Page 6 of Nope, No Regrets
“Sit,” she ordered.
I plopped down into the chair across from her desk and just waited. Even if she’d told the board about what had gone down here, it wouldn’t have fucked her up… she would have controlled the situation, she would have shaped the narrative somehow to make sure she came out ahead.
“You’ve taken a personal interest in this Silver Fox. I allowed her to work in your office because, though you are an excellent employee, you are miserable at doing your paperwork. Have you ever gotten an inkling she wasn’t a fox shifter, and had her magic this entire time?”
Shit! How had she figured that out? The only people who knew were locked up in solitary, and Whisper’s group weren’t rats. If Whisper and the other foxes found out Rei was in solitary, because she tried to break out and Brody and Venus were dead, they’d be campaigning to get them out.
“You’d better explain what you mean,” I said, trying to divert her attention away from my wolfy-ass and the fact that I’d known this entire time.
“My office has been a mess of visitors, and it’s been all about that girl. First, someone claiming to be her brother, and then a man saying he was her fiancé. They both have letters from demon royalty promising to rein down Hell on this prison if I released her to the other. If that girl were really a demon… we’d know about it. Shit, we would have known about it during intake.”
I only heard about half of that. I saw red as soon as I heard fiancé. Exactly how many men were sniffing aroundmyfucking mate? Rei had been honest with me about the people in this prison she collected like strays, but she failed to mention her demon fiancé.
“A brotheranda fiancé?”
“The fiancé had someone with him who claimed to be a Duke of Hell. His story was that Rei had been sent to our realm as protection from her brother. So, either she cooked up this elaborate story, thinking I’d release her, or she really is some demon princess, and has no idea who either of those men are. Either way, I’m not comfortable with any of this.”
That actually put a few missing pieces together in my head… Rei didn’t lie to me about this demon fiancé, she wouldn’t have known about it. She was trying to rob that museum to get an amulet to find out more about her family. I thought Kitsunes were fiction, and had read that they were trickster demons. That would explain why I thought they didn’t exist. Demons were confined to Hell.
That could be how Rei got out of this jail. I could retire from all of this. Would they let me go to Hell with her? This demon fiancé had to understand she didn’t know him and her fox chose me. He wouldn’tforceher to marry him… right?
“Not all the employees here take their jobs seriously. Some of the doctors in intake are just here to collect a paycheck. Think about it. They resigned from their jobs rather than getting fired to avoid losing their medical licenses. This is the only place they can collect a paycheck now. If they were shitty doctors when they were working in hospitals and clinics, are you really so shocked to learn they’re cutting corners with the handcuffs?”
“That’s a pretty big shortcut, Faust. It’s also never happened before in the history of this prison.”
“It probably has. They put what you are in your arrest record. It would be there in the chart. If she left a fox hair behind, why would anyone make the leap to fox demon instead of fox shifter?”
Warden Snow mopped her hand across her brow. I’d watched her deal with a lot of shit in this prison and never once lose her cool. She never dropped the resting bitch face, not even when I told her the last prison riot started because Brody had sex with an inmate.Thishad her stressed though.
“That girl is nothing but trouble. If she had her magic this entire time, that’s probably why Brody’s baton exploded. My poor nephew was probably on to her, and that’s why he’s dead. What am I supposed to do with this? The king of Hell was pretty clear, after the whole Scorchwood fiasco, that no demon shouldeverbe imprisoned here, ever again. They have to be turned over to Hell.”
“So, what is the problem?”
It was a solution to get her out of here. I didn’t know what they intended to do to her in Hell, but it had to be better than this if they’d sent her fucking fiancé to get her. Now, I don’t know the first thing about demons, but surely you wouldn’t go pick up your future wife and bring her back to Hell if something terrible was going to happen to her.
I’d figure out what to do with this demon fiancé once Rei was out of here, and I got myself an invitation to Hell.
“Seriously, Faust? The brother says her father will kill me if I release her to anyone but him. The fiancé and the Duke say the brother is a fugitive, and if I give her to him, then every Duke and every king in Hell will send their armies after me. Demons and their armies aside, that girl pissed off a powerful coven… they aren’t going to care she’s not really a fox shifter and belongs in Hell. They want her dead.”
It was time to get real with her. She was my boss, but I’d never been one to kiss her ass. She might want to ignore it every time I told her Brody had fucked up again, but this was a mess of her own making.
“Maybe you should have thought about how dangerous the Aether Circle is, ya know… before taking their money to have Venus and Rei in the same prison, with no precautions in place to protect either of them? I know that happened, so don’t try to lie to me about it. The eagles had nothing to do with Astrid. Venus organized that hit, and would have sent all the witches at Rei next. Can you really blame her for trying to break out?”
“Please, don’t tell me you’ve grown fond of that thing. She was the one that started all this by stealing from the Aether Circle in the first place!”
“Semantics. You knew full well something bad would happen if you stuck those two in the same prison. Someone was going to die in that equation. You took a bribe, hoping it was only Rei, but it ended up being Astrid, Venus, and your nephew. If I were you, I’d get out from under this while you still can. Send Rei home with her people, and tell everyone she died in the prison break. That will satisfy the Aether Circle, and the demons won’t bother you.”
“Great idea, asshole. So, am I supposed to just pick which demon to give her to out of a hat, and hope it’s the right one?”
“You’re a witch, Snow. You would have gotten vibes off them.”
“The brother acted like a spoiled child when I refused to release her, but if she’s really a princess, then he’s a prince and probably used to getting his way.”
Ireallywanted the brother to be a standup guy. I didn’t want Rei anywhere near that fucking fiancé, but it sounded like I had little a choice.
“Did her brother come alone?”
“Her brother was alone and kept making demands. Sota came with someone who said he was a Duke. I liked Barbatos much better than Sota and Kudan. He tried to make the exchange as easy as possible and gave me time to think and research. If it were up to Sota and Kudan, I’d hand her over right that minute, and I didn’t know if she was awake yet.”
“You might not want to mention how you didn’t send her to medical when she got injured.”
“It’s a good thing I didn’t! If they’d tried to treat her thinking she was a fox shifter, she’d be dead, and Hell would kill everyone in this prison.”
“So, whatdoyou plan on doing?”
“Well, I’m sending someone down to solitary to take her blood and confirm she really is a demon, and not a crafty fox shifter with demon friends. Barbatos and Sota will be back in two days. I’m leaning towards them over the brother. I want you here for that. You’ve always had good instincts, and I want a wolf’s nose on those two. Go back down to solitary for now, and focus on breaking those criminals who tried to bust out of here.”
I was going back down there, but I was going straight to Rei. I didn’t want me and my nose anywhere near this demon fiancé. Rei probably had opinions about marrying demons she’d never met. Her fox liked me, but Rei herself was going to make me earn being her mate.
I hadn’t figured out what I would do with this fiancé, but if Rei said something, I’d kill him for her.
