Page 25 of ColdIron
Drakken stared. “What are you doing?”
Nikolai shrugged. “When did we start starving?—”
“That’s enough.” Aelindor’s voice cut through. “Bring Max food and water. We resume questioning when he’s recovered. I’ll handle it personally from now on.”
Their voices blurred. A wave of nausea hit.
Fuck, I thought I could sustain the entire interrogation and get this over with after Ann brought me back from the brink of death. I overestimated myself. Andhunger, grief for Rogue, and worry for Desta and Kaid weakened me further.
Black stars edged my vision.
I passed out.
The demon filledme in afterward. Even unconscious, I couldn’t escape it. But right now, it proved useful.
Caspian had carried me to an underground cell himself, refusing to let guards touch me. Ann was summoned to check me again, saying I needed rest, food, water. She also warned against straining me mentally before I recovered.
The heirs argued outside while I lay on a cot.
The demon replayed it?—
“What spells?” Caspian’s voice floated through the door. “You think he bewitched us? Are you for real?”
“You went too far this time, Drakken.” Nikolai.
“I’m the only one thinking clearly.” Drakken’s voice was ice. “That warlock influenced you. Changed your behavior. Why did you rush to see him like your life depended on it, Caspian? You moved like an obsessed fool. You’ve never been that eager for any woman you fucked.” He shook his head in a moment of confusion, then disgust. “And he’s not even female.”
Silence.
Drakken turned. “And you, Nikolai. You hovered over him in the infirmary like a possessive lover. Made me sick.”
“I like the smell of his blood,” the vampire prince said.
“Witch blood!” Drakken snapped. “You acted like he wasthe only blood that mattered.” He threw his hands up. “None of you are acting normally around him. Check yourselves!”
He turned to Aelindor, frustration clear even in the demon’s playback. “With all due respect, sir, you actually smiled at the boy witch. I don’t recall ever seeing you smile.”
Aelindor’s frown deepened. “I do know how to smile.”
Caspian and Nikolai exchanged a quick glance before scowling at each other, remembering they were still rivals despite sharing a secret.
“My dragon can identify bloodlines.” Drakken’s voice dropped, heavy with hatred. “He smelled potent witch blood in that warlock. Top tier. The kind that belongs exclusively to the White Witch’s direct line.”
Silence stretched for a long second outside the cell.
“When I prove that boy witch is in any way connected to that bitch,” Drakken spat, cold fury and pure hate searing his eyes, which had shifted from gray to amber, “mercy won’t be granted.”
Darling Max Morning.The demon concluded with a soft, taunting laugh.Even you don’t know what you really are. You can ask me though.
Never.
11
MAX
They fed me.
A peanut butter sandwich that tasted like heaven with a piece of ham, the best meal I’d ever had, even for prison food. I devoured every last crumb and tried not to moan in pleasure or ask for more.
