When All Hope is Lost (Book 2)

Mercy or Murder?

We quietly ran through multiple rows of cells and empty corridors, finally the young guard leading the way raised his hand and we slowed to a stop.

He turned to us, "There are 4 guards posted at the next door, 2 on the inside and 2 on the outside. We are going to try and get through pretending we are guards escorting you to your trials, but they might ask questions, if that happens, we fight. There are 7 of us and 4 of them, but if we can knock these two out without raising the alarm we should be able to slip through the next set of guards, since they mostly deal with people going in, not out." He glanced around at everyone in the group, "Got it?"

We all nodded and he turned to the girl guard, "You take Decoy," then he glanced at Kylo, "You're with Plumber," and then he faced me, "I'll take... Fae." Keeping eye contact he said, "Jerry, you'll lead us and do all the talking."

"Got it, Nix." Jerry said, saluting.

"Nix?" I questioned.

He glared at me, "Phoenix, actually."

Nix grabbed something from his belt and reached for my wrists, clamping a pair of handcuffs around them.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, pulling my arms away from him.

He rolled his eyes grabbing at my arms again, "Chill, they aren't even locked!" He said, showing how I could easily remove them from my wrists, "They are all for show, now be quiet."

I huffed and shut my mouth. He was right. But in the most annoying kind of way.

We all formed a straight line, Jerry at the front, then Decoy, the girl guard, Mr. Plumber, Kylo, Me, and Nix. We turned the corner and I tensed, seeing 2 armed guards blocking a large wooden door. They noticed us and stood at attention waiting for us to reach them.

"Identify yourselves, and the prisoners please!" The first guard barked.

Jerry cleared his throat, "I am Captain Finnegan, and behind me are my trainees, Nettie Raine, Cyrus Porter, and Hayes Devereaux. The prisoners are Demetria Mayain, Henry Plumber, and Fae..." he quickly glanced at me and turned back to the guards. "Bishop. We are taking them to their trials."

I swallowed and waited for the guard's response.

"Very well, Captain Finnegan, sir." The second guard said opening the door, allowing us to pass through.

Jerry nodded at the two guards on the other side and we continued to walk down the hall undisturbed.

And that's when it all went downhill.

"Fae?" a painfully familiar voice exclaimed. "Guards, what is she doing out of her cell?!"

I glanced at the source of the voice and sure enough Kaya had walked into the corridor from a side passage.

Absolutely prettified, I froze, praying that Jerry could think of something to make her go away.

"Colonel Cahira!" Jerry said, "I have been ordered to escort these prisoners to their trials."

Kaya furrowed her brows, "What trial? I would have been informed if there was going to be a trial."

Jerry's eyes darted between Kaya and I, "I'm just following orders Ma'am, I don't know what to tell you."

"What order?" She asked sweetly, "Who gave you the order?"

Jerry gulped nervously, his forehead covered in a thin layer of sweat, "General Corentin, ma'am."

"Guards!" She growled, waving at the two soldiers behind her, "They are imposters," she accused, pointing at us, "General Corentin sadly had an accident a week ago, he... didn't make it," she said, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. "I'm General Cahira now." She grinned wickedly, her eyes trained on me, as the two guards reached, grabbing for Nix and I.