.
Footsteps in the corridor. Too fast. Too many.
Halian burst through the door, and Briar knew immediately something was wrong. Snow clung to his hair—he'd been outside. His face was white, his breathing ragged.
Halian returned, his expression troubled. "She's gone."
"What?" Eliam's voice went flat.
"Ferria. Her cell's empty. The guards are unconscious but alive." Halian's jaw tightened. "She must have had help from the inside, or..." He trailed off, unwilling to voice the alternative—that his sister had capabilities they hadn't known about.
"She'll go to Malus," Briar said quietly. The warmth in her chest pulsed with unease.
"Likely," Eliam agreed. "But she's been locked up. She doesn't know our plans."
"She knows about the ritual," Arion pointed out. "She helped design it."
"And she hates me," Briar added, remembering the venom in Ferria's eyes. "If she reaches Malus, she'll make sure he knows exactly how to hurt me."
"Let her," Eliam said coldly. "She's a tool, nothing more. Malus already knows where we are, what we have. Ferria changes nothing."
"Except now he has someone who understands the ritual's mechanics," Sian said quietly. "Someone who might be able to tell him why it didn't work completely."
Silence settled over the room. Outside, the snow continued to fall steadily, muffling the world.
"We need to secure the seal," Arion said finally. "Before Malus makes his move."
"Easier said than done," Thaine said. "The heart of the wildwood isn't exactly mapped. Most who go looking for it don't come back."
"The fae don't come back," Karse corrected from his corner. His tone carried an edge that made everyone turn toward him. "Because you don't know the old paths. Don't know how to read the forest's warnings."
"And the Drak do?" Eliam asked, skepticism clear.
Karse's laugh was bitter. "Who do you think lived there before you turned it into a wasteland? Before you sealed your mistakes in our hunting grounds and let the corruption spread through the trees?"
