Chapter 585: The Na That Returns
Kairen’s body had gone rigid the mont the sounds reached the cell.
"Relax," Orion said without looking at him.
Kairen exhaled slowly but didn’t fully unwind.
Footsteps. Two sets. And then Caspian appeared, Daniel half a step behind him. They were both speaking at once the mont they saw Orion.
"We need to speak with you—"
"—sothing important, Orion, we need—"
Orion held up a hand.
"I’m in the middle of sothing," he said. "It’s an important conversation."
"So is ours," Daniel said flatly.
"It’s important," Caspian added, for emphasis.
Orion looked between them. "Five minutes," he said. "Wait five minutes and I’ll be with you."
Caspian and Daniel looked at each other.
Then, reluctantly, they both nodded.
"Five minutes," Daniel said.
"Five," Caspian echoed.
Orion inclined his head slightly in acknowledgnt before turning back to Kairen.
"You were saying there’s another garden," he said.
Kairen nodded.
Orion studied him for a mont. "How did you get the bodies?" he asked. "To grow it."
Kairen was quiet for a mont.
"As much as I want to deny it," he said finally, "I’m a killer. I killed on Victoria’s orders. So of them were innocent." He paused. "I used so of the bodies."
Orion leaned in slightly. "If the corpse plant really grows on bodies," he said, "then Victoria’s garden—"
"Has dead bodies underneath it," Kairen said. "Yes. And there are nurous too."
Orion was quiet for a beat.
"Did you ever try to get into her garden?" he asked.
Kairen gave a short, humorless sound. "At first, yes. I wanted to sneak in and take what I needed." He shook his head. "Then I thought better of it. Getting caught in Victoria’s garden would have been the end of , and even after everything I’ve gone through, I still want to live, so cultivating it myself was the safer option." He paused. "The better option."
"It should also be known that Victoria’s garden only beca what it was about twenty years ago. Before that, the plant was present but not fully cultivated. It existed, but not on the scale it does now. Victoria put serious effort into it around that ti. That’s when it beca a proper garden."
Orion nodded slowly, turning that over.
Twenty years. That was around the sa ti the Nightshade pack left the west. Could there be sothing there?
He filed it away, though. He’d find the threads later. For now, he was asking for sothing else.
"I’ll be back," he said, straightening. "When I return, I’ll let you know what I need from you." He turned toward the cell door, then paused.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
Kairen blinked.
Sothing shifted in his face. His eyes lit up slightly before he caught himself.
Orion smiled faintly.
"I’ll have sothing sent to you," he said.
Kairen nodded.
"...Thank you."
Orion didn’t respond to that.
Instead, he stepped out of the cell, the guard locking it behind him with a soft clang.
Caspian and Daniel were already watching him, arms folded, matching frowns on their faces.
"The plant," Daniel said imdiately. "What is it?"
"I’ll explain later," Orion told him.
Daniel’s frown deepened, but he didn’t push.
The three of them began moving out of the dungeons, boots echoing against the stone floor as the dim torchlight gave way to the light of the compound above.
"So," Orion said as they climbed, "why did you co to find ?"
Caspian reached into his cloak and pulled out the drawing.
He held it out.
Orion took it, tilting it slightly toward the light.
"We’ve found out who the other woman is," Caspian said. "The one watching Sophia in the drawing."
Orion looked at the drawing. Then at Caspian.
"Who?"
Caspian exhaled. "Victoria."
Orion went still.
"If there was any doubt before... it’s now certain. Oculum’s vision," Daniel said quietly, "is telling us sothing about the Enclave. Sothing that’s coming. Sothing Victoria will be at the center of. I don’t know if it’ll be similar to the attack before, but..."
Orion didn’t respond imdiately.
He stood there, looking at the drawing, at the woman’s figure captured in ink, standing behind Sophia.
Victoria.
Again.
For the past few hours, the na had been coming up continuously—the curse, the corpse plant, the Blood Moon Pack, the poison in Tobias’s blood, and now this. A vision Oculum had seen and committed to parchnt before he left—a vision that had a woman standing behind Sophia whose face Caspian had finally placed.
He handed the drawing back.
"Don’t tell the others yet," he said.
Caspian blinked. "Why not?"
"Because," Orion said, "right now, the focus needs to be on the test results. The announcent is tomorrow. The pack is already anxious—the news has been spreading." He looked between them. "I need this pack to have one good mont before we sit down and talk about what’s coming next."
Daniel studied him. "We still need to discuss what we found."
"We will," Orion said. "Imdiately after the announcent, we will et. All of us." He held Daniel’s gaze. "But not today... please."
Daniel held the look for a mont longer. Then he exhaled through his nose.
"Alright."
"In the anti," Orion continued, "check with the jewelers. Make sure the earrings and beads are ready or close to it. And confirm the celebration arrangents are in order. Families will be gathering. So of the Silver Creek Pack mbers will be there too—make sure they’re included."
Caspian and Daniel nodded. "Understood."
They parted ways then.
---
Orion moved through the compound.
The snow was falling lightly, settling across rooftops and pathways. Around him, the compound was alive with activity.
Children were out—running between houses, their voices carrying across the cold air. Pack mbers stood in small clusters, so of them with Silver Creek mbers beside them, conversations threading between them.
He wasn’t surprised the Silver Creek pack mbers settled in easily, so of their mbers. The anxiety about the test results was visible if you knew where to look—a tense jaw here, hands wrapped too tightly around a cup there—but underneath it, sothing else existed too.
Anticipation.
The good kind.
He was almost at the turn when he heard them.
Ronan appeared first, rounding the corner. Brynhild was beside him.
Orion’s gaze moved to her. "Why are you here?"
"Lysander fell asleep the mont he got ho," she said. "He needed the rest. He’s been pushing himself." She paused. "So I ca instead."
Orion nodded.
"He’s exhausting himself," she added. "But that’s not what matters right now."
"No," Orion agreed.
"We have information about the corpse plant," Ronan said.
"So do I," Orion said.
Ronan raised an eyebrow. "Kairen?"
Orion nodded. "He told about a garden. One he planted himself, at the border between the west and the north. Close to the black market."
Ronan’s expression shifted.
Brynhild tilted her head.
She turned slowly in Ronan’s direction.
"Isn’t that," she said, "the sa garden Jarek told us belonged to Ghost?"
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