Page 18 of Reaper Unhinged
I make it outside before the anger can make me do something stupid. Mammon has supporters here in Necro City. Sleeper agents ready to be activated when the time comes. The news Azazel and Mal are trying to keep under wraps is already out. Mammon could have reapers loyal to him on every reaper team.
Oh, fucking hell.
He could have them at the Academy too!
I need to get a message to Keon. Now.
Chapter Seven
Keon
Iwasn’t sure about the celestial joining me at the Academy to help with the training, but I think he needs this. Needs to feel back in control after everything that’s happened.
He’s fast. He mastered the tails easily.
Maybe he will be useful, after all.
The cadets seem star-struck by him, a celestial amongst them. Fighting alongside them in the arena Master Luena has set up.
I watch the monitors, count the kills, and make mental notes on what needs to be worked on for each cadet.
Master Luena sits tensely beside me. I look down at her hands, which are clasped tightly in front of her.
I can read people well, and she isn’t herself today. “What’s wrong with you?”
She stares at me in horror. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re tense. Why?”
She presses her lips together. “War is coming and these cadets…my cadets… Many will die.”
“Yes.”
She closes her eyes, and I can see the pulse in her throat throbbing, and then the scent of fear hits me, and it’s off. This woman is not a coward. What is happening?
She opens her eyes and locks gazes with me, about to speak, when the doors to the training room burst open and another tutor rushes in. Two more demons spill into the room. Academy security.
I don’t understand what’s happening. “What is this?”
“We just had communication from Deadside HQ letting us know that we may have sleeper agents working for Mammon in the building. We need to secure the cadets and investigate.”
He means interrogate.
Luena slowly stands, hands still clasped in front of her. “No need. There’s only one sleeper agent in this building… and I’ve just woken up.”
Master Jenkins stares at her as if she’s grown an extra head. “No. Not you.” He looks devastated.
The guards don’t hesitate. They don’t wait for orders. They move to arrest her.
She holds up her hands, eyes wide and earnest. “Before you lock me up, you need to hear me out. Every life in this building may depend on it.”
* * *
Luena doesn’t resistas she’s cuffed. The bands on her wrists glow with celestial enchantments to mute her demon abilities. The cadets have been sent back to their quarters. It’s just us in the room with her now: Uriel, Jenkins, the guards, and me.
“I took an oath decades ago,” Luena said. “Before I knew how things could be. Mammon was my lord. He is charming and persuasive, and his ideas sparked ambition and…greed.” She licks her lips. “I wanted to be the ruling species. To go where I wished and take what I wanted. He promises wealth and freedoms, the likes of which Lilith cannot. He promises the earthly realm.”
“So, you work for him?” Jenkins says as if he needs to hear her say it to truly believe.
