One of the guards kicks my knees out and then bashes me in the side of the head again for good measure. A trickle of blood leaks into my ear, but I can barely feel the pain. For me, this is foreplay. I give the council a smile and wait.
“Adrian Doubeck, you are here on charges of murder. You know killing outside the season is prohibited and punishable by death,” the woman at the head of the table intones. Her voice is bored as she reads the rap sheet like it’s a grocery list.
I stay silent. It was the first thing I learned from my very overpriced attorney. Say nothing, deny everything if compelled to speak.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” she continues, her eyes still on the tablet in front of her.
I keep quiet and take another hit to the head, this time a punch instead of the heavy metal of the guard’s weapon. I guess they want to keep me conscious for some of this at least.
Finally, the woman looks up and meets my eyes. There’s nothing in hers. It’s like staring into a frozen wasteland.
She purses her lips, creating fine lines around her mouth. “Nothing?”
“You guys are going to condemn me anyway. Why should I help you?”
Her hands come up to wave at the collective. “Maybe we won’t. This is a trial, not an execution. You have nothing to say about the deaths of two high-profile society members who were your known enemies?”
I lick the blood off my lip and smile again. “Who were those again? Maybe you could remind me who I have supposedly killed?”
She sighs. “This is ridiculous. We aren’t going to get anywhere with him unless we escalate things. Bring in the girl.” The last was spoken to the guards, one of whom walks out of the room at her order.
My mind is racing. What girl could they be referring to? I lock eyes with the woman, her gray-streaked hair pulled severely back against her head. I can’t remember her name to even threaten her properly. “If you—”
The door opens again, and I jerk around to stare while Valentina is shoved into the room, but it’s not a guard behind her. It’s Andrea.
I’m on my feet in seconds, but I don’t make it to Andrea before the other guard knocks me down again, then uses another zip tie to secure me to an iron loop in the floor. “You fucking traitor,” I spit at her, trying to get free to launch myself at her.
Valentina is shaking, her knees bruised, her curls mussed from a ponytail. There are tears in her eyes, but her chin is steady, and she shakes her head at me. “I’m okay. Calm down. Calm down.”
I glare at Andrea while I speak. “I will cut you up piece by fucking piece and feed you to the river. Once the fish get you, I’ll find those fuckers too and skewer each and every one of them.”
Andrea cranks up her chin. “That’s colorful, but this is for your own good. Trust me.”
I’m vibrating with my rage, my heart beating so fast there are black dots in my vision.
“Mr. Doubeck,” the bitch at the table snaps. “May I have your attention, please. As you can see, we are prepared to take measures to make you talk. Save us the time and energy and confess now.”
I open my mouth, for once prepared to do exactly as she says, but she cuts in before I can speak. “Or maybe we should be trying your lovely wife at this tribunal? She is the one with the closest connection to both the missing Novak leader and the other one…her fiancé, was it?”
Her cold eyes cut to Valentina, who thank fuck tells them nothing and holds her chin high.
“Nothing,” she adds. “Let’s up the ante then…”
The door opens one more time, and Kai is dragged in behind another guard carrying another gratuitously sized gun. They throw him to the floor between Valentina and me. “Another suspect for us to consider,” she deadpans, still completely disinterested.
Kai rolls to his side and coughs up blood. His face is beat to high hell worse than mine. I glance up at Andrea. “Your doing?”
She shrugs and presses her gun harder to Valentina’s temple. “He was asking for it.”
I move to launch myself at her again, but the zip tie won’t budge, not even the tiniest bit to get my hands freed. “I’m going to slaughter you,” I say carefully. “So slowly you will feel every slice until there is nothing left but your brain and your heart to cut out.”
Again, she seems disinterested in my threats. I shift my eyes to Valentina. “Tell them nothing, no matter what happens to me.”
She blinks at me and then looks toward the council again. Her eyes are rimmed with tears, but she keeps her lips clamped tight.