Raine was already slipping back into unconsciousness, and when she woke this time, the dungeon was quiet in a way that felt unnatural. There were no footsteps, no echoing commands, and no distant movement above. Just the cold stone.
It took her a moment to remember why everything hurt. Then memory returned slowly, like light leaking under a door.
Ariana, the interrogation, and the collapse.
Raine inhaled carefully, testing the limits of her body. Pain answered immediately, deep and steady, but no longer sharp. It was manageable, which meant she had been unconscious long enough for the worst of it to settle. At that moment, she remembered Brianna.
"How long?" she asked before opening her eyes.
Brianna’s voice came quickly, as if she had been waiting. "H-half a day." She leaned closer, relief visible on her face. "Y-you scared me. I was afraid y-you wouldn’t wake up."
Raine tried to sit up. The movement was slow and painful, but she refused to let herself groan.
Brianna immediately moved to support her. "Don’t p-push yourself."
Studying her for a moment, Raine spoke. "You’re still here. Why?" The question was not unkind. It was pure curiosity.
"The w-warriors allowed me." Brianna lowered her voice slightly. "They were... a-afraid."
That word caught Raine’s attention. "Afraid of what?"
Brianna glanced toward the empty corridor before answering. "They s-said what happened was not a-authorized by the A-alpha or the Beta."
Ah... Raine absorbed that. So, Ariana had acted without formal command. She found that piece of information interesting.
Brianna continued. "T-they were worried. If someone q-questioned them later, it would be b-better if I were the only one here. T-they said they d-didn’t want to be present."
Raine’s lips curved faintly. "So, they let you in and left you alone."
"T-they left because there are no other p-prisoners here. O-only you." Brianna nodded.
"Of course, there aren’t. They don’t hold prisoners; they kill them." Raine said calmly. Brianna’s expression faltered. She played with her brown hair nervously, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. It was unnecessary to state the obvious.
Raine looked around the dungeon again. The empty cells, the cold stone. But no guards. There were only the two of them. "So, they really left you alone with me."
"They don’t see me as a t-threat." Brianna swallowed. "I-I told them I o-only wanted to clean your wounds. Then t-they let me go d-down here so that I-I can treat you. T-they didn’t see me go down," Brianna added quietly. "So, they don’t need to l-lie. If they are q-questioned, they can say no one w-was here."
"Because technically, they didn’t see you. And they believed you," Raine said. She smiled, but then grimaced when she felt the sharp pain in her wounds.
"Don’t speak t-too much. L-let me treat y-your wounds again. You should also d-drink this." Brianna caressed Raine’s hand in her attempt to ease her suffering. She treated Raine’s wounds again carefully. She had done it while Raine was unconscious.
Silence settled again, but this one felt different; it was less oppressive and more peaceful.
After some time of silence and peacefulness, she finally asked Brianna the question that she had meant to ask. "What happened upstairs?"
Brianna’s expression changed. "After you were d-dragged to the dungeon, the B-beta came."
"When?" Raine’s eyes sharpened slightly.
"Not l-long after... after you were brought down." Brianna continued, lowering her voice further. "He brought a h-healer."
That made Raine’s spine straighten despite the pain. "A healer?"
"Y-yes. But I-I didn’t recognize him. He w-wasn’t from our pack. The B-beta took him directly to M-master Landon’s room to see h-his condition, I believe."
Raine processed that carefully.
That meant one of two things: either the situation was worse than she had been told, or someone did not fully trust her diagnosis. Both were possible.
"What happened after that? How was Landon’s condition?" Raine asked.
Brianna shook her head. "I-I don’t know. They closed the door. B-but before they closed the door, I saw M-master Landon lying on his b-bed, and the h-healer sat beside the bed, checking h-his pulse. If M-master Landon were d-dead," Brianna added quickly, "the pack w-would not be this q-quiet."
"You’re sure?" Raine looked at her.
"Yes. There would be... c-chaos. And... y-you will be p-punished."
Raine nodded. "Indeed. I would not be alive." She gave a small, humorless smile.
"You don’t sound r-relieved that M-master Landon is still a-alive." Brianna seemed genuinely curious about this fact.
Raine closed her eyes briefly; she looked exhausted. "I don’t feel grateful, if you ask me."
"But, y-you’re still alive." Brianna’s voice trembled. "A-and M-master Landon, too. That should be a g-good thing, r-right?"
Raine opened her eyes again. "It’s temporary." The honesty made Brianna flinch.
"You d-don’t know that."
"I know enough." Silence stretched. Raine’s mind was already moving again, piecing together timelines.
Landon was still alive; maybe critical but stable, or critical and deteriorating quietly. Either way, the answer would not be in the dungeon. It would be in his room. In whatever had changed there.
Raine shifted again, wincing despite herself.
Brianna immediately reached for her. "You s-shouldn’t move."
"I need to.... I need to go back to Landon’s room."
"W-what?" Brianna stared at her as if she had misheard. "Back?"
"To his room."
Brianna shook her head immediately. "No."
"Yes. Help me get out of here. I need to go to Landon’s room."
Brianna’s fear returned in full. "If t-they see you—"
"They won’t." Raine looked around the empty dungeon again. "The warriors left."
Brianna’s breathing quickened; she looked terrified. "I-I’m sorry. I-I can’t take you out." Brianna’s voice cracked. "I-if they find out, t-they will punish me too."