Chapter 364 - 98: Residual

Dane stared at Vance, trying to make sense of his last statement.

The stone did not simply cure Dane. When it reacted to your blood, it left something behind.

"What exactly are you claiming?" Dane asked. "Because the last time I checked, I was the one who nearly died, and I don’t remember you being there when the priestess used the stone."

Vance’s expression tightened, but he didn’t answer immediately. His warriors remained positioned around them, their swords drawn, while Henrik and Helena stood between them and Dane’s group. Marcus still held the Heart Stone, keeping it away from Vance’s reach. Destiny stood beside Dane, her attention fixed on the king.

"You were unconscious when the ritual ended," Vance said at last. "You may not remember what happened afterward."

"I remember enough. The priestess used Destiny’s blood, the stone reacted, and the Hollow Death stopped spreading through me. She couldn’t explain why it worked."

"And you think because of that you were cured?"

"I think you know something you’re not telling us."

Vance’s jaw shifted. "Yes, see I’m still one of the few who knows the true origin of the curse. Her blood cured the symptom but deep inside you are still cursed Dane."

Dane glanced at Destiny. They had not discussed that possibility before. The priestess herself had admitted that she thought the curse was transferred somewhere, guess she meant to say suppressed.

"That doesn’t prove something was left inside me," Dane said.

"No. It doesn’t." Vance held his gaze. "That’s why we need to confirm what happened."

"Then tell us how you came by this information," Destiny interrupted. "And don’t leave out the parts that make you look bad."

Vance turned towards her. For a moment, Dane thought the king would remind her who he was and where she stood. Instead, he looked past her to the stone in Marcus’s hand.

"I received a report from our priestess after your husband’s recovery. When Aurora was bitten, I went to her again. I needed to know whether the stone could save my daughter. She told me the same thing she told Dane. The ritual worked, but she couldn’t explain how."

"And that led you to him?" Dane asked, nodding towards the cursed Alpha.

"The priestess couldn’t offer a solution. He claimed to know more about Hollow Death than anyone alive. I sought him out."

The cursed Alpha stood a short distance away, his yellow eyes moving between them. The other afflicted wolves had grown restless since the Heart Stone flared. Some paced along the clearing’s edge, while others crouched in the undergrowth, their attention fixed on the people gathered around the stone.

"You make it sound as though you approached him out of desperation," Destiny said.

"I approached him because my daughter was dying."

"And you were willing to risk bringing the curse to Silvercrest if it meant saving her?"

Vance’s expression hardened. "I have not agreed to let him infect me."

"Yet you came here with him knowing that was what he wanted," Dane said. "You brought six warriors into a clearing full of cursed wolves, seized my wife, and demanded the stone. Don’t pretend you had everything under control."

One of Vance’s guards stepped forward, but the king stopped him with a raised hand.

"I came to retrieve my daughter and the stone," Vance replied. "I didn’t come to start a war with BloodMoon."

"You should have thought of that before grabbing Destiny."

Dane could still feel the brief, desperate struggle when Vance had pulled her away. He had been close enough to reach her and unable to do so without forcing his way past the guards. The memory left his hands itching for a fight, but he kept his attention on Vance.

Destiny moved a little closer to him. "You keep saying the stone can save Aurora. What evidence do you have beyond what happened to Dane?"

Vance looked towards Aurora.

She stood near the edge of the clearing, pale and visibly exhausted. The black veins beneath her skin had darkened since they arrived, spreading from her wrist towards her elbow. Her fingers trembled at her sides, and every few moments she seemed to fight an urge to curl them into claws.

Dane had no sympathy for the choices that had brought her here, but he couldn’t ignore what was happening to her. Whatever else Aurora had done, the Hollow Death was taking away her ability to remain human.

"The stone reacted to Destiny’s blood once," Vance said. "There is a chance it will do so again."

"A chance," Destiny repeated. "That’s all you have?"

"It’s more than I had yesterday."

"And if it doesn’t work?"

"Then we’ll know we need another way."

"Will we?" Destiny asked. "Or will you keep trying until there’s nothing left of me to give?"

"That’s enough," Dane said.

He hadn’t meant to interrupt her. Destiny was entitled to demand answers, especially from Vance. But he could hear the direction the conversation was taking, and he didn’t intend to let the king turn uncertainty into permission to experiment on her.

Vance’s eyes narrowed. "I haven’t asked for her death."

"You haven’t ruled out using her blood until you get what you want, either."

"Dane," Destiny said quietly.

He turned to her. She wasn’t asking him to back down, but he could see the frustration in her face. She wanted answers too, and he knew his anger wouldn’t make Vance more forthcoming.

Dane forced himself to step back half a pace. "Then let’s be clear about something. Nobody cuts her, takes her blood, or puts that stone against her without her agreement. Not you. Not him. Nobody."

The cursed Alpha gave a low, humourless laugh.

"You speak as though you can protect her from every consequence."

"I can protect her from you."

"For how long?" the Alpha asked. "Until another wolf finds her? Until the rot reaches someone else? You keep treating this as a matter between you and me, but it isn’t."

"Don’t use the people you’ve lost to justify what you’re doing to others," Destiny said.

The Alpha’s gaze settled on her. "You think I don’t know what I’ve done?"

"I think you know exactly what you’re asking us to risk. That’s why you keep calling it necessary."

His expression changed, though Dane couldn’t tell whether she had struck a nerve or simply irritated him.

For a moment, nobody spoke. The restless wolves continued to move around the clearing, their claws scraping against stone and packed earth. Dane could hear their breathing, some of it rough and uneven. He wondered how many of them still understood the conversation and how many were simply waiting for an excuse to attack.

Marcus shifted the Heart Stone in his hand. "We’re going in circles. If Vance has information, he should give it to us. If the Alpha knows something, he should say it. But Destiny isn’t paying for their secrets with her blood."

"Agreed," Henrik said.

Helena kept her eyes on the cursed wolves. "And we should decide what we’re doing before one of them loses control."

As if her words had summoned it, a sharp growl came from the left side of the clearing. One of the larger wolves had risen onto all fours. Its yellow eyes were fixed on Marcus’s hand, and its lips drew back from its teeth.

Two others lifted their heads.

The cursed Alpha turned. "Stay back."