Chapter 12

The man in front of me whimpers, and I tilt my head to the side. He isn’t giving me the information I want. Tavish gave us this lead, but it wasn’t panning out. He had been captured on traffic cameras driving away from the cabins around the time Everly was taken.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” he sobs, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

It’s a lie. I can tell he is lying. But obviously whoever paid him is more scary than us.

I crouch down to his level, my eyes locking onto his. The room is dimly lit, casting long shadows on the walls, adding to the intensity of the moment. The man’s face is pale, beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he trembles.

”You know exactly what I”m talking about,” I say, my voice steady and laced with an underlying threat. ”I’ve dealt with men like you before. You think you can lie and get away with it, but let me assure you, that’s not going to happen here.”

He shakes his head vehemently, tears streaming down his face. ”I swear, I don’t know anything!”

I sigh, standing up and taking a step back. ”You know,” I say, looking over my shoulder at Rayth, who is standing by the door with his arms crossed, ”I really don’t like it when people lie to me.”

Rayth steps forward, his presence alone enough to make the man cower further. ”We can do this the hard way, or the easy way,” Rayth says, his voice cold and menacing. ”Your choice.”

The man”s eyes dart around the room, searching for any possible escape, but the sight of Damon in the other corner just makes it worse for him. His breath comes in ragged gasps, and he starts to shake even more violently.

”I swear, I don”t know anything!” he cries out again, but there”s a note of desperation that tells me he”s hiding something.

I glance at Rayth, who nods slightly. He knows what to do. Moving with a predatory grace, Rayth approaches the man, pulling out his knife.

The man”s eyes widen in horror as Rayth flips the knife in his hand, the blade glinting ominously in the dim light. ”Last chance,” Rayth says, his voice low and threatening. ”Tell us what we want to know, or this gets ugly.”

The man shakes his head, his sobs turning into frantic gasps. ”Please, I swear I don”t know anything!” he wails, but his eyes betray him. There”s something there, a flicker of fear that tells me he knows more than he”s letting on.

Rayth doesn’t hesitate. He presses the flat of the blade against the man”s cheek, the cold metal making him flinch. ”Let”s see how long you can keep up this act,” Rayth growls, his hand moving swiftly to cut a shallow line across the man”s face.

The man screams, the sound echoing off the walls. Blood trickles down his cheek, and he squirms in the chair, trying to pull away. ”Please, stop! I don”t know anything, I swear!” he cries, but the words are starting to sound hollow, even to my ears.

I step closer, leaning in to whisper in his ear. ”You know, everyone breaks eventually. The question is, how much pain can you endure before you do?”

Rayth grabs the man”s hand, stretching his fingers out on the armrest. ”Let”s find out,” he says, bringing the knife down with brutal precision, slicing the tip of the man”s pinky finger. The man howls in agony, his body convulsing as he tries to pull away.

Damon steps forward, a grim look on his face. ”You know, I used to think torture was beneath us,” he says, his voice eerily calm. ”But for you, I”m willing to make an exception.”

The man”s screams grow louder, his pleas for mercy falling on deaf ears. Rayth methodically continues, each cut and slice designed to inflict maximum pain without causing death. The room is filled with the scent of blood and the man”s anguished cries, but he still refuses to talk.

After what seems like forever, I realize we aren’t going to get anywhere, he isn’t going to tell us where they took Everly. ”Enough!” I say, my voice cutting through the noise. Rayth steps back, his knife dripping with blood. The man slumps in the chair, his body shaking uncontrollably, but his eyes still hold a stubborn glint of defiance.

”He”s not going to break,” Damon mutters. ”Whoever he”s protecting must have him scared out of his mind.” His frustration reaches its peak. Without warning, he steps forward and thrusts his knife into the center of the man”s chest. The man”s eyes widen in shock and pain, a strangled gasp escaping his lips as blood begins to seep from the wound.

Rayth huffs in frustration, his face contorted with anger. ”I could have broken him,” he says, his voice tinged with bitterness.

I shake my head. ”No, Rayth. He was never going to break. Whoever he’s protecting, he fears them more than us.”

Turning away from the scene, I walk to the window, looking out into the night. My thoughts drift to Everly. Where are you, angel? But the stars in the sky offer no answers, only a cold, indifferent silence. Like looking in a mirror.