“Who exercises the horses at night?” Pia questioned, a single red brow arched.
“Me when I can’t sleep,” Kade grumbled. It was then that I noted the dark shadows under his normally luminous eyes.
“What's wrong, Lyrise? Nightmares?” Sebastian teased with a mocking pouty lip.
Before Kade could fight back, Sawyer shot into the room, panting like he had run miles to get here. He froze when he saw our captive. “The fuck?”
“We have a guest,” Kade muttered sharply. “Unwelcome, of course, but a guest all the same.”
Sawyer stepped forward, tearing his dagger out of its sheath. “So are we killing him or what?”
“We’refor surekilling him, but let's see what we can get out of him first,” Kade answered.
Our captive’s eyes flatlined with terror at the confirmation of his impending death. “I’m no use to you dead,” he growled, flexing and wriggling his ankles, though the attempt only moved the chair a few inches.
“You’re not really of any use to us either way if I’m being honest,” Sebastian bluffed, knowing the claim wasn’t entirely true nor false.
Kohen looked towards me, his face much too serious for how tipsy I still was, despite having gotten some sleep. “Are you okay to interrogate the bastard? We can always hold him here until the morning if you aren’t.”
“Why wouldn’t she be okay?” Sawyer asked, his voice conveying some form of worry. I could feel his gaze examining me, but refused to look in his direction to confirm.
“Wine,” Pia said simply, giving Sawyer a knowing look that made his jaw audibly clamp shut.
Gods.Everyone in this room knew too much about my personal life, and that included the prick in Draemornian garb thrashing before us.
“I’m fine,” I garbled while choking down the booze that bubbled into my throat. What good was waiting, anyway? I’d likely just have a throbbing headache in the morning—I could feel it inching its way into my brain already.
Ignoring my lack of reason, I got right to work, trying to disregard my mind-stuffing conversations with Sebastian, Sawyer,andPia by focusing on the compact area of peace left in my brain.
I turned to the Draemornian, whose bald head dripped sweat from his failing escape attempts. “Tell me, did you come here alone?” I compelled the man, my gemstones twitching with the release of my magic.
His eyes fell dark as he confessed with terrorized shock displayed on his skin, making it blatantly obvious that he was stunned with his own willingness to disclose the information. “No. There was someone with me, but he fled when I got caught.”
I turned to my friends, sharing a look of understanding with Kohen, who gave me a slight nod before spinning on his heel and leaving us to search for the escapee. If anyone was going to find this asshole's accomplice, it was Kohen.
Shutting out a sudden wave of dizziness, I placed my attention back on my interrogation and carried on, the questions spilling out of me without pause. “Tell me if anyone else knows of this location besides the two of you.”
“Not yet, but they will soon when my partner returns to King Beaumont,” my victim replied through his caged teeth as he tried everything in his power to fight my order.
“Tell me how you found us,” I pressed, stepping closer to the man.
“I caught your friend leaving my king’s study. She showed me the way to you.”
My head jolted back in response to my devastation.Leighton?She wouldn’t have done that…Why would she do that?
Turning back to my friends again, this time I received a nod of comprehension from Sawyer, who left as quickly as he came to make haste searching for the traitor.
Revolving back towards my victim, I rattled off another question with the insuperable pressure of my power. “Tell me anything and everything that I might find useful before we kill you,” I spat, my anger sneaking through my words. “Don’t leave anything out.”
I didn’t know if the generality of my demand would get anything out of him, but the Draemornian instantly began sputtering damn near priceless information.
“King Beaumont’s army is getting ready, and once he discovers where you are, he will come for you. He will kill every single one of your friends and burn this land down just like he did to Caelestis. And once you are in his arms, he will make you unstoppable.”
My magic wavered, along with my footing, the wine in my blood concocting with my magic and making me lightheaded. Sebastian steadied me, holding me upright by the arm. My command slipped, releasing my target from his own admissions, evident by the sealant of his lips.
“You don’t have to keep going,” Sebastian whispered to me, splaying his empty palm on my lower spine.
“I’m fine.” I brushed him off, pointing my glare at the Draemornian. “Tell me what Beaumont is doing with the Hykahs.”
