Page 103 of Glutton for Punishment

Maddox exhales. “It’s possible he’s the one who sold our location before meeting Duval.”

“Possible?”

He shakes his head, a muscle feathering along his jawline, his gaze fixed on the floor between us.

“The only people who knew we were going to meet with Duval were the teams Lucas assembled. I trust most of these people with my life. I haven’t had a location security breach in years.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

He looks up. “He was one of two brand new recruits assigned to the escort unit. Logically, it had to be one of them that sold our location plans to one of my siblings.”

I feel sick. “Two?”

He nods once, and an icy feeling spreads through my chest. “You’re doing that to two men,” I whisper, “on the chance that one of them might be guilty?”

“And what about the innocent one? What if they’re both innocent?” I ask, my voice rising as my horror turns sharp.

“Arwen,” he replies calmly, “you don’t understand the situation. You couldn’t. Not unless you were raised in this life.”

A bitter laugh escapes me. “That sounds like an easy excuse when you’re not on the receiving end of the torture.”

His expression darkens.

“This was necessary.”

“Necessary?” I repeat, tone rising. “That sounds like what Kael said when he fed that old man to a fighting ring!”

His expression closes off, every soft line of his face going rigid and remote.

“That is not the same, and you know it. Someone betrayed us. Your safety means everything to me. If I have to shove my potions down a thousand throats to protect you, I’ll do it.”

We stare at each other, breathing too hard, both of our tempers on edge.

Then Maddox drags a hand over his face and sinks back into his seat. For a long moment, he says nothing.

When he finally speaks, his voice is lower. “I never wanted you to see that part of my world.”

“But it exists,” he continues. “This is mercy compared to what some of my siblings do.”

His eyes meet mine. “Wicka experiments on children she thinks might develop useful powers,” he says. “Whole families disappear in Vex’s territories. Teeth drains people until they’re husks of a human just to recharge his own like batteries.”

Maddox’s voice drops even lower.

“I mentioned it to you last year… I do what I have to because if I don’t—people like them gain more power. More territory. More lives to ruin.”

His gaze locks on mine as I fold my arms across my chest.

“But it only works if I keep my place at the top of the food chain. If I let things like this betrayal slide, with no consequences, they will eat us alive. This is a necessary evil.”

A cold, logical part of me traces the shape of his reasoning and finds it sound. Another part recoils, hearing in his voice the same cadence all monsters use when explaining why the blood had to be spilled.

Monster.

The thought brings me back to the Iron Gut.

I let out a broken laugh. “I guess I have little room to judge.”

Maddox frowns. “What are you talking about?”