Page 64 of A Dawn Of Blood

Of course. I’m almost never away from the battlefield, which is why my men know to take every opportunity they get.

Still, I have to fight not to let out a sigh. It’s a thick stack and I’m running out of patience here. Gritting my teeth, I take the first folder, open it and start reading.

“Should I call the medic?” I hear Fritz ask.

I look up to see him awkwardly motion at the gash on my chest. I throw him an annoyed frown and resume reading, givingout orders for each of the issues presented to me, all the while keeping an eye on the dwindling number of folders in front of me.

Once I’m done, Fritz takes the papers and moves to salute me on his way out.

It’s with a look that I stop him. I down the water in the glass on the table and inhale deeply. Anticipation starts to build inside me even before I ask, “Any news on the Jaeger woman?”

Fritz blanches. “She’s still refusing to talk, General, but don’t worry, it’s only a matter of time before the men break her.”

For one long moment, I just keep looking at him, my jaw working. A wholemonthI gave them to get the information out of the woman and they learnnothing?

“Which cell is she in?” I demand as soon as I collect myself.

Fritz’s eyebrows shoot up. “Number 429, General.”

It seems to take him even more by surprise, when I get up and start moving for the door. “Dismissed,” I say on the way out.

It’s straight to the prison block that I go, deciding I will not be made to wait one more day to learn where she is. So if I need to get the information myself, I’ll get the information myself.

As I walk, I start feeling this unusual fatigue. I glance down at the wound. I might need to take care of this after all. Right after I’m done here.

I open the door to cell number 429, finding the Jaeger woman tied to one of the two chairs around the instrument table.

Locking eyes with her, I slowly close the door.

Her eyelids are swollen from the beating so it takes a second for her gaze to come into focus, but as soon as it does, her eyes widen.

She looks away, fixing her eyes ahead.

I stroll over to the chair next to her and take a seat, tilting my head at her. She doesn’t move a muscle. She’s trying her hardest not to show fear, but she reeks of it.

Still, I take a moment to observe her. There’s the issue of the fatigue and of the fact that I want answers and I want them now, but she’s proving to be a tough nut to crack, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about torture, it’s that the anticipation of it is usually worse than the pain itself.

“I’m guessing you already know who I am,” I start as I lean a little forward, my movement making her flinch a little, “as well as what my presence here means for you.”

She doesn’t say anything. She just grits her teeth.

“No?” I ask softly. “Let me clarify it for you. It means you ran out of luck. Do you know why?”

More silence.

I turn my focus onto the instruments strewn across the table to my right, pretending to struggle to choose as I say, “It’s because, out of all the people who have come to pay you a visit,I’mthe one most intimately acquainted with pain.”

When I finally pick up a scalpel, with the corner of my eye, I see her screw her eyes shut and sense her hold her breath.

I spin the scalpel around my fingers before I lean a little forward. “Where to inflict it, in what manner, for how long… Which is why I strongly suggest you don’t hesitate to share any of your knowledge with me.”

I lift my hand and use the blade to trace the particularly sensitive muscle in the neck, and she doesn’t make a sound, but her heart does start bouncing around. “Now, the Aurora,” I demand as I press the blade into the skin. “Where is she hiding?”

The words barely pass my lips before the room starts spinning around me.

I lean back and glance down at the wound, expecting to see blood gushing.

It makes me frown, when I find it in the same state I did minutes ago. I get up, my frown only growing deeper when I feel myself sway in place.

---