She stepped out into the cold afternoon, the door swinging shut behind her, cutting off the warmth and noise of the café. The square was quiet, most of the town gathered inside for the meeting, and Chloe stood alone on the sidewalk with February wind cutting through her coat.
Reality.
That's what this was. The warm bubble of the past two days, wrapped in Corin's arms, feeling like she mattered, like she belonged, that had been a fantasy. This was reality. A town that smiled to her face and shut her out when it counted. People who would never fully trust her, no matter how many times she proved herself. She'd been foolish to forget.
Her feet carried her toward Freya's without conscious decision. The familiar path, the familiar routine. Check the plants. Document the damage. Keep her hands busy so she didn't have to think about the way Martha had looked at her, the way Bess had said "play it safe," the way an entire roomful of people had found ways to exclude her without ever saying a single unkind word.
The hurt sat in her chest like a familiar stone.
She'd felt this before, in other towns, other places. The slow realization that she would never quite fit, no matter how hard she tried. She'd always moved on eventually. Packed up her things and found somewhere new, somewhere that hadn't yet learned to be afraid of her.
But she didn't want to leave Hollow Oak.
She had Freya here. And Twyla. And Corin.
Corin, who studied her like she was the center of his world. Who defended her to strangers and held her through the night and made her believe, for a few perfect hours, that she'd finally found her place.
She wouldn't let them chase her away. Twyla was right about that. But god, it hurt. It hurt more than she wanted to admit, even to herself.
She pushed open the door to Freya's shop and let the familiar scent of herbs wash over her. Work. She needed to work. Needed to do something useful instead of standing around feeling sorry for herself.
The plants wouldn't care if she belonged or not.
They'd just need her to help them grow.
25
CORIN
The Council chamber was smaller than most people expected, mainly because they never really held meetings there. It was just for the immediate council members. But now, Corin stood near the round table, photographs spread across the polished wood. The well. The broken seal. The poisoned hive. Evidence of weeks of deliberate sabotage, laid out for anyone willing to see.
Emmett Hollowell sat at the head of the table, his dark hair streaked with gray now, his stormy blue eyes sharp as ever. He'd officially taken Varric's place on the Council six months ago, but he still carried himself like a man who'd rather be anywhere else. Some things didn't change.
"Walk us through it again," Emmett said.
Corin pointed to the photographs. "The seal was broken deliberately. Someone dug down to the mortar and chipped away just enough to create a slow leak. The contamination started spreading from there, following the water table, poisoning everything it touched."
"And the hive?"
"Different method. Direct poisoning. Some kind of chemical compound. Whoever did it wanted faster results."
Elias stood near the door, arms crossed, his silver-gray eyes steady. He'd been there when Corin had torn the well apart. Had helped him piece together the evidence afterward.
"I can confirm the seal damage," Elias said. "Saw it myself. This wasn't natural decay. It was precise. Calculated."
Emmett studied the photographs for a long moment. "Any idea who?"
"Someone with knowledge of old magic," Corin said. "Someone who knows how to cover their tracks. The scent trails vanish. The boot prints disappear. Whoever's doing this has access to concealment magic."
"That narrows it down."
"Not enough."
The door opened, and Paul Whitmore stepped in, his weathered face arranged in an expression of concern. He nodded to Emmett, then took a seat at the table without being invited.
"Heard there was a meeting about the land sickness," Paul said. "Figured I should be here. I've been doing deliveries all over the affected areas. Might have seen something useful."
Corin's jaw tightened. He didn't trust Paul. Not after the way he'd accused Chloe at Freya's shop, spreading poison with his words the same way someone was spreading it through the soil.
