Chapter Fourteen.

"This man," Callum told Cam. "Is the one who was in charge of logging slaves at that location. He logged when they came in, who bought them, and where they were sent."

Cam looked at the slaver. It was a man in his forties with gray hair and brown eyes. Callum had him cuffed to a metal chair in a warehouse the ancient demigod had purchased and enchanted that morning.

No one would hear anything going on inside of it. Cam knew his cousin intended him to torture the information or rip it out of the slaver's head, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. There were several other slavers in a separate room in the warehouse, all bound, gagged, and put under a stasis spell of his cousin's.

All ready for interrogation.

Cam sat on the chair in front of the slaver as he contemplated what to do. Using his empathy, he was able to tell if someone was lying. Using his telepathy, he could read their thoughts. Those were both things he was willing to do.

The one he was hesitant towards was mental pressure. He could use a mental battering ram against the man, slowly wearing away his resolve. That still bothered him. There was that mental grip he used on Jenna. It was slower and gentler, and less likely to kill the man.

But it was still a painful piece of torture.

Sighing, Cam looked into the slaver's eyes.

"We're looking for a specific slave," Cam told him. "Tell us what we need to know, and if it's honest, we'll be a lot nicer, okay?"

"I'll never answer your question," the slaver spit at him, the spit landing on a barrier Callum created to stop it.

"That's a cliché line," Cam said. "Do you think you're a hero being interrogated by the villain? No. You're the villain. You work to enslave mages and force them to do the bidding of others. I'm here to free a slave. I'm not a hero, either. I'd like to be one, but I think heroes have to be a bit more heroic than me. I'll do what's necessary, even if it means giving myself nightmares, in order to protect my friends.

"So don't be a cliché," Cam told the slaver. "Because I really don't like it. I just want to know where this one specific slave is. My cousin's in favor of just entering your head and ripping the information out.

"I don't like that method," he said. "I hate it, actually. But if you refuse to give us answers, I'll let him do it. Do you know why I don't like it?"

Cam stared at the slaver, who didn't answer.

"I don't like it," Cam said. "Because it's dangerous. If not done properly, it will leave your mind as mush. You'd likely never recover. I'm giving you a chance. Answer my questions, and things will be okay for you. Okay?"

"You'll never get it from me," the slaver snorted.

Cam looked at Callum.

"He truly believes that," Cam told his cousin, then looked back at the slaver. "Is that because you don't know? Or believe you don't know?"

"I only just started here today," the slaver answered. "I don't know anything about the logs there, and I can only enter the information in, I can't access it."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Cam pulled out his wallet, then his Thornton Crest. "You see, I'm a Thornton by blood. That means that I can access those fancy magic computers' databases. We already know the slave in question was brought to your location. From there, he was sold to an anonymous person. Eden?"

Eden stepped forward and handed Cam a sheet of paper, and the teen held it up so that the slaver could see.

"The information is that he was sold to an anonymous slaver," Cam said. "But Callum told me that it's likely not completely true. You had to have had something to go off of, didn't you? I need to know how to read this information and find out who bought my friend."

"I'm not going to help you," the man spat again, his saliva hitting the barrier once more. "You might be a Thornton, but your family? They're a lot scarier than you and this ragtag group of wannabe vigilantes."

"Oh, we aren't wannabes," Eden grinned. "You heard about the security warehouse front? Cam here," he placed a hand on Cam's shoulder. "Is the one who caused it to fall apart. That's where he got this information."

"Now," Cam said. "How do I find out who bought my friend?"

The man just spat at him again, and Cam sighed.

"No, Callum," Cam looked at his cousin. "Let me handle this. I need to. For Ty. And for everyone else they've hurt. I can't be a wimp forever."

Cam turned his gaze back to the slaver, then took a deep breath before slowly letting it out, gathering up his magical power. Focusing that power, Cam lightened it, pushing his mind into the slaver's.

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The man began trembling at the sensation of a foreign mind invading his own. He could feel it moving around in there, searching, seeking. There were too many secrets he knew, too many embarrassing things he didn't want anyone to know.

He began spilling everything he knew. He didn't know who bought the slave with that information, but he did know who would probably know. Within five minutes, he'd given all of the information he had on it, and Cam pulled his mind out.

"Cam?" Eden gave the exhausted-looking demigod a horrified look. "I thought you said-"

"I didn't root through his mind," Cam said. "I, uh, thought of an alternative."

"That was totally badass, Cam!"

"I never thought about using the power like that before!"

"That probably felt totally creepy to him, I kind of feel for the slaver."

"Do it again!"

"Yeah, do it to Eden!"

"Guys, hush!" Cam hissed at the voices, then blushed as he realized he'd verbalized his annoyance at them once more.

"What did you do?" Eden asked.

"I, uh," Cam blushed deeper. "I pushed my mind against his and basically just… moved around? It felt totally creepy. It was so hard not to pull out. I didn't root through his mind, and I didn't hurt him, either. I call that a win."

He nodded. He found that to be a much better alternative, even if it did disturb the man. Cam supposed it was probably a form of torture, too, but at least the man wasn't hurt and didn't have his mind actually invaded.

The demigod wasn't sure it would work on someone who actually knew mind magic, since they'd be able to tell he was pretty much just brushing his mind against theirs, but for someone without a branch in the school of mind magic?

It definitely had its uses.

"Anyway," Cam looked at Callum, who looked deep in thought. "Callum? Caaallum? Calluuuuum? Callum!"

"What?" Callum jumped at Cam jabbed a finger into his side.

"The guy he said probably had the answers," Cam said. "Where'd you stick him? Also, can I have the gummy bears you stuck in your pocket? I'm hungry again."

"I'll get you a snack," Eden patted Cam's head, only to have his hand swatted away. "Back in a few minutes."

Callum knocked out the slaver and uncuffed him, then took him to the room where he was storing the other guards. He bound him and gagged him once more, then placed a stasis spell on him before scanning the room, his eyes landing on another slaver.

This one looked to be in his late twenties, with blond hair, brown eyes, and a lean build. The demigod grabbed the man and pulled him out of the room, moving him to where the other slaver had previously sat.

After cuffing the man and removing him from stasis, Callum turned himself back into a dog and sat beside his cousin. He didn't like being in human form and was already doing more than he was comfortable with.

The only reason he'd stepped in was because his job was to protect his cousin. But there wasn't really a need to. Cam and his friends could definitely handle these slavers, even with Cam's combat reluctance.

It was an interesting group of youth, to be sure. A spatial mage, a mind mage demigod, a fire mage demigoddess with ice magic, an illusion and wind mage prodigy, and a blood mage nephilim with blood combat capabilities.

A mage with voices that told him where danger lurked and guided him in battle to ensure his safety. A mage who could move around without regard for space, even warping it so that attacks failed to strike. A mage who used fire that could burn through most defenses. A mage who never fought where he could be seen, instead causing his foes to believe him elsewhere. A mage who healed his allies while gaining strength the more injuries were inflicted in battle.

Those five teens, if they were to form up into a team, would immediately be among the most powerful teams on the entirety of the planet Earth, the ancient demigod was sure. He was confident the only reason the Leosvars would be able to stop them would be their spell to freeze time.

Then add in the teen three of them were hunting for. A boy with ice that could freeze nearly any magic in its tracks. Combined with his sister's fire, they could bring about a small, armageddon-class spell of complete destruction.

If those five – six – mages trained well, then in the next three or four years, they would easily be the most powerful mages on Earth and a team that could only be stopped by divine powers.

Callum sighed, then laid down. Back when he was younger, he was part of one such unit. It was how he'd earned the nickname the Hound of the Line. He wasn't sure what had happened to the others, but-

Something slammed into his mind with a panic, and the ancient demigod looked at his cousin, who had suddenly looked scared. He sat back up, and Cam's hand returned to his head.

Right, Callum thought. Cam's using me as a steadying tool. I'm not sure how I feel about this. But it's keeping him calm while in a situation that scares him, so I suppose I'll endure this dog-like treatment. It does feel good, though.

As Callum pondered over what it felt like to have someone scratch behind his ears, Cam continued his interrogation of the slaver, munching on the carrots that Eden had brought him. He was hoping for chocolate or gummies, but decided the carrots would do, too.

Especially if they helped him grow up. He didn't want to be a short adult.

If only there was some ranch dressing to go with it.

"Hey, Eden?" Cam interrupted his 'interrogation' to look at the spatial mage. "Can you get me some ranch dressing to dip these in?"

Eden snorted before teleporting out, and Cam looked at the slaver once more.

"So the guy regularly buys mage slaves," Cam said. "And has them fight against each other in a secret, underground arena that requires an exclusive pass to enter?"

"Correct," the slaver responded. "No one knows where it's held, and those who hold the passes are sworn into a magical oath to not reveal they have it nor where it's held nor anything else that could lead someone to it."

"Do you know how I can qualify to earn one of those passes?" Cam asked. "There's got to be some way to get their attention. I'm looking for a specific slave he has."

"You have to catch the master's attention," the slaver answered. "Unless you plan on going around destroying his various safe houses, bases, and so on, you won't be able to, kid."

"Destroying them?" Cam asked. "Do you know who you're talking to? Two of my best friends participated in destroying the Fae Forest. I killed Titania with my cousin here. I'm friends with the violent twin sister of the slave I'm looking for. I know you were only answering my questions because you didn't feel there was any danger from answering them. They were harmless, right? But now… now I'm going to need you to tell me everything you can about this master and where I can find his properties. My friends and I are about to get his attention in a rather violent way."

Well, my friends are, Cam thought to himself. I'll just be there for moral support.

Eden returned with a bowl of ranch dressing, and Cam promptly dunked a carrot into it before pushing his mind against the slaver's.