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“You know it doesn’t bother me in the least to torture you, and I have many ways. Maybe I should start with a burning sensation, akin to fire ants biting you all over your body.” He smirked. “Yes, that sounds fitting of the crime.”

She squirmed and wriggled in Varlett’s hold, breaths rushing in and out. Then the screaming started. The wail sounded like a dying cougar. “Stop! Stop!”

He cupped his hand to his ear. “I can’t hear you?”

“Stop! Please!”

“I didn’t hear names or numbers.” He intensified the magic, and she wailed again, half cat call, half human scream.

“They’ll kill me!”

“It’s true, they would, but trust me when I say I will draw it out and you’ll know what true pain feels like.”

“I can’t, my family!”

“Tell you what, if you tell me now, I’ll let you go.” He withdrew the magic and waited. “You have three seconds. Three. Two—”

“Alright, alright.” Sweat soaked her brow and by this point she had little color left on her face. Hel seized his magic and waited. “I was sent by the council. They said to take out Valeen first, then War and then it would be easier to get to you. You seem to give up when they’re gone.”

He stared at her with disdain. Varlett tightened her talons and the woman screeched. “Who else is here?”

“I don’t know!”

“I will tear your spine from your body if you don’t know anything.”

“They are sending someone eager to see you fall. And he’s evil, pure evil. I think he may be an immortal. I don’t know his name.”

“Gods can’t travel outside of Runevale,” Hel said. “We know this, or they’d be here.”

“I don’t know what he is, I swear on the All Mother. They just said he couldn’t be killed and that we should stay out of his way. Of course, they offered a reward for whoever got the task done first.” She gulped. “There also may be a couple others like me here. I haven’t seen them, but even if they aren’t here now, they’ll keep sending assassins until you’re all dead. They have spies.”

“Thank you for being so forthcoming,” Hel said, and gave a curt nod.

Varlett shoved her hand the rest of the way through and pulled out her heart through her back. The woman fell to the ground with a thud and the heart plopped beside her. “Well,” Varlett started, then licked blood from her fingers. It always unnerved him when she did that. It made him think of the beast she was inside and could transform into.

“Could you not,” Hel drawled.

She smiled, dragging her tongue even slower over her now fleshy palm. No more dragon scales. “Baby, if you want some, say it.”

“Get some manners.”

She dropped her bloody hand to her side and her reptilian eyes dragged over him. “You look refreshed. It was her blood, wasn’t it? I knew it, fucking underrealm. She’s your godsdamn lifeline still?”

Hel didn’t like Varlett knowing his weakness, even if she’d always been loyal. “It doesn’t change anything. It’s just another reason we need to keep her safe from the council.”

Her eyes narrowed; the slits even seemed to sharpen. “So, you took her blood. How did she react? How is Thane handling you?”

Hel chuckled. “She didn’t like it if that’s what you’re wondering. And he’s… both angry and curious. He remembers more than her. Not everything, which makes it fun.”

Her talon slid along his throat, eyes fixed on the vein.

“Don’t even think about it.”

She pressed up on her toes and she kissed the side of his face. He never let her kiss him on the mouth even if they did other things. “Just a little taste of your blood? You know what it does for me.”

She got a high off him. It gave her a temporary boost in magical power, but his blood or any part of him wasn’t something he gave away lightly. He turned and started back toward the horse. “Clean up this mess and find yourself a new gown.”

“She’s not… affecting you, is she?” Varlett called. “You promised.”