Chapter 585: The Name That Returns

Kairen’s body had gone rigid the moment the sounds reached the cell.

"Relax," Orion said without looking at him.

Kairen exhaled slowly but didn’t fully unwind.

Footsteps. Two sets. And then Caspian appeared, Daniel half a step behind him. They were both speaking at once the moment they saw Orion.

"We need to speak with you—"

"—something important, Orion, we need—"

Orion held up a hand.

"I’m in the middle of something," he said. "It’s an important conversation."

"So is ours," Daniel said flatly.

"It’s important," Caspian added, for emphasis.

Orion looked between them. "Five minutes," he said. "Wait five minutes and I’ll be with you."

Caspian and Daniel looked at each other.

Then, reluctantly, they both nodded.

"Five minutes," Daniel said.

"Five," Caspian echoed.

Orion inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment before turning back to Kairen.

"You were saying there’s another garden," he said.

Kairen nodded.

Orion studied him for a moment. "How did you get the bodies?" he asked. "To grow it."

Kairen was quiet for a moment.

"As much as I want to deny it," he said finally, "I’m a killer. I killed on Victoria’s orders. Some of them were innocent." He paused. "I used some of the bodies."

Orion leaned in slightly. "If the corpse plant really grows on bodies," he said, "then Victoria’s garden—"

"Has dead bodies underneath it," Kairen said. "Yes. And there are numerous too."

Orion was quiet for a beat.

"Did you ever try to get into her garden?" he asked.

Kairen gave a short, humorless sound. "At first, yes. I wanted to sneak in and take what I needed." He shook his head. "Then I thought better of it. Getting caught in Victoria’s garden would have been the end of me, and even after everything I’ve gone through, I still want to live, so cultivating it myself was the safer option." He paused. "The better option."

"It should also be known that Victoria’s garden only became what it was about twenty years ago. Before that, the plant was present but not fully cultivated. It existed, but not on the scale it does now. Victoria put serious effort into it around that time. That’s when it became a proper garden."

Orion nodded slowly, turning that over.

Twenty years. That was around the same time the Nightshade pack left the west. Could there be something there?

He filed it away, though. He’d find the threads later. For now, he was asking for something else.

"I’ll be back," he said, straightening. "When I return, I’ll let you know what I need from you." He turned toward the cell door, then paused.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

Kairen blinked.

Something shifted in his face. His eyes lit up slightly before he caught himself.

Orion smiled faintly.

"I’ll have something sent to you," he said.

Kairen nodded.

"...Thank you."

Orion didn’t respond to that.

Instead, he stepped out of the cell, the guard locking it behind him with a soft clang.

Caspian and Daniel were already watching him, arms folded, matching frowns on their faces.

"The plant," Daniel said immediately. "What is it?"

"I’ll explain later," Orion told him.

Daniel’s frown deepened, but he didn’t push.

The three of them began moving out of the dungeons, boots echoing against the stone floor as the dim torchlight gave way to the light of the compound above.

"So," Orion said as they climbed, "why did you come to find me?"

Caspian reached into his cloak and pulled out the drawing.

He held it out.

Orion took it, tilting it slightly toward the light.

"We’ve found out who the other woman is," Caspian said. "The one watching Sophia in the drawing."

Orion looked at the drawing. Then at Caspian.

"Who?"

Caspian exhaled. "Victoria."

Orion went still.

"If there was any doubt before... it’s now certain. Oculum’s vision," Daniel said quietly, "is telling us something about the Enclave. Something that’s coming. Something Victoria will be at the center of. I don’t know if it’ll be similar to the attack before, but..."

Orion didn’t respond immediately.

He stood there, looking at the drawing, at the woman’s figure captured in ink, standing behind Sophia.

Victoria.

Again.

For the past few hours, the name had been coming up continuously—the curse, the corpse plant, the Blood Moon Pack, the poison in Tobias’s blood, and now this. A vision Oculum had seen and committed to parchment before he left—a vision that had a woman standing behind Sophia whose face Caspian had finally placed.

He handed the drawing back.

"Don’t tell the others yet," he said.

Caspian blinked. "Why not?"

"Because," Orion said, "right now, the focus needs to be on the test results. The announcement is tomorrow. The pack is already anxious—the news has been spreading." He looked between them. "I need this pack to have one good moment before we sit down and talk about what’s coming next."

Daniel studied him. "We still need to discuss what we found."

"We will," Orion said. "Immediately after the announcement, we will meet. All of us." He held Daniel’s gaze. "But not today... please."

Daniel held the look for a moment longer. Then he exhaled through his nose.

"Alright."

"In the meantime," Orion continued, "check with the jewelers. Make sure the earrings and beads are ready or close to it. And confirm the celebration arrangements are in order. Families will be gathering. Some of the Silver Creek Pack members will be there too—make sure they’re included."

Caspian and Daniel nodded. "Understood."

They parted ways then.

---

Orion moved through the compound.

The snow was falling lightly, settling across rooftops and pathways. Around him, the compound was alive with activity.

Children were out—running between houses, their voices carrying across the cold air. Pack members stood in small clusters, some of them with Silver Creek members beside them, conversations threading between them.

He wasn’t surprised the Silver Creek pack members settled in easily, some of their members. The anxiety about the test results was visible if you knew where to look—a tense jaw here, hands wrapped too tightly around a cup there—but underneath it, something else existed too.

Anticipation.

The good kind.

He was almost at the turn when he heard them.

Ronan appeared first, rounding the corner. Brynhild was beside him.

Orion’s gaze moved to her. "Why are you here?"

"Lysander fell asleep the moment he got home," she said. "He needed the rest. He’s been pushing himself." She paused. "So I came instead."

Orion nodded.

"He’s exhausting himself," she added. "But that’s not what matters right now."

"No," Orion agreed.

"We have information about the corpse plant," Ronan said.

"So do I," Orion said.

Ronan raised an eyebrow. "Kairen?"

Orion nodded. "He told me about a garden. One he planted himself, at the border between the west and the north. Close to the black market."

Ronan’s expression shifted.

Brynhild tilted her head.

She turned slowly in Ronan’s direction.

"Isn’t that," she said, "the same garden Jarek told us belonged to Ghost?"