Page 51 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

Bringing her hand back to the glass, she drummed her fingers along the surface once. Twice. Three times before she placed her hand flat against it again, energy immediately surging towards it.

“Don’t!” Valter gasped, pushing onto his hands and knees.

Even from here she could see his arms trembling with the effort.

Pulling her hand away, she asked in a calm, collected tone, “Where is Axel?”

“My advisors took him,” he panted, his face taking on a greenish hue as though he may vomit.

“Took him where?”

“To the Underground.”

“Wherein the Underground?” she said tightly, dragging a single finger along the glass.

But Valter shook his head, spitting red onto the floor. “I don’t?—”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know,” she snapped, a jolt of power ricocheting into the cell. It hit Valter in the side in the exact place she’d once witnessed him stab Theon. He collapsed onto his front again, his chin hitting the floor, and she heard his curse as his teeth sank into his lip. “You’re going to tell me,my Lord. And do you know why?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer before she continued. “Because you value your own comfort and safety over that of your son’s. You will tell me because you would rather me find him, knowing full well it will be the end of his life, rather than endure discomfort to save him from that fate.”

Valter shook his head again, struggling back onto his hands and knees.

“Oh, yes. Because you still think you will find a way out of this. You still think you can win. You sit in this cell all dayand night, planning and scheming. But here’s a secret for you,Valter,” she purred. She stepped so close to the glass she could see her breath on it when she said, “I’ve become so numb, I can’t feel anything anymore, and unlike you, I’m not afraid to die.”

Tessa slammed her palms to the glass, letting her power free. The light in the cell now was so blinding, she couldn’t see the Arius Lord, but she could feel her power feasting. She could feel it sinking into his soul, burrowing deep, and taking, taking, taking.

Roan and Nylah were on their feet, one growling and one letting out a soft, low whine.

It took mere seconds before Valter was screaming, and something in the back of her mind was telling her they couldn’t kill him, not yet. They still needed him.

So she pulled her power back, leaving Valter panting in the middle of his cell. His shirt was nothing but scraps of fabric now, his torso riddled with deep cuts and burns.

“Do you have something to tell me?” she asked, tapping a finger on the glass.

Valter flinched with each tap, and each wince made her smile grow.

“I have a place in the Leisure District. I pay the Alpha and Beta enough to buy their secrecy. You’ll have to pay them more for their betrayal,” he answered. He turned then, eyes full of hatred as he added with a sneer, “Good luck.”

“Thank you,” she replied, trailing her fingers along the pane as she took a few steps away. “I’ll see you again soon,Valter.”

She left him there, not caring if and when he got aid for the injuries. The bands would prevent him from healing himself, so a Healer would be needed. That was someone else’s problem to worry about.

Tessa, where are you?came Luka’s growl down the bond.

Her shields must have slipped while she’d been…busy.

That’s none of your concern,she replied, continuing down the passage.

Is this not your usual training time?

It is, but thanks to you, I no longer have a trainer.

Tessa…

The warning rumble in his tone had her nearly tripping over nothing and her stomach doing those unacceptable things yet again.

You said someone close to my power levels should be training me. Until that person is found, I have better things to be doing.

Tessa, when I find you?—

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