Page 40 of Hell’s Weapon

“Doesn’t matter,” Officer Zephyr cuts in. “Stop delaying, put your hands out. Now, Ninety-Eight.”

“She couldn’t have done it. She was with me last night,” Wyatt finally speaks and thankfully, it corroborates my story.

“All night?”

I can’t see Zephyr’s face but by the way Wyatt swallows I can imagine the threatening daggers he must be getting.

Wyatt looks down to his right, where Tacita is standing before straightening up once more.

“Yes.”

I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Zamboss,” Officer Zephyr calls over one of the guards that’s been escorting us all day. “Please escort Thirty-Nine to the cells. I’ll deal with him later when he’s had a chance to think about lying to me.”

No, no, no. This can’t be happening. How did me telling the truth escalate into the two people that seem to give a damn about me in this place getting essentially arrested? My pulse is now its own entity, the beat fluttering in my ears as I try to think of some way I can fix this.

Zamboss isn’t as muscular as Wyatt but he quickly overpowers him, getting another pair of those cuffs onto his wrists. At the same time, Zephyr moves on Tacita. To my shock, she doesn’t physically fight Zephyr, although she does shoot several threats his way, getting close enough to say something that I can’t hear. It makes him pause but only momentarily.

Before I can process any further, Wyatt and Tacita are being shoved out the doors and taken to who knows where. And it’s all my fault.

Chapter 15

Garrick

Iknew she was going to be trouble. I just knew it. As soon as Nineteen told me that she wasn’t in her room last night I knew we’d caught the killer. She is the exact type to try and take out the competition.

Her reaction to the cuffs cemented it even further. Somehow, she recognised that they would block any magic. And as soon as I saw her slight fear when I pulled them out, I realised we’d caught more than the killer, we’d caught the Angels spy. I’d suspected that they were one in the same but her eyes had confirmed it. I’d bet my tail that she has been using magic to consort with them. Maybe they’ve been helping her out, assisting in small ways, like helping her get the card she must’ve stolen from Tarron to gain access to the Guards’ quarters–for I’m certain all three crimes were committed by the same person. Even with nearly one hundred criminals inside the compound walls, it just adds up.

My team had confirmed through the CCTV footage that a female was the one to break into the offices. Although the camera angle hadn’t gotten a clear shot of their face, there was no mistaking the feminine stature as she crept up to the door and swiped a pass to gain entry. All the evidence was stacking up against the woman.

Hopefully, whilst those cuffs remained on her wrists, her communication lines to the Heaven Realm were cut off. We simply needed to figure out the exact methods they were using, and infiltrate them to draw out the rest of them.

Staring at the screen displaying the feed from the camera in her cell, I watch on. We’ve got a secondary monitoring room solely for these cameras. The small line of holding cells runs along the line of the underground corridor between the main building and the Guards’ quarters. It’s deep underground and a convenient location for the officers to keep an eye on anyone we need to isolate. The monitoring room is set up at one end.

Ninety-Eight is sat against the far wall, facing the door, head leant back against the concrete wall. Her knees are pulled up, feet slightly parted, and her cuffed wrists are draped over them. The expression on her face leaves no mistaking her current mood, she’s pissed off.

As soon as we were out of the contestants’ gym her verbal protesting turned more physical, but I’d already had her in handcuffs by that point. Her struggles were stronger than I anticipated for a woman–she’s damn strong–but without her arms, I overpowered her easily. Her anger had turned even more irate when we finally managed to get her to the cells because I refused to remove the cuffs.

My focus flicks to Thirty-Nine, he’s pacing his own cell, two down from where I placed Ninety-Eight. Each one is completely soundproof, even to supernatural hearing, but I wasn’t risking any of their trickery, so I made sure there was an empty cell left between them. I’ve not written him off as an assistant to our spy yet.

Sucking in a deep breath, I leave the monitoring room and walk to the door holding Tacita. I’d sent the other guards back to their duties once we had both of them captured. With everyone pulling double-time, I wanted them to be able to finish on time today. We needed to start catching up on the hours of time off we now owe most of the team.

Unlocking the door with my fingerprint and a physical key, I step inside and brace for round two with the feisty female inside. It’s such a shame she came here under false pretences, she would’ve fit in well in Hell. I can’t deny it. Her energy and her temper alone would see her thrive. However, disobeying Hades, and killing two contestants, has only earned her a one-way trip across the Styx. She probably won’t even be allowed the choice to reincarnate should she wish. And that’s after the time she’s earned in my domain, Tartarus.

For the first time in my career, an icy feeling opens in my gut at the thought of sending someone to the torture chambers that make up the prison for this realm. I’m sure it’s simply because I see her potential, now wasted because the Angels got to her first.

Of course, she’d denied the murders. Her vitriol on the walk down here contained all sorts of bullshit. She even demanded I call Hades in, like that would save her.

“Finally,” she says as I step into the room and close the door behind me.

“Ready to tell me the truth?” I ask.

“I told you to call Hades. Or remove these cuffs and I’ll show you.”

“You’re not in a position to be making demands, Ninety-Eight.” I fold my arms across my chest, looking down at her.

She scrambles up to her feet and leans back against the wall like we’re having a casual chat in a bar, not determining the future of her soul. “If I tell you, you’ll just call me a liar, again.”