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“I can’t tell you that,” she said. “Because I don’t know where it is now. I don’t have it.”
Flint heaved a sigh and turned to face me and Lex.
“We’ve given her enough chances,” he said. “How do you want to get the information from her? Our usual methods?”
“You can’t just torture me!” Arden protested.
“You are hardly in a position to make demands.” Flint’s brow creased for a moment before the corner of his mouth lifted. “However, we didn’t say we were going to torture you, though it’s a solid idea.”
“No,” I said.
Lex and Flint stared at me as if I’d become another person.
“What do you mean?” Flint asked. “Torture is your favorite method to get information that we need.”
That was true. Torturing the individuals who wronged us came naturally to me. So much of it was just mental—making the subject of it believe that they were right on the edge of being seriously maimed or even killed was such a fine line to walk.
And I did it well.
All three of us did, but my rare talent for creative forms of punishment was something I was proud of. Fae cowered in my presence, and that feeling of power coursed through my veins, making me feel alive.
I studied Arden, whose hard-edged glare had turned into confusion like Flint’s and Lex’s. What was it about her? Stealing the artifact pissed me off more than I could say. It was precious and irreplaceable, and having it in some random group or fae’s hands was dangerous. We needed it back, and wringing the information out of her was the best way to get there.
But…I didn’t want to do that. For once.
I wanted to protect her. She was restrained against her will, and although she was fierce, she still looked delicate—like a flower. It wasn’t a logical feeling. It was something deep down, like the instinct to breathe or dodge a blow. I didn’t have gut feelings like this often, so when I had them, I paid attention.
I shrugged. “Fuck if I know.”
“Really? You’re just going to say no to getting the information we desperately need because…” Lex searched for a word. “Just because?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘just because.’”
I looked back at Arden, but doing so only confused me more. She was hot, but I was a Royal. I had my pick of women, many of whom were just as hot as she was. And I liked a woman with a little fire in her, so the combination of her personality and her looks was appealing. But appealing enough to do something that was blatantly dumb?
“No, we’re getting this information.” Flint stepped back. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing’s wrong with me.” I searched for a logical answer. One didn’t immediately come to mind. “This feels like a different situation.”
“How so?” Lex wandered around Arden, circling her like she was prey.
“The artifact, for one. We fucking need it—”
“So, we should drag it out of her since she’s not talking.” Flint held out a hand, pulling water from the air. It hovered in a ball, ready for him to use it to cut off her air flow.
“I’m right here!” Arden cried. “Are you seriously arguing about whether to torture merightin front of me?”
“Does it matter?” I asked her before looking back to Lex. “We need it, but she’s stubborn as fuck. Do you really think that torturing it out of her is going to help? It’s a waste of time.”
Lex crossed his arms over his chest, sighing. He was much easier to convince than Flint, though that wasn’t saying much.
“So what, you want to just lock her up?” Lex asked.
“Until we figure out what to do, sure.”
“How is torturing her a waste of time, and putting her away is a better option?” Flint asked, his eyebrows going up. “This is ridiculous. Let’s just get the information and get the artifact.”
“No, Jagger has a point.” Lex stepped closer to Arden, who was still staring at us like we were annoying pests instead of Royals. “If we torture her, we get one piece of information. If we do a little more digging, she could be useful.”
