Page 112 of The Demon's Fire
Chay moved the handle another quarter.
“No. No,” Uwrick screamed. “Stop. My ankle.”
Kole nodded at Chay.
“Dermott found you outside the Yeti camp, and we stayed with you through every jump. When you were at Narobi Flats…” The warlock gulped so fast he couldn’t talk for a few seconds. “…he told me to cut off your signals. I did. When you hid from the harpies, we nearly drew their attention ourselves. Then, we thought the female might die before you got her to the Healing Pond.”
“You watched us there?” Kole snarled, not liking what the demons and warlock might have witnessed.
“My ankle needs attention.”
“Screw your ankle. Let it roll, ylve.” Kole snapped the order.
“Wait! We were close but couldn’t see you. We waited below Spriggan Enclave, following you when you left. We stood by when the gagans attacked you. We figured they would kill you, and the female would be an easy target. Mowart watched you climb toward the falls. Dermott told me to stay hidden while he and his males pursued you. I did. Until you caught me. There! That’s all I know. Please, let me go. I’m a businessman, selling my power. You understand.”
Brak inhaled, his chest impossibly bigger. “You’re an A-hole who’d do anything for a stack of gold. Of course, you wouldn’t get your hands dirty with blood. Leave those tasks to some other twonk.”
Kole nodded to Chay. “Keep going.”
The ylve turned it slowly.
Uwrick’s moans morphed into loud screams. “Stop. Stop. I don’t know any more than what I said.”
Chay paused.
“Keep it up,” Kole yelled over the mage’s frantic howling until a pop sounded. It was Uwrick’s wrist breaking.
“For your sake, I hope you know something else.” Kole assessed the injury before he signaled another turn of the handle.
“Wait! I overheard talk around the fire. Dermott said some guy named Cerberus was getting big bucks from a human called Dante. I don’t know if that’s who hired him. I don’t think he cared. He hated you. The female, too. His ego.” Uwrick began to weep, his last words caught in his slobbering wails. “That’s all I know. Please. My wrist. I think my shoulder’s dislocated, too.”
“Take him down and return him to his cell.” Kole’s boots clomped to another cage where a demon slumped, chin in hands, eyes cast to the floor. When the prisoner looked up, Kole released a feral growl. “Bring this one out. Strap him onto the rack.”
Two gaffers dragged out the hedon demon, blood dripping from a gash in his abdomen. His feet trailed through small puddles of it as they lugged him to the torture device. He shook his hands, trying to release his claws.
Your powers don’t work in here, fucktard,” Ram taunted. “You’re dead meat.” He cuffed one wrist to the top roller while a gaffer on the other side did the same. Then they lashed his ankles to the bottom roller. “You know the routine. We start cranking and you start snapping. I gotta tell ya. This will hurt you a lot more than it will me.”
“Start crankin’ it, fucking Firebrands. Think you’re hot shit. You ain’t nobody.”
“Oh, my feelings are hurt, demon.” Ram put a hand over his heart as he motioned for a gaffer to turn the wheel.
Kole watched, his fiery gold-red eyes cold embers.Pop. Pop. Bellow. Howl.Fear struck the demon’s crazed eyes like a bolt of lightning. Ear-piercing screams. Moans. More pops. The prisoner’s left shoulder separated. Ram motioned for the gaffer to turn the wheel the other way, releasing the pull a bit.
When Ram looked into the demon’s pupils, all he saw was pain, horror, and the knowledge of impending death. “Here’s the question, man, do you want it slow or quick?”
“Quick.” His words were a whisper, his previous bravado gone.
“Tell us who hired Dermott.”
“I don’t know anything about the gig.”
Kole’s boots thudded on the concrete as he powered up to the demon. “Let me at him. Have you heard of Arisen Dawn?” The commander studied the prisoner’s eyes, looking for awareness. One of the attackers at Skyler’s office had let the name pop. Kole hated puzzles.
The demon’s gaze turned cold. “Do what you’re gonna do. I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”
“Cerberus?” Kole threw out another zinger.
Despite one more crank of the wheel, the demon only glared at Kole. No information would spill from his lips.
