Page 50 of Darkest Heart

“I am done with this!” I snapped. “We find Olivia today.”

Erianna nodded, then stabbed her dagger into the creature’s neck for good measure as we dragged its injured body toward an abandoned building.

***

I paced back and forth in front of the creature as it wrestled against its chains. I glanced at the window. This was the only room in the house we could find with a window that wasn’t broken and still had some furniture. “Sun comes up soon,” I said. “Without these drapes closed, you’ll be in agony all day.” I shot him a sadistic grin. “The midday sun’s the worst for your kind. I’ve seen aniccipere older than you writhe in agony as their skin burned to their bones, unable to die, instead drying out on the sidewalk in the city of nightmares until night finally came. Fourteen hours is a long time.”

Its nostrils flared. I’d have guessed it was male, but it was hard to tell. “I’ve had worse,” it spat at my feet, and I shrugged. “I can do this for as long as needed.”

“I’ll die before I tell you a thing about her.”

Goosebumps spread over my arms. It knew. It fucking knew. All calm evaporated as I sped to its neck, wrapping my fingers around its scrawny neck. “Where is Olivia?” I shouted. “What have you done with her?”

The aniccipere laughed, the sound irritating every last nerve in my body. "You're wasting your time,” he said. “I don't know anything.”

“You saidher, so you know why I’m here! Don’t fucking lie to me!” I screamed in its face, cutting my nails through its skin, until I hit bone. Its screams rang through the old house. Crows took flight from outside.

I grabbed the dagger Erianna left me from the table and held it up to the aniccipere’s throat. “Tell me what you know,” I growled. “Or I'll kill you.”

“Then kill me. You have no idea what you’re up against.”

I grabbed the creature by the throat and squeezed, cutting off its air supply. “I am done playing fucking games with your kind.” My nostrils flared. “You already killed Ravena. The queen.”

A sinister grin consumed its fear. “She was the queen?”

Fuck.

It continued. “I’ll be a hero.”

I shook my head. “No. You’ll be forgotten,” I promised. I stabbed the dagger into its groin, leaving it there, watching as every time it moved, the blade sunk deeper. “It’s infused with magic,” I explained. “From a powerful sorcerer.”

The creature whimpered, cowering away from the intense look in my eyes. “Tell me where she is.” I grabbed the vampire by the throat again, squeezing. “This is your last chance.”

The aniccipere gasped for air, his face turning blue. Finally, he croaked out a response. “I don't know.”

I scowled and released him. It collapsed to the ground. “You're lying,” I said coldly. “But that’s fine. I’ve been feeling a little restless lately,” I admitted, cracking my neck. “You see, the princess you’re keeping captive is my wife. She’s the only reason I show mercy. Without her….” I warned. “I don’t have anything stopping me from doing this.” I leaned over, seeing in its eyes that it wasn’t going to tell me a thing. “This is for Olivia…and Ravena.” I twisted the blade of the dagger, then pulled it out. Tilting my head, I smiled sadistically as the blood dripped down onto the handle. Slowly, I brought it down to the creature’s arms, locking eye contact as I slowly carved its arm off. “I’m going to tear you apart, limb by limb, until there’s not enough of you to put back together.”

The blade snapped through tendons, and I sliced harder until it squirmed against the floorboards. “She’s with the king,” it said between screams. “In the mountains. One town over.” It caught its breath, and my heart galloped.

“Thank you.” I grabbed a fistful of its thinned hair and cut off its head.

It was morning by the time I reemerged outside, holding a bloody dagger. Ravena’s body laid on the ground, soaked in blood, her face unrecognizable from the damage the creature inflicted. “You found her,” I said, hoping that she would somehow be alive, and the aniccipere had been lying.

Erianna turned the body with her foot, then sighed. “Sargon’s going to lose his mind.”

Zach’s wings erupted from his back in a glistening silver. “I’ll get her out of here.”

“Where?”

“I’ll bury her in the woods.” He lowered his head. “She was still our queen.”

“And Olivia’s mother,” I added, my chest heavy.

Erianna pressed her lips tight, not a flicker of grief as Zach lifted the queen’s body.

My grief didn’t come from her loss. I’d never cared for the queen, nor the way she treated her daughter. But I felt it for Olivia. I didn’t want to cause her any more heartache. First Draven, now her mother. “We can’t tell Olivia.”

Erianna sighed. “We don’t need to think about any of that until we find her.”

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