Chapter 24: Damp Sand, Limping Steps

  Evanora’s POV

  ---

  Earlier that morning

  The sand was still damp from the early rain. Pale sunlight slipped through the tent flaps in thin bands, and the medical tent smelled of crushed herbs and clean linen.

  Zagan had been busy for too long.

  Too absent.

  The thought sat quietly in my chest—unsettling, but unanswered.

  A familiar voice pulled me upright on the bed.

  “Faith,” Beta Kaden said, stopping just inside the tent. “How’s your leg?”

  “Still limping,” I said. "Thanks for the stick,"

  “Mm.” His gaze flicked to my leg, then away—polite, deliberate.

  “You heal slower than us. Slower than Zagan.” He paused, studying me.

  “But you don’t move like someone unfamiliar with pain.”

  I smiled faintly. “Being a slave isn’t gentle work.”

  “So I’m learning,” he said mildly, the corner of his mouth lifting.

  A brief silence settled between us—not awkward. Just… observant.

  “How did you end up with Zagan?” he asked, like the question had wandered into his mind on its own.

  I wished Zagan were here to answer instead.

  Where did he go?

  “He saw me at a slave auction,” I said lightly. “Bought me long ago.”

  “That’s all?”

  I shrugged. “That’s all.”

  “Hm.” His brow creased. “And before that?”

  “A girl on the street,” I replied. “Nothing memorable.”

  “Do you miss it?” he asked.

  My lips curved. “Feels like a holiday now. When I go back… work will be heavy again.”

  That earned a quiet huff of amusement.

  Then, lightly—almost teasing,

  “No lover waiting for you somewhere?”

  I raised a brow.

  He smiled, unapologetic. “I’m allowed curiosity. Not judgment.”

  I hesitated, then nodded once.

  “A warrior,” I said. “Probably found someone else by now.”

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  “That’s weak,” Kaden said flatly. “Easily replaceable.”

  I smiled back. Because it was true.

  He studied me for a moment longer than necessary.

  “I wonder,” he said slowly, “if Zagan gives you the freedom to choose your own life partner.”

  “He sees me as his employee,” I replied. “Not exactly a slave.”

  Then, softer, without looking at him,

  “Where is he?”

  Kaden’s brows knitted. “Rudy would know. He’s handling duty assignments.”

  I nodded. “Thank you, Beta Kaden.”

  He lingered a heartbeat longer—then turned, leaving the tent just as quietly as he’d entered.

  And the unease returned.

  ----

  “Gamma Rudy,” I called, catching him between the tents. “Have you seen Master Zagan?”

  He stopped. Turned. Smiled easily—too easily.

  “Ah, him? Yeah. I saw him with Lady Arabella not long after dawn.”

  My fingers tightened around the stick.

  “With her?” I asked, keeping my voice level.

  Rudy nodded. “Seemed like work. He’s powerful for a merchant, you know.” He tilted his head slightly.

  “Honestly, Faith—what worries you?”

  What worries me?

  Why would Arabella summon him?

  So casually?

  And Zagan—

  Zagan never left without telling me. I had warned him earlier. He wasn’t naive enough to miss danger.

  My chest is tightened, sharp and cold.

  “She took him?” I murmured—not for Rudy, but for myself.

  Rudy frowned. “Took him?”

  I smiled quickly. Too quickly.

  But the ground beneath my certainty had already shifted.

  “Nothing,” I said. “Just… checking. My master didn’t mention leaving with Lady Arabella.”

  If Zagan was with Arabella—

  And I hadn’t seen him since—

  Something was wrong.

  Rudy sighed, irritation creeping into his tone.

  “If you’re that worried, limp your way into her coven and check for yourself.”

  I nodded, adjusted my grip on the stick, and turned away.

  The path wasn’t far—but the desert made each step heavier.

  Arabella’s coven went deeper than I thought.

  My limp slowed me—but my mind didn’t. I moved faster than my body should have, leaning hard on Kaden’s balancing stick as the camp stirred awake around me.

  Zagan should have been here.

  He always was.

  ---

  “Looking for something, Faith?”

  Mercurius stepped out of the shade like he had been waiting.

  I turned my head slightly. “I’m looking for my master. Zagan.”

  His smile lingered a bit too long. I didn’t like it.

  “Him?” he said lightly. “I saw him underground. Not here.”

  “Underground?” I asked. “Which underground?”

  He gestured toward a narrow path between the dunes—one I was certain hadn’t been there before.

  “That way. I’ll inform Beta Kaden. He was asking about him.”

  A soft laugh followed.

  “Though… Beta seems rather busy these days. You understand.”

  “Mercurius?”

  “Doctor,” he corrected pleasantly. “Dr. Mercurius.”

  I felt it before I saw them.

  Movement behind me.

  Devourix guards—Arabella’s.

  Mercurius’s smile widened. Not victorious. Curious.

  “Ah,” he murmured. “There you are.”

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  He stepped closer, his voice lowering—not threatening. Intimate.

  “Clever,” he said. “For someone called a slave.”

  The world flared white.

  Pain threaded through my nerves—precise, deliberate. Like invisible claws brushing along my spine, testing for weakness. My muscles are locked. My breath stalled.

  I didn’t fall.

  I stayed where I was.

  The sensation slid—misaligned.

  Like a key turning in the wrong lock.

  Behind me, Mercurius chuckled softly.

  “Not working on her?” he asked, almost bored.

  ““It should,” Draven snapped. “Slaves don’t resist me.”

  Heat cracked sharply through the air.

  Mercurius tilted his head, amused.

  “You really should practice more, Draven.”

  I almost smiled.

  I had once thought that power belonged only to me.

  Neural mastery.

  The art of turning pain into obedience.

  Draven wielded it crudely.

  Poor thing.

  He didn’t know Zagan had already been trained against it.

  Against me.

  And I learned—quietly—that even without power…

  My nerves remembered how to resist.

  “Mercurius—” Draven growled.

  “Oh please,” Mercurius cut in smoothly. “You couldn’t hold that merchant. And you certainly can’t hold this one with nerve tricks alone.”

  Silence answered him.

  My pulse is steady now.

  “Where is he?” I asked. “Why take him?”

  Mercurius’s smile softened.

  “Answer,” I said.

  "An experiment,” he said, almost tender. “And you, sweetheart, are the perfect subject.”

  “You’re risking the Council,” I said. “Careful with the endearments.”

  “Councils can wait.”

  He lifted his hand.

  Claws slid free—bone and silver-veined keratin—alive with blue sparks that hummed rather than burned. The energy didn’t lash outward.

  It focused.

  On my mind.

  “Take her,” Dr. Mercurius said calmly.

  And this time—

  My body lifted before I allowed it to resist.

  The world tilted.

  And I let it.