In the computer room, we've pulled up the video and sound. We see Temple jump when Thietian snapped next to him and watched him fall to a knee in greeting. The conversation went as expected, an order written up and he was given a sample of the freshly taken blood from the kid and a bottle free for the prince.
It was right after that, Thietian asked to speak to Graves alone. Temple showed him the way and opened the door for him. Thietian nodded and told him just lock it, he'd snap out when he was ready to leave.
When he stepped in the cell Graves instantly froze.
"Hello Graves.... I see you've adapted well to your imprisonment, dare I say accustomed?" He steps closer and Graves dips to both of his knees.
"Prince Thietian, I greet you as your humble servant." Graves groveled on the floor like a beaten dog before him.
All three of us exchanged perplexed looks with raised brows.
"Quit fawning at my feet you disgusting thing. No kowtow will ever be good enough to make up for the atrocities you've committed to one of my sisters and brother." His lips curled in disgust at the sight of Graves on his knees.
"We Fae tend to look out for each other, and we trusted you to do the job for us when circumstances obliged us to not be there. INSTEAD you have the audacity to not only harm one of my people, you tried to destroy the memory of the one we meant to gift her."
Malicious intent was evident in the posture of Thietian as he raised his boot kicking Graves down to the ground.
"If you wish to writhe on the ground at least do it on your belly like the worm you are."
"Please..." Graves began to beg, "I was just doing as was instructed.... I am but a man. What can I do when someone more powerful than me instructs me to carry out certain orders." He cried laying on the floor not bothering to move.
"I was the one you were supposed to be taking orders from.." Thietian stepped onto his hand making Graves scream out in pain.
"I'm sorry, Prince Thietian! I'm weak!" His sniveling and lack of shame was nauseating to watch as groveled, begging for mercy.
Thietian removed his foot and stepped back bending over to speak. "Yes, I suppose you are. I can hardly wait on the case of your blood I will be drinking.... I hope your worth it.."
Now Graves lifted his head looking at Thietian. "You're not going to help me get out of this place?" Disbelief flooded his features looking at Thietian who condescendingly rolled his eyes at the question.
"NO! NO! Please! I did as I was told, I was Promised! YOU OWE ME!" He started to get up on his knees and Thietian backhanded him down.
Even through the video the dangerous aura that radiated from Thietian was terrifying us. Temple was audibly shaking behind us, as we watched Thietians body begin to morph.
His hands elongated into terrifying claws. He grew taller, thinning out limbs, and his head elongated stretching his features into something demonic looking. I gripped Johns hand terrified.
The deep voice that echoed throughout the room over the speakers made your limbs shiver and terror fill your heart.
Thietian roared, "DO YOU DARE TO SAY YOU WERE CHEATED!?"
"DO YOU DARE TO SAY YOU HELD UP YOUR END OF THE DEAL?!"
"FOR I DO NOT RECALL EVER AGREEING TO FREE YOU FROM IMPRISONMENT WHEN WE DID HAVE A DEAL TOGETHER!"
"I WAS THE ONE WHO WAS PROMISED THAT THINGS WOULD BE TAKEN CARE OF!"
"INSTEAD I FIND OUT YOU NOT ONLY DIDN'T KEEP YOUR END OF THE BARGAIN, YOU LET SOME PIECE OF SHIT DEFILE AND MAIM CONTINUOUSLY ONE OF MY PEOPLE!"
"I SHOULD SKIN AND GUT YOU FOR THE WORMS AND MAGGOTS TO FEAST ON YOUR FLESH WHILE YOU STILL BREATHE!"
Graves tuck tailed scooting away from Thietian, "Forgive me I forgot my place! I just don't want to die here!"
Thietian morphed back down and headed for the door. "I'd come to terms with it if I were you, Graves. This is the place that your death will occur..."
In the blink of an eye he had snapped and was gone, leaving Graves there crying and yelling at the prince who was long gone.
I just say there... trying to process the information...
"Mary, you're hurting my hand." I quickly release Johns hand from mine.
"Sorry, I didn't know that Fairies could do that. Temple did you?" I turn to ask and Temple nods, looking petrified at the sight.
"Temple?" I call his name because of the look in his eyes is concerning me even more so than before.
"Yes... Sorry. I'm going to go ready them to start filling those bottles up for the prince. I don't want to ever get on his bad side. Graves is lucky he didn't get ripped limb from limb or slowly eaten alive." Temple shuddered and snapped out of there.
"So what do you think this means then? Graves lied to us and made the choices to do cause so much harm and heartbreak in our lives. Or do you think there really is another player behind the scenes that dared to challenge the Prince?" John grabbed my hand and dragged me out of there and back upstairs.
"I don't know John. I think I need some sleep, there are too many emotions and a load of cryptic information to process it seems."
...
"Do you think the puppet master was prince Thietian than? The person Graves is terrified of?"
Cass, John, Temple, Lar and I are sitting down discussing the visit and the video of Thietian and Graves talking. Cass asked the question and I sat there chewing on his words before carefully speaking.
"There's a possibility, but from how Graves was saying he was following orders .... I'm not sure. Thietian went on to say he was only supposed to follow his orders.... So who is this other person?"
"Graves refuses to speak on the subject still even though he knows he's been left for dead by the Prince?" Lar looks to us as we sigh and shrug.
"He will not budge, he says it's not the prince but that is it." Temple holds his horn protruding from the side of his cheek holding his head up as he shakes it.
"Either way Mija, the Prince wishing to speak with you again, in a serious way doesn't look too good. Word is that the Prince has been trying to fight for equality throughout all types of Fairy and get us equal footing with humans in government and so forth. However, no good thing done has ever been with out it's harm in some shape or form when it comes to the courts." Lar grips his hat nervously and wrings his hands when he brings them down to his lap.
Temples who's tired grunts in agreement with Lar.
He's been going hours on Graves trying to get him to talk, but Graves knows we can't kill him right now. Not with a case ordered by the prince. Even with extra water and getting infusions while he's being bled, we've only filled 2 out of the 12.
The damn mob thugs make me feel like I have lost my humanity the way they scream and beg. I can't stomach it but thankfully Temple has kicked us out of the basement until he decides he's had enough of them. Their part for the order has been filled so now he's just making money off of them. At 2,000 Euro a liter Temple likes to take his time. Between the two, Graves and the six other criminals he has downstairs, he keeps plenty of stock for himself and close friends and likes to sell the extra.
Turk has been bringing the rapists and murdering street thugs that are stupid and unlucky enough to be caught by him. It was at this moment as we're at a stand still of where to go from here that Turk snapped into the room. He had a struggling blindfolded and gagged person with him to boot.
"Whats with all the long faces? Look at what I've got here.... Says he knows you Sin, that he's been looking for you. I wasn't going to take chances so I knocked him out and did this to him. As soon as I was about to snap the little ass woke up."
He yelled at the struggling figure, "STOP! Wriggling like a damn worm. ... Anyways so do you know a Rivera?" Turk shook the person who was trying to say something but couldn't be understood because of the gag.
....(@-@)....
"RIVERA?!" I ran over and took the blind and gag off.
"Oh my word! Rivera! What the hell are you doing looking for me?! How were you even able to find a way to find me?! Are you crazy risking your life looking for me?" Startled I stand back from him awaiting him to answer me.
"Sin, here." Cass tosses me the chip scanner and he's clean.
"I'm still waiting on you to answer me Rivera...." I cocked my head and raised a brow as I looked him over. Noticing the dark circles under red rimmed eyes, I could tell that he'd seen better days. His forehead bunched up in wrinkles and eyes open wide at seeing me and his jaw dropped when John came over by me.
"I'm dead.... I'm dead right?" Rivera looks at John like he's going to lose his mind, that he can't accept what he's seeing.
I look at John realizing why Rivera is not saying anything about why he was looking for me and was able to find a way to get to me.
"Uh Rivera, you're not dead. Rivera! Look at me." I grab his shoulder and notice his eyes are are looking dilated. I can tell he's having trouble trying to focus.
"Turk what the hell is wrong with him?" I turn to Turk who shrugs.
"He was in a drug dealers house, I can smell the deaths of people he's killed clinging to him. Traiiloyn, lar's brother, was the one who told me to go to the house and pick up some low lives. He also is the same one who told me that someone was sniffing around looking for you. Sure enough this guy was with a needle in his arm." Turk cut Rivera free of the ropes and I gasped when I saw the track marks on his arm.
When his ropes were cut Rivera slumped to the floor laughing. "I'm dead...." His eyes fluttered before closing and his body slumped.
"Rivera?" I called his name only to be answered with a loud snore.
(-_-) ....
"Okay thank you Turk, I think we can handle him from here. You want something from the kitchen or a bottle?" John asks Turk while I go and grab a blanket to roll Rivera on to it.
"Mija, You want me to get him in a bed?" Lar asks me as I roll Rivera onto the blanket.
"Yeah Lar..." I started to think and my concern won me over... "Put him in the attic room, but I need a set of shackles for him, the leather padded ones...." I walked off and came back putting Rivera in the shackles.
"Why are you doing this Mija?" Lar looked at me oddly. "The attic door locks, it will be fine."
"Yes, I know that is true. However, we don't know what he's been shooting up and I can not let someone coming down off a high, possibly hallucinating and unable to reason with running around the attic either." I look down at Rivera and ask my self, 'What the hell has happened to you for you to become this?'