Chapter 84: CONFUSION

The moment the beast lunged, the night seemed to tighten around them.

Sable did not retreat.

She set her stance, feet planted wide, shoulders squared as though she had stood against worse than this before, her hands loose at her sides but ready, her gaze locked onto the creature bearing down on her with the kind of ferocity that made lesser beings break and run.

Keira felt the shift in the air before the impact ever came.

Faye’s breath caught behind her.

Maren made a small, strangled sound as she stumbled back toward the broken wall, dragging Faye with her as though instinct alone told her they needed stone at their backs.

Keira moved without thinking, placing herself between them and the unfolding violence, her claws itching beneath her skin as her pulse surged.

The beast roared as it charged.

Sable did not flinch.

Something in her expression hardened further, her mouth pressing into a thin line as though she had expected this, as though this was a reckoning long overdue.

And then the darkness moved, a black shape stepping out of the shadows and placing itself between mother and son, with a presence that was quiet and absolute.

Cairo.

The beast halted so abruptly that the ground beneath his feet seemed to shudder with the force of it, his massive form drawing up, muscles coiled and tense, his attention snapping to the familiar shape now standing in his path.

Confusion flickered through him now.

The moon slipped behind a passing cloud, and the red wash over the world dimmed.

Cairo did not move.

He stood there, steady, unyielding, his gaze fixed on the beast with an authority that did not need to be spoken aloud.

Then his voice brushed through Keira’s mind.

“I do not know the history between those two,” he said, calm and measured, “but I know this much. A son who kills his mother carries that mark long after the blood has dried.”

Keira’s chest tightened.

The beast shifted again, pacing once, twice, his head lowering slightly, the fight bleeding out of him as something deeper took hold.

“He is not in control,” Cairo continued, his tone thoughtful now. “The moon is pulling at him, feeding what is already there, but he is not lost.”

Keira stepped forward.

The moment she moved, the beast’s attention snapped to her, the tension in his body easing in a way that made no sense and yet felt completely natural all at once.

She closed the distance slowly, her hand lifting.

He did not resist when her fingers found his fur; he leaned into it.

Like something that he had been waiting for.

“You calm him,” Sable said from behind Cairo, her voice flat, her eyes sharp as they tracked every movement between them.

Keira did not look at her.

“You don’t,” she replied.

There was no softness in Sable’s gaze now, only something cold, something that flickered briefly before she smoothed it away.

“I think you should help your people keep watch tonight,” Keira added, her hand still resting against the beast as he lowered himself beside her. “You have agitated him enough already.”

Sable held her gaze for a long moment, something unreadable passing through her expression before she gave a short nod.

The decision was made without another word.

She turned and stepped back into the shadows, her rogues melting with her, leaving the ruins quieter but no less watched.

Faye let out a shaky breath.

Maren slid down the wall, pulling her knees close as she wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes still darting toward the dark where Sable had disappeared.

Keira crouched beside them.

“We’re alright,” she said, her voice steady even if the night around them refused to feel the same.

Faye shook her head slightly.

“I don’t think I remember what alright feels like anymore.”

Keira rose, turning away before the weight of it settled too deeply, moving toward the scattered debris and fallen wood around the ruins.

She worked in silence, gathering what she needed, her movements deliberate as she built the fire piece by piece.

The beast followed her.

Each time she reached for something, he shifted, watching, alert, his attention snapping to every small sound that broke through the night.

When the fire caught, the light pushed back the dark just enough to breathe.

He settled beside it, his body lowering, though he did not relax completely.

Every shift in the trees drew his attention.

Every whisper of movement earned a low warning from deep in his chest.

“I don’t think he will hurt us,” Keira said, glancing back at Faye and Maren as they edged closer to the warmth.

“He seems to be protecting us.”

Maren studied him carefully, her head tilting slightly.

“Where did he come from?” she asked. “There’s something about him… I swear I’ve seen him before.”

Faye nodded slowly.

“I feel it too,” she said. “Like I should know him.”

Keira did not answer straight away.

Because she felt it too, the recognition that refused to settle into anything clear.

“I’m still trying to work that out,” she admitted.

The silence stretched for a moment, filled only by the crackle of the fire.

Faye’s voice quieted.

“Do you think that woman is really his mother?”

Keira glanced toward the darkness Sable had disappeared into.

“I don’t know,” she said again, quieter this time.

And she did not like that answer.

Maren shifted closer to Faye, their shoulders touching as though neither of them wanted to feel alone.

“Lita should be here,” she said, her voice breaking slightly despite her effort to hold it steady.

Faye’s hand found hers immediately.

“She should,” she agreed.

Keira felt that one settle deep.

Lita’s face, her laugh.

Gone now because of him.

Her jaw tightened as something colder slid into place beneath the grief.

“That is why I need to get you both somewhere safe,” she said, her voice firming. “Once you are out of reach, I can finish what needs to be done.”

Maren looked up at her.

“You mean the King.”

Keira met her gaze.

“I mean the debt he owes.”

Faye hesitated.

“Do you think Valen will win?”

Keira’s breath caught slightly at the name.

“Valen is stronger than him,” she said carefully. “He leads better, he fights smarter.”

She didn’t say anything else, because the rest of it stayed lodged where it was not welcome.

Faye and Maren exchanged a look, something unspoken passing between them before they leaned closer together.

“What if Flora comes back to Blacktown?” Faye asked. “She will recognize us.”

Keira nodded.

“I have thought of that,” she said. “If you stay in the tavern, close to Lyra, it gives you some cover. People see what they expect to see in places like that.”

Maren lifted her chin slightly.

“I worked in my father's tavern before,” she said. “I know my way around a bar, and I can always find other ways to earn coin.”

“Only if you choose to,” Keira replied, her gaze steady.

Maren nodded, and Faye squeezed her hand.

“What about you?” she asked. “What happens to you after we leave?”

Keira looked toward the beast.

“I still have things to finish,” she said.

“And Valen?” Faye pressed gently.

She paused.

“Valen has his future already standing beside him,” she said after a moment. “I do not know where that leaves me.”

Cairo’s voice slipped into her mind then, softer now.

“Sleep,” he murmured. “I will watch the shadows. You have carried enough for one night.”

The weight of it all settled suddenly. The exhaustion, the grief, and the fight still ahead.

Keira shifted closer to the beast, resting against him without hesitation.

He adjusted immediately, his body angling just enough to support her, his presence warm and steady as she let her eyes close.

The night moved around them, the fire burned low, and sleep came.

Keira woke before the sun.

The air had cooled, and the fire had burned down to embers.

And beneath her, the beast was no longer the same.

She pushed herself upright, off him, slowly as the shift began.

His body tightened, the fur receding, muscle reshaping, claws withdrawing as though pulled back into something more human.

She didn’t look away or move, because something in her already knew.

When it was done, a man lay where the beast had been.

He was naked, she recognized the curve of his muscle, had felt it before. His manhood lay exposed, and she remembered the taste. She took this all in as her gaze traveled up to a face she knew all too well.

Her breath caught.

And this time, there was no confusion.

“Dion.”