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I inhaled hard, that savage part of my nature rising to the surface. “Now, is that anyway for a priest to talk?”
He unleashed a roar, throwing himself forward, until I grabbed hold of his hair and yanked him back. “YOU WILL TELL ME WHERE HALE IS!”
I jerked my gaze up to his brother, lifted the gun, took aim, and squeezed the trigger.
Crack!
Screams erupted. Piercing screams that echoed in the space. Blood bloomed in his thigh in the exact place I wanted it. Maximum pain. Minimum damage. All nerves and flesh. Still, it had the impact I wanted.
Riven’s eyes widened. There was a flicker of fear as I pressed the gun to his brother’s temple. Don’t fucking test me.
Riven shook his head. The panic was all too real now as he bellowed. “I don’t fucking know!”
“Lie.”
He stared at the muzzle pressed against his brother’s temple as The Priest’s howls died to low, guttural moans. “It’s the truth,” he spat. “I don’t fucking know! All I heard was what was on the goddamn news. No one has contacted me. No one has told me a goddamn thing!”
Bullshit.
He was lying. He had to be. There was no fucking way Hale was lying on that stainless steel table in the city morgue. He couldn’t be. Because this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
“And how do I know you’re telling me the truth?”
Riven reached up, raking his fingers through his hair as he wrenched his gaze to where Helene King stood. The Priest’s moans quietened to brutal gasps for air as he tried to ride the waves of pain. But Riven’s focus was fixed on that spot in the darkness. He couldn’t see her, nor could he sense her. Still, his brow furrowed like he felt something.
“Because I’m just as fucking desperate as you are,” he finally answered, swiveling that chilling stare back to me. “You think you’re the only one who has blood at stake here?”
He shifted his focus to his brother.
The Priest shook his head. “No, Riven. Don’t...”
“You think you’re the only one who has everything on the fucking line?”
I’d never seen Riven desperate, not as The Principal, or as Hale’s fucking lapdog.
“Then we both want the same.” I yanked the Priest’s head back and drove the hot muzzle against his temple. “And now you understand the implications if you betray me.”
There was a flinch before that stony stare met mine.
“I want Hale,” I urged, lowering my gun. One brutal shove and The Priest stumbled forward. “And I want him now.”
Riven never moved when his brother hit the filthy floor at his feet. Just held my stare. “The moment I find out something, you’ll be the first to know.”
“I’d better be,” I answered, finding the hateful glare of The Priest as he swung his gaze to me. “Because the next time I come for you…I won’t be seeking a negotiation. Just revenge. Always revenge.”
The corner of my lips twitched, curling as Riven bent down, grabbed his brother by the arm, and dragged him upwards. He glanced to that darkened spot where the third King daughter lingered before he heaved The Priest with him as he headed for the door.
I waited until they were gone, and Percy and his men moved in, closing the door.
“Any casualties?”
“One,” Percy answered. “Took him out before we even saw the bastard. He’s dangerous, London. He’s real fucking dangerous.”
“Aren’t we all?” I answered, swinging my gaze toward the movement as Helene King stepped from the shadows. “Want to tell me what the hell is going on?”
She just gave a shrug as she glanced at the door. “Let’s just say I’ve been preemptive.”
“What the fuck?” I whispered as the pieces fell into place. “You know him?”
