Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

ARE YOU GOING TO TELL HER, OR AM I?

B lood drained from Mr. Smith's face as I shoved a finger in his direction. He shook his head as his feet carried him backward. In a blur of motion, Trux appeared behind him, one hand grabbing the back of Mr. Smith's neck.

"You heard her." Trux's voice was so low it was barely audible to my ears.

Mr. Smith shook his head as he began to babble. "I don't… No… Never. I wouldn't. Please don't hurt me." His gaze shot to Mr. Grumpy Pants who appeared to be unconscious after the toll my powers took on him. So much for being a badass.

Guess the big, bad attitude didn't last. The smug asshole broke as he begged for mercy. Fuck that. I was tired of this bullshit. Stomping over to my pad of paper and crayons, I drew a box with wires and a dial, then wrote 'lie detector' underneath.

Then I returned to the manipulative agent and shoved it in his face. "I can't take your word as truth. Instead, I must do what I can to find out what really happened. You'll understand."

His head violently shook side to side as his blabbering turned unintelligible. I tossed the paper at him and he dropped to the floor. Trux raised an eyebrow as the man fell, pulling out of Trux's hold. I didn't think he expected that.

Mr. Smith wailed as he contorted on the ashy concrete floor of the bar. "Tell me the truth. Did you know about this asshole?"

Mr. Smith's body spasmed, his arms and legs spreading back until his torso jutted forward until his body was stretched as far as it would go. When his mouth opened, a bizarre green light shone from his mouth as he spoke each word. "No. I didn't know."

"Interesting. Tell me an obvious lie."

"Wha?"

"You heard me. I need to know how to tell the difference." His body somehow contorted more at my words.

He was silent for several long seconds before he finally spoke. "My last name isn't Smith."

Instead of a green light, a red one shone from his mouth and eyes. It was creepy as fuck.

"Good, now that we have a baseline, spill the details."

Despite the lack of control he seemed to possess, he managed a small shake of his head. "I don't know anything."

Red light followed his words. I glanced up at Trux. His face was curled into a dangerous sneer. For a second, his gaze met mine, then he dropped into a squat next to Mr. Smith. "You're lying. You did know something. If we didn't need answers from you, I'd make you regret being born."

"Nothing concrete." His body relaxed a fraction as green light followed his words. "We had suspicions that there was a syndicate," more relaxing muscles, "infiltrating our organization, but we didn't know who they were or what their intent was."

I cocked my head to the side. "You mean to tell me they've been a part of your organization for my entire life… even planned the murder of my mother, and you haven't learned anything about them?"

"No. They were exceptional at what they were doing. We had a few agents get close, but then they'd disappear."

Green light. Damn.

Trux peered over into Mr. Smith's point of view, a cruel smirk pulling at his lips as his voice dropped to a threatening growl. "If you think what Parker does to you hurts, just wait until her six very angry, very protective highly trained mates do when we get a hold of you."

I hadn't thought it was possible, but Mr. Smith somehow went paler. My gaze moved to Trux. It was obvious by his emotions through the mate bond and his expression that he wanted to take over the situation, to punish these two for manipulating me, but he held back.

Just for me. It was romantic in his own bossy Alpha way.

I appreciated his efforts. All of their efforts as they let me keep control of the situation. But especially Trux, since his Alpha side was probably clawing to take over, and he held it back to let me take care of it. I'd have to reward him later. Trux must have caught my thoughts because a pulse of heat came from him through the mate bond.

Mr. Smith whimpered. "I've answered your questions. Please let me go. I didn't have anything to do with this."

I waved my index finger at him. "Yeah, I don't think so. Unfortunately for you, your partner hasn't woken up yet and I still have a lot of questions that I need answers to. So, until I get them, neither of you are free to go. Though, I'm not sure my Tsigos," I emphasized the word, and he flinched, "will ever let you or him out of their sight alive."

While I should have felt bad… even disturbed by the truth behind my words, I didn't. This syndicate, whoever they were, had manipulated my entire life. They'd murdered my mother. Who knew what all they'd done to me that I wasn't even aware of? Nope. No mercy for them. Not for anyone who'd had the audacity to fuck with my life. I was done being afraid and weak.

No one would fuck with me again without consequences.

Vengeance boiled inside of me as I strolled over to where Mr. Smith was still pinned to the floor by my demonic powers. Dropping into a squat, I locked gazes with Mr. Smith. "You know what I just decided?"

He shook his head, but didn't say a word.

"Call your boss. Tell him to come here right now." I gestured to the floor next to me with my index finger.

Mr. Smith shook his head vehemently, even as red light spewed from him. "I… I can't do that."

"And why not?"

"He's ruthless." Mr. Smith closed his eyes even as green shone from his mouth. "He'll punish me."

"Funny, because that's the same thing that will happen if you don't call him here." One of my mates whistled, but I wasn't sure which one. I only felt support from them. "Let me make this easier for you. Either call him and tell him to come here, or I'll make you." I waggled my fingers at him.

Mr. Smith's eyes widened in fear, but he didn't have a choice as Trux pulled out a cell phone. He offered it to Mr. Smith with an unspoken message in his eyes... do it or else.

Trembling, Mr. Smith took the phone and dialed a number before putting it to his ear and speaking quietly into the receiver in a language I didn't recognize. After he finished, he hung up the phone and handed it back to Trux before averting his gaze away from all of us, as if not wanting to see our reactions when we heard what was coming our way next.

Trux tucked the phone back into his pocket before crossing his arms. "Are you going to tell her, or am I?"

I raised an eyebrow at Mr. Smith.

What little blood he still had in his face drained out. "He... he f... fired me." Green light.

Damn. Now what? Before I could put together a new plan, the singed door creaked open. When it bounced off the wall, the entire door crashed to the floor, the hinges unable to survive any more abuse.

An ordinary-looking man with a foreboding presence strolled into the bar. His gaze slid over the room, taking in the unconscious form of Mr. Grumpy Pants and Mr. Smith's predicament. Without a word, his attention turned to me.

"We finally meet." He took me in, his gaze running from toes to nose before he cocked an eyebrow at me like I didn't pose a threat to him. Then he spoke without looking at Mr. Smith. "Useless."

Mr. Smith didn't respond. He just laid still with his eyes closed like he wanted to wake up from his nightmare.

I almost felt sorry for the guy. He seemed nice enough. Manipulative, but who in the government wasn't? I turned my attention back to the boss. "What is your name?"

He shook his head. "Names have power, so if you don't mind, I'll refrain from giving you mine. Besides, it's not mine to give."

"What does that even mean?" How did someone not own their own name?

I barely got the words out before Rhiot appeared at my side. One of his arms wrapped around me, tucking me against his side. Rhiot moved his fist between us and Mr. Smith's boss. My mate was holding something, but I didn't have a clue what. "He's under the control of a demon. Which means you can't compel him, nor can you trust him."

So much for the easy option. How would I finally make sense of this? A familiar sensation flowed through me as my demon power surged, and I knew my demonic side had the answer to that question. I'd summon him here. Even though I didn't think that was the best idea, I also wasn't sure I could stop it. My powers had a mind of their own.

"I'm so tired of this shit."

I straightened as a swirl of power ran down my spine. Instantly, a red-orange light filled the bar as if someone had set off fireworks. It was so bright that it blinded everyone for a moment until it faded away to reveal a figure standing amongst the destroyed remains of the bar. The bad feeling in the pit of my stomach doubled down as recognition hit.

My mouth went dry as I spoke. "Long time no talk… Ro."

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