Lll
Seraphim made us wait until dusk to return to Cerys’ hideout. My thoughts lingered on Aethra. I’d left before she woke and hadn’t returned for an entire day.
If only we had more time. Maybe we could steal tomorrow, find a quiet inn room where we could be alone.
Letting the Cynthus siblings descend ahead of me, I crouched above the hidden hatch, keeping rapt watch for onlookers. Seeing nothing around us, I followed them down into the dark.
I needed to deal with Aeacus before I found Aethra. Such a dangerous captive couldn’t be allowed to live.
Seraphim lingered at the end of the narrow passage, watching me closely. I met her eye. “Could you find Eleos? Tell him to meet me in Aeacus’ chamber.”
“I’ll gather the others. Tell them the news,” she said, turning on her heel.
Drawing my blade, I wandered down the tunnels. Eleos would help extract any useful information that remained in Aeacus’ head. Then I would end his miserable life.
But how? Something slow and certain. A wound he could not heal, that he knew would prove fatal.
A fitting end that matched the fate he’d thrust upon Cassandra.
Resting a hand on the heavy doors keeping him imprisoned, I took a breath before pushing them open.
Aeacus was bound the only way one could hold a chthonic—fingers separated by rope, heavy gags preventing teeth from finding delicate flesh. He glowered at me with calm fury, raising his head to maintain his dignity.
“I wish I had months,” I said, running my finger along my dagger. “To make you live through the hell I did. But once we know everything you do, your life isn’t worth the risk.”
Footsteps echoed behind me, and Eleos slipped into the room. He glanced at me before pacing around Aeacus. “I take it you want me to control him?” He asked. “His walls are up now, and they aren’t easy to get around.”
“You frightened a hydra, El. I have faith in you.”
Smirking, Eleos resumed his pacing, eyes boring into the back of Aeacus’ head. Kneeling beside the commander, I pressed the tip of my dagger into the bottom of his chin and lifted the commander’s head.
“Do you think torture will help distract him?” I asked.
“It’s worth a try,” Eleos said.
My gaze fell to Aeacus’ side. He’d given me a terrible woundthere—it had left my most prominent scar.
Blood would give him a weapon. I’d start with broken bones. Flipping my dagger around, I slammed the hilt into his side.
A rib cracked, and he flinched. Whatever emotion he felt in that brief moment, Eleos took advantage of. Pressing a hand to Aeacus’ head, Eleos forced emotions on him.
What I saw surprised me. Aeacus averted his gaze and lowered his chin. The faintest glimmer ofguilthad allowed Eleos to tear apart his defenses. Aeacus looked at me like he might burst into tears—like he was ruined by what he’d done.
These emotions were fake, amplified. But I’d never thought Aeacus felt even the faintest stab of remorse over what he’d done to me.
I faltered briefly. Eleos closed his eyes and nodded. “I’ve got him.”
Lowering my blade, I balanced on my haunches. “Father thinks he can use Aethra to wage war on the Merchant Isles. Does he intend to leave the Acheron unguarded?”
Aeacus head twisted back and forth as Eleos gave him an order. “No,” he answered. “We believe they will come to us.”
“Why?”
“To take back the maiden and their precious little stone.”
Furrowing my brow, I glanced at Eleos.
“It’s possible,” he breathed. “If anything would drive the lords to breach our age-old law, it would be the pursuit of the Maiden’s Bloodstone and the final city.”
