Page 72 of Winter Unleashed

Within a second we were standing in the cage with Cybil. Her tight features held no less fear than before we’d entered. If Astrid could let us in that easily, it meant she could also let Bruno in. From the level of anger I was getting from Liam, something told me Bruno was no longer her biggest threat.

Liam lunged at the vampire. They disappeared and a second later he had her pinned against the far wall of the cage. He held her by the throat with one hand and fisted the other at his side. His wolf was showing.

“Tell me where the bitch is, or I will tear out your throat.” He had his face so close to hers, his wolf’s teeth brushed her cheek as he spoke.

She clawed at his hand on her throat, but it would take way more than long nails to effect Liam in the state he was in. “If you kill me, you’ll never know.” Her voice was strained from the pressure on her vocal cords. “Your tribreed friends will die.”

“They’ve made peace with that and have agreed to sacrifice themselves,” I said, hoping she’d believe me. I turned to look at our friends and they nodded for Cybil’s benefit. “And we’re also prepared to play the long game with Celeste if you don’t tell us. So, once again your fate is up to you to decide.”

She let out a weird guttural sound and her hands fell to hang limply at her sides. She was proving Liam right. Cybil cared more about her own life than she did anything else.

“If I tell you, you’ll let me go?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“Sure,” Liam ground out through clenched teeth. He dropped his hold on her and she took a deep breath.

“She’s in Alfurgrund.”

Liam grunted and shook his head. “Anything else?”

I wasn’t sure how he knew there was more, but Cybil sighed as she rubbed at her neck. “She occasionally goes to Ilfurvatten, but Alfurgrund is her favorite hideout.” She held her hands out in front of her. “That’s it. That’s all I know.”

Liam look at Philip. “She’s telling the truth,” Philip said.

“What does he mean?” I asked.

“He was reading her mind,” Liam replied without taking his eyes off Cybil. “The cage not only took away her glamour. It also took away her ability to block her mind.”

“Phil could have just read her mind?” I asked, wondering why he hadn’t done that in the first place.

“It’s not as easy as you’re thinking it is. If the information wasn’t at the forefront of her mind, he wouldn’t have heard it. We had to get her to think of it, loud and clear. No matter what this cage does, she’s still an old, experienced vampire with some old tricks up her sleeve.”

That vampire stood staring at us in disbelief. “You’re not going to let me go, are you?”

Liam’s lips pulled into a smile that sent shivers down my spine… and not in a good way. He leaned into her and licked his wolf’s teeth. “No, we’re not.”

Her eyes darted to her son who was still practically frothing at the mouth with his need to kill her. Liam tilted his head and followed her gaze.

“You know what, Cybil, that’s not a bad idea.” He moved to stand next to me. “After all the years of abuse you put him through, I think it’d be poetic to let him take care of you.”

The pungent smell of bile filled the cage a second before she vomited on the floor in front of her.

“Wow, Cybil,” I said, “after all that strutting around, bragging about how powerful you are, your own son scares you so much you puke yourself.”

The once beautiful, graceful, and sexy vampire was a waxen, smelly, sobbing pile of nothing. She dropped to her knees and clasped her hands together. “Please. Please don’t let him in here. Kill me if you must, but don’t let him do it.”

I looked at my mate to gauge what he was thinking, but I couldn’t get a read on him. “Liam?” I wanted Cybil dead as much as anyone, but I didn’t want to see her horribly tortured to get there.

“We’ll compromise.” He turned a glance to his oldest friend before looking back to Cybil. “I’ll let Philip take care of you.”

I couldn’t stop myself from looking at Philip. His face brighten in a way I’d never seen, and his signature creepy smile had pulled his lips to his ears. “Oh goodie,” he said.

“Astrid,” Liam said, telling her to let us out.

The second her name left his lips Cybil leapt onto his back so quickly, she traveled out of the cage with us before Astrid could stop her.

Cybil bowed her head and for a second I thought she was going to puke again. Then she took a deep breath, and on the exhale, raised her head. Her attention locked on me with black eyes and blood-red lips. Her skin had an almost divine glow.

The Queen of Vampires was back.