Page 3 of Of Wind and Terror

What do you want me to do? Stop or keep going?

Indecision battles within me, but only for a tick. The part of me that once strived to be good, to do better… That part of me vaporized the moment Kassandra was kidnapped. I no longer have a choice in the matter. All rationality has been consumed by the beast within me—the creature that bathes in blood and only feels a smidgen of relief when he’s in his mate’s presence.

I need to find her.

I give Diyno a nod, encouraging him to continue. It doesn’t matter that we’ve been torturing this particular fae for days now. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t have a lick of information to give us. It doesn’t matter that we keep running into dead end after dead end.

Nothing matters anymore.

I’m…numb.

Numb and hollow and empty. The piece of me that had begun to soften, that had begun to crave the light instead of wallowing in the darkness, has diminished, dispersing in a cloud of smoke. All that remains is an icy tundra reminiscent of the Winter Court.

Kassandra is gone.

Kidnapped by this fae’s esteemed leader.

Calan.

Gaiadamn Calan.

I won’t rest until I find her and bring her home.

And tear Calan limb from limb.

Fear for my mate, compounded by my growing guilt that I allowed this to happen in the first place, threatens to bowl me over.

I never should’ve allowed her to remain with that fuckwad Blaze. He can’t protect her, not like I can. It’s my duty as her mate to protect and care for her. If I’d done my job, then she would be here right now with me.

“Again,” I instruct Diyno. “Make him talk.”

The Winter fae’s screams sound almost musical as I exit the cell and walk quickly through the dungeons—a labyrinth of iron-enforced cells and smaller rooms that serve as torture chambers, all of the walls made of crumbling stone. The smell of piss, vomit, and blood permeates the air, and if I were a lesser fae, I would’ve gagged.

But I’m not a lesser fae. I’m a Gaiadamn prince, and if I can’t use my position and prestige to find my mate, then what am I good for?

I’ve been sending scouts daily to try and locate Kassandra. A few of them are supposed to arrive home today.

Hopefully with information. A location.

My heart batters against my chest so hard I wouldn’t be surprised if my ribs broke from the force of it.

I need to see Kassandra.

Feel her.

Taste her.

It’s almost a visceral need living inside of me, growing and festering and threatening to explode out of me like a damn parasite.

Gaia, Kassandra…

Visualizing her face is a bittersweet torment. Just picturing her calms me and soothes the savage beast beneath my skin. But at the same time, whenever I hear her name, I’m bombarded with a pain like no other.

Agony.

It’s agony.

To know that she’s somewhere out there, probably scared and alone, needing me…

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