Page 29 of ColdIron
And if I weren’t worrying about Desta and Kaid, hoping they were alive, desperate to search for them, I’d probably consider this paradise, even with the interrogation dragging on. No work. Three meals a day. Prisonfood here was better than anything I’d eaten in the mines.
Was that sarcasm?the demon asked.
“I’m done answering your ridiculous questions.” I let the fury pour out. “I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, not even the guards in the mine. But you? I wish you—a spoiled, privileged prince—were forced to work in the deepest tunnel at Crimson Ridge. The kind where the air is so thick with dust you breathe through a rag and still cough blood by the end of your shift. Where the ceiling groans and shifts overhead like it’s deciding whether to bury you alive. I hope you spend fourteen hours on your hands and knees in the dark, digging until your fingers split and your back seizes. Then you can talk to me about keeping up a fucking appearance.”
Silence shocked the room. Even the guards at the back held their breath.
“Let me go, and I’ll thank you for your hospitality.” I smiled, all white teeth and nothing nice behind them. “But if you murder me because I’m helpless right now, because I have no power to stop you, know this: I’ll seek justice even as a vengeful ghost.” I leaned forward in my chair. “You might not believe in phantoms, but I do. And I’ve seen them. I won’t go quietly beyond the After. I’ll haunt you until the end of time, until you’re deep in your grave, your bones rotten and?—”
“Whoa, whoa, stop, Max.” Caspian raised a hand. “I get it—you’re hungry and angry and cranky. But it won’t go that far. No one’s going to murder you, not while I’m here. Chill. Take a deep breath. One, two, three.”
The shifter watched me as he calmed me down, his green eyes bright with heat.
Shit. Was he turned on?
Drakken rose, his chair screeching against stone. He stalked toward me, violence rolling off him. His fists clenched at his sides, veins cording his neck. Smoke curled from his nostrils. The gold in his eyes blazed like twin furnaces. The dragon wasn’t peeking anymore. It was right there, behind a man’s face, and it wanted blood.
“Drakken, stop!” Caspian vaulted over the table, positioning himself between us, trying to talk the dragon down. “Don’t do something you’ll regret, man.”
If he laid a finger on me, I’d rip off his scales.
I reached for the drop of Coldiron in the ceiling, ready to plunge the room into darkness. Then I’d fight my way out. I’d shatter any power running through the tainted Stormglass and bring this fucking fortress down.
Here, here, Max!the drop of Coldiron hummed.Here I am.
The door burst open.
Aelindor and Nikolai strolled in. The Fae prince moved with unhurried grace, his gaze sweeping the room in one pass—taking in Drakken’s aggression, Caspian’s defensive stance, and me sitting in my chair with a cold smile.
Drakken and Caspian both turned toward the door.
“You’re back, Aelindor.” Caspian’s relief wasn’t subtle.
Aelindor nodded, but his gaze stayed on me. Whatever he read in my face hardened his expression.
“This has gone on too long.” His voice was soft but carried the weight of a man accustomed to being obeyed. “The interrogation is over.”
“But—” Drakken started.
“Max is not the enemy, even if he has witch blood.” Aelindor’s tone didn’t sharpen. It didn’t need to. “I let you have your way against my better judgment and put him in that holding cell, Drakken. He should not have been there. I regret the mistake, and I’m correcting it now.” He paused, letting that land. “You will not let your hatred for the White Witch blind you. We have witches and mages in our service, fighting and dying for our cause. Not all of them are the enemy, and Max has done nothing to deserve this. Work on it.”
“I stand with Aelindor on this.” Nikolai’s gaze glued to me, and it held undeniable longing and hunger.
I tried not to shudder. Once I was let out, I’d steal a scarf. Cover my neck.
“As do I.” Caspian added his vote quickly.
Three against one. Drakken’s dark gaze darted between the other heirs. Something closer to betrayal flickered behind his eyes. His jaw tightened. His shoulders bunched.
The dragon prince backed away without a word. But before he turned for the door, he gave me one last look that said:This isn’t over.He’d be watching, waiting. The moment I proved him right, no one would stop him.
I held his stare until he was gone.
I released my grip on Coldiron.
Next, Max?The sentient metal vibrated with eagerness.What should we do?
Nothing,I said.For now.
