Page 53 of Rurik
Whatever can die is beautiful—more beautiful than a unicorn, who lives forever, and who is the most beautiful creature in the world. Do you understand me? ?Peter S. Beagle,The Last Unicorn
“All right, you fucking bastard, talk!”A rough hand shook Rurik in the chair he was tied to. Rurik could feel the tranquilizer leaving his system. If he could delay whatever torture they intended just a few minutes longer, he might be able to break his bonds andthen…
“You want me to talk?” he replied with a grin. “What shall we talk about? How about the cowardice of the Brotherhood? You seem well acquainted withit.”
The man who’d shaken him cocked a fist, but the door opened and a second man entered. This was the one Rurik recognized—Damien MacQueen. The younger man resembled him so much that he had to be Jason. Charlotte’sbrothers.
“Stand down,Jason.”
“Let me do this,” Jason insisted. “Just one littlepunch.”
“I would barely feel it.” Rurik chuckled, flexing his hands against the chair arms. “So you’re Charlotte’s infamousbrothers.”
“Infamous? Only to some.” Damien’s expression didn’t bode well, but he kept calm, whereas Jason looked ready toexplode.
“Guys, I don’t mean to interrupt,” a dark-haired man in the corner of the room said, “but he’ll be getting his strength back any minute now. Should we dope him upagain?”
“Not yet. I’ll handle this, Nicholas. Go check on my sister. Tamara’s given her something to help her sleep. Make sure she doesn’t have a bad reaction to the truth serum,” Damiensaid.
His words filled Rurik with rage. “You drugged your own sister?” he bellowed, jerking violently against the chair. “Where is she? I demand to see her. I want to know she’s allright.”
“Demand?” Damien laughed. “You don’t get to make demands here, Barinov.” He pulled out a syringe. The green liquid was something Rurik recognized all too well. “You know, all I wanted was to talk. Russia’s got a power vacuum right now. It’s a powder keg ready to explode, and you seem to be at the center of it. We tried to talk to you, but yourefused.”
Rurik snorted. “Talk? Sending your other agents to lure me into a trap? That is how youtalk?”
“We don’t exactly trust your kind to keep your temper,” Damien countered. “And the fact is, you have the advantage over us. So what if we took that advantageaway?”
“Don’t you fucking dare!” Rurik roared, his body starting to push past the sedative’seffects.
“Fuck, Damien. Look at his eyes,” Jason said. Damien saw swirls of bright gold starting to fill them. “The tranq’s wearingoff.”
Damien jabbed the needle into Rurik’s neck. The serum hit his blood instantly, burning through him. Whatever he had imagined it would feel like to suffer the effects of this drug, he couldn’t have imagined it would be like this. It was like his breath had been knocked from his body and someone had sapped all of his strength. It was like half of him was being torn away and locked into an impenetrablesafe.
Damien checked his watch. “We’ll let it take full effect, and then we’ll talk.” The brothers moved away from him, consulting quietly by thedoor.
A few moments ago, his enhanced hearing would have picked up everything they said, but now it was as though he had cotton in his ears. Everything sounded muffled, and the voices seemed tinny. Mortal hearing…and mortal sight. Fuck, he’d never known how good he’d had it as adragon.
The door opened, and a dark-haired woman whispered something to Damien. Whatever she said made Charlotte’s brothers look at him. Then Damien took out a vial, this one with a clearliquid.
“Now let’s see what truths we can get out ofyou.”
Rurik remembered Charlotte’s story about her brothers drugging her prom date. In a weird way, here he was facing the same fate. It was almost funny. Rurik tensed as the second needle plunged in. A low growl, horribly human sounding, escaped hislips.
Damien and Jason stared down at him, but Rurik had faced worse than them before. They didn’t scarehim.
“Did you use pheromones to seduceCharlotte?”
“What the fuck is it with you guys andpheromones?”
“But you seduced her,” Damienadded.
He tried to hold back what he knew would be a damning response, but it came out anyway. “I guess Idid.”
Jason backhanded him. “You piece ofshit!”
“Jason!” Damien caught his arm. “Do that again and I’ll have youremoved.”
Blood trickled down Rurik’s chin, and he licked his split lip. His chin and cheek on the left side throbbed. Normally it took a blow from another dragon before he felt pain likethis.
