Page 56 of Elven Prince

Blood sprayed from the captured enemy’s mouth on contact as his head rocked to the side.

Rebecca could have sworn she heard something break in his face, even if it was just a tooth popping loose.

More blood spattered across the hardwood floor when Maxwell shook it off his hand. Then the shifter hunkered into a squat in front of the strangers his wolf had incapacitated in a matter of seconds, growling out a slow sigh. “Let’s try this one more time.”

As soon as the troll drew his next breath and rolled his head upright again, a mad cackle burst from his lips. “Nice try. We can’t give you shit.”

Rebecca shifted her weight onto the opposite leg, her arms folded. “Can’ttell us andwon’ttell us are two very different things.”

“I agree.” Maxwell cracked his knuckles for the fourth or fifth time since the start of this interrogation.

The troll in front of him offered a blood-smeared grin in response, though his associate—a half-changeling they’d had to bind with Bruce’s newest prototype of magic-dampening handcuffs to keep him from shape-shifting his way into an escape—cringed at the sound.

When the half-changeling tried to wriggle away from his seat on the floor against the couch, Maxwell grabbed him by the shirt collar and hauled him back into place.

“This doesn’t end until we hear something satisfying enough tomakeit end,” he growled. “Who sent you?”

The troll’s leering grin never wavered. He said nothing.

Watching from the far side of the living room, Bruce cringed every time blood pooling at the corner of the troll’s mouth grew heavy enough to drip from his face to add another stain in the hardwood floor.

“Why did you come here tonight?” Rebecca asked. “To this house? Why this gnome?”

Bruce groaned as he swept his gaze across the living room, then buried his face in his hands.

“All right. Sure,” the troll said through a sneer. “Let’s trade, darlin’. Show me yours, and I’ll choke the fucking breath out of that pretty little neck—”

Maxwell’s fist connected with the other side of the troll’s face, this time with enough force to send the guy careening sideways. With his hands tied behind his back, he toppled helplessly to the floor, his face and shoulders smacking the wood almost at the same time.

Rebecca sent the shifter a sidelong glance. “If you keep that up, we won’t getanythingout of him.”

He glowered at her but said nothing.

Because he knew she was right.

If he killed these guys playing overzealous hardball, their chances of getting any more information tonight disappeared.

“Doesn’t matter,” the half-changeling mumbled, his chin dropping toward his chest.

That seemed to give his mouthy buddy a burst of renewed energy. The troll cackled where he lay, his feet jerking sporadically in rhythm to his deranged glee that didn’t show any signs of stopping.

“What do you mean, it doesn’t matter?” Rebecca asked.

The half-changeling sighed and shook his bowed head.

“You think whoever sent you will only make things worse for you if you talk?” she asked.

Maxwell rose from his squat with another growl. “Like we haven’t heardthatbefore.”

“More times than we can count, honestly,” Rebecca added. “And you know what? I’ll just say it. I’m really tired of getting the same useless non-answer from everyone who fails to kill me and my people. Most of you don’t even know each other, but it sure feels like every asshole in this city got together and planned every response ahead of time.”

Maxwell rolled his eyes and stalked away from her, though at this point, it was all to give the prisoners a good show. But if Maxwelldidneed a little break, she could take it from here, no problem.

She turned her attention onto the enemy and leaned toward them. “But the people you work for aren’t here, are they?”

The troll didn’t respond, but the half-changeling lifted his head to study her with wide eyes. Not in fear but in baffled confusion.

She must have struck some kind of chord with that one.

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