Page 24 of Wraithwound

“It’s not. Somehow your mother managed to unite them. We have no idea how that many evaded the King’s search, but they were able to combine their power and shield Dovia.”

“Not to keep the monsters out, Lena,” Ahgrie said softly.

To keep them in.

“Marisee assigned one healer to each caster, who vowed to protect that person with their life. Did you ever stop to wonder why your mother traveled so often or about the placement of the villages she worked in? Why she chose to stay in the speck of a village that was Virdeen?” Nora shook her head, disapproval evident at Lena’s lack of awareness. “The last living caster was Neema. We do not think it a coincidence that once she passed, your village was attacked.”

A dull roaring filled Lena’s ears, and her chest prickled distantly. She couldn’t think past the information she’d been given, reality as she’d known it warping before her.

“I—” Lena started, but no other words followed. Ahgrie put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“That’s why she went into the city that day,” Ahgrie said softly.

And it was that truth that almost unraveled her completely. Her mother hadn’t gone to the city just to save Neema. She’d gone because she knew it meant she’d have a chance to save everyone. All of them. Lena and Henry. There’d been a time when Lena resented her mother for staying in that tiny village, wasting her time and her talents there. Shame burned brightly on her face.

“Your mother’s diary holds secrets we’ve been working to piece together for many years. Do you have it?” Nora said, more urgently this time.

“No. I didn’t know she had one,” Lena said flatly. Let them think she was stupid, completely oblivious. It wasn’t entirely untrue.

Nora huffed in frustration. “Do you have any idea where she might have kept it?”

Lena shook her head. Unease coiled in her stomach, and the prickling sensation in her wound seemed sharper than before. This meeting felt wrong. She peered over at Ahgrie, who seemed lost in thought.

“Have you considered what you’re going to do next?” Edith asked. The sudden shift in conversation was jarring despite her warmer tone.

She hadn’t. She knew she had to leave Enora to keep Ahgrie and Jessa safe, but this was as far as her plan had gone.

“No. I was hoping to figure that out after coming here. I thought perhaps something new may have been discovered since I’d last visited. Any new information could give me an idea for a cure or some way to delay the change.” Lena looked to Ahgrie, who was still staring across the room.

“There is no way to fight the turn, Lena. You know that,” Benneck said. “You can only hope when you do turn, you don’t harm anyone else.”

The harsh words cut deep, despite the truth he spoke.

“There is another option. A way that you could continue to serve the Healer’s Organization and save lives before it comes to that,” Nora said.

Before Lena could react, Ahgrie’s head snapped back to the group.

“No,” Ahgrie said firmly.

Lena didn’t dare to look at her again.

“We are not asking you, Ahgraphina,” Edith said.

“Consider what we might be able to learn about wraiths, about how they infect, how they survive, if we had someone to study,” Nora said.

“I already said no,” Ahgrie repeated, anger lacing her words.

Lena was stunned, and at the same time, she hated that she understood exactly what they were asking.

“If I refuse?” Lena asked.

“We will respect that, of course,” Suhalia said, the others nodding solemnly.

Nora scoffed.

“You speak of respect?” Nora said to Suhalia and then dragged her gaze to Lena. “You come into this city, with a wraithwound, risking the lives of those you claim to love, not to mention countless others, to find a cure? Not only is that selfish, it’s utterly reckless.”

“I think that concludes this meeting,” Ahgrie said, already standing with her belongings in hand.