Torches lit the damp walls and the water pooled across the floor.
Then the light found me in the corner.
My body lay half submerged in the corner. The skin had turned waxy, swollen, and mottled, and my silver hair was dark with filth. The fifth needle wound showed above the waterline, a small crater ringed with blackened flesh.
The youngest wolves covered their mouths. Two turned away and vomited on the steps.
Kaelen stopped at the threshold. Horror crossed his face and vanished almost at once.
“A trick,” he said. “A cheap, disgusting trick.”
He pushed past the Elder and splashed through the water. A guard reached for him, but Kaelen threw the man aside.
“Get up, Elara!” He stood over my body. “The performance is over. I command you to get up!”
He gripped my shoulder and pulled.
A
