Page 4 of Blood So Brutal

Even if she fucking hated me.

“Did you enjoy your visit with our prisoner?” My father’s voice cascaded through the room the moment the door shut behind me.

I huffed a breath. “She won’t be willing to give us the information we need if you keep treating her like that.”

My father sat at the head of the massive table in the center of the room. My older brother, Jessiah, sat to the right of him, across the table from Luseyar, who still couldn’t look me in the eye since the day he severed my wings.

Cowardly bastard.

“You’re right.Youcould simply tell us what she knows.”

I sauntered to the table and pulled out the seat beside my brother. Pain shot through my back as I sat down, my still-healing wounds pressing against the wood. Fighting my own healing magic was more difficult than it sounded. I didn’t need my father knowing about my gift, I didn’t need to give him another reason to use me as his own personal weapon. Instead, my body healed at a torturous pace, leaving me in agony for the last week. “I already told you—I don’t know any more than the rest of you. It won’t matter what I say. She no longer trusts me.”

“Even after you lost your wings?” My father eyed me with a hand stroking his chin. He didn’t seem the least bit guilty, but Luseyar shivered. He had no problem cutting my wings off after Huntyr refused to give him what he wanted.

But how could she? Huntyr was right. She had no idea what ran through her veins. She didn’t even know she was a vampyre until recently, when we dropped that new information and left her to deal with the aftermath.

Yet she was down in that cell, being tortured by her own thoughts every single night.

My brother was the one who spoke next. “Did you really believe that was necessary?” he asked our father. “You already turned his wings black, and now you cut them off completely?” His own wings were so white, they almost glistened under the sunlight filtering in through the window.

My wings used to glisten the same way, used to reflect any light on their white feathers. But that was before my father made the sacrifice to Era, Goddess of Vaehatis. That was before shegripped my soul in her wicked hands and turned me into this, this half-undead being of impure power.

But I missed the way my black, wicked wings trailed my every movement. Even as a fallen angel, I still had the company of them. A piece of me was sliced away with them, a piece of my soul now hollowed.

“Do not question my motives, Jessiah,” our father answered. “Wolf made a great sacrifice for our plan here in The Golden City. With his wings gone, he has a better chance at regaining her trust.”

“Why does it matter, anyway?” I asked. “We have her here; why does she need to trust me at all?”

“You’re not seeing the big picture, son.” His temper flared, the glowing magic surrounding his archangel form simmering in anger. “She is the heir to Scarlata Empire. She holds more power than any fae or vampyre alive. With her on our side, we can conquer all kingdoms. We would holdallpower.”

“And if she’s not on our side?” I asked. “What then? You force her to use her power—power we don’t even know she has?”

My father eyed me, and Jessiah shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Oh, she has power. I can feel it in the air. I know you can, too—we all sense it.”

My stomach dropped. I knew Huntyr had power—I felt it, tasted it—but he cut my damn wings off to get that information from us.

And still, he knew nothing.

“She’ll be a fully matured vampyre soon,” Jessiah interrupted. “Perhaps her power will develop more then.”

My father’s energy seemed to settle. Jessiah was always good at that, good at ensuring Asmodeus didn’t explode and kill us all. He was our father, yes, but I seldom forgot the power the archangels held.

I was nothing compared to him. I stood no chance, which was why I needed to be smart about this. If he knew the power Huntyr held, if he knew we bonded, that I could practically feel it pumping through her veins…

No. He couldn’t find out, not when he was planning on using it to conquer.

“That’s enough for now,” Asmodeus dismissed, pushing himself up from the head of the table. “The hungry ones are attacking the south wall again. Keep your eyes on the girl, both of you. If her power holds true, she could be the one to end this damn madness once and for all.”

“Yes, Father,” Jessiah dismissed, bowing his head. Hells. I didn’t have enough patience to give our father a proper dismissal. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from pissing him off even further as he stormed out, Luseyar following behind him like a lost animal.

The massive doors slammed shut again, leaving me and Jessiah sitting in his wake.

“Are you a fucking idiot?” Jessiah hissed. “He’s going to learn the truth, and soon. You don’t have time to keep lying about this.”

I pushed myself up from the table too, groaning at the dull pain radiating down my back. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Two seconds later, Jessiah shoved me into the stone wall, pressing a hand against my throat.Fuck, my back.I struggled against him, but the pain threatened to drag me to my knees. “What the fuck is this?” I seethed. “Get your hands off me!”

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