Page 155 of She Who Holds My Wrath

I dare a quick glance at Korithax. Smoke coils thickly around his shoulders, and black flame flickers at his fingertips. It ignites, vanishes, only to return again. His restraint is already closed to snapping and we’ve only just started. Maelkar’s shadows rise behind him, slow and coiled, ready to stop him if he moves.

“And why do you think that?” I ask calmly, shifting my attention back to Graille.

“Because you’re a plague,” he spits. “A human turned immortal by the filthy hands of the Shadowtongue. You’re corrupt. You’re Evil.”

“My hands are quite clean, actually,” Maelkar mutters.

I bite back a smirk, knowing just how much that comment would’ve pissed him off. He’s overly conscious about being pristine, like ridiculously so. I can already feel the spiral starting.

“I’m not the corrupt one here, Graille,” I say, stepping closer. I crouch so we’re eye level. “They are. What they told you is a lie. Well… mostly. I was turned immortal by Maelkar, yes. But I’m a reincarnation of Dasmyrin.”

I watch for his reaction. To see if my suspicions are true and that this is the work of those Six bastards.

“Even if that were true,” he scoffs, “Dasmyrin was evil, too. That’s why they killed her.”

And there it is, the confirmation I needed that this was in fact them. At least they admit it now, that they killed her. Ten points for partial honesty, I guess.

I sigh and rub a hand down my face. “Why did you stab me?” I ask outright.

A slow, sick smile curls across his mouth.

“A distraction,” he says proudly. “Stab the queen, but do not kill. Make a scene. Make the Child of Ruin lose control. They will fear him. They will distrust him. They will not trust you if you keep him.”

His voice turns reverent, rehearsed. “They will fall. They will lose this war. And you will be a hero, Graille.”

The words spill out like scripture—memorised, drilled into him. They’ve corrupted his mind to the point where he genuinely believes the insanity he’s speaking. His grin widens, glowing with conviction, like he’s won. Like he’s achieved what he was set out to do, despite being tied down in my dungeon.

“Do you feel like a hero, Graille?” I ask softly. “Because right now, you’re chained in my dungeon, and very close to death.”

My voice is ice. I can feel my anger bubbling. They twisted him. Broken him and ruined his mind. Promised him glory for doing their bidding.

“I am a hero,” he insists. “Even if I’m trapped here, I did what they asked.”

“How did they reach you?” Lucifer asks from beside Korithax.

Graille glances over his shoulder at the three men looming in the shadows. And for a moment, I see his composure crack. Just a hairline fracture, but I see it. The realisation that he’s a mouse trapped with monsters.

He turns back to me, swallows hard, then forces the mask back into place.

“We are everywhere,” he says. “And unless you can invade our minds, you’ll will never find us all.”

The sadistic smile returns, and goosebumps race across my skin. I straighten and give a single nod to Korithax. He moves so fast I can barely keep my eyes on him. One moment he’s across the room, and the next, he’s right in front of Graille, towering over him with his head tilted slightly as if examining prey.

Graille’s throat bobs, his head craning back to look at him.

“I’m going to enjoy destroying you,” Korithax says calmly, “for touching my wife. I’m going to slowly peel the fucking skin from your bones and keep you alive long enough that you feel every second.”

“No—no, please—” Graille sobs, finally understanding the situation he’s got himself into.

“You do not get to beg,” Korithax snarls. “Not only did you hurt her, you spat at her. You called her… what was it, a plague?”

Graille doesn’t reply, just gawks at Korithax as his smoke writhes erratically around his shoulders.

“ANSWER ME!” Korithax roars so loudly, even I flinch.

“Y-yes. I called her a plague,” he cries.

I don’t stop him. I don’t even consider it. Don’t even think about keeping this boy alive. And that just might be the most frightening part of it all.