Page 100 of Winterfall Destiny

"Info?" I interrupt. "Do you work for Alaric?"

"Who's that? What department does he lead?"

"Wait. I know you." Dorian pulls the guy away from the wall and holds his cheeks tight in one hand. "Why are you pretending not to know me, arsehole? You were at Ravenhold. Too young to be there."

“I kinda wiped my memories of that place," he says. "No idea who you are."

Dorian scoffs. "Yeah. Someone wiped your memories, alright."

Ex-Ravenhold. Now working undercover to gather information about Dominion activities.

Oh, shit. Confederacy.

"Tell me, my friend, are you hemia?" says Dorian quietly. "I seem to remember you were."

"Yeah." The guy's bravado falters, and his stance slackens as he stares at Dorian's changing face. "Why?"

"Uh huh." Dorian waves his other hand. "And do you work for the Confederacy?"

"Confederacy are infiltrating?" rasps the Dominion guy I'm controlling.

"Seems the Confederacy climbed off the fence and decided to take the Dominion on properly." Dorian's chuckle echoes and his hands slide to the guy's neck. "I don't need you to answer. I can see inside your mind—I bet you have valuable information for me in there."

"Dorian…" I warn, and he glances over his shoulder at me, arches a brow, and without looking back, snaps the guy's neck.

My focus on the guy at my feet breaks in shock, and the girl who's standing shrieks as her friend falls to the ground. She makes to run, giving the Dominion kids the chance to scramble to their feet. The guy I subdued lunges at Dorian, who backhands him, and the kid lands on the ground further into the dark, air audibly forced from his lungs.

"Tsk tsk," says Dorian.

"Who the fuck are you?" he chokes.

Dorian shrugs and looks to his left. "Don't worry, sweetheart," he calls after the Confederacy girl, now charging towards the catacomb entrance. "I don't kill women or children unless absolutely necessary. But could you pass on a message? Tell your boss that Dorian Blackwood took your friend for a little chat."

The Dominion girl also runs along the tunnel, in the opposite direction, and I catch sight of her sprinting around a corner. My magic hits the girl before she can disappear and she stumbles forward, steadying herself before making to run again.

"Don't kill me," she begs, unable to move as my magic holds her in place, shaking and not looking back at me.

"I've a less lethal way of extracting information from people than my friend uses," I say as I approach. "You'll walk with me back to your unfortunate friend, and you can answer my questions."

She nods, lip trembling as I shove her in front of me. Both guys now lie on the ground by Dorian's feet, with heads at an unnatural angle, and he stands over them, hands in pockets.

The girl makes a strangled sound. "You killed Karl!"

"Correct," replies Dorian.

"Omigod." The girl backs up and knocks into me, and I steady her as she startles.

"He's a vamp. He'll be alright in a few hours," continues Dorian.

"Whose side are you on?" she rasps out.

"Side?" Dorian makes a derisive noise and crouches down. He reopens a recent wound on his finger with his teeth, then tears through the dead kid's thumb. "Mine. Only mine. Ever."

"Where the fuck are you going?" I demand as Dorian daubs a blood rune. "You can't leave now!"

"Tobias." He looks up and sighs. "I've more important things to do than chat to low level Dominion. Do you know how long I've looked for a Confederacy drone who's deep enough in this shit to be useful to me? An ex-Ravenhold 'recruit'?"

Memories of the beaten, bloodied vamp at the Winterfall House return. I'd protest to Dorian not to hurt the guy, but that wouldn't work. If he wants information to help against Oskar, Dorian won't hold back.

---