Page 88 of Archenemies

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” said Frostbite. “I’m going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to answer them. If you don’t…” She tipped her head.

Gargoyle raised one fist, and it hardened into gray stone. His smile was hideous as he crouched beside one of Hawthorn’s tentacles and slammed the fist on top of it.

Adrian recoiled. Hawthorn’s scream tore through him, echoing shrilly across the shipyard.

Nausea roiled in his stomach as Gargoyle lifted his fist and Adrian could see the place where the limb had been crushed from its weight. One of the thorns had splintered and was oozing yellow-tinted blood.

“So,” said Frostbite, once Hawthorn’s scream had died into a trembling whimper. “Are you ready to begin?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“YOU—YOU CAN’T—”Hawthorn stammered through her clenched teeth. “I’m unarmed… immobilized… Your code doesn’t allow…”

“Oh, so you’re an expert on our code, are you?” Frostbite guffawed. “A thief, a producer, a dealer… I really don’t think anyone will be upset about what happens to you.”

Hawthorn snarled, tears wetting her face. “And when your precious Council sees that youtorturedme?”

Frostbite laughed and unlatched a holster on her belt. “Oh, they’re not going to see anything.”

It was a handgun, exactly like those they had been training with lately. Adrian’s pulse thumped.

They had Agent N.That’show Frostbite planned to get away with this. They could do whatever they wanted to Hawthorn’s extra limbs, because once she was neutralized, those limbs would no longer exist. All evidence of the Renegades’ abuse would disappear. And with the metronome steadily ticking away, no one would hear her screams beyond the shipyard.

It would be their word against hers—a known criminal and one that no one would be sorry to see stripped of her powers. Adrian wasn’t sure how or why Frostbite’s team had been allowed to arm themselves with the neutralizing agent, maybe they’d been given special permission for this high-profile case, but he did know it would be easy for them to claim they had neutralized Hawthorn out of self-defense.

Who would the Council believe?

His stomach was in knots.

“I know you’ve been selling your product on the black market,” said Frostbite, her voice haughty and cold. The sound of it made Adrian’s teeth grind. “I want the names and aliases of the dealers you’ve been selling to.”

There was a moment of silence, punctuated only with thetick-tick-tickof the metronome. Swallowing the bile in his mouth, Adrian peered over the ledge again.

“I don’t know any names,” Hawthorn growled. “They tell me where to drop the stuff and pick up the payment, and I do it.”

Frostbite signaled to Gargoyle.

He brought another fist down, crushing a second limb.

Hawthorn’s scream tore through Adrian like a physical assault.

He didn’t want to pity her. Hawthorn was a criminal. She had stolen medicine, used it to produce illegal substances. She had dealt it to teenagers. Her actions had likely resulted in numerous deaths.

He wouldn’t even have been sad to see her shot with Agent N right now.

But he also knew that this was wrong. To beat her when she was helpless. To torture her unnecessarily. They were supposed to take her to headquarters, let her be interrogated there. Any information spoken under duress was likely to be fallible, anyway.

But what if she says something useful?his brain countered.What if she gives up more names, or gives evidence that could lead to more arrests? What if they bring down a whole chain of dealers because of this… or an entire drug syndicate?

He turned his head away from the scene below, face screwed up tight. He could walk away. Pretend he never saw any of this. He could allow Frostbite and her team to break the rules and hope that it lead to further justice.

“I’ll ask the question again,” said Frostbite. “What are the names of your associates?”

Hawthorn’s voice was breaking, her gumption already buried beneath the pain. “I told you, I don’t know. We don’t share names.”

Frostbite made a doubtful sound. She surveyed her companions, and Adrian could picture her smug expression.

He may not always act within the confines of the Gatlon code authority, butthiswas beyond vigilantism and justice. This was abuse of power, pure and simple.

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