Page 42 of Hell’s Weapon

“Apparantly, I am the one going around killing all the contestants.” She says it with such sarcasm I expect Hades to strike her down immediately.

Instead he chuckles.

“Oh, Officer Zephyr, I’m afraid this time your detective skills are off the mark,” he says once he recovers his composure.

“What?” How can he know that?

“Please, can I have these off?” Ninety-Eight whines over the top of me.

Hades gives a flick of his fingers and my gaze snaps to my prisoner as the cuffs unlock and hit the floor.

“What the fu—” My words die as the woman whips her top off and giant wings explode from her back. Horns appear out of her head, sweeping back in an ombre of red to black and a long black tail flicks to the floor with the sharp arrowhead barb on the end of it.

Standing in front of me is a woman no longer, but a female demon.

“Believe me now, Garrick?” I thought her grin was feral before, it’s nothing to the shit-eating one now on her face as she flares the black leathery wings, and folds her arms over her chest.

“You’re a demon? How?” My words do nothing to hide my shock.

Her eyes roll to the ceiling. “I’ve been telling you, I’m the Death Bringer, the silent assassin, Hades’s Guard.”

“You already told him who you really are?” Hades says, arching an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I told him everything right when he started accusing me of working for the Angels. Fucker didn’t believe me.” One of her arms sweeps out in my general direction in a gesture that I can only interpret as this stupid prick.

Because that’s what I feel right now. How have I been housing a demon for days? How did I hunt her down in the mortal realm and not know? And not just any demon, the fucking Death Bringer. It’s not possible.

“How do we know you’re not a double agent, working for the Angels, the evidence still fits,” I say in an attempt to redeem myself. “Hades, she was the one who broke in here last night, and she doesn’t have a strong alibi for either murder.”

“Garrick,” Hades’s tone is placating. “I trust Tacita with my life. She is indeed my assassin and guard, the one that has come to be known as the Death Bringer. Plus, she and I were both in your office last night when the second murder was occurring, I hope that testimony is enough to vindicate her from your suspect list.”

Shit. I’m not about to ask for Hades to provide me with any proof. “Of course, but I’m going to need you to explain… Wait. In my office?”

Ninety-Eight snorts. “Yes, Garrick. You were correct about that part. I was the one to break in here. Please don’t hold it against Tarron that I managed to steal his badge. I was in here most of the night, not that I learned anything worth shit. I’ll hand it to you, getting the guards to learn everyone’s profile so you don’t have to keep any information on them at the compound is impressive work.”

“So you didn’t sleep with Thirty-Nine?” I don’t know why that’s the question that jumps to the top of the list I have quickly forming in my head, but it’s the one firing off my tongue before my brain can interrupt it.

“Oh no, I did that too. I was hoping it would give me a good alibi, but I guess you saw through that plan. You are much cleverer than I thought. Except for the whole ‘thinking I work for the Angels’ thing. You are one of the most challenging opponents I have come up against since I took this job. I’ve been trying to reveal myself to you since you arrested me in the Human Realm.”

That might be the most she’s ever said to me, and I’m pretty sure there was a compliment in there somewhere but the only thing I get hooked on is that she slept with the human.

“So you used him to break in here?”

“Yes, that and I needed a release. Turns out, not all humans are bad in bed either,” she tells me with no shame.

“And you’re not working with the Angels?” Finally, I ask a legitimate question.

“Fuck no.” She shakes her head in disgust at the idea, her tail flicking that barb in my direction. “Hades sent me undercover to give us a better chance at rumbling their mole and putting a stop to whatever they’re planning.”

“Why wasn’t I told?”

“I’m afraid that was a decision on my part,” Hades answers, pulling my attention from where it had been drinking in Ninety-Eight’s–Tacita’s–natural form. “I thought nobody knowing that she was working undercover would be the best course of action. Tacita was coming at this job without her disguise, I wanted to respect her privacy and allow her to remain anonymous afterwards. And I thought it would be safer if only she and I knew about her also working on spoiling the Angels’ plans.

“They will know of you, know of your great detective skills. If whoever they’ve sent in is being careful around the guards, and is focused on not letting you discover them, then I thought they wouldn’t even be looking for a second spy of our own, let alone one amongst the contestants.”

I run a hand through my hair and start pacing the length of the cell as I process all this information. Hades moves to the adjacent wall and leans back against it. Tacita vanishes her wings and joins him but leaves her horns and tail free.

My eyes inadvertently roam her body again. She’s a fucking demon. One of us.