Page 17 of Her Dark Promise

I waved my hand over him. My shadows moved until it was directly underneath him. I bent down, touched his shoulder, and thought of the destination and my magic did the rest.

We were transported directly to the tower while my prisoner slept. Too bad he wasn’t going to be getting much sleep after today. I preferred the open environment of the tower because itwas completely vulnerable to the elements as I had smashed out the windows long ago when converting the space.

The stone heightened the temperature of the weather. When it was winter everything in the room would be unbearably cold to the touch. In the summer, the stone could get so hot that your core body temperature would rise so high that you would die from heat exhaustion. Sometimes I would see what would kill them faster; the weather or starvation.

I chained him up to the wall with his wrists above him.

I stood back waiting for him to wake, but he was out cold. I didn’t think I had given him enough powder to be out for more than a few minutes. I scanned my eyes down his body. His hair was curly and wild, draped over his face. I walked closer to him and raised his chin up so that I could see his face better. His forehead had creases as if he was in a constant state of stress. He looked tired.

His body on the other hand looked like it had been sculpted by the gods themselves. I knelt down and ran a single finger over the grooves of his arm, which was hard to the touch, and he wasn’t even tense. This was someone who could inflict an immeasurable amount of damage under the right circumstances.

A hunter… Just as I thought.

My core clenched together, seeing this male tied up against the wall… It did things to me. I would have to do this to Callum later. My thirst had yet to be quenched. I blinked a few times, coming back to my senses, and realized that I had leaned into him, my face dangerously close to his. I pushed from the ground and let out a shaky breath.

I was just about to rouse him with cold water when the boy started to wake, clearly dazed and confused as he was slowly coming to.

“Hello, you.”

He snapped his face to me. He didn’t say anything, but pulled on the chains, testing their strength and when they wouldn’t budge, he yelled, “What is this? Let me go right now or so help me when I get out of he—”

“You will what? Kill me?” I threw my head back and laughed. “You are my prisoner and you will answer my questions.”

“I told you already! I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He was pulling harder at the restraints, attempting to break free, the sweat gliding down his body. If he wasn’t in league with them, I would already be licking that trail of sweat. He was that handsome.

“I have already told you I would free you of your earthly bonds and kill you once you tell me how many more people are in your band of miscreants.”

“I have traveled here for no such purpose!”

“We will see about that.”

I walked to the wall and spun the wheel that slowly pulled on his chains until he was standing and then hanging from the ceiling while I informed him, “I killed your friends quickly. Don’t think that you will get the same luxury.”

He blasted a string of curses at me. He had such a colorful mouth and a rather large vocabulary for someone who conspired with urchins.

“I will let you down if you tell me the truth, hunter.”

“I have tried to tell you the truth, but you refused to listen.”

Surprisingly, he did not plead for his life. I walked over and strapped weights to his feet to stretch him as far as I could. He took the punishment as his arms strained to try and hold himself as still as possible to not tire himself out so quickly.

After a few rounds of this, he smirked, but weakly. “Is that all you got?”

My anger soared through my veins, and I knew that if I stayed here any longer, I would end up killing him before I got thenecessary information. He wasn’t broken enough to talk yet, but that would change very soon.

“I think a little alone time up here will do you some good.” I released the weights with a snap of my finger as I walked out and down the stairs to find Emilia outside the door. Without looking at her, I said, “That man is in league with the two from the other night. He doesn’t eat, and no one goes into that room until I say so.”

Before I turned from her, she raised a hand and I stopped, barely turning to look at her.

She signed,Callum has returned.

I walked into my chambers without calling for Callum because I needed a moment to think, and began to pace. I couldn’t sit still. If I didn’t find out fast, it could be too late, but if he wasn’t willing to talk, then a little isolation would do the trick. No one could last in the tower for long, especially being hung from the ceiling like that. I could use my magic and get into his mind, but it was too dangerous to do that while in my current state. I might kill him before he told me anything.

I needed to release my energy more than I ever had before. I snapped my fingers and a full glass of wine appeared. I drank it sloppily, some of it dripping down my chin. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, breathing hard, but it wasn’t enough. The rage was still boiling under my skin, I screamed and threw the glass across the room at the wall. The pieces shattered all over the ground. I needed more.

The sun had fully bid farewell as I yelled, the sound vibrating through the walls, “Callum! My chambers, now!” Even if I hadn’t yelled, I knew he would have heard me. He was never too far away.

It didn’t take him long until he entered. “Yes, your grace?”

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