Chapter 39

Evelyn

The library was quiet this time of night. It was the perfect place to conduct research into the early hours of the morning with its peaceful backdrop to my terrifying research.

But I didn’t need peace anymore. I needed answers.

Stacked papers surrounded me, corners curling with age, the ink on some entries faded to near invisibility. I’d read everything I could find twice already: field reports from rogue skirmishes, medical logs, and incident statements. My eyes felt strained and dry from so much tedious reading.

Still, the silence around Emma grated on me. She had been a rogue who’d once stood in opposition to Logan and his allies, had reportedly maimed soldiers, and nearly cost some werewolves their lives. And yet somehow she now walked these halls like her hands weren’t drenched in blood.

And Logan’s mother allowed and encouraged her presence.

The more I read, the more I wondered how much Logan knew. Was he playing at being ignorant of all of this, or did he truly not know all of this about the person he had been calling a friend for years?

My fingers skimmed over a patient intake form dated two winters ago. Emma’s name was there in an injury report… except the injury had been sealed and redacted. I cursed under my breath and shoved the paper aside. I had been running into similar roadblocks throughout the evening.

I couldn’t help the swell of anger cresting in me. Emma should have been exiled. Punished. Something. But no one—no one—had called her out on these past ties apparently.

I straightened in my chair, a new idea dawning on me. If I couldn’t get solid answers from these old texts, then I would have to try a new approach. One that was sneakier and perhaps more dangerous.

The next day in the medical wing, I found Leira and Tomas—two of my most promising trainees—refilling vials of tinctures for patients. They looked at me expectantly when I entered the room, their previous conversation immediately lost as they stood at attention.

“I need to ask you a favor,” I told them.

They were so young and eager that Leria looked at me with wide eyes and said, “Anything you need.”

“It doesn’t have to do with healing,” I warned them. “It has to do with Emma, actually.”

Leira smirked, and Tomas nodded. “We have our suspicions too,” he said in a lowered voice. “What do you need?”

Their enthusiasm was a balm to my nerves. I leaned in closely as I told them to ask questions discreetly. These two young trainees wouldn’t be suspected of anything too outrageous. They were to chat with older soldiers, cross-check old alliances by asking the right people while flying under the radar.

They took to the assignment eagerly, and when I left them that day, they were smiling with pride, happy to have been called upon for more than just filling vials.

At first, over the course of the next few days, their reports had come in slowly and had been casual.

"Emma used to run alone and wasn’t super close with the other rogues."

"She kept her head down."

"She didn’t attend rogue council meetings."

Two nights later, a note was left for me outside of my quarters, rolled up like a tiny scroll. This had been how Leira conveyed her findings, and I immediately took the paper inside my room to open it beneath the lantern light.

It was a strange one: Leira wrote that Emma had recently been seen visiting the rogue leader’s den. Not once. Regularly and recently. And not as an outsider. She was welcomed.

I rubbed her temples and reread the short note. Leira didn’t cite her source, but I had no reason to believe she was lying.

This was particularly troubling. Having Emma’s past be littered with rogue alliances was unnerving to begin with. But knowing that she might still be involved opened up a whole other door of possibilities. And not good ones.

The next day, when I reported to the medical wing, I had intended to ask Leira to elaborate. When I didn’t immediately find her, I asked Chris where she was, but he shook his head.

“Haven’t seen her all day,” he said. “She was supposed to be here hours ago. We’ve been short-staffed because of it.”

My stomach dropped to my feet. I dared to ask, “And Tomas?”

Chris gave me a curious look, then shook his head again. “Haven’t seen him either. He was supposed to have the morning shift but didn’t come. I assumed he was out late or something, but he left no warning.”

I swallowed hard. “Ok, thank you.”

Working while thinking of this new development was particularly hard. I found it difficult to concentrate on anything besides what might have happened to those two. Did I wrap them up in something so dangerous that they disappeared? No, I was being too paranoid. Right?

Perhaps I should go to Logan, but what would I say to him? That his precious Emma might still be working with the very rogues who tried to tear his pack apart? That she was kidnapping and disappearing people to cover her tracks?

Even if it was true, saying it aloud without proof could destroy everything.

Still, the signs were there.

But would he listen if I brought the information to him? I wasn’t so sure, given all the excuses he and his mother had made for Emma in the past. I took a shaky breath as I finished stitching a soldier’s fresh wound. For now, I would have to believe that the trainees were merely absent, had gone out too late, and slept in. Or something of the sort.

Later that evening, I finished taking inventory on our remaining pain medications and stood, breathing shallowly from the cloud of anxiety that had followed me all day. I grabbed my coat and moved quickly toward the exit.

But as I pushed open the door to the hallway, I halted.

Emma stood there, her arms crossed, her expression unreadable.

"Working late?" Emma asked, her voice calm. Smooth.

I blinked, forcing my mouth to move. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Emma smiled faintly. “Neither can I.”

We stood there a moment too long.

“A lot on your mind, too?” Emma prompted.

My eyes narrowed. “Yes, I’ve been given a lot to think about. And work has been a lot today. Two of our trainees didn’t come in.”

I wasn’t sure if she was picking up on my meaning. I watched her expression carefully to see if there was a flicker of recognition.

Emma gave a look that felt mocking. “What a shame.”

The tension hung between us for a long moment. It seemed to stretch on for hours. In those lingering moments, it became clear that Emma had just threatened me.

“Well, I hope whatever’s been plaguing you is no longer an issue,” Emma said. “It isn’t good to dwell on things that stress you out. Good night.”

Then Emma turned and walked away, boots echoing down the hall.

I didn't breathe until the sound faded.

I knew it then, with sickening certainty. She knew that I was on to her, that I was researching her still and had recruited others to help. She also likely knew that I still suspected her. That Emma wasn’t just a former rogue—She might still be one.

And I had just made myself her next target.

Emma

How dare she?

The moment I knew that she was investigating me, I knew that I had to step in. I wouldn’t let her push me out first. If it was between me and her, she would be the one sent off in a carriage. I was determined to make sure of that.

If she wanted to play dirty and recruit other people into this, then game on.

After returning to my room, I grabbed the phone, gripping it until my knuckles were white.

He picked up after two rings.

“Scott,” I said, fighting back a mischievous smile, “I have a business proposal for you.”