Page 95 of Hidden Kingdoms

“Stings a bit, doesn't it?”

I wasn’t sorry. Those disgusting hands had ruined the lives of more than enough children, and now he was here. He wouldn’t be leaving, so I was free to do as I liked. Not that there was anyone who could have stopped me, but it didn’t always have to end in death. I let some of them live.

Like one out of every ten. Or fifty…

“What do you know about people being sent into the palace impersonating guards?” I preferred to be direct when it came to my line of questioning, and while he was undisposed, I might as well ask.

“I haven’t done anything!” Blood had begun to pool at his knees.

“We’ve had you on our radar for a while now, and Blair literally caught you in the act, you fucking idiot. I know exactly what you’ve done. I’m asking about what else you know.”

“Please, I just hand them over. I don’t deal with anything else.” His face was turning a sickly shade of grey as snot bubbled out his nose. It was really fucking gross.

“And put your filthy hands over them in the process.” I looked at the pathetic creature in front of me in disgust.

We had been aware of the escalation in the skin trade, and while we allowed the whorehouses that dotted the towns, there was a strictno kidsrule that fuckers like him didn’t seem totake seriously. But they would. Blair had infiltrated more than a couple of the deals, her physique making her the perfect person to worm her way in and take the fuckers down.

She had a tendency to take them all out before they could be questioned, which was something I had tried to sway her from multiple times.

Sometimes she listened, sometimes not.

The Darkness’ raids had made everything ten times more complicated; we could never be sure if people had been taken by it or by the traffickers, who were profiting on the chaos it created. And considering The Darkness was most attracted to high levels of power, it was likely that most of the children who had gone missing were in their rotten hands.

Just the thought sent shadows streaming from my skin, filling the room with their overwhelming presence—a comfort for me but not so much for others.

The first time they had flooded from my fingers I had been overcome with fear, it had filled me up until there was little room for anything else as the magik poured from me. Its heady, euphoric weight adding to my terror. It was too much for my young body, too much for most adults, but I had beenhischosen one.

I could still hear my screams of agony as they sliced against every nerve ending, cutting me raw as the room filled in darkness. The phantom ring of his jubilant cries echoed through my head as his experiment finally worked. As my tormentor completed his first step into turning me into a monster.

A weak sob broke me from my memories, the room thick with so many shadows I could barely make out the snivelling creature in front of me.

They no longer hurt, or maybe I had got used to the pain.

Sometimes I wasn’t sure which one it was.

I looked at Blair, completely at home in the dark power that made up so much of who I was. Not even Bastian would be able to stick around in this much.

I wonder how Elodie would react. Would this be too much for her?

Could I show her the parts of me I had to keep hidden?

She barely knew anything about this world; I couldn’t show her this.

I couldn’t scare her more than she already was, the thought of looking into those wide eyes of her and seeing fear—fear directed at me—was too much to bear. Even in my imagination, and it pulled at some deep rooted need to protect her.

Did that mean I could never show her everything there was to me?

Would she care after the way I’d let her down?

More shadows slid from me with that realisation and Blair stepped closer, her presence grounding me enough that I could pull back until our vision of the wretch in front of us wasn’t completely obscured.

It was likely he didn’t know anything, but I needed this.

“Let’s see what I can get from you before Blair gets bored and takes over.” His muffled protests rise into a howl of agony that had my shadows singing as the dagger I tossed his way sank deep into the flesh of his bicep.

His screams would be enough to fill me—for now.

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