Chapter 91 Kaden's POV
"We need to search everyone," I said.
"Everyone who's been near you. Look for evidence of dark magic. Erebus symbols. Anything."
"Kaden, that's dozens of people."
"I don't care if someone tried to choke you with dark magic. I'm not letting that continue."
I called Ethan to my office and explained the situation.
His expression darkened with every word. "Shadow binding, that's serious dark magic. Not something amateurs can do."
"Which means we're looking for someone with training. Someone who knows Erebus's methods."
"I'll organize search teams immediately. We'll start with anyone who has regular access to Elara's quarters."
"Do it quietly. I don't want whoever's responsible to know we're looking until we have them cornered."
Over the next several hours, Ethan coordinated discrete searches. Guards were questioned. Servants were interviewed. Personal belongings were examined for signs of dark magic.
I kept Elara in my office the entire time, not willing to let her out of my sight while we hunted for whoever had been attacking her.
She sat in the chair across from my desk, quiet and worried. Her hand kept drifting to her stomach, protective and unconscious.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Just tired and scared. Knowing someone's been watching me..." She shuddered. "It makes me feel violated."
"We're going to find them. And when we do, they'll answer for what they've done."
Around evening, Ethan returned to my office. His expression was grim.
"We found him," he said.
"Who?"
"Marcus Reed. One of the guards stationed outside Elara's quarters. He's been working night shifts for the past three weeks."
I felt cold fury settle over me. "Where is he?"
"Being held in the detention area. We found Erebus symbols carved into the underside of his watchpost. And this."
Ethan set a small cloth bag on my desk. Inside was a lock of dark hair, Elara's hair and a carved stone marked with symbols I didn't recognize.
"Shadow binding components," Ethan said.
"He's been maintaining the spell every night during his shift. Close enough to keep the connection strong."
I looked at Elara. She'd gone pale, staring at the bag like it was a snake.
"That's my hair," She whispered. "How did he get my hair?"
"Probably took it from your brush or pillow during a shift change. You wouldn't have noticed."
"He's been watching me every night seeing everything I do in my room."
The violation in her voice made my wolf rage.
"Take me to him," I said to Ethan.
"Kaden-" Elara started.
"Stay here, lock the door. Don't open it for anyone except me or Ethan."
"What are you going to do?"
"Get answers."
The detention area was in the basement of the pack house. Marcus Reed was locked in a cell, his hands bound with silver chains.
He looked up when I entered, and I saw no fear in his eyes, just calm certainty.
"Alpha Kaden," he said. "I wondered when you'd find me."
"You've been using dark magic on my mate. Explain why before I rip your throat out."
"Your mate?" He laughed. "You mean the Silvercrest girl? Elena?"
My blood ran cold. "How do you know that name?"
"You work for Erebus."
"I serve the old ways. The true ways before the heavens corrupted us with her false blessings and weak hierarchies."
"Why place a shadow spell on Elara?"
"To monitor her to make sure the suppression held. To ensure she never remembered what we did to her."
He leaned forward as far as his chains would allow. "But the spell is breaking. Her true nature is surfacing. The pregnancy accelerated it. Soon she'll remember everything and then she'll be too dangerous to live with."
"You're not going to touch her."
"I won't have to, the shadow will do it for me. It's already been ordered. The next time it appears, it won't just choke her. It will kill her. Her and the abomination she's carrying."
I grabbed him by the throat, my claws extending. "How do I stop it?"
"You can't set the spell. It will complete regardless of what happens to me."
"There has to be a way to break it."
Marcus smiled through my grip. "There is. Kill the one who cast the original suppression spell. The one who made her forget the one who's been controlling her all along."
"Who?"
"Someone close to you, someone you trust. Someone who's been here the entire time, hiding in plain sight."
"Give me a name!"
But Marcus's eyes were already changing. Going glassy his body started convulsing.
"No!" I released him, recognizing what was happening.
The same thing that had happened to the Erebus follower who'd attacked Elara in the forest.
The failsafe spell.
Marcus's skin turned gray cracks appeared. Dark light began glowing from within.
"Get back!" Ethan shouted.
We barely made it out of the cell before Marcus ignited. The same dark fire consuming him from the inside out.
Within seconds, there was nothing left but ash. And with him died the answers I needed.
Someone close to me had cast the original spell on Elara, someone I trusted.
And I had no idea who.