The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 367

Chapter 367

I spun on my heel and walked out of the dungeon, the iron door groaning shut behind me as i took the narrow stone staircase two steps at a time. Rage pulsed through me-hot, poisonous, blinding-guiding my feet straight toward the cellar.

The air down here was colder. Thicker. It smelled like old wood and sharpened steel. The scent of things meant to break people.

I opened the cabinet without hesitation.

My hand closed around what I needed instantly.

Pliers.

Heavy. Cold. Perfect.

Footsteps echoed behind me-Kael’s stride, unmistakable-but I didn’t acknowledge him. His presence barely registered over the thunder in my skull.

I had one goal.

One.

I walked back into the dungeon with the pliers in my hand, my grip white-knuckled around the metal. Leoric’s eyes flicked up

the moment he saw me, widening just slightly. Fear cracked through his mask for the first time.

Good.

I moved fast, closing the space between us before he had the chance to speak. I grabbed his hand, fingers digging into his

wrist as I forced his arm forward. He struggled, too weak to stop me, too stubborn to beg.

“You don’t have to do-”

I ignored him, opening the pliers with a quiet, deliberate snap.

His breathing hitched.

I chose the index finger-the one he used to point, to swear, to lie to my face for the last hour. I slid the metal jaws around it,

pinching skin. Bone. Flesh.

He shook his head once, panic finally breaking through his composure.

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“Zayn-Zayn, please-”

“Where. Is. She.”

His eyes darted to Kael as if he expected help. Kael didn’t move. Didn’t blink. His expression was stone, carved in patience and

fury.

Leoric stammered, “I swear-I don’t-”

That was all I needed to hear.

I squeezed.

The pliers snapped shut with a wet, cracking crunch.

His scream tore through the room, bouncing off the stones, raw and primal.

Blood spattered across the floor. The severed finger dropped with a soft, sickening thud.

I didn’t flinch.

Leoric’s knees buckled, his breath shuddering in broken gasps as he clutched the bleeding stump with his other hand, eyes

bulging with pain and terror.

I stepped closer.

“So let me ask you again,” I said quietly, voice steady in a way that frightened even me. “Where. Is. She?”

He sobbed-actual sobs now, his entire body shaking.

But whether it was fear, guilt, or something else didn’t matter.

Leoric was shaking so hard the chains rattled against the stone wall, the metallic clinks falling in rhythm with his ragged

breaths. Blood dripped from his severed finger, pattering onto the floor in a slow, steady beat that matched the pounding in

my skull.

I lifted the pliers again.

“Look,” I said, keeping my voice level, almost conversational. “You still have nine more fingers. Nineteen if I count the ones

on your legs.”

His eyes widened at that, terror climbing through him like a rising tide.

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Chapter 367

“I can do this all night.”

I slid the metal jaws over his thumb, pressing them just tight enough for him to feel the promise of pain. His entire body

jerked, panic bursting through whatever pathetic courage he thought he had left.

“Please-Zayn-please don’t-” he gasped, spittle clinging to his lip. “I swear to the Goddess, I don’t—”

I tightened the pliers a fraction, enough to make bone groan.

His howl cut off into a choked breath.

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