I crouched beside her, my face close to hers. “Darian suffered before he died. He didn’t get a painless death, and he felt every second. He made a lot of women suffer, Allison. Not just me. Even his mother understood the horrible being her son had become. If you don’t want to believe that, that’s on you.”
Her eyes rolled, fury and grief swirling.
“My conscience is clear,” I told her. “I made an irredeemable man pay with his life. What did you do? Mate with him and decide that I needed to die because you couldn’t accept he was a monster?”
A tear slid sideways along her cheek into her hairline.
“Just because ofonehuman death, your family built all of this.” I gestured to the facility around us. “You caged and tortured and experimented onmypeople, on kids, and onfamilies. You call us monsters?” I shook my head. “You’re fucked up, Allison Whettlock. I’m going to make you feel the way your victims did until your very last second. Your dead parents? That’s just the start of it.”
Her pulse fluttered frantically in her throat, but I turned away from her.
Drecken stepped through a portal next to me, pulling me into his arms. “Thank Fates you’re alright.”
“I’m fine,” I promised, realizing that my mom and Evelyn, along with two Human Council aides, had walked through the portal after him.
My mom’s gaze took in the scene in one sweep, skimming over the paralyzed and dead Whettlocks, and the venom still glistening on my fingertips.
“Status?” she demanded.
“Facility neutralized,” Jesper said crisply. “Cells breached. Survivors in extraction. Whettlock leadership terminated and subdued. Tourmalyke gas disabled, thanks to our tech specialists.”
Mom’s gaze flicked to Allison, pinned on the ground. “Allison is the only survivor?”
“Yes. Paralyzed but stable,” I answered. “I didn’t kill her, even though I wanted to. I killed her mom while protecting my mate, but she killed her own father by missing a hit on me.”
“You did great, honey drop,” Jesper murmured, pride and relief threading through his voice.
Evelyn stepped forward, face pale as she took in the destruction. Shame and horror warred in her expression. “This happened under our noses.”
“Correct,” Mom said coldly. “And this woman—” she nodded at Allison, “—is human, so technically, she’s yours.”
Evelyn’s jaw tightened. “We’ll have a joint trial. Human and Supernatural Councils together. We’ll sign off on extraditing to the Supernatural Council if that’s what it takes to maintain our peace treaty.”
“Oh, it will,” Zuko muttered under his breath, fingering his kit.
Mom nodded in agreement.
“Then we don’t have to have a joint trial or a trial at all, considering all of this evidence.” Evelyn waved her hand around the facility. “I officially leave Allison Whettlock in your hands.”
Mom smiled coldly. “We appreciate that.” She looked at Jesper. “Agent Wyvernheart and his squad will escort AllisonWhettlock to a holding cell in the Supernatural Council’s Headquarters. Keep her alive until Rune decides her outcome.”
Jesper smirked faintly. “Understood.”
Allison was lifted by Jesse and tossed roughly over his shoulder.
“Actually,” I interjected. “I’ve already decided what her outcome should be. Let’s put her in the lab at HQ as a research subject. She has imp magical essence inside of her. Dreckenhasbeen wanting a live human to do experiments on, and since they thought it was okay to do it to us…”
Drecken’s eyes widened with excitement. “You mean it?”
I nodded. “Let her feel what it’s like. Keep her weak with similar effects tourmalyke has on us.”
“I love you so much, viperling,” Drecken gushed.
Zuko snorted. “But is Sabine okay with this?”
Mom’s gaze met mine and softened. “Yes. Take her to the lab and treat her as she treated my daughter. She will live her short human life as a test subject for us.”
Evelyn winced but said nothing.
