Chapter 50: Chapter Fifty

Chapter 50

Lia’s POV

The knock on my door was too light to be a threat. Too hesitant.

I opened it anyway, ready to send whoever it was away.

Quinn stood there, arms folded, hood shadowing her face.

“You’re hard to find when you want to be,” she said.

“I thought that was the point,” I replied.

She smirked faintly. “You want to talk or you want me to shout your name in the middle of the street?”

I stepped aside, letting her in. “Five minutes. Then you leave.”

She wandered the room like she was mapping it, eyes flicking over the shelves, the fire, the table. “Nice place. Cozy. Doesn’t look like the kind of house someone who plans to challenge the council lives in.”

I shut the door harder than I needed to. “What do you want, Quinn?”

“Maybe the same thing you do.” She turned to face me. “To keep Edgar breathing.”

My throat tightened. “If you’ve come here to play games”

“No games,” she interrupted. “I know what the elders are planning. I know the name they’re pushing for. And I know he’ll never agree to it.”

I stepped closer. “Then you also know they’ll force him if they can.”

Her smile was bitter. “That’s what they do best.”

We stared at each other for a moment, the air between us thick with the weight of everything we hadn’t said since the night she helped betray me.

Finally, I asked, “Why tell me this? You’re on their side half the time.”

“I’m on my side,” she corrected. “But right now, our sides… overlap.”

I crossed my arms. “So what’s your angle?”

“You want him safe. I want the council weakened. We work together, maybe we get both.”

I laughed once, sharp. “And how exactly would we ‘work together’? You burned that bridge the moment you”

“Yes,” she cut in, voice rising, “I betrayed you. I’ve told you I regret it. But you think I haven’t paid for it? Every day since, they’ve held my leash tighter. I’m offering to use what I know before they choke me with it.”

I watched her closely. Her eyes didn’t waver, and there was something raw in her voice, not quite guilt, but close enough.

“What do you know?” I asked finally.

She glanced at the door, then stepped closer, lowering her voice. “They’ve set the vote for three nights from now. They’re making it look like Edgar agreed to it. When it happens, they’ll claim the choice was unanimous.”

My stomach twisted. “They’re forging his consent.”

She nodded. “And if you try to challenge it after the fact, you’ll be branded as a usurper. You won’t get within ten feet of him without a guard.”

I paced, fingers raking through my hair. “We’d have to stop the vote before it happens.”

Quinn tilted her head. “Or make sure the vote doesn’t give them what they want.”

I frowned. “Meaning?”

She smiled faintly. “Every elder has enemies. Even among themselves. You get enough of them to turn on the plan, and suddenly their ‘unanimous’ decision falls apart.”

I shook my head. “They’ll never listen to me.”

“No,” Quinn agreed. “But they might listen to me. If you give me something to trade.”

I eyed her warily. “What kind of something?”

“Proof the blood curse is worse than they think. Enough to scare them into believing their chosen successor can’t hold the pack together when he dies.”

I flinched at the word dies. “You talk about it like it’s already decided.”

She looked away. “I talk about it like it’s a possibility we can’t ignore.”

Silence stretched between us until I asked, “Why should I trust you not to use that proof against him instead?”

Her answer was immediate. “Because if he goes down, so do I. Brie will see to that.”

Hearing his mother’s name still scraped something deep inside me. “You think she’s behind this push for a new successor?”

Quinn’s mouth twisted. “I don’t think. I know. She’s playing the long game. And she’s better at it than anyone in that chamber.”

I took a long breath, forcing my thoughts into order. “If I get you that proof, you’ll turn enough elders to block the vote?”

She held my gaze. “I’ll try. But we have to move fast. And you have to stay out of sight while I do it, if they see us working together, it’s over.”

I thought about Edgar, his pale face, the way his hand had trembled that morning, and made my decision.

“I’ll get it,” I said.

Quinn’s expression softened, just a fraction. “Then we might have a chance.”

She pulled her hood up again, moving to the door.

“Quinn,” I called after her.

She glanced back.

“If you betray me again”

“I won’t,” she said. And for the first time, I almost believed her.

I didn’t sleep that night. I kept replaying our conversation, weighing every word, every look, every pause. She could still be playing me. But she was right about one thing, the vote was coming fast, and if I waited for a perfect ally, I’d be waiting while the council took everything.

By dawn, I’d made up my mind.

If Edgar wouldn’t let me fight for him openly, I’d fight for him in the shadows.

And maybe, just maybe, Quinn was the weapon I needed.