Chapter 166: A little Faith
CIAN
I stepped out of the car first. The cool night air hit my face and I breathed it in deep, trying to clear my head. Behind , Fia stirred. I turned back and reached for her, helping her out of the vehicle. Her hand felt small in mine. Steady though. She was steady.
The gravel crunched under our feet. Skollrend’s main estate lood ahead, windows glowing warm against the darkness. Ho. It should have felt like coming ho. Instead, my chest was tight with the weight of everything I was carrying. Everything I suspected. Everything I couldn’t prove yet.
The second car pulled up behind ours. Headlights swept across the drive before cutting out. I watched Aldric erge from the driver’s seat. Then Elara. Then Madeline.
Madeline.
My jaw clenched before I could stop it. I forced myself to relax. To breathe. To rember that I needed her right now. Whatever she had done, whatever part she might have played in Ophelia’s death, I had to push it down. Lock it away. My mother was dying. Madeline could save her. That was what mattered. That had to be what mattered.
"You are disturbed." Fia’s voice pulled
back. She was looking at
with those eyes that saw too much. "Is sothing wrong?"
I managed a smile. It felt stiff on my face but I held it there. "Don’t worry about it."
She didn’t look convinced but she didn’t push. I was grateful for that.
Aldric, Elara, and Madeline crossed the drive toward us. Madeline’s expression was calm. Professional. Like she was here on official witch business and nothing more. Maybe she was. Maybe I was seeing ghosts where there weren’t any.
But my instincts had kept
alive this long. Even if I had my monts of weakness. It had kept Skollrend strong. I wasn’t about to ignore them now.
I turned my attention fully to Madeline. "We should go in. Help my mother."
She nodded once. "Of course."
The front doors burst open before we could take another step. Ronan ca rushing down the stairs, his face tight with worry that lted into relief the second he saw .
"You are back." His eyes found mine first. Then they slid past
and landed right on Madeline.
Everything in his expression changed. His shoulders went rigid. His jaw locked. The relief vanished, replaced by sothing harder. Colder.
"You."
The single word carried the weight of a thousand accusations.
I stepped slightly to the side, putting myself between them. "Madeline is here to help my mother."
Ronan’s gaze snapped back to . Surprise flickered there. He blinked. Processed. Then his features smoothed out into sothing more neutral. More controlled.
"Of course," he said. His voice was careful now. asured.
We started toward the entrance. Fia stumbled on the first step. Just a small thing. A catch in her stride. But I was there instantly, my hand on her elbow, steadying her. She glanced up at
and I saw the exhaustion in her face. The toll tonight had taken.
"I’m fine," she murmured.
"I know. Let
just help."
We moved inside together. The familiar halls of Skollrend wrapped around us. Stone and wood and the scent of ho. But there was no comfort in it tonight. We moved through the corridors with purpose. Ronan led the way. Elara stayed close to Madeline. Aldric brought up the rear, silent as always.
The infirmary doors ca into view. My stomach twisted. I had been avoiding this place as much as I could. Avoiding the sight of my mother hooked up to machines. Tubes and monitors and the constant beep that asured out her remaining ti in chanical incrents.
But I couldn’t avoid it as much I wished. Plus, tonight was supposed to be the end of her suffering. I had to have a little faith.
Ronan pushed the doors open. The sll hit
first. Antiseptic and bleach.
My mother lay in the center bed. Machines surrounded her like tal sentinels. Dr. Maren stood beside her, checking readings. Elder Thorne was near the window, his weathered face drawn with worry.
They both straightened when they saw . Their eyes went wide when they registered Madeline behind .
I understood their reaction. After everything that had happened between
and Madeline, after the way things had ended, bringing her here was a statent. A risk. But it was a risk I had to take.
I stepped aside and gave Madeline a clear path to my mother’s bed. "Do what you can."
Madeline looked at . Her eyes searched my face for sothing. Then her gaze slid to Fia, still tucked against my side where I was holding her upright. Sothing passed through Madeline’s expression. Too quick for
to na.
She looked back at . "I promise to fix this."
The words should have been reassuring. They weren’t. Because of that nagging fear at the back of mind. What if this was a mistake? What if my hunch was right and she was now Gabriel’s pawn and spy? I sounded mad. I knew that. Because she has healed Fia without anything negative happening. So I just nodded anyway.
Madeline moved to my mother’s bedside. Her movents were swift. Efficient. She examined the lesions on my mother’s neck and face. The bark-like texture that had been spreading. Killing her slowly from the inside out.
"I need wolfsbane," Madeline said. Her voice was all business now. "Moonbriar. Hollowberry roots. The red variant."
Dr. Maren moved imdiately to a cabinet and started pulling out jars and vials.
"Two parts wolfsbane," Madeline continued. "One part moonbriar. Half a part of the hollowberry. Grind them fine. Mix them in a ceramic bowl."
Dr. Maren worked quickly. Her hands were steady despite the tension in her shoulders. Elder Thorne moved closer, watching everything with sharp eyes.
Madeline took so of the ingredients herself. Her fingers moved with practiced precision. asuring. Mixing. The components ca together in the bowl. The mixture started as a dull brown. Then it shifted. Amber. Like honey catching light.
The color brightened. Deepened. Beca sothing luminous.
Madeline held the bowl in both hands. Her lips moved. She said words I couldn’t quite hear. Neither could I understand. The language was old. Ancient. The kind of magic that predated our packs. That reached back to when witches ruled the forests and wolves were still learning to walk on their two legs.
The liquid in the bowl glowed. Just for a second. A flash of golden light that made my eyes water. Then it faded and went still.
Madeline carried it to my mother’s feeding tube. Her movents were careful. Deliberate. She poured the mixture in. We all watched it disappear down the tube. Into my mother’s body.
I moved closer without thinking. My eyes fixed on the lesions. The rough, diseased poison patches that had been consuming her. They looked worse up close. More invasive. Like sothing alien had taken root under her skin and was slowly transforming her into sothing else.
"Did it work?" The question ca out rougher than I intended.
Madeline turned to face . "Give it a minute."
The words hung between us. The machines kept beeping. Kept asuring. Kept marking ti.
Then I saw it.
The lesions. They were moving. Shifting. The bark-like texture started to smooth at the edges. Just slightly at first. So subtle I almost thought I was imagining it.
But no. It was real.
The rough patches began to fade. Receding like shadows under sunlight. The skin underneath was pale. Too pale. But whole. Unmarked.
"Goddess," I whispered. "It’s lifting."
The transformation spread. Across my mother’s neck. Up toward her jaw. The diseased tissue lted away like it had never been there at all. Like it had been nothing but a bad dream.
Fia’s hand found mine and she squeezed tight. I squeezed back, not taking my eyes off my mother.
The lesions on her face began to fade too. Slower than the ones on her neck but steady. Inexorable. The poison was losing its hold. Releasing its grip on her.
Dr. Maren leaned in and checked the monitors. Her eyes widened. "Her vitals are stabilizing. Heart rate is improving. Oxygen levels are climbing."
Elder Thorne moved closer too. His weathered hands reached out like he wanted to touch her but didn’t quite dare. "The corruption seems to be leaving her."
Madeline stayed where she was. Watching. Waiting. Her expression was neutral but I could see the tension in her shoulders. The way she held herself too still.
The last of the lesions disappeared and my mother’s skin was now clear. Unmarked except for the natural lines of age and the pallor of soone who had been ill for too long.
"Is she cured?" Ronan asked from behind . His voice was thick.
"The alchemized poison is gone," Madeline said. "The imdiate danger has passed. But she will need ti to recover. Her body has been through trauma. She needs rest. Proper nutrition. Care."
I couldn’t look away from my mother’s face. She looked peaceful now. Like she was just sleeping. Like she might wake up any mont and ask what all the fuss was about.
"When will she wake up?" The question ca from
but I barely recognized my own voice.
"Today... Tomorrow... Days, maybe," Madeline said. "What is clear is that her body needs to heal. To rebuild what the poison destroyed. But she will wake up, Cian. I promise you that."
The promise settled into my chest. Heavy and real. My mother was going to live. The poison hadn’t won. Madeline had saved her.
But even as relief flooded through , even as the weight I’d been carrying started to lift, I couldn’t shake the other feeling. The suspicion that coiled tight in my gut. The questions that wouldn’t go away no matter how much I wanted them to.
Madeline had saved my mother. But had she also been the one who killed Ophelia?
I forced the thought down. Buried it deep. Now wasn’t the ti. My mother was alive. That was what mattered. The rest could wait.
Fia swayed slightly against . I tightened my hold on her. "You need rest."
"I’m fine."
"You’re exhausted." I looked down at her. "Let
take you upstairs."
She opened her mouth like she wanted to argue. Then she just nodded. Small. Tired.
I turned to Madeline. "Thank you."
The words felt inadequate. Insufficient for what she had just done. But they were all I had.
Madeline t my eyes. Sothing flickered there. Sothing I couldn’t na. "You’re welco."
The machines around my mother kept their steady rhythm. Dr. Maren was already adjusting dications. Elder Thorne stood watch like he planned to stay there all night.
I guided Fia toward the door. Ronan fell into step beside us. Madeline, Aldric and Elara chose to stay behind.
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