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“We can do this the hard way or the easy way,” I said, my voice low and hoarse. “Tell me who you are working for. Who hired you, and what do they want with Scottie?”
“You’re going to have to do a lot better than that,Prince.” The prick rested his head back against the stone wall, meeting my gaze. The way he mocked my title, making it known he didn’t believe I would hold it long.
“And if you think whatever you are about to do is going to stop with me, you’re sorely wrong,” he added. “No one is going to stand to see a nix on the throne. It’s only a matter of time before she turns up dead.”
I took a deep breath, stopping myself from murdering him right here. I needed to relax enough to get answers out of him. Who had hired Kole and why? It had to be more than them not wanting a nix on the throne, seeing as the High Council selected Scottie themselves. I knew it was a setup, but to what advantage?
I felt my power turn and swell inside me as the golden spirals appeared on my arms, legs, chest, and neck. I hated the feeling of using it because deep down I craved it. I knew it was wrong to take away someone’s free will so I always pushed that part of my power down, but I could care less with him. I let the energizing rush consume me as it flowed through my veins, building and building. “Who hired you, and what do they want with Scottie?” I compelled.
Kole smiled up at me. “You think whoever hired me doesn’t know about you? You think they aren’t aware of your abilities? You can’t compel me, so give up.” His face was smug, begging me to wipe the expression off of it.
I called the guards back. “Search him,” I ordered as I stood up. “He must be wearing some object of Alluse, preventing me from compelling him. Strip him down for all I care but make sure he has no Alluse on him by the time I come back.”
I stepped outside the dungeon door, needing a moment to collect my thoughts and breathe fresh air. This was bigger than I thought if Kole had Alluse. Whoever he was working for must be connected with Lux somehow. Alluse users were common knowledge among both of our Kingdoms. However, objects that contained Alluse were rare and hard to get. The methods wielding them were unorthodox. Typically, Lux only forged Alluse into their shackles and the walls within their prison cells. An object like the one I gave Scottie was hard to come by, and would have been impossible to get without Peter’s help. For Kole to possess one too meant he had to be working for someone of power.
“Prince Noren,” one of the guards stuttered, “everything was removed from the prisoner. No objects of Alluse were found. He only had the clothes on his back.”
“Burn the clothes,” I said as I strode back to Kole’s cell. Maybe Alluse was woven into the fabric he wore. Odd, but possible.
I compelled the same question to Kole, who had the audacity to laugh at me, even though he was the one chained and naked. He laughed at me as he said, “Alluse doesn’t just have to be wielded into objects.” His smile was bloody, showing no white in his teeth. “We have an alchemist who can wield it into serums. You won’t be able to compel me,Prince.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. This was so much worse than I thought.
“Fine. We’ll do it the hard way then,” I sneered, making sure to mask my emotions at what he’d just revealed to me. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction that what he just said was fucking terrifying. “There are other ways to get you to talk.” I opened his cell door and flashed him a wicked grin. Kole stiffened.
Good.
He was finally scared.
Morning was fast approachingby the time I finally threw Kole back in his cell. No matter what I did to him, the bastard didn’t budge.
It didn’t matter. Every male would talk eventually. I just had to figure out what Kole’s breaking point was. And picturing what he did with Scottie, I had absolutely no fucking quarrels trying. I didn’t mind taking my time torturing him. I reveled in his screams, wanting him to pay for hurting her. The only thing that bothered me was that the longer it took to get him to talk, the more danger she would be in.
I started by doing exactly what he did to Scottie, cutting his thigh from knee to hip, over and over again until he screamed. I made the cut so many times that I didn’t think there would be any flesh left.
I wanted to keep going, but the healers strongly suggested he needed a break. “He will surely die at this rate before you glean whatever you need from him if you don’t stop, Prince Noren,” a firm-spoken healer said to me. “Give us a few hours and come back later.”
“Fine,” I ground out. “Heal him enough so that I can continue to question him.”
I was covered in blood and filth. I needed a bath, and I needed to clean and sharpen my blades. And most importantly, I needed to check on Scotlind. I had to make sure she was okay.
Using my telepathy, I spoke with Peter while I was working on Kole. Asking for updates on how she was doing. If she slept or ate anything. He’d assured me that she was fine, but I wanted to see for myself.
I came back to my chambers to find her still on my leather sofa. A wool blanket was thrown over her. Peter was stretched out in a chair a few feet away, watching her sleep.
At the sound of the door shutting, she woke up and scanned me. Her eyes went wide, taking in my face. Then her gaze drifted to my sword and daggers. They were dripping in blood, and a good layer of dirt was covering me from the dungeons.
While she studied me, I did the same to her. We stayed silent as we searched each other. The bandages on her neck were turning pink as blood started to soak through them. Her leg was covered by the blanket, but it looked like she hadn’t yet bathed or changed from her nightgown. She was still caked in blood.
“What happened to Kole?” she whispered as I threw my sword down. “Did you kill him?”
I ran my fingers through my hair and regretted it once I remembered how bloody they were. I moved to take a seat next to her. “No, but I will. He will be kept in the dungeons until we can figure out his motives and who was behind it.”
Peter gave me a puzzling look, no doubt wondering why I didn’t just compel the answers from him. Growing up, Peter and my family were the only Advenians who knew I had the power to compel everyone from Tennebris. I spoke to him mind to mind, letting him know that Kole had Alluse. I’d fill him in on everything else later. I didn’t want to scare Scottie more than she already was.
“Oh,” was all she said, the floor now commanding her attention.
“He will die,” I said to her. “For what he did to you, he will die.” When she didn’t answer, I asked, “Are you okay?”
