Page 3 of Nope, No Regrets
Sota
Ihated having to wait for him to get back from playing in Olympus with his daughter, but now I totally understood why Bael wanted me to wait for Barbatos to come with me. Warden Snow was a special kind of bitch, and the Aether Circle had already gotten to her. So had Kudan, which messed this up even further.
Warden Snow didn’t even fucking look at the letter Barbatos handed her.
“We do extensive blood tests. If Rei were a demon, we would have found that out. I’m not sure what this is, or why I have so many people in my office demanding I release her, but she’s a criminal, and she’s caused a lot of problems while she’s been here. A guard and a witch are currently dead all because she roped several prisoners into some escape plot.
I just shrugged.
“She’s a Kitsune in an enclosed space.Of course,she’s going to try to break out!”
Barbatos cut his eyes at me like he wanted to strangle me. What was his deal? They might not be common to his area of Hell, but that was common knowledge.
“What Sota is trying to say, is that many of the things that have gone wrong in your prison are because Rei is not a fox shifter. Your magical handcuffs wouldn’t have taken away her magic, leaving her free to plot and think she could break out.
“The fact remains that Rei is a demon and so belongs in Hell. The kings of Hell are pretty clear on that, as well as what would happen if another demon wasn’t turned over to us. If one of your employees was feeling lazy and didn’t do her blood test, then we’d be willing to overlook her continued imprisonment here.
“The letter I handed you—the one you didn’t even read—is signed by all seven kings of Hell. I am a Duke of Hell. Every king and every Duke commands several legions of demon soldiers, which Bael promises to send if Rei is not released to us. They will come if you let her go to her brother. So, I’d think very carefully about your next move.”
Why were we even trying to reason with this witch? I could just shift, rip her apart with my talons and beak, and we could go get Rei. She didn’t know the first thing about Hell’s legions, or what we could do to her. She was much more familiar with the Aether Circle.
“I’ve considered every move. I trust my employees. If she were a demon, I would know. I’m not sure what kind of game you are playing here, but I don’t want it happening in this prison. That girl is a lot of trouble. It wouldn’t shock me to learn that she has demon friends and had called in a favor. The guard that died was a respected member of my family!”
She hesitated, and I heard her heartbeat change. She was lying. That guard may be her family, but she didn’t care for him at all… and she wasn’t totally sure about her employees, either. This witch sure was crafty, or she wouldn’t have this job.
“I want to see her,” I demanded.
Of all the things I could say, that’s what came out of my mouth?! I needed toseemy future wife. I needed to tell her I was here to take her home. She needed to know Kudan was here, and she absolutely couldn’t leave with him if it came to that.
“That’s impossible. She’s in solitary.”
She hesitated again, and her heartbeat sped up. I felt my demon clawing at the surface. Something was wrong. Yeah, we could be lying, and our letter could be forged, but why risk it when we could bring the power of Hell down on her head? Even if she didn’t want to release Rei to us just yet, she damn well could have at least shown her to us. Proof of life.
I held up my hand and let my talons extend. I knew my eyes were glowing.
“My bride had better be alive, and not a single hair on her head hurt.”
“Sota!” Barbatos barked. “Put your Tengu away. We aren’t killing this witch just yet. Warden Snow, my associate is right about this. There are several ways wecankill you and not leave a shred of proof. Rei will leave with us, with or without your blessing. We are doing you a favor by going through the proper legal channels. I can’t imagine how dire shit would get for you if the infamous Silver Fox just disappeared from your prison… the board wouldn’t like it, would they? The media would crucify you. It would be way worse than anything the Aether Circle could do to you.”
Thatseemed to get her attention. She wasn’t scared of what she saw of my Tengu. Warden Snow wasn’t even afraid of what the Aether Circle could do to her. Out of all the bad shit headed her way if she didn’t release Rei, the idea of bad press was what got to her. Thismajyowas so strange. Most sane people would be more afraid of an army of demons, or even the Aether Circle, than journalists.
“I’m not doing anything until I verify your story,” Warden Snow sniffed. “You have to admit how suspicious this is. I have one man claiming to be her brother, with a letter that is allegedly from her father, an emperor, that says this girl is only to be released to him. Then, I have you two, who claim to be a Duke and the fiancé, with letters from the alleged kings of Hell saying not to give her to the man who says he’s her brother! The facts on the ground are these… this girl is a criminal, or she wouldn’t be in my jail. She’s currently in solitary because she just couldn’t serve her sentence and repent for her crimes. So, it’s not a huge jump in logic to conclude that she engineered all this in case her little breakout plan didn’t work. I’m more likely to believe a girl who likes to take things that don’t belong to her paid you good money to attempt this, over one of my employees completely missing the fact that she’s a demon during her intake. It’s even more unbelievable that she would have magic this entire time, and that not a single one of my guards noticed it!”
This would be so much easier if fucking Kudan hadn’t showed up here a few hours before we did, with a forged letter from the emperor. Warden Snow believed him about as much as she believed us, but Kudan didn’t have Barbatos with him.
They had groomed Kudan to be the next emperor, but it played in my favor that he didn’t pay attention to any of his tutors when it came to diplomacy and negotiation. Barbatos was much older than he was, and our meeting went much better than I imagined Kudan’s did. Kudan probably threw a tantrum and got escorted out. Though that probably also set a terrible precedent for this meeting.
Barbatos just gave her this serene saccharine smile, like I still didn’t want to just kill her and grab Rei.
“We want to do this on the up and up, and draw as little attention to you and this prison as possible. I can assure you that her brother is a dangerous individual, and a wanted fugitive in Hell. I’m sure you are pretty good at your job, and would have gotten vibes off him that he’s dangerous. Rei’s father doesn’t want her anywhere near him.
“We also understand that you want to follow all protocol, including investigating if any of your employees may have made any mistakes during her intake. All we are asking is to do that… test her blood again. You will see she’s not even remotely a simple fox shifter, and belongs in Hell.”
Warden Snow tossed the letter on the desk. She crossed her arms and glared at Barbatos.
“If she really is a demon and should have been in Hell this entire time, where were you during her trial?! You surely were aware of it… shit, it was all over the news when they captured her. Not only did she steal from one of the most powerful covens in the world, but they also caught her assaulting a witch at the scene of another theft. If Hell wants her that badly, why didn’t you come to fetch her before she ended up in my prison and her actions caused the death of my nephew?”
Now, I was the one glaring at Barbatos. I brought this to Bael’s attention as soon as it made the news that she’d been arrested.Iwanted to bring her back to Hell then, and put the same guard on her that her father had. Bael wanted to wait for Barbatos because he was well versed in human law, and Bael was worried that, even with the threats of Hell’s legions, the Aether Circle had more sway.
