Rough, Sara Fields [the top 100 crime novels of all time txt] 📗

I lifted my chin, waiting for him to continue.

“I’ve seen you walking the halls of Valgertha. You used to serve Queen Freya. That bitch of an alpha queen is someone that has been extremely problematic for us, so you can understand my rather immediate suspicion of your appearance in my castle,” he added. I didn’t have to read between the lines. Everything about his body language screamed danger and certain death if I wasn’t careful with what I said next.

On high alert, I leveled my eyes with his. I had years of training for this. I was the daughter of one of the most influential secret organizations in the world. Before I was done with this bastard, I would have him eating out of my hand.

“There’s something else I want to talk about. I looked a bit more into the day you were captured and found it quite interesting that it also happened to be the same day that the city of Ravenrath was sacked by the Brotherhood,” he continued.

I tensed, keeping my lips in my firm line so I gave nothing away.

“You see, that makes me highly suspicious of you in particular,” he said darkly.

I didn’t say anything yet. I wanted to know everything he knew about me first. He would show his hand before I showed him mine.

He reached for me, pushing the neckline of my dress just far enough over my shoulder to reveal Magnar’s mark on my skin. It had long since healed over, just leaving a white scar that sent a very clear message that I belonged to an alpha. He traced a finger over top of it and the mark blazed hot for a long moment before he pulled away.

“When we gave you to Magnar, we expected him to use you just enough to blow off steam. We hadn’t expected him to claim you like this,” he muttered. “Your position complicates things.”

“What’s your point?” I pressed.

“An omega makes an alpha weak. It shifts his loyalty from us to you, and then it can become a problem,” he murmured.

“A slave goes where she is told,” I answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

His hand disappeared into his robes for a moment before it reemerged with a horrific-looking dagger. He slipped the sharpened point right beneath my chin. I tensed, lifted my chin and he pressed the blade a bit more firmly against my throat.

It was just on the cusp of cutting my skin. If he pushed any harder, it would slice right through me and I would bleed out onto the floor.

“How did you come to be in both cities, Ariana? It seems like quite the coincidence,” the Prophet asked carefully. His irises locked with mine and I felt that I couldn’t look away. It felt like he was drawing me in.

I cleared my throat. In my time alone, I’d prepared myself for this moment and I recited the story I’d invented during the long walk from Ravenrath to Kingsworth.

“I served an alpha within Valgertha’s army. He captured me in the wilds long ago, tearing me away from my family. He brought me to Ravenrath with him once news of the battle broke and I ran from him only to be captured by the lot of you,” I explained. I never looked away from him. Not even once. My life and the life of so many others depended on it.

“Is that true?” the Prophet asked. His eyes remained on me as he slid the knife down until it settled right at the hollow at the base of my throat. The feeling of the tip of it was sharp and I knew that I had to put on the show of the century if I wanted him to believe me. I had to be perfect.

“Every single word,” I lied flawlessly.

He moved the knife so the edge of the blade slid perpendicular across my throat. All he had to do was jerk his arm just once and my life would end.

“What was your alpha’s name? And why didn’t he mark you for himself?”

I’d expected questions like this. He would want details.

“His name was Czar. And he only stole me because he wanted to. He’d already taken another before me, so I was nothing more than just a servant to him,” I answered.

“Why did he want two omegas?”

The edge scratched against my naked flesh, ever a reminder that I could do nothing to stop him if he decided that he didn’t believe my story. I didn’t back down. I didn’t let the threat of the knife distract me for even a second.

“It makes something of a statement to have two omegas obedient by your side, doesn’t it,” I replied, adding in a snarl for dramatic effect.

“What happened to Czar?” he asked.

I grinned menacingly, mimicking a sense of pride in order to make the next part believable.

“I killed him. I was hiding in the castle when your people captured me,” I responded accusingly.

“How did you kill him?” he pressed.

“We’d breached the walls of Ravenrath, and he’d forced me to come along to fight beside him. It’s something he’d made me do before. I refused once and he hit me enough times to make sure I never did it again. I was sick of it and this time, I saw an opportunity and I took it. He didn’t expect me to turn around and slit his throat with the very sword he’d given me to protect his own back,” I spat.

“If you were free of him, why didn’t you run?”

“The battlefield was dangerous that night. It reeked of blood and death. With the castle abandoned, I’d thought to hide there until I could get out safely. You found me before I could do that,” I answered, allowing a grimace of regret to paint over my features.

My performance had been impeccable.

For a long while, he just continued to study me, and I was left