Chapter 90: Interrogation!
The first light of dawn crept through the blinds of Albedo’s room. It was still extremely early morning, the kind of time where even Pantheon was quiet.
Albedo groaned and opened his eyes before the AI could even announce what time it was. The faint vibration in his room broke the quietness.
"Mon maître." Seraphyne’s smooth voice buzzed into the room, "Come to the basement of the villa. You will... want to see this."
Her tone was enough to push him fully awake. He dressed quickly, black trousers and a loose long-sleeved tunic, and quickly headed downstairs. He noticed Gwen and Diona were both still asleep along the way.
When he reached the basement’s reinforced door, the heavy air hit him before he even stepped inside. There was a pulse to it, a thrumming presence that clung to the shadows.
The room was lit only by a cluster of overhead lanterns, casting long, angular shadows across the stone floor.
And on that floor...
Around eight women sat or knelt in a rough semi-circle, their wrists bound not with rope, but with strange, translucent shackles of crimson light, Seraphyne’s blood-forged restraints.
Fox tails twitched faintly in the silence. Wolf ears pressed back flat in instinctive wariness. Cat-like eyes glinted in the dim light.
The ones who stood out the most among the captives were two dark elves, their pale silver hair gleaming faintly against the gloom.
All of their faces were exposed now, but Albedo didn’t recognize them. Two Foxkin, a Wolfkin, three Catkin and two Dark Elves.
It was a combination of races that was quite surprising for a legion of assassins in the Human Kingdom. Especially the Dark Elves, they usually stayed within their own region and avoided interaction with other races.
The vampiress moved to stand beside him, her crimson eyes sweeping over the captives, "These are the ones who were stalking the girls. Some of them were more open about it, some had rather sophisticated concealment wards most likely sponsored by their supplier. All were linked."
Albedo glanced at her as he heard that final sentence, "Linked?"
Seraphyne tilted her head toward the nearest of the FoxKin. The woman’s skin at her collarbone bore the faint remnant of a circular pattern, a dark brand that seemed burned not just into the flesh, but into the very soul.
"Slave seals," Seraphyne said simply, "Illegal ones. These are not the contractual marks permitted under the Empire’s old war laws. These are cruder. Designed to strip away free will and chain the bearer to the will of the one who placed it."
Albedo crouched to examine it more closely, his gaze sharp, "Not just crude. Modified. This is a control and kill-switch in one with an embedded geas that stops them from revealing their master’s identity."
"Yes," Seraphyne said softly, "But not anymore thankfully."
When his eyes flicked up to meet hers, there was an almost feline amusement in her expression, "I have unraveled all of the seals, they’re free, since I deemed it worth of keeping them all alive,"
The captives shifted slightly, some glaring at him, others looking away. The WolfKin’s amber eyes burned with residual defiance, but the set of her jaw suggested she knew her situation had changed in ways she hadn’t yet decided how to process.
He straightened, folding his hands loosely behind his back, "Which of you is in charge?"
None of the captives moved. They all just sat still, determined to not answer him. Some of them had slight reactions, such as one of the Foxkin’s ears twitching, and one of the Dark Elves’ lips pressing tighter.
The WolfKin’s amber eyes also narrowed slightly, but no one stepped forward, just staring back at him.
Albedo let the pause linger for several beats, his expression utterly neutral. Then he tilted his head toward Seraphyne, who watched the room like a wolf watches a flock of sheep that had not yet realized the pen door was broken.
"I’m going to make this very simple," he said, his tone suddenly colder, the weight of command settling into his words like iron.
He also unleashed his Draconic Aura, a tyrannical Noble aura swarming all of the captives, causing all of them to freeze up, their breath hitching in their throats as they felt it envelop them.
"You are all here because you were following my sister. That means, whether you realize it or not, you were one step away from a death sentence the moment Seraphyne laid eyes on you."
A faint smile curved Seraphyne’s lips, her fangs catching the light as if to punctuate his words.
"If you don’t want to cooperate," Albedo continued, "I can have her correct that oversight. Quickly. Painlessly, if I’m feeling generous."
The WolfKin’s jaw clenched, but she said nothing. One of the CatKin looked away, suddenly fascinated with the floor as if it were the most interesting thing in the entire world.
They all remained quiet for a bit, before finally, someone moved. A tall FoxKin rose from her kneeling position.
She was striking, long legs balanced with the poise of someone who knew exactly how much space she occupied, reddish brown hair flowing freely around a face that was both beautiful and sharpened by the life she had led.
Her golden eyes locked on Albedo’s, unflinching as her six fox-tails swayed continuously behind her, slow and deliberate, before going still.
"I am their leader," she said. Her voice was smooth, but there was a rasp beneath it, the kind that spoke of long nights in smoke-filled rooms, of giving too many orders and watching them carried out in blood.
Albedo regarded her for a moment, weighing the way she held herself. Her stance was confident but not very cocky, and she stared directly at him, not trying to challenge him outright, but definitely not backing down.
"Name," Albedo asked.
"Kaela Veyrin."
His eyes narrowed slightly. He didn’t know the name, but he filed it away, "You organized the surveillance on Gwendolyn."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Her silence lasted half a second too long, "We were contracted."
"By who?" Albedo asked. He already knew if was Professor Skye, but he wanted to know who was behind the Professor.
There had to be some kind of organization or force that she was working with that and Albedo wanted to get to the bottom of it and put them down.
She smiled faintly, but it didn’t reach her eyes, "You already know the answer to that."
Albedo’s tone turned flat, "If I knew, you wouldn’t still be breathing."
That made her tail flick, a small crack in her controlled posture. She glanced briefly at the others, a subtle check, but enough to confirm they were still following her lead.
"We don’t have a name," she said finally. "We never do. Our contact uses an intermediary system. Magical dead-drops. You go to the location, the instructions are there, sealed against tampering. You fulfill the task, then leave confirmation. Payment arrives later, same way."
Albedo stepped closer, his shadow cutting across her face. "And if you fail the task?"
Her eyes flickered, not in fear, but in calculation, "You don’t. Not if you want to keep your soul in one piece."
That made him glance at Seraphyne. The vampiress tilted her head slightly, her crimson gaze narrowing. "It would match the design of the slave seals," she murmured, "A leash, a chain, and a trap, all in one. Whoever is behind them knows how to tie knots in the soul itself."
Albedo turned his attention back to Kaela, "When was your last contact with your... intermediary?"
"Three days ago," she said. "The order was simple, continue what we were already doing, track the girl, log her movements, identify patterns in her routine. We were to avoid confrontation at all costs."
"Yet you were caught."
That made her lips twitch, whether in annoyance or reluctant amusement, he couldn’t tell. "We underestimated your... guardian." She glanced toward Seraphyne, and for the first time there was a note of wariness in her tone.
Seraphyne’s smile deepened, sharp and predatory, "You should be grateful you were underestimated, little fox. Otherwise, you’d be dust on my floor."
Kaela didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, she inclined her head slightly, acknowledging the truth of it.
Albedo studied her for a long moment before speaking again, "These dead-drops, where is the next one scheduled?"
Her ears twitched faintly, just enough for him to catch, "Two nights from now. In the ruins beneath the East Docks."
The other captives shifted subtly at that, and Albedo’s gaze flicked over them, noting the ones who reacted, the WolfKin, one of the Dark Elves, and a CatKin. That meant they all knew the spot.
"Good," he said finally. "You’re going to take me and her there," Albedo said.
That made the room still.
Kaela’s eyes narrowed, "That... would be suicide."
"For them," Albedo agreed calmly, "Not for me."
Seraphyne’s quiet laugh curled through the air like smoke.
Albedo let his gaze sweep over all of them one last time. "You’re all going to have a choice. Work with me, or... well, you’ve already met the alternative." He let the implication hang there, cold and undeniable.