Leo's POV
Dotty hung suspended from iron chains in the darkest corner of the dungeon, her body a canvas of brutality. They had pushed her to death's threshold, healed her with forced shifter magic, then dragged her back to that precipice again. Through every session, she released that chilling laughter that echoed off stone walls. I knew with growing certainty that conventional interrogation would yield nothing unless I could locate a witch, but those practitioners had vanished as if the earth had swallowed them whole.
Joshua leaned heavily against the damp stone wall, his chest rising and falling in exhausted rhythm. Sweat mixed with dried blood painted his skin in streaks of torment. He pushed himself away from our prisoner, his usually steady hands trembling slightly.
"This serves no purpose," Joshua said, his voice hoarse from extensive questioning. "What secrets could this woman possibly harbor that justify such measures?"
