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"Still angry about Gailene?" Mathias taunted

Ice ground his teeth so hard he swore they ive Mathias the knowledge that his words were a stab in the heart He remained silent

"I sense you are As you said so sincerely, ‘a thousand apologies’ My actual purpose for this visit, I’m sure you know, is not ancient history, but the Doomsday Diary Where is it? Which feht ahead at the concrete wall and said nothing

"You want ame How quaint Let’s see … Olivia has experience with the book, and of course, a faic, once she transitions, will be very strong The younger MacTavish’s tasty new treat is another possibility Despite being huh to hide it And then there is Braant sister, Sabelle She is quite one of theher bound tothe inside of his lip so hard he drew blood, Ice forced hi he said in defense of Sabelle now, anything that made Mathias believe that Sa-belle had his heart, would only paint a target on her back

"You’ve nothing to say?" Mathias prodded

Ice closed his eyes, resolved that whatever the evil wizard said or did, he would not talk He would not put his princess in further danger

"Hmm" Mathias sounded put out "I understand froen ue He advises et you to talk"

Gri at the memory, Ice still kept quiet His bloody stones still throbbed Ice kneould never get to repay the favor, but hoped another of the Doomsday Brethren would

"You have remained very loyal in the face of immense pain Pity you won’t reconsider your future" Mathias paused, as if he hoped Ice would now plead for ood at extracting details from someone’s mind, and it isn’t very pleasant My methods are especially effective once the subject has been weakened by pain I advise that you tell uardian and spare yourself the difficulty"

"Fuck off"

"Determined to be defiant, I see Must run in the fareat deal of effort to hold Gailene down so I and the others could take my pleasure until her death"

Ice tried to stop thedown a runway Gailene … so young, so innocent, her tiny form spread wide open for Mathias and his rets and recriminations Ice had lashed himself for the past two hundred years haunted hiuessed, ould happen?

Still, he said nothing, refusing to give Mathias a neay to torture him

Mathias crept closer Ice knew from the brush of air at his back and the stench of evil He tensed, bracing himself, certain the wizard had more torture in store

Instead, Mathias whispered in his ear, "You will tell et my hands on the Doomsday Diary I have more ways to ply you with pain than you have sta difficult, you should know I’ll veryyou"

Ice didn’t doubt that Mathias could find limitless ways to cause him pain But no matter what, Ice would never put Sabelle in this ickind needed her, and Ice needed to know she lived on well and happily

"Fuck off"

"Let’s see how brave you are in, say, a half hour I’ve found thehuman, with the most deliciously twisted mind I tested this one on MacKinnett before I burned hi you’ll prove equally entertaining"

With a snap of his fingers, the heavy es More footsteps Heavy ones Whoever had just entered was bulky And he dragged soround He’d find out what it was soon enough, but had no doubt it would prove excruciating Huical h male voice asked

"Indeed Spare no mercy," the evil wizard went on "He’s particularly troublesohed, the sound like gravel rattling in a e

In the next moment, Ice heard a whoosh, followed by the snap of a whip Then a line of fire broke out across his back Agony In seconds, blood seeped from the wound and dripped down his back He barely had time to assimilate the impact of the first blow before the second came, then the third Sweat broke out all over his body, despite the freezing room He bit the inside of his cheek to hold a screah skin, tearing intobone

One breath at a tihts to Sabelle, desperate to focus on anything but the next lash, which wrapped around his waist, its coil snapping just below his navel and drawing fresh blood Or the blow after, which opened up the sensitive flesh at the back of his neck

Beauty Kindness Bravery Intelligence Goodness Sa-belle He’d held her a short ti this torture if Mathias kneho had the book gratified him In his mind, Ice sidled up to her, wrapped an arm around her, buried his face in her neck

Then he felt Mathias’s hands on his shoulder and the bastard working inside his head, probing his thoughts In the blink of an eye, Ice erased the of, warrior?" Mathias deht to Mathias, a pained grin spreading his dry lips

With a mental roar, Mathias shoved his way inside Ice’s head, just as the lash of the whip landed on his shoulder and around his biceps, tearing his flesh open He dripped blood over every inch of his back, which soaked into the waistband of his trousers Without Sabelle to focus on, fresh pain rushed in, and the flaying from the whip rushed to the front of his consciousness He ht, but refused to risk her

His knees collapsed under hier to his feet The whip bit hi his pants, his skin Still, he refused to cry out or give in

Mathias squeezed his shoulder and pushed deeper into his thoughts, and Ice focused inward again, al to tend to He shoved at the evil wizard, barring hi the events of the last few days That joy was his, and his alone