Page 20

ELEVEN

LEO

D awn broke over Mistwhisper Falls with the kind of crystal clarity that suggested the supernatural storms had finally passed, but Aerin felt no relief as she studied the data streaming in from founder sites across the continent.

The betrayal sigil's activation had successfully cleansed the corruption from Leo's curse mark and stabilized the immediate crisis, but her expanded magical awareness was revealing patterns in the founder network that painted a much larger and more terrifying picture.

"The readings don't make sense," she said, spreading printouts across the market's main counter while Leo maintained his protective vigil near the entrance.

"The corruption we cleansed was just surface contamination.

There's something deeper, something that's been systematically weakening the network for much longer than we realized. "

Leo moved closer to examine the data, his transformed curse mark glowing faintly with harmonics that now enhanced rather than threatened his connection to Aerin's research.

The mating bond between them hummed with contentment, but his professional instincts remained sharply focused on identifying threats to their community.

"Longer how?" he asked, noting patterns in the magical signatures that he could detect but not fully interpret.

"Try centuries," Aerin replied grimly, pulling up historical readings that showed degradation patterns stretching back to the original founder binding. "Leo, the Mistbound wasn't the primary threat. It was never the primary threat."

"You mentioned it before. Explain further."

"I have told you about this. The founders didn't just bind one ancient entity beneath Mistwhisper Falls—they dismembered something much larger and scattered the pieces across multiple sites.

" Aerin's finger traced connections on a continental map that showed founder settlements positioned with mathematical precision.

"Each site contains a fragment of the same original entity, and those fragments have been working together to orchestrate their own reunification. "

Leo felt his lion stir uneasily as the implications became clear. "You're saying the cascade failures weren't random system degradation. They were coordinated attacks."

"Coordinated from within and I see clearer picture now," Aerin confirmed, her voice tight with the horror of discovery.

"The entity learned to fragment its consciousness the same way the founders fragmented its body.

It's been inserting pieces of itself into trusted members of each community, using them to gather intelligence and sabotage defenses. "

"Sleeper agents," Leo said, his law enforcement training immediately grasping the tactical significance. "People who don't even know they're compromised, feeding information to an enemy they don't realize they're serving."

"Exactly. And based on these patterns, Mistwhisper Falls has had a compromised community member for at least thirty years.

" Aerin pulled up the same municipal records they'd discovered evidence of tampering, but now the alterations showed a different pattern because there are recent tampering.

"Someone's been systematically preparing our defenses for exactly the kind of cascade failure we just prevented. "

Leo's protective instincts surged as he processed the idea that someone he'd known and trusted for years might be actively working to destroy everything he'd sworn to protect. "Can you identify who?"

Aerin's enhanced fae senses were picking up residual magical signatures from the tampered documents, traces of influence that felt familiar in deeply unsettling ways. "Someone who's been in a position to monitor founder bloodline activities and report on our magical capabilities."

"That's a disturbingly short list of suspects," Leo said, his mind automatically cataloging possibilities while his lion prowled with the need to identify and neutralize threats.

Before Aerin could respond, the market's front door chimed with the arrival of Elder Ruth, who moved with the brisk efficiency of someone conducting official business despite the early hour.

Her knitting bag was conspicuously absent, replaced by a leather satchel that radiated the kind of magical signatures associated with council emergency protocols.

"Dr. Thorne, Captain Maddox," Ruth said, her sharp eyes immediately taking in the intimate way they stood together and the obvious evidence of their completed bond. "I trust your evening's activities were successful in resolving the immediate crisis?"

"The corruption has been cleansed from the local network," Aerin replied carefully, noting something in Ruth's demeanor that felt different from their previous interactions. "But we've discovered evidence of a much larger threat."

"Have you indeed?" Ruth's expression remained pleasantly neutral, but Leo's enhanced hearing caught subtle changes in her breathing and heart rate that suggested elevated stress. "And what does this evidence suggest?"

"That someone in Mistwhisper Falls has been compromised by the entity we're fighting," Leo said, his professional training keeping his voice level despite growing suspicion. "Someone with access to sensitive information and the authority to alter official records."

Ruth's knitting needles appeared in her hands with the fluid motion of someone whose muscle memory operated independently of conscious thought, clicking with rhythmic precision that seemed to match the pulse of magical energy emanating from her satchel.

"That's a serious accusation, Captain," she said, settling onto one of the market's customer chairs with the authority of someone claiming territory. "I trust you have substantial evidence to support such claims?"

"We have thirty years of systematically altered municipal records, evidence of information being passed to external sources, and magical signatures that suggest ongoing influence from the fragmented entity," Aerin replied, her academic training making her naturally inclined toward detailed documentation of accusations.

"Magical signatures," Ruth repeated, her needles clicking faster. "How interesting that a researcher with less than two weeks residency in our community feels qualified to interpret complex magical evidence."

The subtle hostility in Ruth's tone made Leo's lion surge toward the surface, protective instincts recognizing threat assessment patterns that didn’t have anything to do with professional skepticism.

"Elder Ruth, Dr. Thorne's research has been consistently accurate.

If she's identified evidence of compromise?—"

"She's identified what she believes to be evidence," Ruth interrupted, her needles now moving with machine-like precision.

"But interpretation of magical phenomena requires deep understanding of local conditions and historical context.

Things that can't be learned from books or federal authorization. "

Aerin felt the first stirrings of genuine alarm as she noted the way Ruth's knitting was creating patterns that looked disturbingly similar to binding sigils. "Elder Ruth, we're not making accusations lightly. The data clearly shows?—"

"The data shows what someone with limited understanding and external loyalties chooses to see," Ruth said, her voice carrying command authority that made both Leo and Aerin freeze despite their enhanced supernatural abilities.

"You've been in our community for less than two weeks, Dr. Thorne.

Two weeks, and you've managed to destabilize our founder runes, compromise our most trusted residents, and seduce our lion shifter alpha into abandoning his professional judgment. "

"That's enough," Leo said, his voice dropping to the rumble that meant his lion was barely contained. "Elder Ruth, whatever concerns you have about our research methods, they don't justify personal attacks."

"Personal attacks?" Ruth's laugh carried harmonics that made the market's windows vibrate.

"Captain, you've just completed a mating bond with a researcher whose credentials we've never independently verified, whose arrival coincided with the most severe magical crisis in our town's history, and whose solutions just happened to require intimate contact with our most critical magical systems."

The accusations hit with surgical precision, targeting exactly the insecurities Aerin and Leo had been struggling with since their relationship began.

The idea that their feelings might be manipulation, that their bond might be a weapon rather than a strength, that their research might have been guided by forces with hidden agendas.

"You think I'm compromised," Aerin said quietly, understanding sinking into her with sick certainty. "You think I'm the sleeper agent."

"I think you're exactly what you appear to be—a brilliant researcher whose arrival served purposes beyond her own understanding," Ruth replied, her knitting needles finally stilling. "The question is whether those purposes align with Mistwhisper Falls' continued safety."

Leo moved slightly in front of Aerin, his body language shifting into protective positioning despite the way Ruth's accusations were undermining his confidence in his own judgment.

"Elder Ruth, if you have evidence that Dr. Thorne represents a threat, present it for official evaluation. Otherwise, these accusations are?—"

"Are exactly what someone under the influence of manipulated emotions would be expected to say," Ruth finished calmly. "Captain, your protective instincts are admirable, but they may be compromised by supernatural influences you're not equipped to recognize."

"Or they may be exactly what they appear to be—natural response to someone I care about being attacked with unfounded accusations," Leo replied, his voice carrying the edge that meant his patience was approaching its limits.