Birds Of A Feather

Chapter 7: Interrogation

I shoved the door open with enough force to slam it against the wall. My mother looked startled as I began to stride towards her aggressively.

"Ozzy, what are you—?"

I didn't give her a chance to finish speaking. With quick and brutal efficiency, I broke her finger, causing her to scream. I clamped my hand over her mouth to muffle the sound, pushing her to the floor and pinning her there with my foot. My training had taught me to identify every weak point in the human body, every exploitable place where I could cause pain without killing my target.

She looked so incredibly fragile trapped on the floor beneath my boot. Easy to shatter.

"You have nine more fingers left for me to break, so start talking," I said coldly.

    She gaped like a drowning fish, and I increased the pressure.

"Okay," she said in a half-wheeze. "Okay."

"Why did you set me up?" I demanded. "Hannigan told me you're the one I shouldn't trust."

    It took my mother a few moments to respond. Her jaw was clenched tightly before she spoke. "I needed you to kill him."

    I glared down at her. "Elaborate."

    "He's been in the way of my organization for years," she said. "We needed him to be eliminated."

    "What organization?"

"The Warhawks," she answered. "They're a group that I joined after I left you with Cedric."

I clenched my hands into fists. "Who are the leaders of this group of yours?"

My mother shook her head. "I can't give you their names."

I unsheathed my knife as I stared her down. "You might want to reconsider."

"It's not that!" she told me with wide eyes. I could hear the panic bleeding in her tone. "I mean I don't know their real names. They use code names, and they always wear masks!"

    I nodded as I slid my knife back into its sheath, deciding to ask Kellen for more information regarding the Warhawks. "Okay. Thanks for cooperating."

    Before she could speak, I lifted my foot from my mother's stomach and hauled her up. "You're coming with me."

    "Wh—Where?"

    "That doesn't matter," I snapped. I quickly knocked her unconscious, then grabbed a set of handcuffs and shackled her. I hefted her like a sack of potatoes, then left the house and took flight. It wasn't easy to get airborne while carrying a limp body, but I managed.

    The flight to Kellen's headquarters was a tense one. I had no idea how my boss would react, and I was nervous that he would be angry with me. Aside from being my boss and mentor, he was the only decent parental figure I had.

When I landed outside the building, I immediately noticed that Ebony Lynx was waiting in the lobby. Curious, I headed inside.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"I was just about to go get you, actually," she responded. "Kellen wanted to talk with both of us about our next assignment."

Ebony Lynx stared at my mother, who was still slung over my shoulder, unconscious. "Is that...?"

"My mother. Yeah," I confirmed with a bitter edge in my tone. "I'll give you the details later. Right now, I need to get her into a holding cell."

Ebony Lynx nodded. "Okay."