The questions went on and on and the better part of an hour had passed before Lord Stryker’s interrogation finally ended. He knew everything about my power now.
I bit my bottom lip in annoyance and frustration and the lord’s gaze dipped down to my mouth before immediately popping back up.
Interesting.
Maybe my seduction plan had some merit after all? But his next words caused those ideas to flee from my mind completely.
“So you are a manipulator then.” It was a statement, not a question. He snorted a humorless half-laugh. “I wouldn’t have expected any less from a deceitful Faerie witch.”
I kept my mouth shut as heat rose to my cheeks.
I wanted to disagree, but he was right. Not about being deceitful, but my magic was about manipulation, and it was something I’d always felt a degree of shame about. It was a large reason I was always so careful about using it, at least up until recently. In the last couple of weeks I’d used my magic more than I had in the previous nineteen years of my life combined.
“I’ve answered all your questions, now it’s my turn,” I said.
He chuckled, but the sound held no humor. “You are not in a position to make demands. I don’t answer to Faerie filth.”
The insult would have stung if I cared at all about what he thought of me.
“What did you do to Princess Dawn?” I demanded anyway.
His upper lip peeled back from his teeth and he growled, “Not nearly as much as I would have liked.”
Horrible images of Dawn being tortured flew through my mind. The man was truly a monstrous beast.
“You killed her, didn’t you? Tell me where her body is.” If I made it back to Faerie, I wanted to be able to tell her mother what had become of her and that her daughter was laid to rest properly. Dawn deserved that much.
“Killed her?” Lord Stryker’s dark eyebrows shot up. “Well, I suppose it would be a comfort to you to think that.”
“A comfort?” I said, disgusted. “How could it ever be a comfort to know that one of our princesses had been brutally murdered?”
“Because the truth is far more disturbing than whatever nonsense you’ve convinced yourself happened to the little witch.”
“What are you saying?” I asked, confused. Was he trying to tell me that Dawn wasn’t actually dead, or just that he hadn’t been the one to kill her? It was clear that he’d crossed paths with her. He said he hadn’t done as much to her as he’d have liked. Could she still be here in his dungeon, alive, but unable to complete her mission, like I was?
A kernel of hope sparked in my chest.
If she was here, perhaps I could rescue her. Then after I figured out a way to get back my dagger and kill this villain, we could both return to Faerie.
“Where is she? What happened to Princess Dawn?” I growled.
A smug smile lifted the corners of Lord Stryker’s lush mouth, softening his face. Something pulled tight low in my gut and I hated myself a little for my body’s reaction.
“Oh, I will tell you what happened to your Faerie princess,” Lord Stryker said, “not because you demand it from me. But because I want to see your face when you learn the truth.”
My brows bunched in confusion.
“Your Princess Dawn is not dead,” he said, and my heart leapt for joy. “But she is no longerPrincessDawn, but ratherLadyDawn.”
“Lady Dawn?” I still wasn’t following.
“Yes.LadyDawn of the Northern Kingdom, to be exact. She is living in luxury, married to my brother, the Ethereum Northern lord, and ruling by his side. She has abandoned your world.”
My whole body went still with shock. I was struck speechless.
“No.” I shook my head. “You lie. There’sno wayPrincess Dawn would have betrayed her court and all of Faerie like that.”
But the haughty look on his face made me nervous. It didn’t look like he was lying.
