Chapter Thirty-Three
Drazien
Elaina was asleep. She lay on her stomach, one arm shoved beneath the pillow and curls scattered over her face.
The blankets had slipped low enough to expose her back and the violet branches of her kethra.
Every mark I had left on her drew my attention, but it was the angry scrape across her shoulder that made my jaw clench.
There were more beneath the blanket. Scratches on her hands and knees. Bruises around her ankle where one of the rebels had grabbed her. A darkening patch along her ribs from being thrown by the explosion.
The kethral had assured me none of it was serious, but I didn't care. They had hurt my mate.
My rethari.
The soft warmth of sleep flowed through our bond, broken by the occasional pulse of discomfort when she shifted. I had been lying beside her for hours, staring into the darkness while the image of her disappearing in a cloud of dust replayed in my mind.
I had almost lost her.
Again.
And it still would have been my fault, even though this time we had planned together. She had known the risks, and she'd chosen to sit in the Archives and wait for the rebels anyway.
None of that made the memory easier to endure.
I watched her breathe for several minutes before I moved. Carefully, I lifted my arm from her waist, but she made a quiet sound and shifted toward me, her hand sliding across the bedding until it found my chest. Even asleep, she seemed to notice the moment I wasn't touching her.
Something in my chest twisted.
I covered her hand with mine, wishing I didn’t have to leave her, but I needed to do this.
When her breathing settled, I tried again. I lifted her hand and placed it on the pillow before withdrawing my tail from her core. She shifted again, but I kept one hand on her until I stood beside the bed. Her brow furrowed, but I leaned down and kissed it.
“I will return.”
The bond stretched uncomfortably as I dressed and left, slipping out into the silent tunnels. I could feel her even after the door closed behind me, a quiet presence that followed as I moved farther and farther from her, the distance making the ache in my chest grow.
I didn't like leaving her. Everything in me insisted I should remain beside her until every bruise faded and there were no longer any reminders of what had happened. I wanted to feed her, bathe her, and keep her surrounded by my scent and far from anyone who might pose a threat.
But two of the males responsible for those bruises were still breathing, and I intended to correct that.
The climb toward the surface did little to cool my anger. By the time I reached the upper fortress, the wind was whipping hard enough to make my skin sting everywhere it was exposed. Sand hissed over the stone, pelting against my clothing and thavren before being swept away again.
The stalls placed on the surface for Khavren were gone. Only traces remained of the celebration that had filled the space in and around the fortress mere days earlier.
It seemed impossible that Elaina and I had walked through those crowds together so recently. She had laughed, bought trinkets, and let me show everyone that she was mine.
And somewhere amongst them, the rebels had been watching.
My claws dug into my palms until I forced my fists to loosen. Blood would attract the lyrek, and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with the tiny pests.
Rhydek was waiting when I reached the cells where the two we had caught were being kept. They had been separated, each prisoner chained to the bars of empty kennels between two varkuun, ensuring neither male had anywhere to go even if he somehow escaped his restraints.
Rhydek stood in the passage between them. His expression told me everything before he spoke.
“They haven't talked.”
I shrugged, a curl of dark satisfaction churning in my gut.
“They will.”
His eyes narrowed as I looked toward the nearest cell.
“Drazien…”
There was a warning in the Torashkar's voice, and I met his gaze once more. His mate had been attacked right here in the kennels, and I knew he understood the savage ball of fury burning inside me.
“We need information.”
It was a reminder he shouldn’t have needed to give me, but with the way I was feeling, I might have forgotten to put the mission first.
“I know.”
One brow rose over his golden eyes.
“We need them capable of giving it.”
My lips pulled back and I couldn’t stop a low growl from leaving my chest.
“I know.”
His expression didn't change. For several breaths, neither of us spoke. Rhydek knew me, knew what I had done for him and Kael. What I was capable of doing when information mattered more than mercy.
He also knew what those males had done to Elaina.
He understood.
I stepped toward the first cell, but Rhydek caught my arm.
“Find out how many.”
I dipped my chin.
“I will.”
“Who commands them is the next priority.”
I nodded but I was focused on the form chained to the bars.
“And Drazien?”
I looked back, barely swallowing the urge to snarl again. I had left my sleeping mate to be here. Her scent still clung to me, the distance between us was making my gut churn as my skull throbbed, and I wanted to get back to her before the discomfort woke her too.
“Find out why their attacks changed.”
That caught my attention and my brow furrowed.
“They’ve been attacking the Humans since the first group arrived.”
He shook his head and moved closer, lowering his voice so even Morraki hearing wouldn’t pick it up beyond the two of us.
“I need to know if they know about Taryn.”
His eyes moved toward the prisoners before meeting mine again, and for the first time, I saw the alpha worried for his mate and child instead of the Torashkar.
“We can’t hide the news much longer. People are starting to whisper, and the news would quiet the worries, but it would also put her in more danger.”
I thought of the explosion and dipped my chin once more.
The rebels were trying to stop Humans from diluting the bloodlines, and if they knew there was already a hybrid on the way, they would stop at nothing to get to Taryn.
Rhydek would have to leave Morrakan with her, and even then, there would still be risks.
I entered the cell, wandering through the sand, looking at the stone walls before turning my attention to the male chained against the bars.
To his honor, he stood, back straight and chin lifted, watching me with narrowed eyes.
Dried blood coated one side of his face from the fight in the Archives, and he was covered in dust and sand, but he wasn’t as hurt as my omega had been.
That would change.
“You won't get anything from me,” he snarled.
I tilted my head before looking past him at the other prisoner who was slumped in his restraints, kethra pulsing as if he fought to control them. Focusing on the one in front of me, I let a grin lift my lips as I shrugged.
“I wasn’t going to ask anything. You hurt my mate.”
His brow furrowed as I crossed the space between us. He braced, but there was nothing more he could do with all five limbs attached to bars sturdy enough to withstand a varku charge.
I reached up and pinched one finger between two of mine, smile in place, then bent it backward.
Slowly.
His eyes widened and his breathing deepened, but he didn’t beg. He didn’t struggle, and his kethra barely brightened.
Until the joint gave with a wet snap.
His growl filled the cell. For such small things, fingers caused an inordinate amount of pain.
I released the dislocated finger and took hold of the next. He bared his teeth, snarling as his markings flared, but he didn’t try to resist.
There was no point.
I broke the second one and moved on to the next. By the time I reached the fifth he was panting and a faint sheen of sweat coated his skin that had nothing to do with the heat of the surface.
I’d gone slow enough that the first two digits were already swelling, and he hissed when I took hold of the first one once more instead of moving to his other hand. I’d only dislocated one joint, and there were still two more.
“What do you want?”
My smile grew.
Questions gave prisoners control. Ask a question, and they knew what information mattered. They could decide what to reveal and what to hide, or what lie might satisfy you.
That was the mistake interrogators made, but I wasn't interested in negotiating.
Not yet.
I twisted the finger and dislocated another joint. He screamed, but I was thinking of the bruises around Elaina's ankle.
I moved to the next finger and pictured the cut along her hairline, then twisted.
Dust had filled the Archives, making it impossible for me to see her when I slipped into the room. It had been my terror that had torn through the bond when the explosion hit, not hers.
His voice cracked when he started begging as I took hold of the third finger.
“Stop!”
Raising a brow, I paused but didn’t release him. Not because he'd asked, but because I wanted him to believe he still had a chance to end the pain.
He sagged against the bars, the heaving of his chest making him rock as he hung limp for a moment. I lowered my head until our eyes met, but I said nothing.
His gaze flicked toward the door as if he expected someone to stop me, but Rhydek was the only other present, and he wouldn’t interfere. The rebel must have realized that because he swallowed and shook his head.
“You're insane.”
I huffed a laugh and shrugged.
“Perhaps. You’ve heard of what I’ve done.”
He grimaced and shifted.
“What do you want?”
Straightening, I dislocated the third finger and reached for the fourth, but he began thrashing in his bonds even though we both knew it was useless. There was no chance of him getting away.
I caught his wrist in my hand, pinning it to the bar behind it.
“No, no! Wait!”
I selected the next broken finger and his kethra flashed so bright it made my eyes sting.
“I can tell you what you want to know. Where we meet, how we pass messages, how we planned the attacks…”
I waited. I still hadn't asked a question, but he offered the information himself.