Page 19 of Calling of the Crown

“I’m the traitor?” Dax heaved an incredulous laugh. “Last time I checked, I wasn’t the one riding the cock of a Land Fae. That traitorous whore would be you.”

“You can call me all the names you’d like,” I stated, careful to keep my stone-cold expression firmly in place. “It won’t change which side of the bars you’re on. That being said, maybe I can make better arrangements for you. If you cooperate and answer my questions.”

Dax snickered, but it was all malice. “I’d rather eat my own shit than give you anything. You can fuck right off.”

He walked backward and slumped against the back wall with his glare still trained on me. He thought he had some sort of power over me by withholding the answers I wanted, and that, no doubt, gave him a rush to hold some semblance of control over me.

It was in that moment that I realized how twisted Dax truly was. And how delusional I’d been to ever like him. Back in high school, I’d fantasized endlessly about Dax’s dimples and his green eyes glittering with the promise of excitement. I’d doodled his name in hearts in countless notebooks and drew one too many sketches of him. When we’d finally started dating at the tail end of senior year, I’d thought it was a miracle.

It was only now, after experiencing real love with Rune, that I understood how wrong everything had been between Dax and me. When Dax and I kissed for the first time, I’d thought it was magic. I’d tricked myself into believing that I was living my own little fairytale.

Looking back now, I knew that kiss had meant absolutely nothing. It hadn’t lit a fire within my chest that sent embers soaring on the wings of a phoenix. It hadn’t made me breathless, had my toes curling, or made me feel cherished. No, back then when I had thought I loved Dax, what I truly loved was the idea of Dax. I loved and wanted the dream I’d built in my head, and I’d foolishly thought that dream was him.

If only I could go back in time and tell myself that our Prince Charming wasn’t going to appear riding in on a white steed, but rather, he’d come as a fox rising from the flames.

And how much more badass was that?

“Forgive me, Your Highness,” Marcus said from behind me. He watched Dax closely and came to stand next to me. He dropped his voice low for my ears only. “He isn’t going to talk willingly. I think we should try something else.”

“What do you have in mind?”

He waved for me to follow him back to the guard’s headquarters where Dallas and Mingxia waited at the table.

As soon as Dallas saw us, she crossed her arms and eagerly leaned forward on the table. “Well?”

I shook my head. “He’s definitely not open to talking.”

“So, what now?”

“I think we should use it,” Marcus suggested, exchanging a serious look with Mingxia.

Mingxia tilted her freckled nose higher into the air. “I told you so.”

“Use what?” I asked, bouncing my gaze curiously between Mingxia and Marcus.

Marcus went to the back of the room where he opened a cabinet and produced a small, clear vial that looked like it contained water. He approached and held it up for me to look at. “This. They are the tears of an Owl Fae.”

Offering a wry smile, I said, “That’s nice. I’m sure we aren’t collecting Owl’s tears for funzies since that would be sad and morbid, so what do they do?”

“Owl Fae are knowledge seekers,” Mingxia started, her excited eyes darting between the vial and me. “They are of the highest intelligence bracket, and in their pursuit of knowledge, they also seek the truth. Their tears act as a truth serum. Drink their tears, and you’ll be forced to speak the truth while they’re in your system.”

“Owl tears are rare to come by, so we only use them as a last resort,” Marcus added. “We like to give all prisoners a chance to be honest, but some, unfortunately, require a little assistance. This is our last vial of Owl tears, so Mingxia and I didn’t want to use it without your permission or without you here.”

“Woah,” I mumbled.

I reached for the vial and studied it closely. The liquid didn’t look like anything special, but a truth serum? That was a very powerful thing and could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands.

Glancing between Marcus and Mingxia, I asked, “It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“Not at all,” Mingxia answered. “The questionee only has to drink it, and within seconds, it’s kind of like a fog blankets your mind. You can’t filter your thoughts or words, so only the truth comes out. The person who drinks it actually feels pretty peaceful. The aftermath can be ugly depending on how the questionee reacts when they realize they’ve just admitted everything. Plus, depending on what they admitted to, the sentencing and punishment is typically not pretty.”

The idea of using this truth serum on Dax was far less unsettling when hearing that it wouldn’t hurt him or permanently alter his state of mind. Despite all he’d done and his hate toward me, I still didn’t wish him harm. I just wanted to understand why—why try so hard to kill me if he needed me to get what he wanted?

“Well then,” I said after taking a deep breath. “I guess we’ll be needing some more Owl tears after today.”

Chapter Ten

MARCUS AND MINGXIA HAD GONE to prepare Dax for questioning while I waited in the guard’s room with Dallas. They’d just finished forcing the truth serum down Dax’s throat when I came in. They were fairly certain he’d fight back and resist, so they decided the best place for me to be while they got Dax settled in one of the interrogation rooms was in the headquarters.

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