Page 57 of Midnight Queen

I thought I was still angry but as I take in the contents of the glass cube in front of me, I realize that Silas is on a whole other level of angry. I’m not sure if we’re even playing the same game at this point.

“What is this?” I question even though I don’t suspect I’ll get an answer. Pulling my arm from Silas’s grip, I move closer to the box so I can see the full extent of what’s happening.

It’s like a car wreck and I’m unable to look away from it.

In slow, steady drops, blood drips from a nozzle in the ceiling, creating a small puddle in the middle of the glass cube. That’s not the concerning part. It’s the naked man crouched over, licking at the puddle like a man finding water in a desert oasis.

Without paying attention to what I’m doing, my hands reach out and press against the glass. The second my fingers make contact; Gideon’s head snaps up and his eyes pin me.

When Silas had found me at the warehouse, I thought Gideon’s mind was gone, but staring into those orbs now, I know it was only a precursor for what was to come. Wild and crazed looking doesn’t even begin to describe what I see in his gaze. It’s like looking into pure, unadulterated madness.

Any sign of the put together man that he may have once been is long gone.

When he stands up from the floor, his movements even look wrong. They aren’t fluid and graceful like a vampire’s should be. They’re jerky and clunky. Sluggish even.

Silas shifts to stand next to me and when I glance at him, there isn’t a sliver of remorse or feeling in his expression. In fact, his face is so devoid of all emotion that when he looks at me, he almost appears bored by all of it.

Without a word to me, he turns his attention back to Gideon. “You got your wish, Gideon. She’s here,” he coldly says. “Now tell me who your partner is.”

Gideon trips on his own feet and falls forward. His hands press against the glass right over where mine rest. On reflex, I rip them away from the cool surface.

“Quincey,” Gideon whimpers.. “You came. I knew you’d come.”

Swallowing hard, I nod my head. “I’m here,”And now I really wish I wasn’t. “Do as he said and tell us who’s behind the attacks, Gideon.” To my own amazement, my voice remains strong, calm even, despite that being the exact opposite of how I’m feeling.

His fingers shake on the glass, mimicking the way his bottom lip begins to quiver. “Make him give her back to me,” he pleads in a broken whisper. “He took her from me again. You’re the only person that can make him give her back.”

“He’s talking about Margret,” Silas adds, like he believes I could ever forget the name of the person all of this happened for. No, her name is engraved into my brain like a haunting memory.

“My Margret,” Gideon wails. “I can’t find her, Quincey. Please help me.”

I know what he is, and I know what he’s done. And IthoughtI knew how I wanted him to be punished for his crimes.

A week ago, seeing him in this state would have brought so much pleasure to the angry beast inside of me. It would have found joy in hearing Gideon yell for Margret the same way he wanted me to call for Silas.

I’m getting what I thought I wanted, and yet, it doesn’t make me feel how I thought it would. I don’t feel stronger seeing him weak, and I don’t feel happy seeing him sad.

As delusional as it makes me seem, all I feel is pity for the man who stands before me looking completely lost. I can feel compassion for him because while he still shares a name and resemblance with the monster who took me and killed Ira, he’s not the same. That man died when his mind broke.

“Okay,” I agree. “I’ll bring her back to you.”

Gideon’s body sags in relief. “I knew you would.”

I can feel Silas’s eyes on me and when he whispers my name in a harsh, almost inaudible warning, I ignore him. “What are you thinking? I don’t think dishonesty—” I hold my hand up, silencing him before he can say anything else.

“I know what I’m doing,” I snap at Silas, never looking away from the broken brown eyes behind the glass. “Gideon, I will bring Margret back to you, but first you have to tell me who you’re working with. The attacks are still happening. People are dying—children are dying.”

Gideon’s head cocks. “Children? Margret loves children. She would never hurt a child.”

“I believe you.”

Silas makes an unimpressed, scoff-like noise but refrains from commenting further.

“You do?” Gideon asks me, sounding doubtful. “He never believed me. He took her from me before I could prove Margret was still the same.”

I don’t know why Silas is still trying to bringreasoninto this conversation—there’s really no point. “Gideon, the Margret you knew died when you turned her. Her humanity died with her when her heart stopped. It doesn’t matter how much time I gave her; she was never going to be who she once was.”

Up until this point, we haven’t talked about why he killed Margret. Silas was too occupied with walking on eggshells around me and I was too wrapped up in my mixture of anger and grief to have such a conversation. And now that things are better between us and things are starting to feel normal, I think both of us are afraid of rocking the boat by bringing up the subject.

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