Huntress

Chapter 86

It was a lie. It was all a lie.

I had fought. Many had died. Dozens more had been taken advantage of. And for nothing. Because none of it was true.

I stared at the blood on the floor for a moment, my mind quiet and racing all at once. Did I curl up on the floor and weep? Did I find a blade and slit their throats now?

"What did you say?" I whispered to Armond, slowly turning around to face him.

There was no denying that he was looking sickly. The way he was slumped forward made it seem like he was on the verge of vomiting. Was it because of the pain, the blood loss, the vision of seeing his partner have her fingernails torn from her hands, listening to her screams? His chest rose and fell with a weak breath. I moved quickly, whirling around to grab Dawn's hand again. I would make him fucking squeal. I didn't care what it took.

I didn't care what I turned into.

"Wolf drain was a joint effort," Armond wheezed again.

I didn't glance at him or give up my grip on Dawn's hand. The plier lifted. "A joint effort between who? You two?" I pressed.

"Us fairies and the alchemists."

"The alchemists that have almost gone extinct, aside from one?" I clarified.

Dawn's mouth quirked up at that like I had said something hilarious. I wondered if punching her solidly in the stomach would be enough to get the smile off her face, but if having her like this was going to get Armond talking, I wasn't going to change what I was doing.

"Yes, us and them," Armond croaked.

"I want you to tell me exactly what is going on," I ordered. "If you stop talking at any point, I'm going to start ripping out nails. We don't have too many left. Maybe after that, I'll just start taking off the fingers."

"Don't fucking say anything," Dawn howled.

"How noble of you," I murmured, smiling at her. "All these years, I thought you were the kind one, but now, I get to see you for what you really are. You were never so kind. You never really cared. You just wanted to win. No matter what, no matter who you stepped out. It was just easier to bend us all to your wishes when you were nice and sweet. Armond, get talking!"

And he did. He explained everything.

"It started with King Archer and King Leo. When they won the war, the fairies were furious but had no choice but to agree to sign the treaty with them. That treaty still stands. We are not to kill a single wolf. But it was unfair. It always has been. The shifters are overpowered. With destined mates, heightened sense, and the ability to transform into animals, their power was not as evenly divided as old tales would make it seem. After we exterminate the werecats—"

"Armond!" Dawn shrieked.

I watched the fairy's features falter for a second. His partner had struck doubt in him. I didn't dare allow it to bloom. I grabbed hold of a nail and pulled, and pulled, and pulled. Then, it released. Dawn screamed. Armond shuddered.

"You killed the werecats?" I asked. It was almost impossible to keep the snarl from my voice.

"The humans killed the werecats," Dawn hissed through bloodied teeth. She must have bit her cheek or tongue in an effort to stop her shouts.

"Just like the humans killed the werewolves," I summarized. "And all you had to do was give the humans a cause, a reason to go kill werewolves. To be honest, humans are so afraid of what they don't understand, I'm surprised you had to do more than tell them about werewolves just existing. But, of course, you went further. You created wolf-drain. What I want to know is how." I turned to Armond, lowering my brows. "Talk."

"The alchemists did it. They came to us and claimed they had a potion that would hurt humans with magic that looked similar to that of the werewolf. Not that it mattered, the scared humans couldn't see the magic patterns, but they went after the werewolves anyway."

Just like I had. I had been sobbing over my parents. And when I had been given a cause to rally against, I hadn't questioned it. I took up arrow after arrow, assignment after assignment.

"How did you pick which humans to target?"

"At random, as long as they had young and strong family members."

Fuck. I hadn't even mattered. They hadn't chosen me because of anything in particular. In fact, they might have been hoping for Craig to be the one who took up the ax, not me. They might have drugged a dozen individuals and I was just the one that was dumb enough to fall for it, dumb enough to throw my life away. dumb enough to carry that bow into the woods with me.

Something brushed against my leg. Ryder's wolf nudged against me; silver eyes shone up at me. unwavering strength against the side of my shaking leg.

It might have never been about me in the beginning. I might have just started out as one of the unlucky ones. But they had brought their war to the wrong woman. And I was here to end it.

"So, you sent me onto the royal's land in the hopes that I could kill them, you'd keep your hands clean, and a civil war would start as the battle for new royalty so you could reduce their numbers," I summarized. "Did you cook your wolf-drain potion into every single item at the café? Have you secretly been poisoning entire towns every time you set up shop?"

"No, the potion is effective, but incredibly expensive to produce. We can't waste it."

So, it hadn't been an accident that some cinnamon buns with the poison had ended up in my freezer or in my stomach. And it hadn't been an accident that killed my parents. It had all been intentional. And I might have never known if Ajax hadn't eaten them. Hell, if I hadn't been mated to a werewolf, I probably would have been dead already or living out the rest of my days as a zombie.

When the trembling in my body got worse, Ryder leaned against me a little more. I set one hand down on the top of his head, ignoring the stickiness of the leftover blood.

"We're done here," I said, my voice softening with weakness. There were still questions that needed to be answered. Dozens, and with every new answer would come a rabbit hole of queries. But I couldn't do this to myself anymore. I couldn't let myself become a person who tortured beyond reason, even if there was something to gain. I couldn't be like them.

We had gotten enough evidence. I was sure of it.

I left the two of them bound and called for Adrienne. She appeared in a matter of seconds, her lips pressed into a grim line.

"Distribute the tapes to whoever you need to. And you're probably going to want someone with a medical background looking them over."

Adrienne didn't protest, just told me that there were change rooms on the main floor and that she had found some clothes for me to use. I didn't have to ask why and I didn't allow myself to look down either. I had become what I needed to be out of necessity. I would not be ashamed, and I would not be horrified, but that also meant that I wouldn't think too hard about it right now.

I showered numbly, telling myself that I was in a local gym and had just completed a grueling workout. That was all. I tossed my old clothes in a garbage can and pulled on the clothes that had been provided for me. the pants were too large, hanging off my hips and needing to be pulled up after a few steps. The shirt was too small, digging into my armpits and almost becoming sheer over my small breasts. But they were clean.

Ryder was waiting for me in the hallway, his hair wet from the shower and his clothes obviously borrowed as well.

Neither of us said anything. His arms wound around my frame, pulling me tight. I clung to his back, nestling my head against his shoulder. It was all going to be okay. It was all going to be alright. Even if it didn't feel that way right now. Even if it didn't feel that way for a long time.

"Are you okay?" Ryder asked shakily. He eased me back so he could cup my face in his hands.

"I think so. Are you?"

He nodded and pulled me back in against his chest.