Page 102 of A Storm in Every Heart
He shrugs, and winks at me as he chews his bread. He already looks more relaxed, which is exactly what I intended.
Thus far, Kastian and Jett just keep threatening him, but I can already tell that won’t work with Connell. There are two ways to persuade someone to help you—the carrot and the stick. It’s time to try a little carrot.
“Let’s try this again,” I say. “You are probably never going to get away from us. If you could be killed, I’m sure these two would have done it already, and you’re not going to get any better treatment back in Vernallis. I doubt my brother would bat an eye at keeping you in our wine cellar and letting Jett here try his hand at defeating true immortality.”
Connell’s eyes narrow, and he tries to say something around the bread in his mouth. The tone of his muffled words is harsh and angry.
I put up a hand to quiet him. “You didn’t let me finish. See, I’m not personally a fan of torture which would make me a verygood friend for you to have.” The corner of my mouth tips up in a sneer. “Understand what I’m saying,darling?”
Connell swallows and grins. “Why don’t you give me more of that cheese before I think of something to say about our new friendship that will set off your attack dog.” He winks at Kastian. “How are you doing over there, mate? What’s it like to have your woman taking?—”
I grab another piece of cheese and shove it in his mouth. I don’t know what he was going to say, but I think we’re all better off never finding out.
“To quote you,” I say slowly, “‘we can do this the easy way or the hard way.’ You tell us what we want to know now and I’ll make sure you’re not tortured when we get to Vernallis. Or, you can try to keep your secrets, but I’ll warn you that’s not going to last long.”
“You really think I’m afraid of pain?” he asks, swallowing the rest of his cheese. “I’ve died so many times I could fill a burial ground ten times over. Give me your worst, darling. I’ll enjoy it. You can do whatever you can think of, and I’ll just keep begging you for more.”
Something dark flashes in his eyes that makes me think he’s not bluffing. Threats of pain will not work on this man. But what about threats of another kind?
“Have you ever met a siren?” I ask.
“Sadly not. I’m pleased to meet you though. Feel free to show me whatever it is that makes men lose their minds.”
“Oh, I will,” I say, a syrupy sweetness in my voice.
His eyes widen in surprise, and I feel Kastian shift behind me but no one says anything.
I lean closer to the pirate until I can see my own reflection in his ocean-colored eyes. “Imagine this. I could ask you to tell us the truth and you would. I could tell you not to leave this room, and you wouldn’t be able to. Then I could ask you to do more.You could spend the rest of your immortal life as my puppet—no control, no escape—aware of what’s going on but completely unable to control your own body.”
“Maybe I’ll make you test all the ways you can’t die…being swallowed by an animal was an interesting idea. Or we could visit the quicksand again, or maybe I just tell you to drown. Drown indefinitely, never ending, never dying, just stuck at the bottom of the ocean until?—”
“Alright!” Connell says testily. “Fine, you win, darling. Fuck, I thought you weren’t interested in torture.”
I stand up, brushing dirt from my dress and smile at him. “I’m not, but it is in my nature.”
I walk back over to the bed and sit down. Kastian is staring at me, wide-eyed, but I can’t quite read his expression. He doesn’t seem alarmed or surprised, exactly…more like intrigued.
I reach for my own portion of dinner, finally sitting down to fill my aching stomach as Jett takes over questioning the pirate. “Alright, now that’s settled. Who tried to kidnap Dessa?”
“And why?” Kastian adds.
Still looking a bit shaken, Connell sits up straighter. “The King of Hydratta.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Jett says instantly. “She was headed to Hydratta already, and if they were the ones to plan this, then why would you kill their emissary?”
“King Magnus hired us to kidnap the darling Odessa and make it look like Solistine did it.”
“Why?” I demand, my mind spinning. “What did Solistine do?”
“No idea,” Connell says. “Give me another bit of bread and I might think of something.”
Looking wary, Jett reaches over and puts another bit of bread into the pirate’s mouth. Connell smirks and takes an unusuallylong time to chew and swallow before he finally answers. “So far as I know, Solistine didn’t do anything.”
“If you lie our agreement is off,” I snap.
“I’m not lying, darling. I can’t say I know the King of Hydratta that well—royals don’t usually spend much time socializing with their hired killers, you know—but I didn’t get the feeling this was about Solistine. It was about you.”
“Me?” I ask incredulously. “He doesn’t even know me…not really, anyway.”
