When she didn’t answer, Alistair continued his torture. Mazur’s scream echoed through the cells around us.
It’s gruesome to watch, Oberi remarked apprehensively.Alistair’s making her scratch her own face raw with her nails.
Ghosts wailed above our heads. To be honest, it sounded like they were cheering. This had to be the most entertainment they’d had in over a century.
I couldn’t say I didn’t getsomesort of satisfaction witnessing Mazur’s torture. It was sick, really, standing there listening without reallywantingto intercede. Mazur had been horrible to all of my friends. She’d bullied me about my disability, and she’d shamed and manipulated countless students into joining The Mission. She’d played a hand in the experiments the Warden had conducted in the Infernal Underground, and she’d helped to send the Elves to the concentration camps. She deserved the torture Alistair inflicted upon her.
My only protest was my friend had to be the one to administer it. I didn’t want this coming back to bite him in the ass one day.
“If you don’t want to tell us about the Elves, tell us what the Warden knows aboutThe Assassin’s Destiny,” Alistair growled. “What does he know about the keys?”
“Why don’t you ask him?” Mazur said through ragged breaths.
“I’m getting real fed up with your attitude,” Alistair said. “Looks like we’ll have to kick it up a notch.”
Mazur began crawling across the floor against her will. Disgust twinged through the bond, and I knew she must be dragging her body through her own blood and puke.
Mazur reached the nearest cell, and the metal sang softly as she pulled herself up. Then came three loudclangsthat echoed all throughout death row. The crack of her skull filled the air. Alistair had forced Mazur to smash her head into the bars over and over again.
“Stop!” Mazur screamed in agony, before I heard her slump to the floor. “I’ll tell you what I know!”
“That’s better,” Alistair seethed. “Might as well get talking.”
Mazur took a rattling breath. “From what I’ve heard of the ship, it sailed to Darke Island, and was never seen again. That’s all I know.”
“You’re going to have to give us more than that,” Alistair insisted.
The cell door rattled, like she was getting ready to slam her face into the bars all over again. Mazur let out a pained whimper. “The ship went down in the waters around Darke Island, and the crew drowned at sea. The only survivors were a merman named Dante Winselt and his mate, a fae sorceress named Duchess Amalie. Dante was kept prisoner here, while Amalie was sent back to Malovia—”
“We know all this,” Alistair growled. “If you’re not going to be useful, you can go to hell right now.”
“I— I don’t know anything else,” Mazur stammered. “All I know is the Warden has searched the south side of the island and found nothing.”
“Is that all?” Alistair demanded.
Mazur gave a wheezing breath.
“Where else has he searched!?” Alistair screamed.
Mazur gave a choked cry, like Alistair had put her hand over her throat and squeezed. “The west and east sides as well,” she rasped.
“Very good,” Alistair said proudly. He must’ve released her, because she took a greedy gulp of air. “Play your part, and I’ll stop torturing you. That’s how this works, you see? So if the Warden’s searched everywhere else, that means the ship wrecked off the north shore of the island.”
Mazur gave a wild laugh. “What are you going to do? Go looking for it? If you want to narrow down the location, there’s only one way to get your hands on the Warden’s records, and that’s to go down to Cellblock 9 yourself. EvenI’mnot privy to all the information the Warden has gathered. Search the records in Cellblock 9 all you want, but we all know no one makes it out alive. You’ll never find that shipwreck unless you get out of the Institute, and the only way you’re leaving this place is a body bag.”
“Funny you should bring that up, because I was thinking the same about you if you don’t tell me where Eddie is,” Alistair threatened. “You told us about the ship. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now tell us about the Elves!”
“I know nothing about the Elves—”
Mazur was cut off as the heavy clangs started up again. Alistair forced Mazur to bash her head into the cell bars. This time, she didn’t cave, so Alistair went for another method. Mazur smashed her fist into the wall, until a broken bit of concrete clattered to the floor.
Oberi cringed.He’s making her slice the skin on her arm with the sharp edge of concrete.
“Alistair, stop!” Ava insisted. “She’s going to bleed out.”
“Not until she tells us where Eddie is!” Alistair shot back.
She’s going for the eye!Oberi barked loudly.
