Page 46 of Centaur Bolt

“I was set free.” He stabbed another piece and inserted it.

I tentatively peeled back the leaves and pulled a strip off my own. It almost melted in my mouth, and for a moment, my goal slipped away from me.

Iskar had more pressing concerns than me filling my cavernous belly.Focus, Marcus. Who set him free?

I relayed the question. Havoc chewed, and told me. “Kid wizard of Isobel’s. He wanted to come with us, but he got caught.”

Suddenly, the eel was like a lead lump in my stomach. “Rafael?” I asked.

His copper irises gleamed from beneath half-closed lids. “Yeah. You know him?”

“He set me free, too,” I said. “Isobel caught him?”

The big man nodded and took another bite. If Rafael’s capture bothered him, he didn’t show it. My own stomach twisted into a knot at the thought of Rafael as a captive, rather than a cohort.

I knew what that bitch did to her captives. “Do you know where she’s hiding?” The question burst from me before I’d had time to shape it properly.

You could have eased into that question,Iskar stated with a mental sigh.

Havoc was too focused on his meal to even glance up. Eventually, he smacked his lips, and said, “Yes.”

My pulse accelerated because, dammit, Havocknew where they were.

“Where are they?”

His eyes narrowed. “That’s worth something. Until I get out of this, I’m holding onto it.”

My rage rose, and I took a deep breath. In the underworld, information was valuable. In his place, I might not volunteer it, either. “Where in the realms are we now?”

His coppery eyes regarded me before he shrugged. “Tantora.”

I’d heard of that realm. However, I’d never been there before. More importantly, wherewewere wasn’t as important as whereIsobelwas. “The Watchers will pay to get Isobel’s location, and they’ll help you out, too.”

He slowly and deliberately licked each finger, including the talons. “How do you figure they’d be any help to me?”

“They are the only ones with the power to bring Isobel down. Once she’s out of the picture, you are free.”

Angling a talon, he picked eel bits from between his teeth before he responded. “We leave here, and Isobel’s fucking lackeys will be waiting.”

“We can’t stay here forever,” I growled.

“They might give up.”

“Isobel won’t give up.” I don’t know why I believed that, but I did.

His copper gaze finally rolled to meet mine. “Any idea why she wants you so bad?” He eyed me from my feet to the top of my head. “Can’t see it. Your beast wasn’t that awesome.”

Well, maybe not, compared to his.

There is something else in here,Iskar admitted.She knows what it is.

You don’t?I pressed.

Iskar evaded the question.We need to get to a Watcher.

Working on it.I sliced off another bit of meat, and then said, “You don’t seem the type to back down from a fight.”

His gaze narrowed. “I’m not.”

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