Last Stand (The Black Mage #4)(21)

“Very well.” The prince dropped his casting as the two crumbled to the floor.

I took a menacing step toward the prisoners. “The Black Mage won’t hesitate to kill you both.” I could feel Darren’s eyes at my back; I prayed he didn’t approach. “And neither will I.”

“You t-two have…” The older man gasped for air as he crouched over the ground, kneeling. “…t-the wrong idea! It w-was an h-honest—”

“Don’t lie to the Crown!” I grasped the collar of the soldier’s tunic, dragging his ear to my mouth. “Which one of you did Nyx send?” My whispered words were followed with a heavy blow to his face. My fist stung from the impact.

The man screamed as blood spewed from his nose. It was the easiest bone to break. It was also the easiest to heal, or so Alex had always said. I prayed he was right.

“Let him be!” the woman cried.

“S’not us!” He choked.

Did Nyx really want them to put on a show? I had hoped the man would “betray” his comrade or confess. How long would we have to carry this out until Nyx’s “traitor” confessed. How far would I be forced to go?

“Ryiah,” Darren began.

“No!” I raised my hand to stop the prince from leaving his post. It needed to be me. I wasn’t going to let their blood be on his hands.

“You can confess now,” I warned my audience, “and stand a chance to live. But choose to wait it out, and I will not be so kind.”

“We confess to nothing!” the woman shrieked. “Because we are not rebels!”

Nyx must have wanted more interrogation first. I swallowed bile back down. It was one thing to attack a perceived enemy on the battlefield; it was another to attack someone on the same side.

Magic shot out of my palm. Fire transformed into a whip of red that lashed across the woman’s shoulder. The soldier howled and her skin bubbled as my fire ate away at flesh and singed cloth. The stink of burning flesh crowded the cell as I maintained the flames’ hold.

With trembling fingers, I held onto the casting for another five seconds before letting go. “Still keeping to your lies?” I shouted to cover my shame. “And you!” I pointed my finger at the other man. “You want to watch your comrade die? You want to join her? I’ve got a whole batch of castings I’ve been waiting to use on your kind!”

The woman clutched her arm, shrieking her innocence as the male continued to protest their innocence. Fools. I ground my teeth and sent out my next casting: bolts of ice that buried into exposed flesh only to melt away and leave dripping wounds behind.

Still nothing.

Howls of agony filled the room as I grabbed a dagger out of my hilt and proceeded to stalk forward with rage. I didn’t have to fake it—my fury at inflicting pain was enough.

I held the blade against the man’s neck, letting its sharpened edge nick his skin. “Who did Nyx send?” I whispered.

The soldier looked at me with such hate I lost my breath. “I hope you rot in the darkest parts of the Realm of the Dead, choking on your own filth.”

Don’t just stand there. Darren will notice. “Confess!” I screamed.

He glowered at me, his eyes red and livid. “NOT US. NOT US. NOT US!”

I stumbled back.

Not us. His words… It wasn’t an act.

The soldiers weren’t the rebels Nyx had sent. Darren must have spotted an error in their documentation that Nyx’s men had failed to catch before turning in their reports that first day we arrived. They were rebels, but not the right ones. Not us. Neither was the rebel Nyx had intended, the one with a story prepared, the one that knew what to say and when to break. The one that could lie, and lie well.

These two were in danger every moment they were here. If I didn’t find a way to get them out, they might say the wrong thing. They couldn’t confess. If they did, all of our plans would be ruined, and their stammering lies might lead Darren in a different direction than the one Nyx and I hoped. It could lead straight toward the keep, instead of away.

“Ryiah, do you need me to take over?” Darren had come forward at some point while I stood, hands limp at my sides. Horror flooded my chest.

What have I done?

“I don’t think you’re right.” The words fell from my lips, barely more than a murmur.

The prince turned me around, pulling me away from the two bloodied soldiers. He kept his eyes locked on the two beyond as we moved to the other side of the room.

“Love,” he said, “we’ve barely begun. I didn’t expect them to confess this fast.”

“No.” My stomach churned with the realization of what we had started. I had let Darren… I had let me… A shiver ran straight down the base of my spine as a wash of ice flooded my veins. I had to stop this now. My grip on the prince’s arm tightened. “Darren, we are wrong.”

“How can you know?” His expression was sympathetic, but hard. His muscles tightened beneath my fingers, preparing to take over my task.

“I-I…” How could I even explain? I hadn’t served on their squad. I couldn’t shift the blame to Nyx’s rebel because I didn’t even know who she had prepared or if they were even in this squad.

“Ryiah, this is too hard for you. After Derrick, I can understand why it might be difficult to perform. We can get another guard to swap places with you, take a break from the interrogation before it gets worse.”