A Court of Secrets and Moonlight

30: Vengeance

Azriel

I should have felt ashamed, should feel a strong desire to hide this side of myself from her. The darkness that lingered inside of me, the way I came alive with Truth-Teller in my hand, the satisfaction I felt as I ripped the information I wanted from screaming mouths. Rhysand stood leaning against the wall. He should have been doing as he usually did during my interrogations, looking bored, power emanating, a silent dark shadow straight from the pits of hell. But those memories that Leur had shown us, the echo of her mother's scream, the two males holding her as the crunch of bone and squelch of flesh signified the removal of Hashna's wings, the echoing cry of rage and agony that had sounded from Leur's mouth. It was only a tiny glimpse of the horror that lived inside of her head, but it was enough to have unnerved her brother.

Rhys' power flooded the room, pooling at my feet as I slowly drug my blade across the male's battered torso. I crossed with another cut and a guttural scream tore through the room, and I watched the snarl on Rhys' face grow. As if no pain would be enough for the males sitting in front of me, as if I could torture these useless worms for years, and the High Lord would not be satisfied.

If I was being honest, I wouldn't be either. Not when they had harmed my mate, harmed Hashna, the woman who had cared for me when no one else did.

Which brought me back to the shame, specifically its stark absence. I should have known better to let the thought, that doubt, even cross my mind. Leuruna was perched on a jutting protrusion of rock on my right looking entirely pleased with a mad glint in her eye. And I wouldn't have believed that mask of cruelty on her face, if it weren't for the emotions shooting down the bond. She was reveling in every second with the same triumph that I felt. With every scream, every twist of Truth-Teller, every blow from the blue power at my fingertips, the darkness that lingered inside of her smiled. Like a bat in the night sky, like those glowing otherworldly eyes that had lit up the bottom of the library, like the creature of nightmares that had restrained the ravens for her- she was enjoying watching me slowly rip them to pieces. She had no moral qualms, no mercy in her heart, not for these males.

No, Leur hated them so deeply at the sight of me, her mate, with a blade piercing their skin had sent an undercurrent of arousal down the bond.

Sick and twisted indeed.

The mate to the unending blackness that lived inside of me.

It was almost enough to distract me from the thought at hand, to fantasize about the way I'd draw that side out of her later when we were alone.

"You know, carving you up will be a real fucking treat for me." I hissed in the face of the black raven, the glistening metal of Truth-Teller making a slow shallow cut along his jaw, "I've been itching to get my hands on some of you Hybern shits."

"We aren't telling you a fucking thing." The one white one said, blood dripping from his lips as he spoke.

"Of course you won't, your only purpose in the world is to serve that sack of shit you call a king." Leur's voice, like a deepest melody, crooned behind me.

"I liked you better when you were catatonic and bleeding." The raven closer to her sneered, eyeing her up and down, "With those pretty little legs spread."

I didn't think before I reacted, my power blasting through the male so hard that his body went soaring across the room. The wooden chair he had been chained to shattered in violent splinters against the stone as he crashed into it, bones breaking under the force. I was smoke and shadow incarnate, and then I was holding him to where he had hit the wall by the neck. My wings flared out behind me, the shadows at my fingertips twisting across the male's pale skin, and my killing power flowing into the male like a curse, shattering every bone in its wake. Red brimmed the edges of my vision, and I had the vague sense that Rhysand was there too.