“She made me see things,” Daria said, her voice shaky and full of fear.
Mordred nodded. “It’s part of her magic. She can make people compliant, but only through either breaking them by showing their worst memories or fears or by removing something that made them want to fight. The stronger the mind, the more she has to delve into, and the shorter the period of helpfulness after. It’s not a nice power to have. She doesn’t like using it. You are a cruel and vicious person, but doing this to someone makes her feel guilty. She was never cut out to be like I used to be.”
“Elaine is in Siberia,” Daria said.
“I’m going to need a lot more than that,” Mordred said.
“About fifty miles southeast of Tiksi, there’s a small village. It’s long since been abandoned. She’s there.”
“What’s the village called?”
“It doesn’t have a name. It used to be called Work Camp Forty-Two.”
“It was a gulag?”
She nodded. “A long time ago prisoners were sent there, yes. Long before Stalin. It’s an Avalon work camp, not a human one.”
“Why did they send her there?”
“Those we work for knew she was investigating them. She started to look into the pack, hoping to use our connection as a way to find out who our allies are. She just overstepped her ability to remain in the shadows.”
“I’m going to find her, and if she’s hurt in any way, I’m going to put aside my newly found moral compass, come back here, and use your knives to make myself a werewolf coat.”
There was a knock on the door, and Polina walked in with two of her agents. “We’re here to take Daria into custody.”
“If you have questions, ask now. She’s in a talkative mood.”
Mordred stood.
“Viktor escaped,” Polina said.
“That’s okay. I know where he’ll run off to.”
“We did a good thing here today.”
“Maybe,” Mordred said. “Lots of people died here. These werewolves, and Daria in particular, have done their bit to spread terror and fear through this city.”
“They won’t be able to do that again.”
“Whatever you do with them, keep it secret from your bosses until this whole thing blows over. One way or another, you’ll be putting sights on your back if you announce you’ve taken them.”
Polina nodded. “You should know there have been more attacks around the world. Something big happened in America, and several other cities have declared martial law. I’m not sure how much help we’ll be to you from here on in.”
“I knew it would only get worse,” Mordred said, saddened at what he was sure meant the deaths of so many innocent people. “They’re not done yet. Be careful.”
“Take care, Mordred.”
Mordred left the room, and the club soon after, telling Fiona and Diana to meet him at Viktor’s house, as he needed time to himself, which was partially true. He’d been close to losing his temper with Daria. It had taken a lot for him to stay calm enough not to kill her or continue to use his blood magic. The use of it felt sweet inside of him; it had almost sung to him, wanting him to give himself to it. A blood leech was a sorcerer who relied on blood magic to the exclusion of all other magic, and for a long time Mordred had been among their number. It had taken his death to stop his need to use blood magic, but its aftereffects lingered in his memory even after all this time.
It wasn’t long before he found a cab and took it back to Viktor’s house. He let himself in, prepared what he needed, sat on the comfortable couch, and waited. It thankfully didn’t take long for Viktor to come home, slinking through the front door as if he were burgling his own home.
“Hi, Viktor,” Mordred said, causing the traitorous man to gasp in surprise.
“Mordred,” Viktor said, switching on the lights of the front room. “I didn’t expect—”
“Yes, I know. You didn’t expect to see me here. You betrayed us to the werewolves.”
“No, I never.”
“Don’t lie to me, Viktor. You didn’t betray Elaine—that’s the only thing keeping you living right now. But you did betray the people who came for her. Alan, Mac, and the others. You gave them up to the werewolves.”
“I had to. With Elaine gone, so was my chance of being safe. I had to hedge my bets.”
“The same thing you did with us. Why didn’t you tell them about the tracker?”
“I had to hold some things back, just in case Elaine turned up again.”
“You were trying to play both sides. Shame you were so damn bad at it. You betrayed her people; you betrayed me and my friends. You got people killed. Horrifically butchered by a group of frankly evil bastards. I can’t just let that go.”
“You’re going to kill me?”
Mordred shook his head. “Nope.” He stood and walked over to Viktor. “That’s too easy.” He hit Viktor in the face with a fist wrapped in air, dropping him stunned to the ground. He removed a pair of handcuffs and put them on Viktor before dragging him out of the house and down the steps just as the rest of Mordred’s group arrived.
Diana left the car first. “You want him dead?”
Mordred shook his head. “I have another plan.” He removed a detonator from his pocket and pressed the trigger. The explosion inside the house blew out the windows downstairs and made the ground shake. “Okay, that was a bit bigger than I’d expected.”
The fire took the house quicker than even Mordred had taken into consideration, and within seconds angry flames leapt from broken windows.
“Why?” Viktor almost screamed.
“You sold people when I first met you, and I burned your house to the ground and took your hand, but I still left you with enough to continue on. You had the others in the village; you had Avalon, who was unaware of your crimes. Now you have nothing. You have no money, no house, no friends, no allies, and the second Polina arrives, no hope of ever seeing natural light again.”
Everyone stood and watched the flames consume the house until part of the structure collapsed in on itself. Polina and her people arrived soon after and took Viktor into custody.
“Why?” he screamed again as he was led away. “Why not kill me? That would have been easier. That would have been quicker than what will happen to me once I’m taken into custody. You’ve taken everything else, why not my life?”
Mordred walked over to Viktor. “Because this way you know I took everything from you. I’ve left you a broken man. You seem to be under the impression that because I’m no longer full of murderous hate that I’m one of the good guys. I’m not. I’m the man who people like you should be very afraid of. I didn’t kill you for three reasons. One, it’s too easy. Two, you’re now officially a cautionary tale for those who would ever betray me and my new sensibilities. And three, I did this because it’s the cruelest thing I could think to do to you. I want those flames to be etched into your mind for the rest of your miserable existence. I want you to know that I spared your life, not out of kindness, but out of a desire to watch you crumble.”