Chapter 6
OLLIE
Holding my tongue wasn’t easy.
In an ideal world, I’d shove Stefan into a room and put him under scrutiny.
Give him a taste of his own inquisitor medicine.
I mean, he shouldn’t get to saunter around this building freely as if nothing happened.
He could’ve got the Aurora brothers killed, or even corrupted them to join the other side.
What the hell was wrong with him? We already walked a deadly tightrope, Riley and Isaac skirting a lot of dark edges with the powerful blood in their veins. And then Stefan decides to play with fire? What a dickhead.
But I kept quiet, being a good agent, knowing my place. Clearly, the coven elders were fine with him staying in his post, so who was I to say anything? My opinion was a squeak against the boom of a ship’s horn.
Stefan didn’t take us to Meeting Room Five, but back down past the barracks levels, deep into the earth where the cells were.
Great.
I shuddered, the air chillier down here.
The blue-and-white décor of the HQ building gave way to gray walls and black granite floors.
Strip lights blazed in the ceiling, the black cell doors closed and soundproof.
You never heard anything down here unless a guard opened one of the slot windows or something.
The silence was too thick, a blanket hiding the suffering of the prisoners behind the doors. I’d rather hear their screams than hear nothing at all.
Man, to be down here, hidden away, silenced… It didn’t bear thinking about. And I knew these prisoners deserved it, but I couldn’t help but harbor a bit of sympathy for them.
We walked along corridor after corridor in our own silence, the guards lining each one bowing to Stefan. Ten minutes must have gone by before we reached the execution chambers.
What the hell? Why were we here?
Execution chambers were circular rooms built into larger dome-shaped caverns dotted around the lower levels of the HQ.
A network of metal stairs and pathways connected to the chamber or branched off to various control rooms higher up in the space.
There were white pipes and fans whirring to take away the fumes from whenever an execution took place, humming away and ready.
Is that why we were here? To witness a death? Why? To prove something? To make a statement?
Crap. My stomach flipped, my teeth grinding.
I don’t want to see this…
Stefan took us up the stairs connecting to the circular path that wrapped around the chamber. A panoramic window gave us a clear view into the ashy gray room with blue poles jutting out of a grating in the floor.
The shimmer witches were chained to those poles—members of the fairground group. Battered and bruised, having endured serious torture.
The High Inquisitor stopped halfway around the chamber, folding his arms behind his back. His cruel eyes locked onto the witches. He didn’t say anything, just stared at the prisoners.
Did their actions warrant an execution?
“What is this, sir?” Jake asked, breaking the silence.
“Don’t you recognize them?” Stefan asked, eyes still locked on the witches. “These are the fools who attacked you.”
Jake glanced at me. “I know, sir. Why are they here?”
Stefan swung his eyes to him. “Are you questioning my judgment?”
I didn’t flinch, but my skin itched from the inquisitor’s menacing energy. The man was one scary bastard.
“No, sir,” Jake answered. “I’m just curious as to why they’re here.”
Stefan blinked, taking several beats before speaking. “Don’t you think breaking a Hecate Crystal is affront to Hecate herself?”
“Yes, sir. But—”
His eyes swept to me, cutting Jake off. “What about you?”
“I do, sir,” I bit out, my throat on the verge of closing.
His lips spread into a malicious smile. “Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page. We cannot abide this.” He touched a finger to the window, leaving a fingerprint on the glass. “Truth be told, they pose a worse threat.”
“They do?” I blurted. “Sir?”
He didn’t look at me, attention on the doomed witches. “They know about House Aurora’s return.”
Jake and I looked at each other.
Stefan pulled his phone from his pocket, tapped on the screen, and said, “Listen to this recording.”
He hit play. The inquisitor’s voice came first.
Stefan: What are you talking about?
Woman: The sunlight. I’ve been thinking about it and that wasn’t a spell, was it?
Stefan: An interesting take. Do elaborate.
Woman: There’s been a story passed down through my family about The Sun from my great-grandma’s time.
Christopher Aurora. He was her friend, and the sunlight he wielded was incredible.
Hot and blinding and debilitating, as if sunshine was an enemy.
I’ll never forget hearing that, always wanting to experience it for myself.
A lot of the Aurora history got scrubbed from public memory over the years. Tidbits remained, but it wasn’t easy to find information outside of what the High Coven allowed people to know.
Having this information wouldn’t work in the woman’s favor. I shuddered again, anxiety a rusty spike in my chest.
Stefan: Is that so?
Woman: They’re back, aren’t they? The Aurora witches. That was The Sun. That man, that witchcop… He was The Sun?
Stefan tapped his phone, sliding it back into the pocket of his trousers.
“This is all they’ve been talking about since we arrested them.
” He stroked his chin while rocking on his heels.
“We cannot risk this getting out into the public sphere, as you know. I did consider wiping their memories, but that isn’t a tenable course of action.
Memory spells are unreliable.” He put his finger back on the window.
“One must do what is necessary for the greater good. To protect public order, to protect the sacred house of Aurora.”
I swallowed a scoff. Protect them? What, he was back on our side now after his betrayal? Just like that?
The man needed several knuckle sandwiches to the face.
He faced us again. “I know I made a mistake before, but the elders understand my reasons. I always act with the best interests of everyone at heart. That is my job after all. And here I am again, making sure the greater good prevails.”
Neither me nor Jake said a word.
Stefan smiled at me. “Your mother will be pleased.”
He really knew how to antagonize me. Mum wouldn’t be pleased with this. She’d want to find an alternative route, not burn these people for discovering the truth.
Maybe it would be better to reintroduce House Aurora to the public again. After all, their return meant an apocalypse was on the horizon. Better to lay all the cards on the table than keep secrets. Things would be difficult for a while, but Riley and Isaac would prove themselves. We all would.
Hmmm. Was that too idealistic?
“Well, let’s begin,” Stefan said cheerfully.
Did we really have to watch this?
“I want you to see how serious I am,” he added.
Nothing worse than a dark soul illustrating a point.
He gave a thumbs up to the control room directly behind us.
There was a rumble beneath us, and flames ignited in the grate under the prisoners. The sound kicked in, their panic suddenly filling the air. They begged, they screamed, they tried to break free as the fire caught on the bottom of the poles.
“Please!” a man cried. “I’ve got kids! I’ve got kids!”
The woman who’d smashed the crystal was there, sobbing.
“I saw The Sun,” she whimpered. “I saw The Sun and The Sun condemned me.”
“He didn’t,” I mumbled, my insides churning.
Stefan’s eyes bore into me, his lips pressed into a tight line.
“But he didn’t,” I said, wishing my tongue would tie itself into a knot.
Slowly, the inquisitor nodded. “Indeed. Well, it won’t be long until their bodies burn.” His evil smile returned. “If I catch you looking away, I’ll have you disciplined. I’m giving you an order to watch every second of this.”
My hate reached new heights, disgust up there with it. But I obeyed the dickhead. I stood there in defeat, watching the flames spread up the poles, setting fire to clothing. Their screams tore through me, the endless barrage a sickening death song.
Hold it together, I told myself.
I couldn’t watch these people burn to death.
Only, I did. Long after their ashes and charred bones tumbled through the grates, plotting the downfall of Stefan Rushden.
He had to go.
He had to pay for this. Time to cut off the head of the beast before it grew into something worse.
It already has…
Blue light flashed in the chamber, the bodies returning to the poles.
“What the…” I rasped with breathless shock, rubbing my eyes.
“Bloody hell!” Jake cried.
Stefan chuckled. “Surprise.”
“But… What…” I tried.
“It’s a spell,” he clarified as the fires ignited again.
“They wanted to play hardball, so here we are. They will remain trapped in a loop of agonizing death until they’re ready to spill their secrets.
” He buffed his fingernails on the lapels of his jacket.
“I’m not the High Inquisitor because I suffer fools lightly, gentlemen. ”
I wanted to be sick, fighting it, keeping my posture straight and my face empty of emotion. This dick didn’t get to have any more from me.
“Now leave,” he ordered. “I’ll be in touch. If you happen upon any new information, report it directly to me straight away.”
And the point of this was, what? To assert his dominance?
We left as quickly as we could.
I never did get a meeting with Khloe. She was unavailable, and I didn’t care. I wanted out of this damn building.
As I opened my car door, I finally broke. I dropped my bag and hunched over, puking my guts up. The dying screams of those poor people seared through my mind, forcing every aggressive heave.
Not dying. Not dead, but undergoing extreme torture.
“What a wanker,” Jake said, rubbing my back.
Amen to that.