His eyes grew wide as Sloane began to whisper softly in his ear, but his screams diminished. She looked at him the way one would a lover, yet as she turned to face us, there was a cold glint in her eye that had not been there before.
“What’d you do?” Jasper asked, glancing between them.
I was interested in knowing the answer as well. Witches were formidable creatures; their powers manifested at an early age, and they spent most of their adolescence in the coven’s school, learning to wield their magic and hone their mental shields.
There were no markers identifying what kind of power they possessed, either.
“I threatened his favorite part,” she said in a sweet, mocking voice. “Men like him often cooperate when you bring up their little buddy.
The man whimpered behind her, and each of us turned to stare at his trembling body.
His voice rang clear in my mind as soon as I broke past his feeble mental barrier.No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,he chanted.Don’t give in. You can do this. You can take it.But his tone was weak, and the smell of piss filled the air as it ran down his leg.
“Gods,” Jasper said, scrunching his nose. “We haven’t even touched him yet.”
There was no time like the present.
I walked toward the desk, picked up a small hammer, and tossed it to test the weight. Claude shook his head as he saw what I held. “Please,” he whimpered. “I don’t know anything.”
Don’t let him in. Don’t tell him anything. Keep your mouth shut.
I pointed the hammer in his direction. “Your thoughts say otherwise.”
He blanched, licking his lips. “Look, I don’t know anything that would help you. We were hired by an outside source to bring you in.”
“By who?” I asked, watching the light glint off the metal of my chosen weapon.
“I don’t?—”
“Do not lie to me,” I seethed, bringing the hammer down on his splayed fingers. He cried out in agony, but it did not deter me. If anything, it only fueled the fire burning inside. “In the chapel, you and your men spoke of a woman. So, I will ask again. Who hired you?”
“I—I don’t know her name,” he whimpered. “Wasn’t nothin’ in the missive we got from our chain of command, I swear!”
“But you do know it. You have worked for this person before, correct?” His silence said it all. “We found your missive. Perhaps I would have been inclined to believe you had you not kept it on your body.” Claude’s cries filled the space. Snot ran down his lips as he blubbered incoherently. “What did you do for Leonora D’Arcy previously?”
His eyes grew wide, pupils blown with fear as I called his bluff. I did not know if it would work or if he would be quick to deny it, but to my surprise, secrets began spewing from his cowardly tongue. “My brothers answered a call a few months back. Lady said she had an easy job, a way to make quick money. We was all in debt so we took it. She wanted us to get this girl—” he nodded in my direction, “the one you was gonna marry. She wanted it done before the ceremony was finished, dunno why, but then we was caught. Guess she came calling about another job. ‘Make it look like a kidnapping,’ she said. She made us all get these tattoos, saying it’d throw you off our scent.”
“What tattoo?” I gritted out.
“Right here on my chest,” he said, gaze darting between Jasper and I. “You can see for yourself!”
Jasper reached over and pulled back the man's collar, revealing the ankh design which signified members of the Vail wore proudly. The damned thing was etched in my mind from hours of study following Calia’s attack. I closed my eyes against the truth inked into his skin.
My mother… It had been her all along. She had… She had arranged the attack on Calia, but why? What purpose would that have served, seeing as she already had unfettered access to my wife? And what plans?—
“What happened next?” Sloane asked, running the blade of a knife along his thigh.
“It didn’t work!” Claude cried. “And then we was hunted down. Most of my men was killed and the rest of us went into hiding in our compound until that devil lady sent that letter to us. We couldn’t say no, you see. I got too many debts, especially since my brothers died. Theirs landed on me, too! I couldn’t say no!”
“And where is your compound?”
He shook his head. “I can’t tell you! But I could show you. Just let me go, and I’ll take you there! All of you!”And then the wards can rip you fuckers to shreds, he thought with smug satisfaction.
For a moment, I had considered it—letting him go. I did not need more blood on my hands than I had currently, and if he was only Leonora’s pawn in this game we played, was it right to kill him for his desperation? But just as I knew he would be, Claude was just as bad as the rest of the scum in this world. He was a contract killer. Who knows how many lives he had taken with his brothers or how many others he could still take if I let him live?
Claude began sobbing, praying to the gods for comfort and safe passage to the heavens. He already knew he was as good as dead before I swung my hammer.
CHAPTER TEN
