Page 12 of Bound By Blood and Lies

Quinn barks out a laugh and cuts a look at me, “prove it.”

She smiles again; this time it is full of arrogance as I cut a glare towards Atlas. Why would he lie? Anyone with a fractionof sense knows CCTV isn’t readily available here. That’s half the reason The Company chose Coggeshall in the first place. No cameras. Just old stone streets and blind corners. Quinn may not be the sharpest tool in the box but even she knows there isn’t footage of anything. All we have is a text exchange and timing. I exhale slowly and drag my hand down my face, the skull inked across my skin distorts with the movement before I glance back at her and hold her gaze.

This isn’t going to work.

Quinn thinks I won’t cross the line; she thinks the concept of hurting her will restrain me. And the guys… they’re loyal, rational and irritatingly moral right now. They aren’t exactly encouraging me to harm her. I turn away without another word and walk to the silver box mounted against the wall. It’s my favourite thing in this dump; with its stainless steel and biometric lock I installed myself recently.

“Ah. Not the juice,” Victor groans quietly and Riggs giggles.

Felix doesn’t speak as I press my thumb to the scanner. A soft mechanical click echoes through the room and the stainless-steel door releases. Inside, the vials sit in perfect alignment. I brought more of them here over the last month. Each one is carefully labelled in my handwriting. I scan them, not because I need to, but because this matters. I want her unsettled; I want her to see what I see.

Then I select the one I want.

When I turn back toward Quinn, her body shifts in the chair. It’s subtle. A tightening of her shoulders, a shallow inhale but it’s the confidence that has thinned that makes me smile. The bravado doesn’t sit as comfortably now that she’s watching me. I slide the needle through the vial’s seal and pull back a measured dose, calculating her weight and height automatically.

“What is that?” she demands as her voice cracks at the edge.

I don’t look away from the syringe as I tap out the air bubble.

“Efficiency,” I murmur back.

She pulls against the restraints as I approach and I see the panic I desperately wanted to see earlier to begin to claw its way up her spine.

“You can’t?—"

I cut her off as I grab her jaw, forcing her head to the side. My fingers dig into her cheeks just enough to keep her still. She tries to twist away but I don’t allow it. The needle slides into the vein at her neck in one smooth motion. The plunger depresses beneath my thumb and I withdraw just as cleanly before stepping back as the reaction hits. It’s almost immediate. Her body jerks violently against the restraints, the leather creaking as her spine arches off the chair. A strangled gasp rips from her throat as her hands spasm and her fingers claw at nothing whilst the first wave crashes through her system.

Atlas goes quiet.

Felix doesn’t move.

Quinn’s pupils blow wide, swallowing the colour of her eyes. The tremor that begins in her shoulders spreads fast down her arms, through her core until her entire frame is shaking. Her breathing turns ragged and laboured like she’s drowning in thin air. A thin line of drool slips from the corner of her mouth. It almost looks like a seizure. Then the convulsions taper. Her muscles begin to slacken as resistance drains from her posture as if someone has pulled the tension out of her one fibre at a time. Her head droops slightly and her jaw hangs loose. Sweat beads along her hairline and tracks down her temple and I smile as I watch the serum settle.

Riggs shivers.

“I still hate that stuff,” Victor mutters.

“What is it?” Felix questions.

“Truth serum,” I reply, not paying attention to their shocked faces. I already did this dance with Victor. He can fill in the blanks. I crouch slightly so I am eye level with Quinn.

“Who contacted you?” My voice comes out bored even though I am anything but and her lips part before she can stop them.

“Fisher,” she breathes. The word slips out of her like it doesn’t belong to her anymore. Her eyes widen as if she is shocked at how easily she betrayed him.

Or herself.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Felix go rigid but I barely register it. Because I already knew. I felt it the moment Fae disappeared and Fisher conveniently followed.

“Why?” I press.

There is a pause in her response before Quinn’s body convulses violently. Her spine arches off the chair as a broken scream tears from her throat. Her fingers curl in on themselves unnaturally. Her nails bite into her palms as if she can claw the answer back inside her. Victor swears under his breath as Atlas takes a step forward before stopping himself. Quinn’s head thrashes once, then twice, as her pupils blow wider and her breath shreds from her lungs. A sharp, guttural cry rips free as her muscles seize again. It’s not like her reaction from before; this isn’t the initial shock. This is punishment.

A slow smile spreads across my face.

“What th—" Riggs looks between us confused before being cut off again by another guttural scream.

“She’s trying to withhold the information,” I say calmly. “The serum doesn’t like that.”