Page 228 of Cursed Evermore
I needed information from this guy. He was perhaps the most valuable prisoner we'd taken. Intel from him could give us intelligence of plans the other rebels might not have known. That was if he talked, and how long it would take to break him.
I didn't have the patience for the aggravating as fuck silent interrogation I'd had with the other rebels. Especially since this bastard had cost me my night with Elariya. This time would be different.
“Marcus.” I said his name in a low, deadly calm tone. “Here's how this is going to work. You're going to tell me everything. Who you're working for. How long you've been feeding them information. And what their plans are.”
“I will tell you nothing.” He coughed.
“No? Nothing at all?”
“No. I don't know any?—”
The rapid transformation of my face into Death's skeletal features and hollowed eyes silenced his denial.
Marcus' skin drained of color beneath his bruises, and his eyes protruded like they might burst from their sockets. The fear in the air instantly reeked. I could almost touch it. In this form, my senses were a million times stronger than the average Fae's.I was also far more unhinged and wouldn't give him a chance to screw with me.
“Don't fuck with me, Marcus. You knowsomething.” My voice dropped to a guttural rasp that scraped against my throat. I pointed a skeletal finger at him and smiled. I must have looked horrific, like a nightmare taking form.
I leaned down until we were at eye level, close enough that he could see the promise of pain in my gaze. Close enough that he could smell the violence radiating off me like heat from a forge. “Now, tell me what you know, or I'll kill you here. Start with what you were doing at Thornwick Pass.”
“Yes, my Lord.” The formality was laughable; so was his willingness to talk. “They needed me to get them supplies. Food and ammo.”
“What do they want with the herbs?”
“I don't know. I just picked it up from the drop-off point. I don't even know who left it there. My instructions were sent by a raven.”
“Where is the camp?”
“Kyphuus.”
Kyphuus.There'd been nothing there when last we checked. Just a village of humble Fae farmers. I narrowed my eyes and looked from Alaric to Bastian.
“Where exactly is this camp in Kyphuus?”
“I've never been there before, but it's in the Marstin Woods.”
“That can't be right.” Alaric shook his head and glared at Marcus. “I was there a few hours ago with my entire unit. We saw nothing.”
“They have a camp there for certain,” Marcus insisted. “I was given a stoneport compass to find it. There's been talk of this camp for at least six months.”
I gave him a steely stare. “At least six months, traitor? What else aren't you telling me?”
My shadows reached for him like fingers, swarming around his face.
Marcus panted, eyes widening like they were silently screaming. “That's everything, my Lord. I swear to it. It's the truth.”
“Truth? What made you betray your oath to the City Guard? What made you betray your oath to thekingdom? You've kept information from your superiors for at least six fucking months. The recent murders are your fault.”
“No, no. I swear I had nothing to do with that. Please, you have to believe me.”
I backhanded him so hard the chair shook. “I don't have to believe a godsdamned thing.”
He coughed blood and gasped for air as more blood spattered from his nose. “Someone else in the City Guard was responsible for that. Not me. We don't know which of us is working for them. That's how they keep things secret.”
I glared at him through my dark eyes, and somehow, I knew he was telling the truth. There were more of them—more traitors.That explained a lot but saddened me. “Pray tell. What turnedyou?”
He hung his head for a moment. When he met my gaze again, his eyes were filled with tears. “My baby...” He paused. “She became afflicted with the slivershade blight.”
The words sank their claws into my ribs and twisted. Ice flooded my veins, hollowing out my chest and settling deep, where old wounds never fully healed.
