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I brushed my finger across the blade of the weapon, feeling the tingle of hidden magic emanating from its edge. A sick pleasure entered my veins, and I could barely suppress a sinister laugh. His gaze locked onto the blade as I moved it around in my hands, tilting my head. He thrashed against his bonds, his eyes wide with frenzy as a slow sigh escaped my lips. “I’m glad you’re back. I’ve been waiting a long time to do this.”
A tremble tremored in his bottom lip, and I let out a long exhale, my breath fogging the air between us. I leaned closer and whispered in his ear, forcing out each word menacingly. “I am going to give you one chance to tell the truth for once in your miserable life,” I whispered, and he stiffened. “I will not ask twice.”
I licked my lips, then brought the dagger closer, enough so he could sense its power. If he’d ever been close enough to Erianna’s blade, then he’d know how it felt. But in case he didn’t. “You won’t heal quickly from the cuts made by this,” I explained, my tone calm as my breathing steadied, the excitement building in my chest well contained. “It would be unimaginable torture to find yourself on the sharp end of it, as I carve the flesh from your bones. Now, you can stop this,” I said, moving the dagger from one hand to the other, his gaze never leaving its path. “All you have to do is tell me what really happened in the south while you were with the princess.”
A shaky inhale coursed down his throat, his chains rattling as he attempted to put more distance between us, but the cold stone walls were ungiving. “I-I don’t know what you think I know, but she killed them all. I know nothing else.”
I tutted under my breath, then my shoulders rolled back when I loosed a sigh. “You’re certain? There is nothing else?”
“Yes. That's the truth.”
He wobbled, and I steadied him with a hand on his elbow, nodding quickly. The muscles in his face strained as he gave me a weak nod. “Okay,” I said, then held out my hand to invite him to stand. He grabbed it, relief flooding his features. He pulled himself up, and his shoulder sagged.
“I said I wouldn’t ask twice, yet here I am,” I roared, my hands clamped on his shoulders. The chains around his wrists clanged against the stone wall, echoing in the chamber as I shook him. His face drained of color as I unleashed my pent-up rage on him. “I know you’re not telling the truth,” I spat through clenched teeth. “Don’t make me ask a third time or I swear I’ll kill you right here. I don’t give a fuck what Salenia will do.”
I bared my teeth, not caring how insane I looked. Fuck it. The crazier I appeared, the better, because I wasn’t listening to any more bullshit. Especially from this coward.
I grabbed his neck, my fingers digging into his skin. I angled his head and shoulders until the sound of cracking bone erupted in the room. His body quivered as he fought for breath through the crushing pressure. The urge to keep squeezing surged through me. I pushed the dagger against his skin, sending a warning that I would not hesitate to kill him if he continued to refuse to give up all the truth.
“I am going to enjoy tearing you apart,” I said breathily, squeezing harder. “You may have been with the aniccipere in the south, but know this, whatever they would have done to you, I’ll ensure your death here will be a thousand times worse.”
“Please don’t.” His voice rose an octave. “Salenia!” He screamed, calling for her like the coward he was. I slammed a hand over his mouth, his shoulder clicking as I let go. His muffled pleas escaped through the cracks in my fingers.
“Scream for her again,” I promised. “Then I will ensure my last act in this world is to rip your heart from your body. Do youwantto die?”
Everything he had done had been to save himself. I knew it all. His cowardice in giving up his men when he worked in the mortal guild, so he could become a vampire. Then giving up his girlfriend, her mother, and then working with Salenia until Seraphina died in the south. But I needed to know how she died, where Sebastian was and what they were planning. I was missing something.
“No,” he spluttered. “Wait, wait,” he begged as I thrusted the blade to his chest this time. “I’ll tell you, I…” He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his heartbeat thumping in my ears. “Olivia, she’s alive.”
“Alive?” I stumbled back, the dagger in my grip sliding from my fingers, but I clasped before it could fall. “This changes everything.” My stare hardened as I looked at him. “Does Salenia know this?”
He swallowed thickly, shifting his position. “Astor! Does she know the princess is alive?”
Regret pierced his stare, frost forming on his brown, choppy hair. “I had to tell her. I…”
“You piece of shit!” I shouted, not caring who might hear. “You couldn’t do right by her, even once.”
“I did,” he spat, his face twisting. “I tried to help her in the south, but…”
“But what? While you tortured her? I know what happened. How is it you believe you helped the princess? The woman who once loved you?”
Anger swelled in my chest, rage consuming all my better judgments.
“I gave her water, and I tried to get her to tell us the truth so she wouldn’t get hurt and…” he hesitated, while my grasp on the dagger tightened. “I let her go in the end. She was trying to save mortals after she escaped, and I didn’t stop her when I could have. When I gave her mom up, I didn’t tell Kalon or Salenia about her, too.”
A sadistic laugh erupted from my mouth, my lips twisting when I looked at him. “You know, Astor, I applaud your manipulation tactics. Years ago, I’d have wanted someone like you as a spy in the Blood Brothers. Except,” I said, my nose scrunching, “you used your skills on the wrong person.”
“Since when did you care about Olivia?”
“Seraphina is her true name,” I snapped back with a scowl. “She’s the only one with the ability to kill Salenia.” I kept out the part of how I once planned on using her myself. Hypocrite or not, I wasn’t going to keep him alive for it. “At least I know I’m the bad guy, but you, you’re fucking delusional if you think you helped anyone. All you did was look out for yourself and gave up anyone you cared about so you could live, as if you’re fucking worth anything close to what she is.” I closed the distance between us, pressing the dagger against his throat as I hissed out between clenched teeth, “rot in the underworld, you coward.”
I ripped back the dagger before he could scream for help. Blood pooled around my hands as I carved off his head, letting out a low growl as I tore through tendons and muscle. I fisted his hair, then tore his head from the rest of his body, letting it fold over, then slump onto the stone, knowing Salenia would want to kill me for this. But fuck it. I’d be gone before she found out.
Footsteps sounded behind me, and I turned slowly, Astor’s head hanging from my grasp. My breath caught as I prepared myself for a showdown with Salenia, but it was Azia who came into view.
I’d never been so glad to see the bald bastard in my life. “Please tell me you know where she is?”
He nodded, discerning exactly who I was asking about. I tossed Astor’s head to where his body lay, and Azia cleared his throat, his gaze barely passing over the bloodied scene. “We should go somewhere more private.”
