I’d been so caught up in Maeve, that I’d been getting sloppy.Stupid.
I called upon my power, wielding an icicle the size of a pin to try and pick the lock, but it was so narrow that it melted almost instantly.
Next I tried the tip of my blade, wedging it into the opening, praying to Caius that I would hear the click of the lock's mechanism allowing me entry. When that didn't work, I froze the entire knob with my magic then hit it with the hilt of my dagger in the hopes that it would crack.
“What the fuck,” I cursed under my breath when I failed yet again. “Did they build this thing out of solid titanium?”
A throat cleared behind me, and my breath hitched in my chest.
“Yes. They did.”
You have got to be kidding me right now.
“And to think I thought you were bright,” Beaumont snarled as I turned to meet his arrogant smirk. “Love has turned you stupid, Sebastian.”
Tell me about it.
I did not let regret get the best of me. Sure, I should have thought this through more, but there was no point dwelling on that now.
I shut any thoughts of Maeve out, locking her away in my brain's own titanium vault. The silence allowed my entire focus to attend to the situation at hand.
“So, I guess you didn’t get mutilated by my father’s castle like I had hoped.” I fiddled with the blade of my dagger, passing it effortlessly between my fingers. “Shame.”
Beaumont chuckled, pulling his own six-inch blade free from somewhere under his robe. “Just as cocky as I remember. Let’s see if this changes that.” He shouted over his shoulder, “Bring him in!”
My back bumped against the door as two Draemornian soldiers came forward. They held Kohen by the shoulders, three more guards treading closely behind.
So much for not recognizing him.
“Let him go, you sadistic fuck,” I hissed, nostrils flaring.
“Since you asked so nicely.” Beaumont turned to his soldiers, granting his men a nod.
In a swift motion,oneof the men who restrained Kohen, released him. He marched for me instead. Before I could react, he had me in a head lock, squeezing my throat with his forearm.
“Not what I meant,” I gasped through gritted teeth, grasping at the man's arms to try and pull myself free. I would have managed to do so, but another soldier came to assist him, greatly limiting my range of motion.
“I wouldn’t struggle, if I were you. You’re going to want to preserve your energy for what I have planned for you,” Beaumont purred, stepping so close to my face that I could smell his breath. “Is it just the two of you? Or is my precious Maeve here with you?”
“Maeve is dead,” Kohen gurgled from behind, saliva flying from his lips as he struggled against the man holding him.
“Lying isn't going to get you anywhere. I know why you gentlemen are here. If she were really dead, you wouldn’t bother with little old me anymore.”
“How can you be so sure?” I growled, thrashing my body against the men confining me. “You didn't see her after the castle fell. She was hardly even breathing.”
“Was? Are you implying that sheisbreathing now?” Beaumont chuckled deeply, splaying a palm over his abdomen.“Watch your word choice, Hawthorne.”
Godsdamnit. Stupid.Sloppy and stupid.
“I am not implying anything.”
Completely ignoring me, Beaumont continued to ramble, his voice containing a grating ring to it that made me want to kill him even more. “You boys have a choice here. Are you ready to hear it?” He did not await an answer before instructing the guards to drag us into his study.
The click of the lock, that didn’t dare budge for me, taunted me before the door slammed behind us.
Beaumont sat in a plush, oversized chair behind his desk. My attention roamed his office while I had a brief moment, taking note of the numerous battle plans lining the walls, along with a crystalline bookcase stationed at the rear of the room. My eyes squinted to roam the display, reading various book titles to myself.
The Entire History of the Prilarean Empire.
