“I asked him,” she said, her voice low, “if his true name was Castiel Vaelmont.”
Alexander stopped in his tracks, alarm flashing across his face. “And?”
She hesitated. A sheer curtain stirred in the corridor’s end window, and her gaze followed it—drawn by the soft movement.
“He didn’t confirm it,” she said. “But he didn’t deny it, either. Just smiled and changed the topic, as if I’d struck a chord.”
Alexander’s expression darkened. “It wasn’t just Tedric. There was the archer as well, who came and retrieved him.”
Another pause. Then she added, “I don’t think Tedric was Castiel, though.”
Alexander’s brows drew in. “Then who?”
“I don’t know. But when I saw Ambrose in Aethonia . . . I was reminded of Tedric.” She shook her head faintly. “Even if Tedric didn’t look much like him.”
Alexander’s jaw clenched. “His brother, then? There are four of them.”
“If they are indeed the mastermind, how careless is Tedric to go around unmasked?”
“Careless or brazen?” he asked. “Are they making a mistake, or a statement?”
She looked at him—at the set of his mouth, the coiled tension behind his eyes—and felt the echo of her own unease.
“As an old and wealthy House,” she murmured, “perhaps the Vaelmonts believe they’re untouchable.”
“It certainly makes one wonder if they’ve buried worse crimes than this. In daylight. With witnesses. If they’re not afraid, it makes them that much more dangerous.”
His words chilled her. What was it like to wield a power that didn’t need to wear a mask, but simply chose when and where to bare its teeth?
And what would it mean for Omegas in their world, the easiest to devour?
They stopped in front of a door facing a courtyard.
“The Omegas are in here,” Alexander told her. “Krystoff’s men found your notebook and brought it to the palace’s Head Physician. They’ve been following your formula for the decoction.”
Pure, disarming relief washed through her. They’d found it. Her work, her meticulous notes, were not lost. In the chaos, a part of her had feared her knowledge had been left behind, that these women would suffer for the loss of a few pages. To hear it was in the hands of a fellow healer, being applied with care, was a solace so deep it felt like a hand steadying her own.
His jaw ticked, and his eyes hardened. “We also found a tome containing horrific details and findings of their experiments, in which they concluded highborn Omegas have a better chance of surviving the treatments. Is that true?”
The relief curdled.
“To confirm such a theory,” she said, “they would need to perform many trials before they could be certain. We’ve never heard of many highborn Omegas being kidnapped, otherwise all of Issoirea would’ve been thrown into chaos.”
JingYi stilled, the weight of it pressing down. “My guess is that the ‘fifty-third vessel’ happened to be highborn, and that raised their suspicions. Then they sought out more Omegas with noble blood to prove it.” She swallowed, her fingers suddenly so very cold. “I suspect Reiyana was among the first. Adelise, and I, were next.”
His expression turned both thunderous and grim. Before she could step away, his hand lifted, and his fingers tenderly grazed her cheek.
“Go on,” he said quietly. “They’re waiting for you.”
She nodded and turned toward the door.
CHAPTER 59
JINGYI
The room was brighter than she expected—curtains pulled wide to let in the pale morning light, the air fragrant with lavender, mugwort, and bitter chrysanthemum, tinged with goldenroot. Seven cots were arranged in a semicircle. The girls occupying them sat up as she entered—some slowly, still bruised and hollow-eyed, others more alert, blinking at her with wary recognition.
She bowed her head. “Good morning.”