Chapter 37: Crocodile Tears

“This way, Female,” Viper grumbled, slithering ahead down the dark corridor. “The King says lock the door. We lock the door.”

Ren paced behind him, her bare feet making no sound on the cold stone. Her mind was racing faster than her heart.

’Devoured.’

Vex had chosen that word carefully. It wasn’t just “killed.” It was specific. She needed to know the context. She needed to know for sure if he was lying, or if he was just jeering her.

She stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway, right next to a branching path that led back toward the garden.

“Viper!” Ren gasped, clutching her chest and putting on her best damsel-in-distress act. “Oh no!”

The guard stopped and turned, his hood flaring slightly in annoyance. “What? Is it the cold? Do you require a bear skin?”

“No! It’s the… the salt moss!” Ren cried, widening her eyes in feigned horror. “I forgot to tell Syris about the salt moss!”

Viper stared at her blankly. “Salt moss? That is a fungus for slugs.”

“Yes! But for the dirt beans, it’s essential!” Ren waved the cacao pod frantically. “To prepare the chocolate, I need the rare, white salt moss that grows only on the ceiling of the highest cave. Without it, the beans turn to poison inside the stomach! It creates a gas that expands rapidly!”

Viper paled, his scales rippling with genuine fear. “Expands? Inside the King?”

“Yes! Like a balloon! And since I didn’t tell him, he might eat a raw bean and boom!” Ren mimed a violent explosion with her hands. “You have to get it, Viper! Go! The highest cave! Run before he snacks and explodes!”

“I go!” Viper panicked, his loyalty to the King overriding his common sense. “Do not move! I get the moss!”

He turned and sped off down the corridor, disappearing into the dark like a shot, terrified of his king combusting.

“Too easy,” Ren whispered, dropping the act instantly.

She turned on her heel and sprinted back toward the Garden of Shadows.

The Garden

Ren reached the vine-covered entrance just as the voices inside drifted out. She flattened herself against the cold stone wall, parting the thick leaves just enough to see, but keeping herself hidden in the shadows.

Syris and Vex were still standing by the cacao tree. The tension between them was thick enough to cut with a knife, but Vex looked entirely too comfortable.

“Tell me truthfully, Fox,” Syris said, his voice devoid of emotion. “Is the tiger truly… dead?”

Vex laughed. It wasn’t a happy sound. It was a dark, theatrical chuckle that made the fine hair on Ren’s arms stand up.

“Dead?” Vex mused, twirling a leaf between his fingers. “Oh, Syris. It was a spectacle. A tragedy for the ages.”

He began to pace, acting out the scene with flourishing hand gestures.

“He charged into the swamp, roaring at phantoms. The dream puff spores had him dancing with ghosts. He was swinging his spear at shadows, screaming her name.” Vex paused for dramatic effect, placing a hand over his heart. “He stepped onto a mud bank to catch his breath… right into the nesting ground of the swamp beasts.”

Ren clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp.

“He killed one,” Vex continued, his voice dripping with mock admiration. “He speared a massive crocodile right through the skull. But while he was fighting the hallucination of a lion… the other three came from behind.”

Vex brought his hands together in a violent clapping motion. Snap.

“Snap,” Vex whispered. “They dragged him under. The irony is delicious, isn’t it? The Tiger went there to hunt, and became the meal. I watched the bubbles rise. Red bubbles.”

Ren squeezed her eyes shut. ’No.’

Her heart hammered against her ribs like a sledgehammer. ’Liar. He’s a liar. Kael is an Alpha. He wouldn’t go down that easily. Not to crocodiles. Not to mushrooms.’

She remembered Kael punching a solid ironwood tree because he was bored. She remembered him ripping a boar in half. A man like that didn’t die quietly bubbling under the muck. If Kael went down, he would have taken the entire swamp ecosystem with him. Vex was painting a picture of a tragedy, but Ren knew Kael was the epitome of violence. It didn’t fit.

’But he was drugged,’ a treacherous voice whispered in her mind. ’Even Superman has kryptonite.’

Syris listened to the gruesome tale without flinching. Slowly, a look of cold satisfaction settled over his pale features. The rival was gone. Ren was his.

“Good,” Syris said simply. “The swamp takes what is weak.”

“Indeed,” Vex agreed, tossing the leaf aside. “Now… my crystals?”

“In the Vault,” Syris nodded. “Wait here. Do not wander. Do not touch my plants.”

“I am a statue of obedience.”

Syris turned and glided toward the far exit of the garden, disappearing into the depths of the palace to fetch the payment.

Ren let out a shaky breath. She had heard enough. Her stomach was churning with nausea and rage. She needed to get back to the nest before Syris returned, or her cover would be blown.

She turned to leave, taking a quiet step back toward the corridor.

“Leaving so soon, Little Rose?”

The voice stopped her heart.

Ren froze. She looked back through the vines.

Vex hadn’t turned around. He was still standing by the tree, his back to her, examining a cacao pod. But his ears—those large, twitching fox ears—were swiveled directly toward her hiding spot like radar dishes.

“I haven’t even gotten to the juicy details yet,” Vex taunted, his voice low and smooth.

Ren grit her teeth. ’Ignore him,’ she told herself frantically. ’He’s baiting you. Syris will be back in two minutes. If he catches you, you’re dead. Just walk away.’

She took another step, desperate to put distance between herself and the Fox.

“Don’t you want to know?” Vex jeered softly, his voice carrying effortlessly to her ears.

Ren paused, her hand hovering over the cold stone wall. She shouldn’t listen. She should run. But the hook was set deep.

“Don’t you want to know what really happened to your precious tiger?”

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