Page 10 of Nope, No Regrets
Why would a Kitsune want to stay in solitary confinement with a dangerous coven after her? She could bring whoever she wanted. Hell wasn’t exclusive to demons.
“You can bring whoever you want, you just have to claim them officially. We have plenty of beings in Hell that aren’t demons. You don’t have to stay here to make a point. They are welcome.”
Rei squared her shoulders and glared at Warden Snow like she had any say in who came to Hell.
“They’re three inmates here, who are in solitary with me.”
Shit. I guess Warden Snow did have some say. She had no choice with Rei. Warden Snow practically had smoke coming out of her ears at that point.
“Absolutely not! If it were up to me, the four of you would rot in solitary. In case you forgot, you killed my nephew during your little prison break.”
Rei wasn’t backing down, and I had a feeling Warden Snow wasn’t either.
“I’ve never seen you out and about with the prisoners. The prison break was not the first time Brody tried to kill me. During the riot, I didn’t take part. I wasn’t trying to attack the witches in the slightest. Instead of protecting them from the other prisoners, he headed straight for me, with the safety off on his baton. He was going to beat me to death with it and blame the riot!
“This was all because Venus wanted me dead, and she had one of her witches agree to sleep with him to do their bidding. You can ask any prisoner in here, and they will back me up. Your nephew has been trying to get a witch inmate in his bed since way before I got here. I’m sure the guards can confirm that, too, because he bragged about it.
“I’m pretty sure you don’t want it getting out that he kept his job here after they reported to you that he raped an inmate… oh, and how he was still abusing his shock baton when he killed Venus. That’s going to lookwayworse for you than our breakout, especially since he was your nephew.
“I have heard nothing about extra charges against me, so I’m guessing you haven’t reported our breakout, or the deaths. You can’t do a damn thing about me walking out of here, and I can say all kinds of things… but the truth is pretty damning for you. Brody was a shit stain, and a bully, but if youreallywant to protect him, you could say he caught us, and we put up a fight. He heroically stopped all of us, and we died because we wouldn’t stop fighting Brody. We got close, but Brody stopped us at the last minute. He died from his injuries.”
That was such a Kitsune thing to say when they wanted something. I didn’t know who this Brody was, but I fully supported whoever killed him, since he’d gone after Rei twice. If any of these prisoners on her list were the ones who did the deed, I was totally on board with bringing them to Hell and giving them special accommodation.
My demon picked up on something then, there was something between the fox and the wolf. He also looked out for her in here. He could have easily passed her conditions to us without bringing her up here. I was angry he told her we were engaged, but I was guessing there was a deeper meaning.
This wolf cared for Rei, and I was guessing she reciprocated that affection. She couldn’t say in front of Warden Snow that he was on her list, but I imagined I would hear about it later. The only reason he would protect her like this was if he was sensing she was his mate.
I wasn’t angry about that, and I wouldn’t stand in their way. Her father had four wives, and at least seven concubines. If the emperor could make that work, then so could I. They couldn’t say anything in front of Warden Snow, so I was going to.
“Your nephew came at my fiancé, I believe her, and I will do everything I can to help spread the word about him, if her demands aren’t met. CO Faust seems like a responsible guard. I would like to personally invite him to Hell so I can thank him for letting me meet my fiancé in person for the first time.”
Warden Snow looked wholly irritated with me, but I was right. Faust and Rei understood full well, and Faust gave me a nod so slight that Warden Snow never would have noticed. Rei looked relieved for a second before she returned her expression to a stoic one, and her attention to Warden Snow.
Barbatos finally stepped in.
“The King of Hell is dating one of the best hackers alive. Solron is probably the best out of any realm we know of. We can understand your nephew coming at Rei when she was breaking the rules and trying to escape, but no one in Hell is going to tolerate him coming at her during a prison riot she wasn’t taking part in.
“Bael will put Solron on this. You won’t have any hopes of controlling the press or the narrative once Solron gets involved in spreading this. It would probably be best just to let us have those inmates.”
“You haven’t even asked what they are in here for… are you sure you want them?”
“Dakarys sold medicine to a hospital on the black market, and they gave him life to make an example of him. Rajack killed an evil man from a powerful family, and they made sure he rotted in jail. Wren killed many people, but she only did it for money, and I’m sure she’d stop in Hell if I asked her to,” Rei said.
I didn’t see a single thing wrong with any of that. They threw people in jail over the strangest things.
“Rajack also killed my nephew!” Warden Snow snapped.
“He was a bad man too, and if you had fired him after you found out he raped an inmate and turned the safety off on his baton, he’d still be alive,” Rei hissed.
I think every single person in the room had killed someone before, except Rei and Warden Snow. I was just getting those vibes off Faust. Warden Snow looked like she was ready to murder Rei. She looked like she wanted to start with Rei, then take the rest of us out so there were no witnesses.
“I warned you about Brody several times,” Faust said. “There were so many things he did before the riot that should have gotten him out of this prison. They were using the wing he set fire to as their escape route. He wasn’t cut out to be a correctional officer, and it was your responsibility to see that, instead of constantly covering things up for him. If it weren’t for the prison break, then someone else in this prison would have eventually killed him.
“If Hell leaks just the parts Rei knows, then this is going to be a Scorchwood level scandal for you. You won’t be able to find workanywherein the supernatural community. It’s not just the rape and the excessive force with inmates… but the fact you lied for him, about why an entire wing of this prison caught fire, and a new one had to be built. You threw another guard under the bus and paid him off to take the blame for Brody. If this hits the news, he s going to talk or want more money. You’ve lied for him countless times. What’s one more time?”
“You’re supposed to be onmyside!”
“I’veneverbeen on your side about Brody! I warned you several times he would do something that was going to blow up in your face. That time is now. You can refuse to release the inmate because you’re being stubborn, but I have a feeling Rei is just as stubborn as you are. She’ll refuse to leave, and her fiancé is going to destroy you until she gets what she wants.”
