Broken Doll {ManxMan}

CHAPTER 17

There were a lot fewer people in the room than there was the first time when Tobias and I showed up with Dakota and Cormac, and that told me that whoever this prisoner of theirs was, he was a big deal. Big enough that his interrogation would be exclusive to the very top in the military. I suppose Tobias should have been honored to have been invited. Most of the rebellion was sitting to the right, so Tobias lead me over to the other side of the table and pulled a chair out for me before taking one himself.

Immediately I regretted coming, because Lailani was sitting on the other side of the table, a few seats to the left, just glaring at me like I was evil, and it made my skin crawl, my hands curling into fists in my lap as I bowed my head and swallowed the bile before I could lose my breakfast. The way she was glaring at me was the same as how Vinet would glare. The same way everyone at the Con Rồng would glare. They all hated me so much...

Tobias' hand on my back calmed me effortlessly, and I felt myself breathe out before leaning towards him. Without arms on the chairs, it was easy to scoot our seats right against each other, and even easier to lean against him so that I was basically sharing his chair, my head on his shoulder, his hand rubbing circles against the small of my back as we sat together and waited.

I counted the familiar faces in the room from behind my bangs to pass the time, passing over Lailani in case she caught me staring. I recognized Dakota, Beckett, and Orion, as well as Cass, Malachi, and Arthur. If I remembered correctly, that doctor of theirs had been there the day we kidnapped Demi, he definitely looked like the small boy with blond hair and big glasses from that day, but I couldn't be certain. I recognized Kailas sitting across the big table, strangely not at the head of the table like he normally was, in fact his big chair had been moved and replaced with a different chair, one made of metal with rope nearby.

Not a minute passed before Bryn walked in with Klaus and Sasha, who sent a haughty look to Arthur before sticking his nose up and taking a seat beside me while Klaus and Bryn stood behind our chairs, Bryn leaning with one hand against the back of Tobias' chair, Klaus standing at attention beside him with his arms folded, and I shut my eyes for a moment at how surreal this all felt.

Waiting for a prisoner to be brought up for interrogation where I wasn't the one being interrogated... it felt a bit strange.

"So, you're one of the people who kidnapped my cousin?" someone spoke, breaking through the silence, and I opened my eyes before lifting my head, looking towards the voice to see a young man who appeared remarkably similar to Demi, with black hair and dark eyes, fresh scars scattered across his face, and a heavy accent I couldn't place.

He was sitting beside Lailani, so I could only guess who he was talking about, but before I could respond, half the room just groaned, and Dakota leaned forward against the table where he was sitting between Beckett and Orion, exactly five seats away from the one who'd spoken.

"Hey, uh, unless you want Demi to kick your ass again, I'd shut my mouth."

"That's Efren," Orion introduced, "He's an idiot. Ignore him."

"You can't be serious!" the one known as Efren slammed his hands against the table and stood, "This guy is from the Con Rồng, but we're kissing his wounds and giving him a bed to sleep in instead of chaining him down and demanding information?! Tell me you're not serious! He's the one who kidnapped Demi!"

"Funny how a month ago you wanted to beat Demi up, huh?!" Dakota yelled back as he took to his feet, "Now you're trying to defend him!"

"Lailani agrees with me!"

"Enough," Kailas said stiffly, raising his voice just enough to be heard, sounding quite like a disappointed parent, and both Dakota and Efren sat back down, arms folding, "We're not here to interrogate Carter, he's not our enemy. He has full immunity in the Vidroh, and he's free to take as much time as he needs to get used to it here before telling us what he knows," he sent Efren a cold look, "Keep that in mind."