hawk & sable

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX,

HAWK & SABLE | TWENTY-SIX

THEY DID SOME basic questioning first. It wouldn't properly begin until tomorrow, but they wanted to pry some answers out of him first. Ciri watched from the back of the room. Zhang daren led. Irina and Ryan weren't here, but the rest of them were. Even Io, who watched with macabre delight and intrigue in her dark, wide eyes.

"Who do you work for?"

The smile on "William's" handsome face was ugly and twisted. Or perhaps Ciri was biased. "Wouldn't you like to know, countess?"

Asteria was unimpressed, turning her signature cool stare to Zhang daren, who nodded in return. "The Meliqueans. You're a Cuckoo. What happened to the real William Hua?"

The questioning room was bare save for the chair in the centre of the room, and the table before it. The walls were built of stone, and there was no window. The questioning room was underground, after all. A few torches lit up the entire room in a warm glow, but it did little to quash the coldness and discomfort the basement of the Iron Wolves' headquarters exuded, a strange contrast to the upper levels, well-lit and comfortable. One was for welcomed guest, the others for those who intruded upon their peace.

Zhang daren's voice was smooth, silk over steel, honey over poison. "You could tell us now and save us a lot of trouble. This won't be as pleasant tomorrow." They had given him water and some dry buns. They had no qualms about torture if it was truly deemed necessary. It would start slowly, bit by bit, as there became less water and less food.

"William" just smirked, mocking and vicious.

"Who are you?" Dominic asked, completely calm.

"You know, don't you?"

"What name did you go by before you became William Hua Lin?"

He looked up, eyes burning with barely repressed fury. How did that fury get into his eyes? How did the Meliqueans turn these Saian-looking boys and girls against them? "If you must know. They called me Diego." Diego. A Meliquean name. Someone off the streets they found, probably, who they groomed into this broken, foolishly loyal boy. She wondered, momentarily, how many others like him were out there, living right under their noses. It was not a pleasant thought.

"Diego," Zhang daren murmured, studying the boy in the chair. "Were you one of Anthony Contreras'?"

He didn't answer, dark eyes glimmering. Pain or rage, she wasn't sure.

"He's not going to answer." Dominic shrugged. "We'll take out the big guns tomorrow. Push him a bit further and he's going to break."

Io raised a brow. Ciri knew what she was thinking. Diego looked far too calm to break. It would take a long time. Why was he so calm? He wasn't betraying even the slightest bit of concern or worry. The Meliqueans had to know they weren't exactly merciful. Something was wrong, but she didn't say that aloud. They'd all realise it. She noticed Danna frowning.

"Curb your thirst for blood," the daren snorted. "We'll try some non-violent ways first. Are you not going to cooperate, Diego?"

He didn't answer, just spat at the Iron Wolf's feet. Zhang daren sighed. "I suppose not so easily. Political idealists your age are the worst to deal with. That's what you are, aren't you? A budding little philosopher? We found some of your notes, you know. Very clumsy. Those shouldn't have been left around. If you were one of mine, I'd have taught you to burn those in your second lesson."

"They weren't for your eyes."

"Well, they are now." He spread his arms. "Should have destroyed those when you had the chance. They were quite revealing."