Anger simmers inside me, cooling only a little when Dahlia lifts my hand to her lips. “We’ll bring your sister home,” she mutters. “I promise. Whatever happens next, we’ll find her.”
I nod, kissing her hand before she steps back to join her own sisters.
The foul-smelling lord is dragged out by his handcuffed wrists and thrown at my boots. Apparently, he was in the banquet hall when my soldiers stormed the castle and he had the genius idea to run into the kitchens and hide in the compost bin. Unfortunately for him, the bin had not been emptied all week, and he would’ve drowned in potato peels had my soldiers not found him and hauled him out.
I grimace as he lifts his food-stained head to meet my gaze.
“Tauren,” he grits out, voice dripping in sarcasm. “How nice it is to see you.”
I get right to it. “Where is Maeve?”
“Maeve…” His gaze softens. “Maeve is… she’s busy.”
“Where is she?” I snarl. “I’ve waited fifteen fucking years, Elheart. Do not waste any more of my time with pointless games. Tell me where she is or I will make you wish that I’d killed you the night you stole her from us.”
His lower lip trembles. I can’t understand how my sister ever saw anything other than weakness in this man. “I-I don’t know where she is,” he stammers. “She left me.”
“You must know something. How long ago did she leave? Did she leave any clues as to where she might’ve gone?”
“No.” He swallows. “She just left.”
Another voice cuts through my anger. “He’s lying.” I turn to see Amaryllis drifting towards us, watching him carefully. “He knows where she is. She’s not ‘busy’.”
I glance over at Kasimir, who’s smirking proudly. I now see why everyone in his assassin’s guild is terrified of her.
“Thank you,” I whisper to her, gesturing for her to stay while I keep interrogating him. “You heard her.” I kick him in the stomach.
He doubles over, groaning.
“Tell me where my sister is.”
“I-I’m not lying,” he wheezes.
“Another lie.” Amaryllis checks her nails.
I kick him hard enough to make blood bubble up from his throat before gripping his stinking shirt. “You better start speaking the fucking truth, Elheart, or my next kick will kill you.”
“You’ll kill me anyway,” he groans. “So what’s the point?”
I drop him, letting him land in a heap on the floor. Lowering myself, I speak in a lethal tone. “If you do not start talking, I will make you wish I would kill you. My castle dungeon is full of torture devices, and I will not hesitate to have them shipped over so I can torture you right here. Do you understand me?”
Nodding, he pushes himself up until his eyes are inches from mine. Cold, blue, empty, and?—
My brows dip. “Someone ate your soul.”
Elheart stills. “I could tell you who, but you’ll just beat me again for lying to you.”
“Try me.” My gaze flicks between Amaryllis and him.
“Maeve did.” He grimaces.
Rolling my eyes, I go to kick him again?—
“He’s telling the truth.” Amaryllis’s voice makes me freeze.
“What?” I snarl at her.
“He’s telling the truth,” she repeats.
