Page 44 of Moon Cursed
“There is always a Conduit,” I told Xenos. “And this isn’t just an aftermath of defeating Lucifer. The Corruption that Calamity released seeped into this realm with far more power than it should have. It’s another Echo, Xenos. And that means that there is a Conduit.”
Or there should be. We were walking on uncharted territory now.
Xenos cocked his head. His metallic eyes reflected the faint light of my candle as he considered my statement. “You think the Alphas were fighting over this Conduit?”
I nodded.
He pulled up one of the new chairs that had been created to match the table.
Such a waste of resources.
We could have been sitting on the forest floor, but I kept my opinions to myself as Xenos leaned onto the table, then stabbed a finger on a dot that represented the place where we’d found the Alphas of all five packs fighting as if there wasn’t a Legion of Hunters bearing down on them.
Or rather, we had found one Alpha in particular kicking all of their asses.
And then he had kicked ours.
That kind of power had confirmed that these Alphas belonged to the Conduit. The Corruption had touched them—and I could practically still taste it in my mouth.
I knew Corruption better than any Hunter here.
I’d faced it… and survived.
Xenos narrowed his eyes. “If these Alphas are all mated to a single female, what makes you think she’s the Conduit and not the Champion?”
I leaned back and my hand fell to my dagger. I edged the blade out of habit. “Calamity has never progressed this far, at least not to my knowledge. What if thereisn’ta Champion anymore?” I tilted my head. “They were Corrupted, Xenos. All of them, which means any female they have mated will be Corrupted, too.”
Or… she was the one who had Corrupted them in the first place.
Someone cleared their throat from the entrance of my tent, drawing my attention to the Hunter with the slashed scar peeking from his shirt.
I raised a brow. There weren’t many who could sneak up on me like that undetected. Just a moment ago he’d been on the other side of the tent pretending not to listen.
“Do you have something to add, Ronin?”
He glanced at Xenos before replying. “The packs don’t work together like this. If someone has united them, that would be unprecedented.”
“They didn’t look very united,” Xenos accurately replied.
“But they were all in one place,” Ronin countered as he stepped into the small space. The candle at my right flickered as the air responded to his movement. “And they had allied with one another to face the fifth pack Alpha. Alphas only battle when they’re looking to overthrow a leader or claim territory. It wouldn’t make sense for them to agree to an alliance like that without a dire cause.”
“Such as a female they all want,” I surmised.
Ronin nodded.
“Fuck,” Xenos said as he tapped the spot on the map. “If the Conduit is there, how do we get to her?”
I grinned.
This part would be easy, but it required someone insane enough to do it.
Luckily, Cole had rubbed off on me. I didn’t have much sanity left thanks to our mate-circle’s Rage Demon.
“We ask.”
KATLYN
Warm.
