Chapter 272\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nolan POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The call came just after dusk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was halfway through a briefing with Lance when the security channel cut in-tight, clipped, uneasy in a way that immediately set my nerves on edge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlpha,\u201d the guard said. \u201cWe need you in the prison. It\u2019s the rogue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I went still.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lance noticed immediately. \u201cThe one who poisoned Ellie?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I said, already moving. \u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s\u2026 not violent,\u201d the guard replied after a pause. \u201cBut he\u2019s not lucid either. He hasn\u2019t slept in two days. He\u2019s been talking nonstop.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Talking was rarely good news.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I dismissed Lance with a nod and headed for the car. The drive was a blur of anxiety and soon I was walking toward the rogue\u2019s cell, my steps echoing through the stone corridors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The air grew colder the deeper I went, heavy with damp and iron and old magic that never quite left places like\u00a0<\/p>\n
this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The rogue\u2019s cell sat at the end of the corridor, reinforced wards etched into the walls and floor. Two guards stood outside, tense but not alarmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hasn\u2019t stopped,\u201d one of them murmured as I approached. \u201cJust keeps\u2026 saying things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen it,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The last time I\u2019d been summoned because of him, he was at least coherent enough to be brought to an interrogation room. This was escalating. They hadn\u2019t told me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The door slid aside with a low groan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The man sat cross-legged on the stone floor, his back to the wall, head bowed. He looked thinner than the last time I\u2019d seen him, his hair matted, skin sallow. His wrists were bound, but loosely-no need for restraints when someone barely seemed aware of where they were.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was rocking slightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Muttering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped inside, the wards humming faintly beneath my boots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at me,\u201d I ordered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 272\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
His lips kept moving, words spilling out in a low, rhythmic cadence-almost a chant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shadows hunger,\u201d he whispered. \u201cThe shadows hunger\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I crouched several feet away, keeping my voice steady. \u201cWhat shadows?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His rocking slowed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, I thought I\u2019d reached him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then his head snapped up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes were wide, unfocused, pupils blown as if he were staring at something far beyond the stone walls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shadow woman is coming,\u201d he rasped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cold slid down my spine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat woman?\u201d I demanded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He laughed softly\u2014a thin, broken sound. \u201cShe wears love like a blade. She leaves blood where she walks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My jaw clenched. \u201cYou poisoned my mate,\u201d I said. \u201cYou nearly killed her. If this is a game-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBlood follows the castaway,\u201d he interrupted sharply, voice suddenly clear. Too clear. \u201cAlways has. Always will.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words landed hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Castaway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My pulse kicked up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d I asked. \u201cWho follows her?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His gaze flicked past me, toward the door, toward something unseen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cChildren of the storm,\u201d he whispered. \u201cHidden once. Not hidden now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The air seemed to thicken.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood abruptly, every instinct screaming danger. \u201cEnough,\u201d I snapped. \u201cWho is the shadow woman?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His\u00a0<\/p>\n
eyes rolled back, his body sagging against the wall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hunger wakes,\u201d he murmured faintly. \u201cYou cannot outrun what loves you wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then his head lolled forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unconscious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet a healer down here,\u201d I ordered immediately. \u201cAnd increase the wards. Double the watch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The guards moved at once.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 272\u00a0<\/p>\n
+25 Bonus\u00a0<\/p>\n
I backed out of the cell slowly, my thoughts racing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shadow woman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blood follows the castaway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Children of the storm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
None of it sounded like random madness. Not after everything else. Not after Ellie\u2019s visions. Not after Felicity\u2019s volatility, Kieran\u2019s obsession, the way the kingdom felt like it was holding its breath before a storm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time I reached the upper levels, my jaw ached from how tightly I\u2019d been clenching it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t go back to my office.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I went straight to Ellie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was sitting up in bed when I entered the room, one of the low lamps lit beside her. She looked tired, but calm -August and Ian sleeping peacefully in the adjoining nursery, their presence a steady hum in the back of my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked up the moment she sensed me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething\u2019s wrong,\u201d she said quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing my hands together once before meeting her eyes. \u201cThe rogue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her shoulders tensed. \u201cWhat about him?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s deteriorating,\u201d I said. \u201cBut before he passed out, he said some things.\u201d I hesitated. \u201cThings I think you need to hear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ellie nodded once. \u201cTell me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I repeated the words exactly as he\u2019d spoken them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With each phrase, the color drained from her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time I finished, she was gripping the blanket so tightly her knuckles had gone white.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Cold Marriage That Turned Warm 272 Chapter 272\u00a0 Nolan POV\u00a0 The call came just after dusk.\u00a0 I was halfway […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-unremembered-mate-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23841\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}