CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49: PREDATORS IN THE ROOM

The doctor’s quiet announcement broke the silence. "He’s back to consciousness."

All eyes immediately shifted to him. A wave of heat rose in Zaeryn’s chest—a mix of embarrassment at having collapsed like some fragile child and the gnawing bite of old, familiar frustration.

’What are those two doing here?’ he wondered, spotting Lady Valerius and Charlotte Thorne among the gathered faces. But as his gaze swept the hospital room, he realized the situation was far worse than he’d thought. Not only were Lady Valerius and Commander Charlotte Thorne present when he woke up, but every single council member from the previous day’s meeting had assembled around his bedside.

"Hi?" he greeted them, his voice uncertain.

His eyes found the silver-braided woman first, a council member he remembered from his initial appearance before them.

She was the one who had announced his arrival that first time, her voice smooth and sure, though tinged with a dismissive edge that had got on his nerves.

Then there was the brunette, another familiar face who had remained silent during that tense introduction. What had caught Zaeryn’s interest was the way her hazel eyes had lingered on him, not with the cold analysis of her peers but with a flicker of something softer, almost curious.

It was a look that stood out in a room full of predators, and it unsettled him as much as it intrigued him.

The fact that all six council members who had been present when he was first brought before them were now gathered in this sterile room sent a chill through Zaeryn’s nerves.

Because they were all staring directly at him. What did they want exactly?

Zaeryn forced himself upright against the pillows. "Why the full council? I pass out one time and I’m being looked at like a museum exhibit?" He said, trying to regain some composure despite the eyes focused on him.

Daphne was the only one who smiled, although briefly and faintly."Zaeryn," she said, her voice softer than he’d ever heard it. "Are you alright? That was quite a scare."

He propped his back even more until he was against the headboard, his gaze flicking between the women in the room. He wanted to ask if anything was wrong. Why were they all here? Surely they are not here because they are worried about him.

"I’m fine," he said, a little hoarse. "What happened?"

"You pushed your Vitae core too hard. And your body is not yet ready for that kind of power," Daphne explained, her clinical demeanor returning. "The energy required to form that shield, on your first try, was immense. It’s a miracle you weren’t seriously injured."

Zaeryn stiffened. Vitae. She’d said it aloud. His gaze darted across the room, searching for any hint that the others had picked up on the word. They weren’t supposed to know—so why the hell was she talking about it here, with them watching?

"Right," he muttered, forcing a cough to bury his nerves, pretending like it was nothing.

Lysara stepped forward, her presence more commanding. "You’re lucky, Zaeryn. You displayed a level of Vitae manipulation unheard of for a male."

Zaeryn’s heart skipped a beat. ’What is she doing?’ he thought, his stomach clenching. ’Why the hell would she and Daphne just talk about my Vitae manipulation in front of the others? They’re not supposed to know!’

"Uh, Commander Lysara? Maybe... you shouldn’t—" he began but was stopped.

Daphne cut him off. "Actually, Zaeryn..." she said, moving to sit on the edge of his bed. "They already know."

Zaeryn stared at her in disbelief. They knew?! How did they know that?

He could only think of one reason they knew—either Daphne or Lysara had spilled. His eyes lingered on Daphne, and though he said nothing, his expression said it all: Really? That’s the level of secret-keeping we’re working with? Pathetic.

They’d failed to keep it confidential and simply told everyone in the room? No—he was more than just in disbelief. He was irritated. This was his safety they had compromised.

"But..... why would you do that?" He questioned.

"Actually, they didn’t tell us anything, I found out on my own." The silver-braided woman’s voice was like smooth, cool glass as she finally spoke.

Zaeryn turned toward her, keeping his composure despite his nerves already boiling under the surface. "You found out on your own? How?"

"Daphne," Zia said, her voice dripping with a mock pity that made Zaeryn’s skin crawl. "For someone with your level of intellect, it’s disappointing that when you and the High Commander decided to lie to everyone, you would forget that there are people who can sense a Vitae use."

Daphne didn’t answer, but her stillness spoke volumes. Her colleague was right; she should have known better.

In her defense, she hadn’t been certain Zaeryn could use Vitae himself, and it was only after she did her own tests that she learned. And even after she found out he could mimic her power, she had no idea he was going to be able to wield it so forcefully today. The oversight was a cold splash of reality, and it left her with no defense.

"You’re saying you can sense my Vitae?" Zaeryn asked. How unfair that she could sense his power so easily.

She didn’t answer him, instead she spoke in a way that carried the weight of unspoken threats, each syllable sharpened to a blade. "And that’s not what should concern you. What should terrify you, little Zaeryn, is that your secret is out—despite all your desperate efforts to bury it. Even cozying up to the chief scientist won’t save you now. The council knows exactly what you are."

The words cut like ice. And the way she said ’cozying up’ made it feel deliberate, as if she knew about his closeness with Daphne.

Zaeryn’s jaw tightened. He could feel Lady Valerius’s gaze narrowing, Charlotte’s silence pressing like a weight, and Daphne’s stillness at his side. He felt like since the three of them now knew about him, he was not safe anymore. And he hated the feeling. Hated being cornered.

"Who are you, anyway? Am I supposed to be impressed?" he demanded, his voice dripping with sarcasm he didn’t bother to disguise.

If she wasn’t going to extend even the barest courtesy, then why should he? Better to push back now than risk being trampled by Valerius, Thorne, and whoever this smug, silver-braided viper was.

Her eyes hardened, and she made eye contact with him, her expression hardening ever so slightly, enough for the tension in the room to tighten another notch. "I don’t like your tone," she said coldly. "For someone lying in a hospital bed, you carry yourself as if you have teeth. Careful, boy—snapping at predators only makes you bleed faster."

Zaeryn smirked faintly, tilting his head. "Oh? Seems like I hit a nerve. Funny—I don’t recall saying anything sharp enough to cut you."

His arrogance—just shy of outright smugness—only made her bristle more. She prodded and provoked, hoping to make him crack, but he never took the bait.

"Enough." Lysara’s voice cut clean through the air. "Zaeryn, Zia is a Tier Three Warlady. She can sense vitae the way a hawk senses prey in the dark. That is how she knew. No one here betrayed you." Her gaze lingered on him, steady, as if it mattered to her—whether or not he believed her.

And that, of course, didn’t go unnoticed. Why did it matter? Why was she bothering to explain herself instead of dismissing him outright?

Commander Thorne’s eyes narrowed, sharp calculation glinting beneath her composed exterior. This wasn’t the first time she had seen Lysara bend where she never bent. First, she’d allowed him to walk free when the council had already agreed to hold him.

And now, she seemed strangely invested in his trust. His trust. Since when did the High Commander of the Citadel care about the faith of a boy barely grown?

"Interesting. The great High Commander, explaining herself to a boy in a hospital bed. Tell me, Zaeryn—what exactly makes you so important that Lysara feels the need to earn your trust?"

The brunette council member had remained quiet until now, but her surprise was obvious in the softness of her gaze. Unlike Thorne’s sharp and clear dislike, Valerius’s cold detachment or Zia’s clear Annelise looked at him almost... puzzled. Concerned, even.

Plus she was just as surprised to see Lysara defending him. The high commander was very strict. There was a flaw in the logic of Lysara’s defense. The High Commander was famously unbending, cold to pleas and politics alike. Yet here she was, wasting her breath to shield him.

It didn’t make sense, and Annelise’s questioning eyes reflected that.

For now, though, she didn’t say anything. She simply watched, her silence gentler than the sharp words of the others.

Lysara spoke firmly, "Zaeryn, your secret is still safe as ever. No one here has any interest in broadcasting this." She assured him.

"I disagree with you on that, High Commander," Charlotte Thorne countered, her voice cutting through the room. "We are going to report this to the Tribunal."

Zia backed Charlotte immediately. "I also disagree. He is too much of a danger."

"How can you determine if he is a danger? You barely know him." Daphne argued.

"The proof is already there. He is a male who hid this about himself when he stood before us."

Charlotte Thorne folded her arms, her tone dripping with disdain. "The fact that he would lie in itself is telling. It shows us he is willing to deceive, even when faced with authority. If he can hide this, what else is he hiding? What else is he capable of concealing until it’s too late?"

"And if he had revealed the truth," Daphne countered, "would you have treated him differently? Have you considered that he might not have trusted us because we were hostile toward him?"