Page 83 of Hell’s Weapon

I laugh, he’s really barking up the wrong tree now.

Snap.

“Would you look at that? I’m out of fingers,” I mock him, moving my hand to his thumb and gripping the digit.

“Maybe I got it wrong!” His desperation bleeds into the air, mixing with the metallic scent of his blood.

“Start talking.”

“Wyatt also hangs around with that other guy, number Nineteen. It’s always the quiet ones isn’t it?”

“I’m listening.”

“Maybe he’s using Wyatt to unlock the doors but committing the murders himself.”

I contemplate what I know about number Nineteen, the third male in the harem Tacita seems to be collecting.

He certainly has enough of the markers seen in serial killers. Crappy upbringing, abandonment issues that I doubt he’s ever received the therapy for, was pushed pillar to post and then finally placed in one of the worst facilities I’ve ever heard of in the human plane. Some of the stuff they did to him shocked even me, and I torture souls in the worst place in any realm.

Still, he wasn’t picked for the games because he’s a killer. He may have committed murder but it was his hacking skills that drew Hades’s attention.

“I’m bored of your guesses, Sixty-Two.” I break his thumb, and in gripping his wrist to do so, feel a few bones break in the joint as well. “I hope you weren’t right-handed,” I quip, knowing full well that he is.

Shoving myself off him, I step back and watch as he drops to the floor. His face is a mess of tears, drool and blood. He turns so his back is to the wall and clutches his mangled hand to his chest.

“You’re a fucking sadist,” he spits.

I take a deep breath and release it on a sigh, placing my hands on my hips. “You don’t know anything. Another waste of my time.”

Leaving him whimpering on the ground, I exit his cell. As I’m ensuring the latch is locked Tarron comes out of the one opposite. His eyes shine with a feral glint I’m sure is reflected in my own.

“Any luck?” I ask.

“Not a thing. This lot are more sanctimonious than they appear. And if we’ve got the killer down here, they’ve got me fooled. How about you?”

“The last guy started spewing names before I even laid a hand on him, but the rest were tight lipped until they passed out.”

“Any names we should be looking into?”

“No, he was chatting bullshit, he had nothing substantial.”

“Well, what’s next? We’ve questioned them all now, haven’t we?” Tarron asks and we do a quick run down the cells. We have indeed seen all the suspects between the two of us.

“Let’s leave Dominic to heal them up, give them a night back in their own beds, then go again.” I start heading for the stairs back towards our offices and living quarters. Tarron follows.

“Why let them out?”

“If we have got the killer, they’ll think they’ve got away with it. If we let them out and monitor them all closely, we can see where they go. I’m sure if the killer is in one of those cells they’ll be pretty pissed that they just got bloodied up by one of us. No doubt they’ll want to prove to themselves they are still the big gun they think they are.”

“You want them to attempt another killing?”

“Yep. And this time we’ll be watching.”

We reach the main office and whilst I want the blood off my skin, I head into the open shared space to check in with Zafihra, who is currently the lead on duty.

“Any luck?” She looks up as we approach.

“Unfortunately not.”