A dry, humorless laugh escaped Sergei’s throat. “Why would I tell you that?”
“Because if you tell me everything you know, I might be more inclined to let you live.” Taevas bared his teeth in something that could only generously be called a smile. “You broke my wings. You drugged me and held me captive for weeks. And worst of all, you threatened my Chosen. Suffice it to say that I’m not feeling merciful.”
Whatever he expected, it wasn’t for a look of disgust to cross Sergei’s beaten face.
Sitting back as best he could with his hands cuffed behind his back, he hissed, “All I did was get the soldiers access to you. I didn’t touch your wings. I didn’t drug you. And I sure as fuck never threatened the nymph. I don’t hurt women. I wanted to protect her.”
“I remember you being where I was held,” Taevas shot back. He mockingly flicked his claws at his horns. “You’re a hard man to forget, Sergei. Even when drugged.”
Sergei grimaced and appeared to immediately regret it. Wincing, he dabbed at his split lip with his tongue. “I was called in when shit hit the fan. When I got there, you were already fuckedup because the soldiers had no idea how to handle you. My only job was to move you.”
Whether Taevas believed him or not wasn’t important. They were on the right track.
“Who gave you that job?”
Sergei’s expression shut down. “I can’t tell you that.”
“Why not?”
“Because Ican’t.”
Trying to rein in his temper, Taevas calmly informed him, “You understand that this is bigger than either of us, right? You didn’t just kidnap the Isand. You are also the only known, uncompromised informant to what looks like an attempt to killevery leaderof the UTA — including the elf standing outside this door. If you don’t start talking, I’m not the only one you’ll answer to.”
Sergei said nothing.
Taevas scrubbed his palm across his mouth. He didn’t want to be there talking to Sergei. He wanted to be back with his Chosen, beginning their lives together. He wanted to hear more about their wedding and fuck her in the nestproperlythis time.
He wanted Alashiya, plain and simple.
The smooth skin of his scar tickled his lips as he tried to get a hold on his impatience. Closing his eyes, he sucked in a deep breath.
Why would he do this?
He wracked his mind, looking for a reason someone like Sergei would do something as extreme and risky as helping kidnaphim.If it wasn’t his idea, then it really wasn’t for revenge. And if it wasn’t for revenge, then what else was there?
His gut told him that if he found that reason, he’d be able to crack Sergei and get the information they all so desperately wanted.
The echo of Alashiya’s heart was a soothing beat in his chest as he glanced at his palm. The silver line stared up at him, foreign and familiar and perfect. She stood there beside him, her hand onhis shoulder, even when she was high in the sky above him, having tea with Margot Goode. Safe. Content. His.
What could motivate a man like him to do something so… desperate?
His fingers curled into a fist.
Meeting Sergei’s impenetrable gaze, he asked, “It’s your family, isn’t it? Not Jaak. Yourrealfamily.”
The color drained out of the dragon’s face, leaving it a chalky blue. He didn’t reply, but there was a nearly visible crack in his composure as he held Taevas’s stare.
Scenting blood, Taevas stretched his memory back, searching for anything that might be relevant, any shred of a clue that might help them unwind the mystery Sergei seemed determined to die protecting.
A distant memory, so vague he wasn’t entirely certain he hadn’t made it up, tickled the back of his mind.
“You know,” he began, speaking slowly, “I used to get reports every year on Jaak’s offspring and former partners. My uncle thought it was best to keep track of you, just in case you ever decided to act out. I’ll be honest — I skimmed them for the last couple decades. But I remember one of them. There was a rumor that Enel Luik took a religious path and joined a temple.”
He stared hard at Sergei’s frozen face as he continued in a soft, sure voice. “I only noted it because I thought it was interesting. A dragon in Glory’s Temple? You don’t see that every day, do you?”
Sergei’s expression didn’t change, but his breathing picked up. Air whistled through his broken nose with every deep pull.
“I never thought of her again,” Taevas continued, ruthless. “I figured a woman who went into religious life had found peace and should be left alone, especially after what she’d been through. I had no idea she had a son.”
