Warlord Conquering (The Great Insurrection Book 3) by David Beers (best historical fiction books of all time txt) 📗

"Please," he said. "I'll tell you anything. I'll do anything you want. Just no more." He had already told her everything. He'd told her truths and untruths, anything that might make the pain stop. Nothing did, though. She was insatiable in her lust to hurt.

"I do it partly because I like it, but that's only part of it. When your hero returns, I want him to see you. I'll make him stare at you before I start in on him because he's the one who caused this pain. Not me. Not even you. It was him." She grinned broadly. "Now, today, I thought we might start with your toes. What do you think about that?"

Tears welled in Thoreaux's eyes and fell onto his cheeks. "I'll tell you about his wife. I'll tell you about the AllMother. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Her smile widened. "The only thing I want to know is which toe you'd like me to flay first."

Thoreaux was sobbing now, snot running out of his nose and over his bruised and battered lips. "Anything. I'll give you anything."

He never told her which toe to start with, so Hel picked the smallest one on the left foot, and by the end of the session, she'd made her way to his biggest one.

She used fire to staunch the bleeding.

Veena had seen enough, both of this planet and Hel's plans.

She felt dirty, and not in a physical sense. She felt like her honor had been thrown in the mud, and she didn't think she'd ever be able to clean it off. Hel was back in her little torture chamber, using the captive as a personal vengeance doll. It was as if she thought she could somehow hurt him enough to hurt the man who'd destroyed her face.

They'd been here for a week, and Veena was finished. Hel had made the contacts. Hel had figured out the plan. Veena went along with it all because Ares appeared to be in a near-coma. It was like he didn't care what happened. He didn't argue with Hel. He didn't tell her to stop the massacre she was performing in the back of their hideout.

Veena went to his room, the captive's screams softer as she moved away from the torture chamber. It made her skin crawl to hear them. She couldn't be a part of something like that any longer. She knocked on Ares' door.

"Come in," the Titan answered from inside.

Veena pushed the door open and stepped in, closing it behind her.

Ares lay on his cot, his Whip resting beneath his right hand. Veena could still hear the screams, though they were muffled.

"How can you lay in here and listen to that?" she asked.

The Titan glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

"Every morning for the past week, we've heard her doing this. You haven't said a word, Ares. Not to me, not to her, not to anyone."

He turned his eyes back to the ceiling. "What am I supposed to say? You want me to go in there and tell her to stop?"

"I think we need to take control of this situation. I think we've both shirked our duties as Primuses by allowing any of this to take place, including fleeing the ship." She took a step closer to his bed, anger rising in her. "None of this is going to get us back to Earth. None of this is helping our mission of capturing Kane."

Ares sighed as if he were exhausted. His right hand moved up and down his crimson Whip’s hilt. "Do you know my father? Have you heard of him?"

"What's that have to do with any of this?" Veena asked.

"Answer the godsdamn question. Do you know who he is?"

Veena put her hands on her hips. "I’m aware of your lineage."

"Growing up, through my formative years really, he taught me things. They were hard lessons. Things that made me wonder if he loved me or if I was a tool he was molding. As a man, lying here in this shithole, listening to someone scream in a back room, I know the truth. My father loved me deeply, and he was trying to prepare me for the life that he knew would come."

Ares suddenly swung his legs off the bed and sat up. Except for Kane, Veena didn't think she'd ever seen someone move so smoothly.

He looked at her, his Whip still inactive in his right hand. "One thing he taught me was when you aren't in a dominant position, rushing forward can be fatal. It's often better to let your opponents think they're in charge or let them be in charge if that's what it takes. Eventually, they'll make a mistake, and if you're ready and in position, you can gain the upper hand. So far, Hel hasn't allowed me to gain the upper hand. The contacts she made with the underworld here are good for us. Whether or not we agree with what she's doing to that man, capturing Alistair is essential to getting back to the Commonwealth. I don't want to consider right now if we'll hold our posts. It's too far in the future. All I want to do is get Kane, kill him, and bring his head back to the Ascendant. I'll deal with Hel when the moment presents itself because I know for sure she isn't planning on letting us make it back."

Veena understood or thought she did. She wanted to know something, though. "Does it bother you, what's happening back there, Ares? That we're listening to a man having his skin cut off his body?"

Much slower this time, Ares turned and lay back on his bed. "It's inconsequential, Veena. He's a Subversive. Either way, his life is over. I'm focused on Alistair and finding my way back to the Commonwealth. I suggest you do the same. The attack will happen in a few hours. Whether they kill him or we do, it's the