CHAPTER 46: COMPROMISED

The soldier’s voice was like a thunderstorm in the otherwise calm room, echoing like a bad omen. The first thing that came to mind was Darek. It had to be him. It had been two days since the breach, he must have already slain off all the Varcolacs and was now searching for me. I was putting everyone in jeopardy by being here.

But Avelora didn’t freeze for even a second. The moment the words left his mouth, she was moving like lightning without even waiting for clarification.

She pressed some buttons on a panel on one of the wooden walls fixed on the side and a monitor immediately dropped down from above with a sharp grinding sound. She did all of it so seamlessly as if she’d done it a thousand times before.

The monitor sparked alive as she kept fumbling with all the buttons and then the images on it finally stabilized after a while. Rows and rows of videos played on it until she clicked on one of them, and the image of a part of the abandoned quarters flickered into view.

That’s when I realised what it was. Cameras, dozens of them were probably lining this place, hidden in all places, the primary source of letting them know if danger was near.

The monitor read ’entrance’ on top, but it just showed barren land instead, with some of the dilapidated buildings still visible on the side.

And then there were two guards.

They wore the black Delta uniform of those who worked in Parthenn directly under Darek. They weren’t speaking but the unease in which they positioned their shoulders told a different story. They looked nervous to be there but also cautious. Scanning the area for something remarkable.

Avelora let out a deep exhale. Her shoulders dropped, some of the razor-sharp tension in her shoulders loosening. "It’s just two of them," she murmured to herself. "They won’t get through. There’s nothing to find out there even for their trained eyes. The entrance is practically buried deep under cover and only opened to signals they can’t provide or detect. We’re safe. Definitely safe."

Her voice was calm and confident.

Too confident.

But then her eyes narrowed as something ticked in her brain. Her body went still and her brows furrowed with the slightest crease on her flawless skin.

"Wait," she said, turning to the man who had just interrupted us before. "We aren’t they out there with the others?"

"The others? Darek must have sent the two of them to find this place," I said as a matter of fact.

Avelora’s gaze went back to the screen in front of her, at the two guards loitering around at the front of the cavern. Her jaw worked in irritation. "Darek must have employed all of the guards for new security protocols and for checking for any other breaches or weaknesses within the Dome. They should all have been at the front lines right now as part of security and emergency protocol."

A tense silence when she kept her attention on the monitor and I let myself ponder over her words.

She leaned closer to the monitor, her fingers pressing against the edge of the table until her knuckles went pale. "That’s why we worked so carefully to time it. A breach of that magnitude should’ve distracted them for weeks, kept their security spread thin while they tightened protocols, ran checks, fixed their precious Dome walls."

The way she said it, so precisely, as though the "breach" wasn’t some random disaster but a planned operation, made my stomach flip nervously.

I blinked at her, my throat suddenly drying up for words.

Worked so carefully to time it.

Her words replayed in my head. And for the first time since meeting her, a cold unease settled under my skin.

I had assumed the Varcolac attacks and the breach were something we weren’t able to control, even though Valden had told me otherwise. But the way she spoke now, it felt like she was the one who had orchestrated it. Or at least, nudged it to make it happen.

"Wait," I said slowly, my voice a whisper now. "You’re saying... the Varcolac breach inside the Dome, that was supposed to keep them busy?"

Avelora’s calculated gaze flicked toward me from the monitor. Her lips curved. "Distraction is a tool, Maeve. And in war, you use every tool you have and need."

My chest tightened.

I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, the soldier who had burst in earlier swallowed hard and added, "If I could interject...Alpha Commander Korvash had gone missing." His voice trembled, like he hated saying it out loud. "The soldiers had been frantic, mobilizing left and right. They say he hasn’t reported in since the breach."

Darek.

Missing?

I realised it wasn’t relief that I felt. It wasn’t even fear. It was something in between, like I was standing on a bridge, and was watching it break

"Missing?" I echoed back.

The soldier nodded quickly, shifting his weight from one boot to the other. "No one’s seen him. No reports, no communication. He left for the North Wall with a few of the guards the night the Varcolacs broke in, but..." He stopped, glancing nervously at Avelora, as though afraid to finish.

Avelora cut in, her voice measured. "And yet two of his soldiers are here. At our threshold."

Her eyes snapped back to the screen. The two Delta guards were still pacing, their movements stiff and oddly restrained.

For a moment, silence gripped the room and I couldn’t tear my eyes off Avelora.

Her words were gnawing at me like teeth. She hadn’t outright admitted anything, but the implication was there. She had something to do with the breach. Maybe not directly, but she had known. And planned around it and counted on it.

And if that was true, then the Varcolac attack that had left blood smeared across the Dome’s walls wasn’t just a tragedy. It was a calculated plan.

Bile rose in my throat.

Had she let people die? Just for a distraction?

Avelora looked back at me, catching the doubt that must have been written all across my face. Her expression turned unreadable.

"Do not mistake necessity for cruelty," she said smoothly, as if plucking the thought straight from my mind. "What happened was not ideal. But sometimes sacrifices are the only path to survival. We all bleed so the future bleeds less."

Her tone was calm and matter-of-fact. But the way she said "sacrifices" made my stomach twist tighter.

Valden’s face flashed in my mind. His touch, his warmth, the way he had looked at me like I was his whole world.

Would he call this a necessity? Was he aware of this? He was, after all, the one who told me first that it was, in fact, a distraction.

I bit down hard on my tongue, forcing myself to stay quiet.

Because deep down, I wasn’t even sure if Avelora was wrong.