“Thanks for hanging around until we could get here, Jack.” Wrinkling my nose at the stench, I join them. “Unfortunately, we got held up, but don’t you worry. You have our complete, undivided attention now.”
His voice crackles as he rasps, “Please. I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you. Whatever you want, I’ll do it. Just let me go.”
I cluck my tongue. “I never took you for being that naive, Mullins. You betrayed us. You sold out people that were desperate for help.” My hand snaps out in a blur, gripping his throat. Slowly, I ratchet up the temperature. “You drugged. My. Mate. In what world would anapologyconvince me to let you go?”
Tears leak from the corner of his eyes. “I don’t know who you’re talking about, I never would have been suicidal enough to touch your mate. I didn’t even know you had one!”
“You never should have touchedanyone!” Disgusted, I shove him away from me.
Kodi takes over, pulling out a blade and rolling it between his fingers with practiced ease. Palming the handle, he lightly traces the tip down Jack’s forehead, between his eyes, along his jaw, and down the column of his throat. “Let me make this perfectly clear. We’re going to ask you a few questions. You’re going to answer them. If I so much as think that you’re lying, I’m going to,” he trails off with a wicked grin, showing an array of sharp teeth and slitted eyes. “Well, I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise, now would I? That’s half the fun.”
It’s a good thing Amara didn’t insist on coming. I don’t want her to see us like this, to realize how far we’re willing to go, especially where she’s concerned. Imprisoning people, torturing them, andenjoyingit?
Are we really a far cry from the monster that did the same things to her?
Yes,I decide, catching one of the daggers Kodiak tosses my way.Because we only hurt people that deserve it, and only to protect others, to avenge their victims.
Blade indenting the flesh just beneath Jack’s ear without breaking skin, Kodiak asks, “How long have you been working for Malcolm? Or Mason Devlin; whatever the hell he’s going by as far as you’re concerned.”
Jack’s throat bobs with his rough swallow. “I don’t work for him and never have.” As a bead of blood pools from Kodi increasing the pressure, he curses. “Fuck, you’re talking about that brunette from a few years back, right?” Twin growls surround him, echoing in the small cell, and he hastily babbles, “There are always prospective buyers for female shifters, but while I was putting out feelers, I saw a flash of a mark on her wrist I’d seen on Malcolm before. Figured it was a win-win. He’d be grateful enough to give me a hefty reward for finding his mate and getting her back to him, and I’d have an in for the future in case I ever needed a favor. But she bolted before he could come to collect her.” He winces. “Warned if I ever mentioned her to anyone, he’d have my head.”
‘Come collect her.’ Like she was a lost dog needing to be picked up from the pound.
I tap the flat side of my blade against his jaw, heating it just enough to let the warning seep into his bones. “How many people have you intercepted? Names? Who were they sold to?”
All of the remaining color drains out of his face. “I don’t have that shit memorized! This is about that girl, right? The brunette you claimed? I can help you track her down. We’ll find your mate, and I’ll-”
Super heating the blade, I hold it steady against his jaw as Jack screams, the stench of burning flesh filling my nostrils. And still, I hold firm, long enough that his flesh completely melts, muscle is burned away, and the bone is exposed. Gut-wrenching sobs only make the pain worse for him, tears streaming into the gaping wound, but his agony falls on deaf ears.
“This isn’t a negotiation, Jack. I want names. Locations.”
He writhes, fighting his restraints, but his intent could be seen a mile away. He can’t goad us into killing him quickly. I’ve been feeling wildly out of control lately, but this?This makes sense. This feelsright.
Kodi swoops in, an unhinged smile on his face that has Jack shuddering. “My lovely mate had a deliciously dark idea I’d like to try. You want to help me?”
Right, of course.
Figuring she’ll be happier with us each getting a shot in to defend her honor, I put my own aside to land a swift punch to his balls.
Jack howls in agony, tears streaming down his face in earnest now, as Kodi throws his head back laughing.
A huge grin on his face, Kodi says between chuckles, “Fuck, how am I supposed to concentrate when you pull shit like that?” Snorting, he shakes out his hands and bounces on the balls of his feet. “Not what I had in mind, but A plus for form; Amara will be proud.”
Jack croaks, “Ama-”
In a blink, all of Kodiak’s levity is replaced with dark, murderous intent, gripping Jack’s chin hard enough it fractures the bone. “You. Do not. Speak her name. Ever. Understand?”
Jack barely manages a nod. Far from satisfied, Kodi narrows his eyes, concentrating with an eerie stillness. All of the sound seems to be sucked out of the room, the fine hairs on my arms standing up on end.
Jack’s scream is so shrill, my eardrums nearly burst.
Kodi isn’t doing anything more than holding his jaw, but a cracked bone shouldn’t draw outthatsevere of a reaction. Feeling my silent questions burning into the side of his face, he smirks with wicked satisfaction. “Amara suggested I experiment playing with the iron in people’s blood to see if I could control it.” He huffs. “Not sure what I’m doing yet, so mostly just shaking shit up in there, but it’s got potential to make these sessions far more interesting, don’t you think?”
“Amaracame up with that?” My gaze bounces back to Jack, his mouth open, locked in a silent scream, body twitching and jerking.
Kodiak releases Jack from his hold, leaving him gasping as he swings from the ceiling. “Of course she did, she’s perfect.” He turns to me with a dreamy sigh, swooning over our mate. “Absolutely, fucking perfect.”
A bit of the blinding rage burning through me cools to a more manageable level. Fuck, Amara doesn’t even need to touch me to bring me to heel, just thinking about her offers enough light to guide my way back from the dark pit my demon sucked me into. Kodi’s right.
