“I am only going to ask once before I let Tiberius handle your interrogation. Where is the Kutsal Stone?” Nitiri said casually.

Elurra remained silent, but her mind was whirring with possibilities.

I still have my last line of defense, but I would rather not have to use my sword before I find out where her stone is. If I turn the tables now, I am not sure if I can defeat that Demon and capture Nitiri at the same time. And from what Tiberius said, he is a seasoned soldier. He would probably kill me even with the weapon. What should I do? she wondered as her eyes darted from Nitiri to the Demon.

“Fine. If you don’t want to talk, Tiberius will loosen your tongue.”

Elurra suppressed a smile as the dark creature approached.

I could always do nothing and let the Demon take itself out of the picture, she realized.

Tiberius must’ve sensed something was wrong, either from experience or the lack of fear in her posture, and stopped advancing. His red eyes narrowed with suspicion, and Elurra’s confidence faltered. The Demon retreated.

“I do not believe interrogation is necessary,” it hissed. “The Kutsal Stone is on her person.”

Nitiri’s eyebrows drew together, and she took a step closer. Her dress slid soundlessly across the cold floor.

“Where?”

“She has a band of terrant around her wrist.”

“Terrant? It’s been right under my nose, hasn’t it?”

She closed the space between them and grabbed Elurra’s arm. Elurra tried to pull away from her aunt’s grasp, but it was futile. Nitiri yanked her bound wrists up so the bracelet was plainly visible.

“You sneaky little wretch. You have had it dangling on your arm the entire time!”

Nitiri roughly removed it, despite Elurra’s desperate attempts to thwart her advances. She held up the bracelet victoriously.

This is bad.

She felt the hilt of her sword digging into her skin through the fabric of her dress and wondered how fast she could pull it from its sheath.

“Well, my dear niece, I won’t be needing you any—wait, what is the meaning of this?” Nitiri exclaimed as she opened the snowflake charm.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

She held it in disbelief. There was a smooth side to the emerald green stone where it had been cut in half.

“Where’s the rest of it?” she demanded.

“The stone was split. It appears I ended up with the smaller piece,” Elurra replied.

“The Lur Alavian stone is the smallest! Together with Sheni’s stone, it will barely keep a rift stable!”

“Then how was your attack against your parents so devastating? You only removed the Lur Alavian stone. I heard there were numerous deaths—”

“One Demon slipped through, which is more than enough to kill a dozen people, including my dear parents. The stories were exaggerated,” Nitiri growled. “I was hoping more Demons would find their way through, but unfortunately they did not. Two Kutsal Stones would change things. With that, a stable rift would appear, and the Demons could move back and forth easily. Where’s the other half of the stone, Elurra?”

Elurra shielded her thoughts as a vivid image of Terrin, bathed in the warm, orangey light of Tipet and adorned in his royal finery, surfaced in her mind’s eye. Her heart ached painfully as she pushed it away.

“I would rather die than tell you,” she spat.

Her fingers twitched at her side, ready to grab her sword if Nitiri responded poorly, but to her surprise, Nitiri smiled grimly and laughed.

“I could always torture you…” Nitiri trailed off, and a twisted smile played over her lips. “What if I started grabbing random people off the street and killing them in front of you instead? If you tell me now, you can save their lives.”

Elurra’s heart hammered in her chest. She had no stomach for murder, and she doubted she could sit back and watch someone die.

Hide your compassion and use cold logic. If you do not appear to care, Nitiri may change her mind.

“If I tell you were the Kutsal Stone is, there will be many more casualties. I will be saving the lives of hundreds by keeping the information secret.”

“You can say that about strangers, but what if I brought Terrin here and tortured him?” Nitiri asked smugly.

It was all Elurra could do not to shout her objections. Even if Terrin could hold out against torture, she doubted she could watch. She barely stopped herself from cringing when she remembered the rough scars across his back and wrists. Of course, as soon as Nitiri saw the bracelet, they would become disposable. The Demons would take care of them, which was worse than any kind of torture the queen could conjure.

I would rather die than let any harm come to him.

She steeled her will and looked Nitiri in the eye.

“Terrin is nothing to me. He was simply a means to an end. He assisted me in my mission, and I promised him payment in return. Before you kidnapped me, I relieved him of his service because I was disappointed with his performance. Bring him here for all I care, but I have severed my ties with him.”

Nitiri studied her niece closely with remote surprise. Elurra gathered as much indifference and hatred as she could muster and met Nitiri’s gaze passively.

“You’re lying,” Nitiri said accusingly. “I think you care deeply about Terrin. I am going to summon Zek and tell him to retrieve him for me. It sounds like you two need to make up.”

Elurra could tell Nitiri was still testing her, but she wouldn’t give in. She’d be completely indifferent until Nitiri managed to drag Terrin before her.

“You can bring him if you like, but I refuse to speak to him.”

Nitiri squinted at her suspiciously, and the next words out of her mouth were the nanite sleeping dart command. But Elurra was ready. As soon as the words left Nitiri’s mouth, Elurra put herself in stasis. She felt her body shutting down as the dart hit her, but this time she had the upper hand.

It is time to get a message to Blade. I am losing control of the situation. I will regroup and retrieve the Kutsal Stones another way.