My jaw tightened. “Fucking find her.”
I flapped my wings, drifting into a cloud and snatching at nothing but vapor. The next one yielded a similar result.
Why the fuck didn’t I call for Ilae before I shot into the sky?
I’d left him to guard the other prisoners, so none could escape while the rest of us captured the real prizes. A growl caught in my chest as I returned to the male I’d left behind.
“We’ve got the other Seer and the heir to House Ilytharï. We’re not leaving without her too. Korona Iaoth will be furious if you don’t find her.”
The male blanched at the mention of my sister. “Yes, sir.”
Glaring at him, then the skies that hid the Seer, I snappedmy wings shut and dropped like a stone. The freefall spiked adrenaline in my veins, and I welcomed it. The rush. The fear.
None of the pressures placed upon me—duty, power, prestige—mattered as I careened to the earth. For a few seconds, I could feel fucking something.
There was no weakness allowed for me. Control was absolute, worshipped more than the creator of all life.
Mere feet above the ground I stretched the feathers out and slowed my descent, landing with a thud in the middle of Ithuriel’s courtyard. Bronze flashed in the sun as I approached his nephew.
I jerked the gag out of his mouth, then crouched so we were level with one another. “Who is she?”
Zuriel pressed his lips into a firm line, hate evident in his expression.
A menacing laugh slipped out of me. “I can force it, you know. I’d prefer not to break your mind, but I’m not above it.”
His wife screamed through the fabric between her teeth. She didn’t need words to convey that she definitely didn’t want him to tell me.
“Actually, I have a better idea,” I purred, rising. In two smooth strides, I gripped the female’s chin and hauled it up.
“Don’t you dare touch her,” Zuriel growled like he wasn’t my prey.
I didn’t deign to look at him. “So very pretty.” I brushed the back of my knuckle over her cheek. She trembled but refused to fight back, typical for these Elessarum pacifists. “I see why you gave up everything to have her, Zuriel.”
I wrapped my hand around her throat and squeezed. Her pulse fluttered weakly beneath my fingers. Zuriel tried to leap toward me, only to be restrained by two of my soldiers. “Stop!”
I didn’t take my gaze off the porcelain skin mottling. “Are you going to tell me who she is?”
A tear leaked out of the female’s eye as she struggled to claim another breath.
“You can’t kill her. Iaoth will be furious,” Zuriel spat, but the venom couldn’t hide his fear.
It was cute that he was hedging his bets on that.
“Not as furious as if I lose the icy-eyed one,” I replied, my words smooth as glass. “Besides, Iaoth only needs her to See. She doesn’t need fingers for that.” I released her throat and snatched her wrist. Metal clanked as I jerked her hands overhead, forcing her to fall into me for support. She choked around her gag and curled her fingers into her palms.
I tutted. “That’s not going to save them. How much pain have you suffered, Elessarum fool? My bet is none. Maybe some scratches and scrapes from fleeing us before. Now, you’re going to learn true pain.”
A scream tore loose in her throat as I wrenched a finger free. Zuriel shouted at me to stop. I ignored both of their protests andsnapped. The muscles in the female’s neck strained. Another drip of sorrow slipped down her cheek.
I felt nothing.
After all, this was who I had been trained to be.
I was just a tool for my sister to use at her pleasure.
“Are either of you ready to speak now?” I asked, finally looking at Zuriel again.
His expression was tormented, latched onto his wife. He was desperate, powerless, at my mercy.
