Chapter 237: Interrogation at the Ball

Eleonora was the first to intercept Mirella before she managed to drag the six werewolves all the way to the center of the hall.

The vampire stepped into her path with her arms crossed, looking first at the prisoners being dragged by their tails, then at Nera carrying the scythe, at the twins arguing behind them, and finally at Mirella, who looked perfectly satisfied with such a completely inappropriate entrance for a high-society event.

"Mirella."

"Eleonora."

"What exactly are you doing?"

Mirella stopped and looked around.

Hundreds of well-dressed vampires had interrupted their conversations to watch the scene.

Some looked irritated, others curious, and several of the more traditional members of the family were clearly trying to decide whether this was a grotesque violation of etiquette or the most interesting thing to happen at a Valentine ball in the last two hundred years.

Mirella pointed at all of them.

"Isn’t this place incredibly boring?"

Eleonora blinked.

Mirella continued with complete sincerity:

"Seriously. These parties are shit."

Several nearby nobles looked offended.

Mirella did not notice.

Or simply did not care.

Rakshasa, seated near Victor, raised her glass.

"I agree."

Mirella immediately pointed at her.

"See?"

Rakshasa set the glass back on the table and looked at the six werewolves scattered across the floor.

"Besides, it’s good to know we have a few little toys now."

The werewolves looked at her.

One of them visibly paled.

Victor noticed the reaction and concluded that at least that one knew Rakshasa.

She stood.

Without making any sudden movement, she raised one hand and drew blood from her own finger.

A small drop fell to the floor, but it did not stop there.

It expanded rapidly, spreading across the marble like living liquid until it formed a shallow, perfectly circular pool in the center of the hall.

The nearby guests stepped back.

Rakshasa closed two fingers.

The blood rose.

Six red chains emerged from the surface of the pool and wrapped around the werewolves’ bodies.

Necks, wrists, ankles, and torsos were bound tightly before all six were lifted from the floor and suspended several meters above the red water.

Dahlia watched.

"Pretty."

Yvonne stood beside her.

"Practical."

Rakshasa smiled.

The chains tightened.

Small wounds appeared where the blood links pressed into the werewolves’ skin.

The liquid began running down their bodies and slowly dripping into the pool below, joining the blood already there.

One of the prisoners tried to struggle.

The chain tightened more.

"I would avoid that," Rakshasa advised. "The more you move, the more blood I take."

Mirella released the tails she was still holding and wiped her hands.

"Much better."

Serafall had already approached.

The General did not seem especially concerned with the event’s etiquette.

Her attention was completely focused on the infiltration.

"Did anyone escape?"

Mirella immediately shook her head.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"We got all of them."

She pointed at the six.

"These were the only ones in that area. We swept it afterward, and Liora and Liria checked the nearest routes. No other scent, no footprints, nothing."

Serafall narrowed her eyes.

"That’s strange."

"It’s stranger than it sounds."

Mirella became serious.

The humor almost completely disappeared from her face.

"I believe they found some way to camouflage themselves from us."

Several conversations around them vanished.

Even the guests pretending not to pay attention began listening.

Serafall looked at the prisoners.

"Explain."

"When I found these six, I felt absolutely nothing." Mirella crossed her arms. "No scent. No body heat. No aura. Not even that strange sensation that usually appears when someone tries to hide their presence with ordinary magic."

Victor left the wall and approached.

Mirella continued:

"I only realized they were there because they were talking."

Serafall turned toward her.

"Sound?"

"Only sound."

Mirella pointed at her own ears.

"I heard voices in an area where no one should have been. I got closer, and when I was near enough, I saw small distortions between the trees. If they had stayed completely silent, I probably would have walked right past them."

Natasha became serious.

"That means perception barriers might not detect them either."

"Probably."

"And the infiltrator captured inside the Palace used the same method," Eleonora added.

Mirella looked at her.

"You didn’t sense him either?"

"I sensed a gravitational irregularity."

"Ah."

Eleonora smiled.

"They can hide many things. Mass is still mass."

Victor started smiling.

Serafall noticed.

"Why are you smiling?"

Victor pointed at the six suspended werewolves.

"So we’re going to torture them until they talk, right?"

The hall became strangely quiet.

Several young Valentines looked at Victor as though trying to determine whether he was joking.

He did not look like he was.

Chysis slowly rose from her chair.

"Naturally."

She raised one hand.

The blood in the pool responded.

Thousands of tiny needles began emerging from the surface.

The werewolves noticed.

One of them widened his eyes.

"Wait."

Chysis moved her fingers.

The needles fired.

Not at vital organs.

At the wounds.

Hundreds entered every open cut on the prisoners’ bodies, penetrating the areas where blood vessels had been ruptured and creating an extremely fine network inside the flesh.

The objective was simple:

Prevent blood loss.

The method was not.

The screams began immediately.

"AAAAARGH!"

"BITCH!"

"STOP!"

The needles penetrated deep into the tissue and compressed vessels from within, closing pathways without allowing the bodies to lose enough blood to die.

Chysis smiled.

It was not the gentle grandmotherly smile Grace knew.

It was the smile of Marshal Valentine.

"You cannot die."

She tilted her head.

"Sorry."

Nera watched, fascinated.

"That looks fun."

Dahlia placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don’t learn from that."

"You would do worse."

"With proper instruments."

Yvonne muttered:

"Sadists."

Dahlia turned.

"Now you’re using the plural."

"Because there are more of you now."

The werewolves continued screaming.

One of them was openly crying, tears mixing with sweat as he uselessly tried to move his arms against the chains.

Another was biting his own lips so hard that blood was already running down his chin.

That was when Anette finally stood.

She had watched everything from her table without showing much interest.

Apparently, six captured infiltrators were not particularly impressive to someone who had lived for ten thousand years.

Still, the camouflage method seemed to have awakened some curiosity.

She walked to the edge of the pool.

The prisoners looked at her.

Anette placed her hands behind her back.

"How about we start talking, little wolves?"

No one answered.

She smiled.

"You are going to die anyway."

Serafall gave her a sideways look.

Anette ignored it.

"So why not take revenge on the people who put you in this painful situation?"

One of the werewolves spat blood toward her.

The drop stopped in midair before coming anywhere close.

Anette looked at it.

"Polite."

The man bared his teeth.

"We’ll never talk."

"Everyone talks."

"I’d rather die."

"That’s exactly the problem." Anette pointed at Chysis. "She just explained that she won’t let you."

The group’s leader understood at that moment.

He looked at his companions.

There was no verbal order.

There did not need to be.

All six tried to bite off their own tongues at the same time.

Eleonora moved one finger.

Gravity within the area changed.

Their jaws were forced downward.

"GH—!"

All six mouths opened violently, preventing any attempt to close their teeth.

Their tongues remained intact and exposed while the werewolves struggled against an invisible force that kept jaws and muscles completely separated.

Eleonora walked toward the group.

"No."

She stopped in front of the first one.

"That would be too easy."

The man tried to speak, but with his mouth forced open, he produced only an incomprehensible sound.

Eleonora smiled.

"Gravity control, baby. You can do very interesting things with small joints."

She closed her fingers slightly.

The pressure increased.

One of the werewolves groaned in pain.

Victor watched everything with his arms crossed.

Grace had approached behind him, though she had clearly abandoned her earlier question about Rakshasa.

It was difficult to maintain any romantic conversation while six werewolves were suspended over a pool of blood and being interrogated by some of the most dangerous vampire women in the Realm.

Grace spoke quietly:

"Does this normally happen at balls?"

Victor looked at her.

"This is the first one I’ve attended."

"Great."

Rakshasa approached the two.

"Is it better now?"

Victor looked at the event.

Mirella was arguing with Serafall.

Chysis kept thousands of needles inside the prisoners.

Eleonora controlled their jaws.

Anette seemed to be trying to convince them to betray their own superiors.

Nera was asking Dahlia if she could tear off a leg as long as Dahlia put it back afterward.

Victor nodded.

"Much."

Grace stared at him.

"You have problems."

"I’ve been told."

Serafall slammed one hand onto the nearest table.

"Enough playing around."

Her voice cut through the hall.

The guests fell silent.

Serafall walked toward the prisoners and stopped in front of them.

"The spy captured inside the Palace tried to steal something. You came to the Capital shortly after he was captured and sent a message saying you needed to move a plan forward."

The leader’s eyes changed.

It was subtle.

But Natasha noticed.

"He reacted."

Serafall looked at her.

Natasha pointed at the man.

"When you mentioned stealing something."

Mirella smiled.

"Good."

She approached.

"What are you trying to steal?"

Silence.

Chysis moved her fingers.

The needles sank deeper.

The leader screamed.

Mirella waited.

Nothing.

Victor moved closer.

He looked at the device Mirella had handed over earlier.

An idea began to form.

"You sent the message."

Mirella turned toward him.

Victor raised the object.

"So someone received it."

The leader immediately looked at the device.

This time everyone noticed.

Victor smiled.

"Ah."

He turned the device between his fingers.

"Then maybe we don’t even need you to talk."

The expressions of all six changed.

Serafall noticed.

"Can we track it?"

Victor thought of Rowena, remembering the way she had explained connections between natural energy and territory.

"Maybe."

He raised the device.

"Magic leaves a trail. Natural energy probably does too."

Rakshasa smiled.

"Then we can follow the message."

Victor looked at the prisoners again.

"Or at least find out where it went."

For the first time since Mirella had entered the hall, the werewolf leader showed genuine fear.

Victor noticed.

"Looks like we got it right."

Eleonora tilted her face as she studied the man.

"So..."

The gravitational pressure lessened just enough to allow them to speak, but not enough for them to bite their tongues.

She smiled.

"Shall we begin?"