Contents
Chapter 60
Overview
Wren rushes to stop Kallister’s midnight execution of Adrienne, revealing Kallister has been using Hawkins to corrupt minds. Adrienne requests Wren alone, calmly selects heartroot, and dies by her own choice. As Wren calls Gray and prepares to flee the Dagger, an unseen attacker tranquilizes Wren, escalating the danger.
Summary
Alerted that Kallister plans to execute Adrienne at midnight, Wren and Gray scramble. Wren reveals a new threat: Kallister has secretly been using Hawkins to corrupt minds, making Adrienne expendable. They split up—Gray to confront Kallister, Wren to the cells after Adrienne telepathically requests her as the sole visitor.
Wren finds the holding area unguarded and Adrienne eerily calm. Adrienne refuses rescue, confessing exhaustion and lifelong guilt since breaking her mentor’s mind. She declares she no longer wants to fight and intends to accept death.
Adrienne has already chosen heartroot, disguising it as water. As the poison takes hold, she tells Wren she picked her as witness because it would hurt Gray too much. Wren desperately tries to summon a healer, but with Fiona gone and Brion away, Adrienne dies, her energy signature fading.
Shattered, Wren informs Gray and suggests they leave the Dagger. Before she can depart, a tranquilizer dart strikes her in the neck from down the corridor. As footsteps approach and her senses dim, Wren collapses, leaving her fate uncertain and the power struggle under Kallister tightening.
Who Appears
- Wren DarlingtonProtagonist; reveals Kallister used Hawkins to corrupt minds, witnesses Adrienne’s heartroot death, then is tranquilized by an unknown assailant.
- AdriennePrisoner slated for execution; requests Wren, chooses heartroot, expresses exhaustion and guilt, and dies by her own decision.
- GrayWren’s ally; plans to confront Kallister while Wren visits Adrienne, devastated by news of Adrienne’s death.
- KallisterSole Uprising leader; orders Adrienne’s execution and allegedly uses Hawkins to corrupt minds; ignores Wren’s link.
- HawkinsInciter also capable of corruption; used by Kallister, currently in regeneration and unable to warn him.
- TanaResponds to Wren’s telepathic call; tries to locate Brion for healing, but he’s away.
- BrionOnly available healer after Fiona’s death; unavailable in the valley during Adrienne’s poisoning.
- Unknown assailantShoots Wren with a tranquilizer dart in the cellblock after Adrienne’s death.