Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Chapter 75

Lysander woke with a violent start.

The explosion came from somewhere beyond the infirmary, its deafening roar shaking the walls and rattling the windows. Several seconds later, the sound of breaking equipment and panicked shouting reached his ears, but he barely registered any of it. His purple eyes snapped open, the pupils narrowing into thin, vertical slits as his instincts surged to the surface. He sat up so abruptly that the blankets slid from his body, and the movement pulled at the bandages wrapped around his torso.

Pain shot through his wounds, but Lysander didn’t even look down.

Something was wrong.

He could feel it in the air, in the sudden commotion beyond the ward, and in the strange uneasiness that had settled over him even before the explosion. His gaze swept across the unfamiliar room, taking in the empty beds, the medical equipment, and the door at the far end. He remembered being brought here after losing too much blood, remembered the faint scent of medicinal herbs, and remembered the exhaustion that had finally dragged him into sleep.

But Ingrid wasn’t there.

His expression darkened as he searched the room a second time, hoping he had somehow overlooked her presence. He had last seen her surrounded by hunters, but she had been standing on her own feet then, arguing with them in that stubborn way of hers. She had promised to come back after making sure he received treatment, and although he had been too weak to remain awake, he had heard her. Now, the space beside his bed was empty, and the growing commotion outside made his instincts scream that something had happened to her.

"Where is Ingrid?"

His voice came out rough from sleep, but there was a sharpness beneath it that made Nurse Maya turn immediately.

The nurse had been pacing near the opposite wall, her hands clasped together as she repeatedly glanced toward the door. She had been worried ever since the explosion, and when she saw Lysander sitting upright with his eyes narrowed into slits, she froze for a moment.

She had heard about the Silver Horned Snake Beastman brought into the infirmary, but she hadn’t expected him to wake so suddenly, much less look as though he were ready to tear through the entire building. Still, the concern on his face was unmistakable, and she hurried toward him.

"You’re awake!" Maya exclaimed, reaching for his arm when he swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Wait, you can’t get up yet. Your injuries are still serious, and if you move around too much, you could reopen your wounds!"

He barely glanced at her hand. "Where is Ingrid?" he repeated, this time with a colder edge to his voice.

Maya’s expression faltered. She had been dreading this question ever since the hunters had taken Ingrid away, and the explosion had only made her fear worse. She had tried to convince herself that the technicians knew what they were doing, but she had seen too many patients suffer from memory searches to feel comfortable with what was happening. Now, faced with the injured man who had been brought in with Ingrid and looked like he wanted to destroy the place, she couldn’t bring herself to hide the truth.

"They took her away," Maya admitted, tightening her grip on his arm as though she could somehow keep him from leaving. "Those people from the upper ranks ordered a memory search, and they forced her to go with them. I tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen to me, and I couldn’t make them understand how dangerous it was to do something like that while she was still recovering."

Lysander went completely still. For a moment, the only sound between them was the distant commotion outside. His purple eyes remained fixed on Maya’s face, but the warmth that had briefly appeared when he learned she was safe enough to be taken for examination vanished. In its place came a chilling stillness that made the nurse’s fingers loosen around his arm.

"They forced her?" he asked.

Maya swallowed. "Yes. She didn’t want to go, but they wouldn’t allow her to refuse. They said they needed to verify her information, and they took her to the examination room despite my objections." Her voice trembled as she glanced toward the door. "I don’t know what’s happening now, Lysander, but that explosion came from the direction of the room where they took her. I’m afraid something might have happened to her."

She hadn’t even finished speaking before Lysander pulled his arm free. "Lysander, wait!"

He was already moving. The nurse reached for him again, but her fingers caught nothing but air as he crossed the ward with a speed that seemed impossible for someone who had been lying unconscious only moments earlier. His bare feet hit the floor, and he pushed the door open so forcefully that it slammed against the wall. Maya hurried after him, calling his name but he didn’t slow down to acknowledge her.

He had only one concern. Ingrid.

Her scent had lingered around him even after she left the infirmary, faint but familiar. He followed it through the corridors, his senses sharpening as he moved. The closer he came to the source of the explosion, the stronger her scent became, but beneath it lay something that made his chest tighten.

Blood. Not enough to suggest a fresh, life-threatening wound, but enough to tell him that she had been hurt or that her existing injuries had worsened.

His pace increased. Several hunters standing along the corridor turned at the sound of his approaching footsteps. Their expressions changed when they saw the tall Beastman moving toward them with his eyes narrowed and his face devoid of emotion. One of them stepped forward to demand where he was going, but Lysander’s cold gaze swept over him, and the words died before they could leave the hunter’s mouth.

Lysander didn’t stop.

He followed Ingrid’s scent to a secluded corridor, where a group of hunters had gathered outside a metal door. Smoke drifted through the opening, and the smell of burnt wires mixed with the sharp scent of overheated machinery. People were shouting inside, while others hurried past carrying tools and medical equipment. The hunters stationed outside turned toward Lysander as he approached, immediately raising their weapons when they recognized the dangerous-looking Beastman coming straight at them.

"Stop right there!" one of them ordered. "This area is restricted. You can’t enter without authorization!"

Lysander ignored him. His gaze had already settled on the open doorway, and the moment he saw what lay beyond it, the entire world seemed to narrow around a single figure.

Ingrid was lying on a metal platform in the middle of the room. Her face was deathly pale, and her hair clung to her damp forehead. Wires were attached to her head, while the restraints around her wrists and ankles held her motionless against the platform. Several technicians were scrambling around the damaged machines, and the three white-haired men stood nearby, their attention divided between the destruction and the unconscious girl who had been strapped to their equipment.

For one moment, Lysander couldn’t move.

He had seen Ingrid injured before. He had seen the blood soaking through her clothes when they fled the settlement, and he had felt the frightening weakness of his own body as he carried her through danger. But this was different. She had been brought to a place that was supposed to offer shelter, and instead, someone had strapped her to a machine and subjected her to a procedure that had left her unconscious.

His purple eyes flashed. "What is going on here?"