Page 18

Nadia

I watch Cole closely as he grins at me for a long moment before he exhales his breath, glancing away for a second, clearly resisting the bait that would lure him into a fight with me on the point of monarchical rule.

Instead, he takes a moment to collect his thoughts before he turns back to Grace and me, his equanimity restored. “That was cleverly done, bringing in Jeanie.”

“Wait,” Grace says, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at the Prince. “Did you like…hear all that? From the door ?”

Cole nods to her, totally casual, as if his Alpha hearing is just no big deal. She gapes at him, and he grins before he turns his attention back to me.

“Did you know she had a past that would help her connect with the patients?”

“Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for that insight,” I murmur, looking back towards the door. “Jeanie just has good vibes. I’m glad she’s here.”

“Me too,” Grace says, nodding as she gathers up the sheet and the rest of the rubbish. “I’m going to go deal with this,” she says, nodding down. “Nadia, do you want to go see if any new patients have shown up?”

She grins pointedly at me as Cole nods towards the door, indicating I should follow him.

I glare at Grace, but only hesitate for a second before I go with Cole, truly curious to see if any more people have shown up.

But when we get to the entrance, the camp is fairly quiet.

The scene at the fire has died down to a few small groups chatting, most people getting ready for more patients or resting up for the long night.

Playtime in camp is clearly over now that things are getting real. Now, we get to work.

“Over there,” Cole murmurs, lifting his chin to where a small fire has started, three figures gathered around it. A fourth figure approaches bearing blankets and more food, and I smile when I see a flash of Shayne’s red hair.

“Good,” I say, sighing happily to see Ivy and Jade settled at least, talking to Jeanie instead of outright bolting. “I hope they can be convinced to go to the hospital in the morning.”

“I think they will,” Cole murmurs. “Obviously, they have worries and questions, but that Jeanie girl seems to have a knack for being clear, honest, and straight with people. I think they’ll appreciate that.”

I nod, agreeing, and the Prince and I stand for a long time at the entrance, observing the group, thinking our own thoughts even though I’m pretty sure now that our hopes for these people are aligned.

“Are they going to be okay, Cole?” My question is very quiet.

He looks to me but doesn’t respond yet, sensing that I’m not done.

“All of them,” I whisper. “Jade and Ivy but…the Children of Solace. All of the people in it. Are they going to be okay?”

“I don’t think so, Nadia.”

I turn my head to meet his gaze, kind of surprised. Honestly, I was seeking and expecting a bit of comfort there.

But Cole shakes his head. “The Children of Solace is…brutal.”

I raise my brows, wanting to know more.

“They’re incredibly secretive but…your dad has learned a lot of information about them in the past few months. He hasn’t shared any of it with you?”

I shake my head, exhaling a frustrated sigh. “Dad takes levels of security way too seriously.”

Cole smirks. “Perhaps just seriously enough.”

“Well, come on,” I say, nudging Cole with my elbow. “Spill. I’m in charge, right?”

“Yes, Nadia,” he replies, his voice a bit teasing like he’s a little kid answering his teacher.

I grin, unable to help it. But my smile fades as his words continue.

“The Children of Solace is a group that does not shy away from physical or emotional punishment and control. They’ve inculcated a great deal of fear and worship in their population, largely through deprivation, starvation, and a lack of access to the outside world.

Apparently, this leader is viewed as…a god of some sort. ”

He frowns, shaking his head, frustrated. My stomach sinks.

“They are not opposed, at all, to punishing their people for our military intervention, saying that it was their lack of faith that brought us down upon them. Then they’ll hurt them and blame us for it.

It’s psychotic and cruel, but it keeps power firmly in Slaken’s hands. Exclusively in his hands.”

“Is that why you’re trying to take him out first?”

Cole nods and looks out into the forest, his eyes vague.

“Yes. But it’s…more complicated than that.

Slaken is a figurehead, but there’s no fixed succession – we don’t know if he has heirs or just…

a chain of command who would take over if he were gone.

So, if we take him out, the next damned zealot is likely to step up into his place. ”

I smile a little, watching Cole murmur his worried thoughts aloud, realizing that he’s working through his anxieties on this point instead of just explaining the situation to me.

And I kind of…like that.

But a small, sudden flash of light near Jeanie’s fire makes both of us stand straight. I blink in surprise, my mind registering the unnatural blue light but not quite sure what it was until I see a figure shift in the darkness, half hidden behind the trees, re-angling to get a better shot.

“Oh, absolutely not ,” I snap, storming off into the night towards Jeanie’s fire.

“Nadia!” Cole calls after me, following behind.

“What is wrong with you?” I growl, storming towards Rose, who crouches low in the bushes, taking pictures of Ivy and Jade around the fire.

I glance at the pair, relieved that they haven’t yet noticed Rose, even though Jeanie gives me a worried glance over her patients’ heads before turning back to them.

Rose gasps, turning to stare up at me, completely shocked.

“You! With me! Now!” I whisper-hiss, pointing to her, and then to me, and then decidedly away from the therapists’ tents.

Rose gapes at me and starts to protest until Cole comes to my side, his face stern. Then she sighs and stands, putting her hands up and letting the camera hang around her neck. The three of us move quickly across camp.

“You know, it’s really hard to get candid imagery when –“

“No pictures!” I hiss, spinning and lunging for her camera once we’re out of earshot – though with wolf hearing, who knows. “Not of my patients! Not when they’re already freaked out!”

“Get away from me!” Rose snarls, smacking my hand away and baring her teeth, her fangs starting to extend

Anger swells in me, vivid and bright, and for the first time in my life, I wish I had fangs of my own.

But not to extend – to fucking bite her with.

“Those are vulnerable people!” I growl, pointing over at the small fire. “And you’re out here taking pictures of them for your own damned greedy article or whatever it is you’re doing out here –“

Rose gasps, offended, holding the camera close as she steps away. “I am a serious journalist! This is important information that the people of Clythera have a right to! It can do a great deal of good to bring awareness to these people’s plight!”

“It is going to do Ivy and Jade absolutely no good to flash their faces over some magazine as part of a sob story!”

“Ivy and Jade,” Rose says, leaning towards me, her brows knitted together. “Great. Glad I’ve got some names for my caption now. Any surname you’d like to share?”

My eyes flash.

This girl is…

Well. She is damned lucky I can’t grow claws.

“Delete the fucking pictures, Rose,” I snarl, leaning toward her, not even considering the fact that this girl could shift into her wolf and tear me to shreds at a thought.

“No way!”

“Do it! You don’t have their consent!”

Cole steps forward, his mouth open, sticking a hand between us, but I smack it away.

“I don’t need their consent, nurse ,” Rose says, smooth and condescending, crossing her arms and glaring at me. “I have eyes, I have a camera – I have a right to take pictures of whatever I want –“

I blink at her because…is that true?

“You’re on ethically shaky ground, Rose,” Cole says, his voice low with warning. We both look at him. He shakes his head. “You may be able to take the photos, but you wouldn’t want to print them if it brought pain or stress to your subjects.”

“Those two women are suffering one of the hardest days of their lives,” I snap, building on Cole’s argument. “And you want to take advantage of their pain and their confusion? Delete the photos!”

“No!”

“Delete it!”

“Go die, you –“

Cole snarls, cutting Rose’s words short. She stares up at him, totally shocked. He stands silently for a long moment, baring his teeth at the girl.

“Delete the photograph, Rose.” His voice rumbles low, thick with command.

Rose scoffs, stumbling back a step, realizing that she doesn’t even have her boyfriend to protect her anymore. “I have a right to be here and to document the goings-on of this camp, Cole. Your dad gave me express permission.”

“And he will back me,” Cole says, taking a step towards her, clearly letting her know who is in charge, “if I tell him that you’re detrimental to our efforts.

And I will tell him that if you don’t listen to the experts in command.

This is a military operation, Rose – you don’t have carte blanche to do what you want. ”

Her mouth falls open and I wonder if anyone, ever, has put her in her place like this.

Cole raises his eyebrows and then looks to me. I nod to him, letting him know I’m sure.

He moves his eyes back to her. “Delete the pictures, Rose.”

She stares between us for a moment, and then her teeth flash as she realizes she’s lost this battle.