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Dane

I didn’t agree with many of Janet Glassdon’s methods, but mind-altering medications had their purpose, and the satyr was progressing nicely.

After only a few slips in doses, she’d begun taking her medication as prescribed and was already showing signs of compliance.

I hadn’t expected her to share anything with Alice, but I had hoped we could sharpen her into something useful and it looked like I would be right on both counts.

Although my nerves grew more frayed every day Jack was missing, I’d grown more certain Juniper didn’t know where he was or why the high fae had taken him.

Still, she was beginning to respond to my commands.

Today, I had instructed her to sit still for three hours, saying nothing while I played dog training videos.

At the end, I’d asked her what she learned, and she simply glanced glassy-eyed at the clock, and waited until the third hour struck.

When it had, in an eerily monotone voice, she’d said. “Animals require a firm hand to ensure obedience.”

Good. Very good.

Grif wrapped his knuckles on the wall beside my open door. “Come in.”

He stepped through the door, scanning my neatly organized desk and grinned. “Alice keeping you straight?”

My brows pinched over the bridge of my nose. “I don’t have time for chit-chat today Grif. Did you have something to report?”

He straightened, coming to attention. “Yes, sir.”

“Report.”

“Sixteen captured in last night’s raid. Five were orcs but none were the group we’re looking for.” Grif’s gaze fell on the image behind my head, and he faltered for a moment before continuing. “Three fairy businesses burned to the ground. Four dead. Three fairies and one human.”

I ran my hand over my chin, scraping stubble. “Who authorized those attacks?”

Grif’s eyes darted to me. “They weren’t us, sir. Rioters have gotten brave, but this might set us back. If ISHFA does anything to retaliate, especially with a human death, people might get scared.”

I nodded. “At ease.”

Grif relaxed his posture, running a hand over the holster at his hip. “Permission to speak freely?”

I nodded.

“If we blame the orc general, it could work in our favor, but it could also strike fear in the people. I think we cover it up.”

I stood, coming around my desk to lean against it. “You see what I’m working on?”

Grif’s gaze darted to my wall again. “I didn’t see anything, sir.”

I lifted a hand, resting it on Grif’s shoulder. He tensed. “You’re a good guy, Grif. You have nothing to fear from me.”

His throat bobbed, but he swallowed. I sometimes forgot how young he was.

Even before he’d come to live at the compound, Grif had lived on the streets for more than a year.

Both parents had died, falling victim to the need for more of the power that Xcess gave them.

His life had been a hard one, aging him far beyond his years and making him wise in ways I hadn’t been at his age.

My own son had six years on him and no matter how I’d trained him in preparation for the eventual war we’d find ourselves in, I wasn’t sure he’d ever be ready. Grif wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty if it meant living in a world that was safe for all of us. All of us humans that is.

“Do it. Take Connor and Will.”

“William?” Grif choked on the word.

My grip tightened on Grif’s shoulder, and I pulled him around the desk to stare at the image pinned to the center of my board.

All around it was a map of Central Park and the surrounding several blocks, blown up so each detail could be labeled.

X’s marked our locations, whether they be living quarters, prisons or lookouts.

Bisecting the map were several pins, marking off the areas where fae lived, worked and frequently traveled.

Along the edges, I’d taped blurry images of the orc general’s top men and one shadowy outline of the general himself.

They had been my targets these many weeks and though my demonstrations served to incite the populous, I had one goal.

Draw out my enemy.

Now, I had a new target. Someone I wanted dead more than any of the rest. Sav.

Only one person at HQ knew fae lore. Once, William’s mind was sharp. But softness had crept in. I needed him scared.

Grif stared at the clear image of a female who looked very much like a human woman, but who was anything but.

She was leaning against a counter, smiling at a fawn she’d worked with whom I had questioned until her last breath, and across her shirt, in glaring red letters Fae’z in Harlem do it better, was stretched over her chest.

I had let my temper get the better of me and perhaps it had cost me valuable information, but in the end, I didn’t think the fawn she worked with knew any more about her than the rest of them.

One by one everyone in her building had fallen.

One by one, they had squealed about every petty grievance they had with their neighbors, this city, humans, but not one knew anything about who she truly was.

They’d proved useful enough in testing the new medicine Janet sent over but were a complete waste of my time when it came to extracting anything useful.

Now, after all my efforts, I only had a first name.

Nothing to tell me what court she might have fled to or what trouble might be on our doorstep in the coming days.

I tapped a finger against the image, my heart pounding a rhythm in time with the beat of my finger against her face.

“Do you see this woman?” Grif swallowed, shoulders bunching as I pushed him forward, shoving his face against the wall, but he didn’t speak.

Veins stood out along my forearm, and I leaned closer, pressing my lips to his ear.

“This is our mission. Find out what we can about her and get my son back.”

Spittle landed on the side of Grif’s face, still pressed against the wall and I released him, exhaling a ragged breath. I straightened my shirt, running a hand over the thin scar at my wrist. Calm , Aconite would have said. Calm, Dane.

The memory of her soft voice played in my mind, and I inhaled slowly, four, three, two…

When my breathing was even, the steady beat of my heart relaxed, I cleared my throat.

Wisely, Grif had remained silent, eyes fixed on the image.

“When we find her, she’ll be yours to do with as you wish.

” My finger traced the scar again and again, stroking along its ridges.

This time I would exercise caution. I would not let my temper get the better of me.

But just to be safe, I would let someone else do the torturing, so long as her screams would be heard all the way in Faerie.