“Well, are you going to fucking tell me, or is this a cliffhanger?” Adryan asked once again in a bored tone.
There was only the subtlest tightening around James's mouth as if he was bothered by the abrasive tone Adryan threw out, but other than that, he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
“Went with the cleanup crew to get the bodies of those Assembly assholes,” James said and spit down on Matteo’s prone body. “Found one of the human’s still alive.” Adryan lifted an eyebrow but said nothing else. “He wasn’t alone,” James continued, but there was barely leashed fury in his voice. “Found this fucker trying to help him.” He used his foot to roll Matteo over so he was now supine, and it was the first time I got a good look at his face.
Oh God.
A horrified gasp left me, and instantly Cian had me in his arms, my face to his chest, his hand curled around the back of my head as he shielded me from the gore that was Matteo’s face. But it was already done. I’d already seen the damage to the vampire's face, and it was horrendous.
I hated acting weak, seeming like I couldn’t handle the realities of the world.
Matteo’s eyes had been gouged out, his mouth so bruised, so swollen and bloody, that it didn’t even look like what it was supposed to anymore.
“I already know the answer, but I want you to tell me,” Adryan said in a still conversational voice. “You do that, James?” Despite his calm voice and demeanor, I could tell it was deceptive. There was this underlying warning in his voice, as if he was pissed James had taken the liberties of dishing out vengeance before getting permission.
“I was going to leave the traitor intact for you, but then I snapped when I heard him talking about the location of the wolf's female and how the human was telling Matteo to warn the others at the warehouse.” James shrugged. “Needless to say”—he glanced at Cian and then back at Adryan—“I was pretty pissed, and before I could stop myself…” He gestured to Matteo. “Well, you can see what happened. I roughed him up a little.”
Matteo started groaning, but James gave a brutal kick to his ribs.
I turned my head from the scene once again, disgusted and shocked that James would think what he’d done to Matteo was just “roughing him up a little.”
I had to assume vampires were insanely strong, just like a Lycan. But Matteo lay on the ground barely breathing, a few low moans coming from his battered mouth as if he hardly had the strength to do even that. The kind of violence that had been brought on him was so horrendous that it would have been more than just a fit of rage. It felt like payback, revenge. It felt as if James had been personally affronted and harmed.
“He’ll survive,” James said. “Give him a few days to heal, and he’ll be good as new, and then you can do what you want with him.” James gave a sadistic smile toward Adryan, but the vampire leader didn’t crack, kept his composure hard and closed off as he stared at James.
After a long second he finally tipped his chin to someone across the room. One of his soldiers came and hoisted Matteo off the ground, carting him out of the room.
I wanted to ask what was going to happen to Matteo, although I wasn’t a fool and could assume. My imagination was pretty damn vivid.
“Well, wolf,” Adryan addressed Odhran. “Looks like it’s your extra-lucky day. If Matteo is the traitor, I’ll let you go at him hard-core to find out any information you can about his involvement with the Assembly and if he knows anything about your woman.”
Odhran didn’t speak, but I could feel the ripple of pent-up aggression and vengeance pouring off him. I chanced a look at Odhran and saw him staring so darkly at Matteo that I shivered in fear. Cian’s arms tightened around me before he kissed the top of my head.
“No worries,” he murmured so only I heard. “Ye’re safe.” I knew I was, but the absolute murderous gaze on Odhran’s face and the violent energy moving around him could have made the dead fearful.
After a long moment of tense silence, Odhran ran a hand through his blond hair, and then he was walking past us, not saying anything to anyone. The sound of the front door opening and closing came after his footsteps, and now it was my turn to exhale shakily. The tension in the room was considerable, but still no one spoke.
The vampires were looking at each other before their gazes landed on Adryan, as if they were looking for their leader to tell them what to do.