the fae leadership was still unaccounted for other than what Hasan knew.
“Hey, everyone,” I said loudly, finding an empty chair and dragging it to the middle of the room. Raphael stood at my back as I sat, an imposing force to back me up. We were probably quite the sight. At this point, I knew none of them believed he was human, if they had to begin with, like Nakul. I didn’t know how in the know these guards were, but he had been on full display during the breakout. Even now, I could smell the hint of his other side, meaning his eyes were probably black now.
“Executioner Sahni,” one greeted, stepping forward. A fae, but I didn’t hold it against him. “If there’s anything you need, please let me know.”
“I just want to talk,” I said calmly, not taking any of my anger out on them as I had with Korey. She was a leader and knew better than to give me any attitude, but these guys were grunts. They followed orders and did their jobs. Unless I had definitive proof one or more of them had been involved with the breakout, I was going to treat them with respect and care.
“Has anything strange been going on here in the prison? Was there any reason to believe this breakout was coming?”
Many shook their heads. Others were silent, but I chalked it up to intimidation. I knew I was a small fry compared to my bosses, but with civilians and lower-ranking people, I was way up on the totem pole. I only answered to the big guys and knew them by name. These grunts probably had never even seen many of the Tribunal members.
“So, this came out of nowhere for you, too?” I smirked. “Yeah, it’s been a shit show, hasn’t it? Do any of you have any solid numbers on the inmates?”
“About a quarter of the southern cellblock inmates escaped. A third of the inmates died in the explosion. The rest we recaptured,” said the one closest, who had stepped forward initially.
“I didn’t get your name,” I said, looking at him. I checked his uniform as I pointed that out, seeing his humanized clan name. “Ó Ceallaigh? Irish fae, huh?”
“You can call me Cael. Everyone here does.” He tried for a smile, but I saw it falter. He was nervous as hell.
“Cael. Reminds me of Cassius for some reason.” I sighed. “You ever met him?”
“I’ve never met the Prince, no,” he said quickly, shaking his head.
The Prince. I honestly forgot that most of them still considered him that. By fae law, he’s just another noble now.
“You might like him,” I said, a little put off that my attempt at small talk wasn’t working. “Well, Cael, thank you for the information. What do you know about the northern cell block?”
“Two were killed in the explosion,” someone said from a bed. “Two were found dead later…um...Erline and Dunter.”
“Yeah, I know about those. Is everyone else unaccounted for?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the guard in the bed said, nodding. I could tell he was a werewolf from across the room. He was a lot more talkative than his new Alpha. Hopefully, that didn’t fuck him in terms of the pack. “We can’t find Wesley either.”
“Ah…” I sighed. I knew the Tribunal would have told Korey what was going on with Wesley. If she hadn’t passed it down yet, I wasn’t going to. I didn’t want to give any of the werewolves hope Wesley might be taken alive when he could be killed. The Phoenix pack were going to try and capture him but there were no guarantees. I’d never met a werewolf who didn’t root for him. Letting them stay in the dark on the situation was for the best.
There was a resounding quiet after that, a quiet that seemed oppressive and overwhelming. I knew some of them had answers or clues I wanted. There was no way everyone was so confused by what happened. Unless the ones who knew had died, which I found unlikely. I looked around, seeing some were unable to meet my eyes while some stared me down.
They don’t want to talk in front of each other. I’ll work the inmates until some of these guys feel like they can talk to me.
“Can we get an interview room ready?” I asked, breaking the heavy silence. “I’m going to talk to some of the inmates. All of them, if I can.”
“Yes ma’am,” Cael said, jumping into action. He snapped his fingers, and