But Rook met my eyes, giving me a quick shake of her head as if urging me to stay calm.
I reached out with my heart, hoping to sense her arctic coolness. To feed off her energy like I had back at Ashfall Cliff but...she was just as ruined as I was.
No frost. No snow. Not even a cool breeze.
I couldn’t even tap into her heartbeat.
I couldn’t hear any of their heartbeats, leaving me completely useless.
Sagging in the binds, I held her stare.Can you access anything? Anything at all?
She sucked in a breath and shook her head just a little.Nothing. Not even a snowflake.
Well, fuck.
We could bluff all we wanted but if we couldn’t follow through, we didn’t stand a chance.
God, what was going on with us?
Why could we access the ice and fire before, yet now it felt as if it never existed? Why did every ticking minute make nausea settle heavier and my fractured bones throb as if they were moments away from dissolving?
Gritting my teeth, I tore my eyes off Rook and locked them on the man.
I might recognise him, but I couldn’t remember his name.
Almost as if he saw the question in my eyes, he grinned. “The name you’re looking for is Dr. Swift. But...seeing as I’ve taken over for Marcus and we’ll be spending a lot of time together going forward, you can call me Roy.”
Swift...
That name dredged up Cinderkeep. Memories where those bitches, Lydia and Evelyn, had bullied Rook. The night where I’d ripped the throat out of one and Whisper slaughtered the other—
Swift!
A cold chuckle escaped me as Roy leaned against the wall, giving the white-coated scientists space to park themselves on either side of me and Rook and rip open a few sterile packages, getting needles and siphon tubes ready.
My skin crawled as they wiped disinfectant on my inner elbow, tapping my arm to bring veins to the surface. “You’re Lydia Swift’s father.”
“What?” Roy froze, his hand going tight around the e-tablet he’d just collected from the side table. “How the hell would you know that?”
I laughed again, recalling how his daughter admitted she was there to breed me. How she’d admitted if she could have my heir, she’d be worshipped by her family. My hands fisted in rage but then...I smiled, recalling the sounds she’d made as she choked on her own blood and died by my feet.
“You were a greedy fool for sending your daughter into my cage, you know.” I ran my tongue over my bottom lip. “You knew the statistics of what happened to the women they gave me. Either you didn’t love her or your plan backfired...badly.”
“Wait.” He stalked toward me, his eyes blazing. “Whatdid you say?” True panic lit up his face. “That’s impossible. There’s no way Lydia was in Cinderkeep. She’s still on a six-month girl trip around Europe. She told me she was going to Greece.” Anger replaced his panic as he pointed a slightly shaking finger in my face. “You’re lying. You’re deliberately trying to get a rise out of me. I saw theplane ticket myself. I wouldneversend Lydia to you. Do you think I’m an idiot?”
“I think she overheard you discussing all the other women about to enter Cinderkeep, and decided she could make you proud by fucking me.”
“Quiet,” he snapped, his finger flying over the e-tablet as if searching for confirmation she was in Greece like she’d said. “She would never. She wouldn’t.”
“I killed her.” My voice dropped like grenades between us. “That’s how I recognise you. Not from the past but because she looked so much like you.”
Rook tensed, the leather cuffs around her ankles and wrists creaking.Lucien...
I ignored her inner voice.
“I don’t fucking believe you.” Tossing the e-tablet onto the closest sideboard, Roy ripped out his phone. Hitting a single button—hinting he had his beloved daughter on speed-dial—he held the phone to his ear. “Just because I haven’t heard from her in a while doesn’t mean...it doesn’t mean...”
The faint thrum of the call trying to connect echoed as pure hatred filled me.
