Page 33

Chapter 32

Torture the Fucker

Silvana

B eing back at the manor without Raiden was slowly making me lose my ever-loving mind. I’d burned Elias’s house to the ground and stood there for as long as I could. Long after it was ash blowing away in the wind and all I could do was think about the male I’d fallen so in love with and the fact that someone had the audacity to take him from me.

I thought I’d heard him call my name, but when I sent his name back, nothing returned. I even thought I’d felt the bond prickle between us, but I was starting to think it was all in my head at this point.

Thankfully, we’d gotten Bastian back to the manor safely and updated Micah. He was currently acting as ruler of the Court of Shadows, and while I could’ve taken over, I knew it wasn’t what was best for the court.

What was best for the court was someone with a solid head on their shoulders—which I lacked. I’d just burnt a house down and laughed like a psycho while it burned.

Two nights now, I hadn’t had my mate by my side.

I hadn’t even been back into our chambers, as the thought of lying in that bed without him made me ill.

A gentle knock sounded at the door. “Come in,” I muttered.

Bastian strolled through the door and helped himself to a seat next to me on the couch where I’d been sleeping lately. His normal olive complexion was still pale, the dark circles under his eyes gave away how well he wasn’t doing. The wound had healed once we’d gotten him home and to a healer, but the effects of whatever poison they’d dipped the dagger in were still working through his system.

“How are you feeling?” I asked him.

“I should be asking you that,” he replied. He hadn’t looked at me yet, he was just staring around the office where I’d set up camp. “I’m so sorry, Silvana,” he said quietly.

I stared at him for a moment, a brow arched, confusion clear.

“Bastian, look at me,” I stated. He did, though reluctantly. “Why are you apologizing to me right now?”

He was quiet for a moment, his deep green eyes looking for something in mine, I just wasn’t sure what.

“I should’ve been there. Delano was my soldier. I trained him, I picked him for this mission, and the one male in this world who took me in? Who trusted me? Who helped me become someone? I got him injured, kidnapped, and possibly killed, Silvana!” He was breathless and screaming by the time he finished. He leaned forward, his face in his hands. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be yelling at you, of all people. I just… I should’ve done better. I should’ve been better,” he muttered.

“Are you quite finished?” I asked.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m finished,” he whispered, leaning back against the back of the couch.

“Okay, lovely. I get it. I had a mini breakdown then and there that you slept through, which was rude, by the way. But now we’re moving on. I need to find him, Bastian, and I’d like your help to do so. So, what do you say we go and torture the fucker who’s actually to blame for this?” I smiled sadly.

Bastian looked over at me and nodded his head. “I’d enjoy that greatly, Ice Sickle.”

I got up off the couch and headed for the door because there was nothing I’d rather be doing than slicing answers out of Delano, and when I was finished with that? Well, I’d burn it all to the fucking ground to find my mate.

* * *

A pparently, when Raiden had given me a tour of the manor, he’d left out the vast stone torture chamber in the basement of the house. I didn’t know why he thought to leave that out for me, of all people, but Micah was more than happy to show me when we arrived back at the manor with an unconscious Delano.

Walking down the stone steps lit only by torchlight, I pushed open the thick heavy wooden door. Cedar and Bastian were both behind me, but thankfully they knew to let me work.

Well, Cedar did. Bastian was new here, but I wouldn’t hold that against him. He was a smart male. He’d figure it out quickly.

I set the torch into one of the sconces near Delano’s body. Wouldn’t want to miss any of the blood after all.

Cedar and Micah had been kind enough to bring him down and set him up for me while I cleaned up. I had every intention of coming down here two nights ago, but I wasn’t ready yet. Now, I was.

I’d realized that I wasn’t very good at losing people I came to love, so Raiden being taken by one of our own had hit me harder than I expected. While every second counted to find him, I also knew in my heart that I had to show up as my best—or in this case, worst—self in order to do so. So, I raged in silence the night before. Now I was ready to rage out loud. And fuck, was I going to be loud.

Delano was currently naked, hanging from one thick silver chain from the ceiling. His toes just barely scraped the ground, and his head was hanging down against his chest. I’d asked Cedar to remove the blade and feed him a small amount of blood for it to heal.

He was powerless, as long as I didn’t touch his skin. Easy enough. I didn’t need magic for this.

I walked up, my shadow stone blade in hand, and tapped the tip against his cheek. “Wakey-wakey, my dear. It’s time we had a little chat.”

Delano’s entire body jerked away from me, his head pulling up between his raised arms. I could hear Cedar chuckle from behind me.

“What do you want?” His voice was rough from disuse. I shouldn’t laugh. I had left him down here strung up like this for the last two days.

Instead of answering, I used the tip of my blade to slice a small square of flesh from his chest. Peeling it off with my blade and dropping it to the floor beside him. His screams echoed throughout the cavernous space and brought a smile to my face. I moved over and did the same to the opposite side of his chest.

His entire body was shaking at that point as he tried to use the tips of his toes to push away from me. He wouldn’t get far, but it was cute that he thought so.

“What the fuck do you want?!” he screamed. “You haven’t even asked me anything.” Tears streamed down his face, which annoyed me. I hadn’t even done much. Yet.

I rolled my eyes at his pathetic sense of righteousness. The fact that he felt he had the right to ask me anything was laughable.

“I don’t plan to ask you anything, Delano. I know everything I need to know at the moment,” I said calmly. Using the tip of the dagger again, I reached up and started slicing the inside of his bicep. “I know you set up my mate to be taken. I know you met your leader somewhere to ship him off somewhere, probably another court if you’re smart. I know they didn’t have use for you after that, and instead of taking you with them, they deemed you a liability and left you for us to find. I know you won’t have any useful information because of that.”

He stared at me for a moment—all of his hope for negotiations flying out the nonexistent window of the dungeon he was chained up in.

“But—but—but what if I know something!” he whined while trying to make my blade leave his skin. I finished up the new rectangle on his bicep, letting the flesh drop to the floor.

“I don’t believe you, Delano. You see, you can thank Cedar for this whole idea. This was his threat to Aeric if he was involved with you. Said he’d flay the male alive, only to feed him and let him heal so he could repeat the task.” I glanced back at Cedar and smiled. “Truly genius.”

“Always so impressed by my genius ideas,” Cedar joked.

“Please, My Lady, I swear. I’ll tell you everything. Everything you want to know. Just… please,” Delano cried.

I sighed and took a step back. “Can I just say that the Eternal Outcasts clearly have a shit training program? They don’t teach these males a single thing about withstanding torture. It’s pathetic. Truly.”

Delano let out a breath in relief and I drove my dagger into his gut.

“Don’t be relieved, fucker. Absolutely nothing will save you. The information you cough up may help you die quicker. That’s all. So start talking,” I growled, being careful to keep space between us. I was angry, not stupid.

His groans of pain left much to be desired, though.

“You were right… it was all a setup to capture him and lead you to them,” Delano murmured.

“Who is them?” Cedar asked from behind me.

“Viktor,” Delano whispered, tears steadily streaming down his face.

“Who the fuck is Viktor?” I asked, impatient as ever.

Bastian stepped forward. “Is his name actually Viktor, Delano?”

Delano nodded his head. “Yes. Tall. Blond. Arrogant.”

Bastian looked at me for a moment. “Viktor is one of Keres’s inner circle, Silvana. At first, I didn’t think about it, the Outcasts kept referring to him as The Victor. But once Raiden mentioned Keres being a thought, I started digging through the records we had on his court. Viktor is one of the top members of his inner circle.”

“As in the ruler of the Court of Ice? One of his inner circle is leading the Eternal Outcasts? Are you fucking with me?” It all sounded ridiculous, but then Raiden had said in the beginning he thought it was Keres behind it all.

“We need to talk to Paine,” Micah said from the doorway. I hadn’t even heard him enter, but I wasn’t shocked that he’d come down to hear what Delano had to say.

Bastian nodded. “Send him a letter, quickly. See if he has any insight.”

“Anything else you want to add, Delano?” I asked, irritated.

He stared at me before smiling. “You can go wherever you think will help and ask whomever you want, Silvana. But nothing can save him, and no one can stop Master from obtaining you again.”

Master.

I cringed and walked closer to his dangling body. “What did you just say?” I whispered.

“You heard me, Silvana. Nothing can stop him. He’s coming for you, and he won’t stop until you’re back where you belong.” I saw red, a haze fell over me at his words. Master . It made my insides crawl. That’s what he had us call him. I pulled my dagger from his gut, but before I could rip his throat out, Cedar was there. His arms wrapped around me as he pulled me away from Delano.

“Don’t. I know what you’re thinking. Don’t kill him. Not yet. Let him hang here for a bit. I won’t let anything happen to you, Silvana,” he whispered in my ear.

I started counting backward—something I used to do when I’d first woken up in the middle of the snow-covered forest. I had to find Raiden, that was all that mattered. I forced my body to relax against Cedar’s hold until he let go.

“I’ll be back for you, Delano. Only next time, my mate will be with me,” I growled.

Delano paled and I could have sworn he looked scared as I walked back up the stairs and away from his bloody body.