Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Though he is likely to be a hostile interview subject and it’s the middle of the night, I’m not waiting. Who knows whether Mathias can do more damage to magickind while I wait for a more polite hour? Zain is behind bars, has no wand, and Bram has explained that only his welcomed guests can teleport in and out. The dungeon dampens magical ability, too. Surely, I’ll be safe long enough to ask a few questions.
I just have to persuade him to talk, and snark won’t serve me. Zain’s T-shirts suggest he would merely snip back. I’ll use our previous work connection and play the stupid human card.
I grab my little video camera and make my way through the dark house, down to where Bram has the wanker locked away.
The dungeon is pitch black. No windows, no lights. The room smells like damp stones and despair. I shiver.
“Why are you here, Sydney?” Zain rasps out. He sounds weak.
“How did you—”
“Your scent.”
I don’t think taking a shower would fix that. “Where’s a light?”
“There isn’t one.” He barely gets the words out.
I recoil. “I’ll return.”
Back upstairs, I trudge, puzzled by the dungeon’s absolute darkness. Even during the day, it’s black as pitch down there. Is it some form of magical torture? Whatever the reason, I can’t fumble with the camera in that gloom.
Inside the library, I snag a candle, then hunt for matches. Not exactly a staple in a magical household, but my handbag yields a book from the pub near my flat.
Armed with the flickering candle to illuminate the dungeon’s dark and a camera, I descend again. I set the candle on a nearby table and switch on the camera. Its beam pierces the blackness as I step into the center of the room.
My heart races. I’m about to confront a dangerous magical criminal, and I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing. But I need answers, and this might be my only chance to get them.
“What the devil?” Zain shields his face with his hand, his longish hair wild.
“Sorry. I hoped to interview you.”
“I don’t want to talk.” He sighs. “I’m exhausted. I need more time with the surrogate. I’m still weak after healing your friend. Bram allowed me very little energy.”
Perhaps he’s faking it, but he looks like death warmed over. Several days’ growth shadows his jawline, nearly overwhelming his pale, gaunt face. His clothing is filthy. Of course, he deserves every bit of it for what he did to Aquarius.
“If you talk to me, I’ll talk to him on your behalf.”
Zain frowns. “Why should I trust you?”
“What have I done to earn your distrust? I’m just trying to understand what’s happening. Caden wants nothing to do with magic and won’t discuss it. Bram is too busy. The others… Well, you know far more than I.”
Zain leans against the bars. “Of course I do.”
The stroke to his ego works. I slip on my most earnest expression. “Then help me. I am a reporter at heart. Even if this story never sees daylight, I want to understand… When you first came to work for Out of this Realm, you said a mysterious someone left you information. That wasn’t true, was it? Did Mathias tell you? Or did you just know?”
“I knew. I know most everything Mathias plans.”
“I thought as much. I’ve heard Bram’s side of this war, but I want to understand Mathias’s. I’m intrigued by his struggle for equality. It sounds so…utopian. But I allowed myself to be swayed by Anka’s rape and Bram’s tales of attacks on the Privileged without hearing the other side of the story. It wasn’t professional of me. So what is Mathias’s perspective in all this?”
Zain draws in a ragged breath. “Everyone has enemies, some willing to exaggerate the truth.”
“True, but I saw Anka after Mathias released her. Did he break her bond with Lucan, then force her to his bed?”
“That’s her view of events. Mathias’s version of the story is much less melodramatic.”
Doubtful, but I have to keep Zain talking, find proof for magickind that Mathias is up to something terrible. I need people to rally behind Bram and the Doomsday Brethren.
“Right, then. What are Mathias’s plans to help the Deprived overcome their oppression?”
Zain moans. “Come closer. I can’t hear you.”
He’s lying, but he’s done nothing menacing. Besides, he’s depleted and defenseless, so how can he be a threat?
“What are Mathias’s plans?” I repeat.
“Closer,” he pleads. “Please. Give me your hand. I need a bit of your energy.”
I still. “You can get it from a simple touch?”
“A bit.”
I don’t trust him, and I don’t want him touching me. “Answer me first. What does Mathias plan?”
“To eradicate inequality.”
“How? How will obtaining the Doomsday Diary help? Will he simply write that as a wish?”
“What else would he do?”
“I don’t know. You’re familiar with him. All I’ve heard are the…rumors.”