The King's War

37. Interrogation

The soldiers deposited us into the back of the truck and slammed the doors shut. Nate watched them briefly before leaning closer to whisper in my ear. "Whatever happens, don't tell anyone about my... condition. All right?"

I nodded, though I didn't fully understand why. "What's going to happen to us?"

Nate didn't get a chance to answer before the front doors were pulled open and the leading officer climbed into the passenger seat. A different soldier slid into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition. The engine whirred to life and Nate and I were jostled forward as the truck moved.

I glanced expectantly at Nate, hoping he might have something more to tell me, but he was silent. His jaw was set and his brows were furrowed in thought. He was trying to think of a plan, I could tell. Here's to hoping it worked.

We arrived sometime later at a strip mall that the Texas soldiers had turned into their makeshift camp. Our two captors disembarked then opened the doors for us. Nate and I complied without complaints. Surrounded by soldiers serving a hostile foreign power, we really didn't have much of a choice.

The lead officer took my arm and began leading me in the direction of one of the small shops. I craned my head to see that Nate was being led elsewhere. My heart seized with panic. "Where are you taking him?"

"Don't worry about me. Just be careful!" Nate warned.

I stared at him, wondering how the hell I was supposed to get out of this situation alone when my escort tugged on my arm. My shoulders slumped in defeat as I allowed him to lead me past the glass doors of an empty jewelry store.

All the stock had been cleared to the side to allow the soldiers to set up their base. In the middle of the room was a foldout desk with a computer, behind which sat a man who looked to be of higher rank than the soldier escorting me. He too had the same red band on his uniform that marked him as a vampire.

My escort stopped to salute his superior, then took a metal folding chair from somewhere off to the side and placed it in front of the desk with a clunk. He bid me to sit and I reluctantly obeyed.

The commanding officer leaned forward to scrutinize me, his face illuminated by the blue light of the laptop screen. He glanced between it and my face as if he were comparing something. His eyes narrowed. "Turn on the lights, Corporal."

The room was dim at the moment, the only source of illumination being the wiry desk lamp sitting on the corner of the table. The corporal walked several paces behind me to hit some switches, and the store's fluorescent overhead lights came on. I shielded my eyes from how jarringly bright they were.

The commander — or whatever his rank was — nodded thoughtfully. "I think it's safe to say she's the right girl. Good work, Wilson."

"Thank you, Sargeant."

I just stared ahead, dumbfounded. What the hell could Texas soldiers possibly want with me?

"Is she here?" said a new voice, this one coming from the sergeant's laptop.

"Yes, Your Majesty," he replied, then spun the laptop around.

Your Majesty? I barely had time to process what those words meant when the face of King Abel appeared on the screen before me. My own frightened face hovered in the corner. We were in a video call.

"Avery Crawford, I presume?" the king asked, his tone unnervingly chipper. He was handsome, in a classic movie star kind of way. But I knew better than to let my guard down around him, even if he wasn't technically in this room. The background behind him showed monitors and switches. A control room of some sort?