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“I guess you aren’t a complete idiot,” I said, moving to the other side of the table. I picked up a hammer and a small chisel from the table. “Tell me what I need to know, and I’ll make it painless for you.” I was lying. I would never make it painless. But maybe he didn’t know that yet.
“I can’t,” he stammered.
“Alright then. I’m going to cut off your right hand,” I told him. “And then I’m going to cut off your left hand…” I stalked over to him as he screamed a high-pitched sound like the squeak of a child.
“No, no, no,” he bellowed. His eyes were screwed shut again, as if hiding his mind from me. But I saw it all. His fears. The damning realization that he was as good as dead. Tears streamed down his cheeks.
“I’m going to crush your balls in a vise, and then I’m going to cut off your left foot. And then I’m going to cut off your right foot. Then I’m going to cut off your ears.” I lunged forward and started to dig my fingers into the soft flesh of his lobe.
“I’ll tell you what I can!” he yelled, making me pull back. I wiped my hand on the front of my shirt as he steadied his breathing.
“Speak. I’m losing my patience.”
“Nathan is building his army on the outskirts. He holds rallies in the towns with the most poverty. He announces the rallies a week before he arrives on a secret network. If you have a hacker, you’ll find it easily.”
I had plenty of hackers. Finding Lord Nathan was the original goal, but now I felt like there was more to the story. “Tell me what Lord Nathan knows.”
He shook his head. “Lord Nathan is a pawn. The man you’re really looking for is right under your nose, Atticus DuPont. You think you have this under control, but…”
His words slurred and his head bobbed.
Shit.
He was passing out. Torture was always a delicate balance. You had to bring them to the edge without killing them so you could get the information you needed.
“Wake up!” I shouted before backhanding him. Rupert opened his eyes and shook his head, still not fully conscious. “What man is under my nose?”
Rupert shook his head, his eyes drifting closed. “The real threat is…” he murmured. “He’s…”
His words were too soft for me to hear. Fuck, was he dying already? Had I tortured him to death? “Rupert,” I said and shook him. “Don’t die on me yet.”
He gasped for air and his eyes opened, boring into mine. “You’re being tricked,” he whispered, saliva dripping down his chin. “Everything you know is a lie.”
I leaned in close and rested my forehead against his. “What is a lie?” I asked. “Who is the real threat?” I grabbed his collar and shook him relentlessly.
His face was clouded with pain and terror. I wanted to know the truth, but it was too late. Rupert’s eyes fluttered closed, and his face relaxed. His chest stopped rising and falling. His body slumped, turning to dead weight. I pulled back and stared at him in frustration. Fucking useless. I was better than this. I knew the delicate balance of life and death. I’d let my determination cloud my better judgment, and now he was dead.
He might have told me how to find Lord Nathan, but I had nothing else. Just the smell of blood and death on my clothes and more questions than answers.
“You always were too eager,” my father said at my back. I spun around, then glared at him.
“What are you doing here?”
He smirked. “Just reliving some memories. I remember the first time I brought you down here. You killed the rat before the fun could even start. There’s an art to torture.”
I gritted my teeth. Theodore DuPont was a ruthless bastard that made me the monster I am today. “He thinks Lord Nathan is working with someone.”
My father stepped out of the shadows and poised himself under a hanging light. His fierce expression made me frown. “Of course he is,” my father replied. “How else could he have gotten a bomb into the engagement party?”
It was an obvious answer. Someone high up was assisting Nathan. “That’s what I’m thinking too.”
“So who is he working with?” my father asked. “Did he tell you anything useful?”
I stared at my father. The question burned in my mind. Who would be smart enough to pull off something like this? The DuPonts were still at the top of the chain, but who would be stupid enough to take us on? “I don’t know,” I replied.
My father arched a brow. It bothered him when I didn’t have answers. “Do you know how the DuPonts came into power, Atticus?”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Of course I knew. He’d drilled our villain origin story into me a million times before. “Yes.”
