I wanted nothing more than to strangle him senseless and remove any thoughts of her bare body from his twisted mind, but I held on to my composure.
“You were a lucky man, Mr. Hawthorne.” Bitchmont waved a finger in my face. “I can't wait to have my way with her body once she's here. She may be reluctant at first, but it won't be long before she can’t even remember how to scream your name—she’ll be much too busy with my cock stuffed between her lips.”
“Shut the fuck up!” I roared with a complete snap in my equanimity. The audacity of the prick to talk aboutmy girlin that manner—I would fuckingmutilatehis body the second I got the chance.
“Struck a nerve, did I?”
Every ounce of my control went into controlling my breathing. If heeverlaid a finger on her…
“Calm down. I said you’d get to have her once more before she’s mine, and I am a man of my word.”
“Shut your fucking mouth before I tear it open all the way up to your fucking ears,” I spat, my teeth barred so tight one cracked.
Beaumont chuckled then switched gears—thank the gods. “Remember our dear friend, Lucan?”
I scoffed. Of course I remembered that prick. I could vividly recall the boot mark I left in his skull.
“Such a shame that you killed him. He was such a great help while he lasted.” Beaumont clicked his tongue. “But luckily, he wasn’t the only one I had in your land. I had many assistants wandering the halls of your home. Of your cities and towns. Of the continent. They slipped through the cracks, silent aids to my rebellion. Bet you didn’t know that now, did you?”
My swollen eyelids widened as much as possible. Nowthat, I believed.
“Most of them were killed when your girlfriend tore down the castle, but a few from the smaller villages survived. One in particular, I think you might know. He goes by the name Jensen.”
Fuckkk.
I shook my head, supporting its heaviness upon an extremely weak neck. “Never heard of him.”
“Don’t bother lying, Hawthorne. I know he was with you when you came to see if I was still alive.”
My head cocked just enough for him to pick up on it.
“Yup, he told me about that. I knew you’d be back to try and kill me. I honestly wasn’t expecting it so soon, though. You certainly caught me by surprise.”
Godsdamnit. Jensen was in the same building as Maeve and my friends, just walking around like he was one of them.
Beaumont noticed my shock and patted my shoulder incomfort. “I'll allow you one question, choose your words wisely,” he purred.
One question, but I had too many. For starters, how long had Jensen been in Lumosia? If he was living in Caelestis before the battle, he shouldn’t have gotten to Lumosia before we did. And were Kade and Archer in on this? By their actions, I doubted it, but couldn't be sure. Also, how was Jensen communicating with Beaumont? If Cyprian truly did know where Lumosia was, why hadn’t he gone yet? Something didn’t add up.
Then it clicked.
More lies.
Clever tactic. I was almost delirious enough to fall for it, but I still had enough wits to piece together the truth.
Jensen wasn’t in on this. I bet the idiot just screwed up and told someone his real name when he was here.Moron.
Beaumont crafted this whole story to try and get me to cave. And I had to give it to him, I almost fell for it.
“Tick tock, Hawthorne. I know your brain is swollen and bleeding, but I’m not going to wait all day.” He checked the golden watch around his wrist.
One question. Just one. And I would use it to prove that my theory was correct.
“If you are so sure that you know where they are hiding, then where are they? If you answer correctly, I will tell you whatever else you may ask of me.”
Beaumont hesitated, and that was all the answer I needed.
“That’s what I thought,” I spat, rolling my eyes to the ceiling. “Let’s get this beating over with so I can get back to my cell.”
