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He watched the way the Fae paled, seconds before a wall was put up and Merrell was shaking his head.
“I didn’t do anything—”
“Wrong answer. There should be confusion first, not an instant denial. Now, let’s try again. Nikolai, come join us. And feel free to tell us the names of the others involved.”
The denial came in spades, then spiraled into howls when the interrogation equipment glowed and did its thing. He knew Bronco hovered somewhere outside, but the door remained closed and no sounds filtered outside the room. Within minutes, he had a blabbering Nikolai in his hands and Merrell snarled at the man to shut up.
“We were just having fun and didn’t mean any harm at first. He was very playful and tiny, but he bit Merrell when Merrell tried to rip out his wings. Merrell asked me to hold him down and hit him hard. I joined in…but I swear I stopped after one hit! He was too frail and didn’t look like he could take more. We were just joking around.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up, you—”
“Who else is involved in hurting Yu, Merrell?” Rick asked, redirecting the attention.
Merrell gritted his teeth and struggled against his bonds, but the glow curled around him until his eyes glazed. His answer felt distant when he finally spat it out.
“Me. Nikolai, too, but mostly me. The others watched. Only Paola asked us to stop, but she’s always been a weakling for you.”
Rick glanced at Paola, whose head was slightly turned away as if she didn’t want to see what was happening.
“Paola, come here.”
He released her with a flick and waited until she willingly stepped forward, albeit quivering along the way. Unlike his deadpan, abrupt interaction with the two men, he was gentle when he sat her down, redirected the glow on her, and whispered in her ear.
“Did you spike my drink at least once in your life?”
The shaking of her head was prompt, along with the one-word response as soon as her eyes glazed.
“No.”
“Are you aware of an attempt on my life recently?”
Another shake of the head, another no. Satisfied, he let her leave the room, confident that Bronco would take care of the rest. Then he called the others on the wall and waited patiently until they approached him, not needing to be dragged. When their answers satisfied him, too, he waved them off until only the two original parties remained.
“Why are you whispering to them?” Nikolai asked nervously. “They had nothing to do with Yu. Are we being cut off from the circle? Is this our punishment for what we did to him?”
Casually, Rick leaned in to whisper the questions to the Fae, too, and felt an odd sense of relief when the man’s answers were similar to his other friends. But he still didn’t let the man off easy.
“You can go, but you may not leave the court until I call on you again. Consider this a test of our friendship if you still want to be on good terms with me.”
Nikolai looked scared of the trap somewhere in that statement, but he nodded and hurriedly left. Rick finally turned his full attention to the last Fae strapped in.
“We’re not your enemies and not prisoners of the court,” Merrell declared indignantly. “You can’t just interrogate us like this. It’s against—”
“Did you spike my drink?”
There was a short, visible battle of wills, then, “Yes.”
His heart ached, but Rick pushed on. “Did you know about the attempt on my life?”
Another yes, another crash and burn of hope—especially because a part of him had still wondered if it had just been a prank gone wrong. Rick struggled with the truth laid out to him. But like an avalanche, he couldn’t stop.
“Were you in on the attempt to my life, hence the drink spiking?”
“Yes.”
“How many others are involved?”
“Me, a magic user, and your enemy.”
