"You just had to piss him off? You just couldn't take the goddamn deal and secure the school. Fuck's sake, Blanc."
Louis and I were back to back, guns out and picking off the demons that just kept on coming. From the double doors, from thin air, every demon in the complex had made their way to that room. Rainier had vanished after Louis fired the first shot, hitting him in the upper arm. And now, there we were, the entirety of Unit 01, drowning in demons.
"Well, I'm sorry for trying to save your dumb ass. Look, I'm not leaving you behind. You're part of the team."
I glanced back at him, grimacing. "Oh, is that the only reason?"
"Now is not the time, Rivian."
"I wasn't initiating the discussion. I'm just saying if you're going to start spewing stupid shit at least make it honest." I glanced back again and huffed, turning and shooting a demon on his left. "Watch yourself, Blanc. I'm not covering both of our asses."
"Will you please just shut up?" Louis sighed, leaning a little more against my back. His gun cocked loudly as he switched out magazines.
"What? Not appreciating the witty banter during your demon slaying like you used to?" Had over half my brain not been distracted by demons coming at us, as well as covering Louis, because the bastard wouldn't know how to check his left side if it shot him in the ass, I probably wouldn't have said that. Anything I said now set the precedent for how the discussion would be handled later, and I sure as hell had no intention of discussing it like it was no big deal. Louis was hurt. It wasn't right to make light of it, not when I'd fucked him over the way I had.
"Right now? Not so much."
"Fair enough." I looked around, trying to gauge where the others were, how soon it would be until we could regroup, make a better plan, maybe get the hell out of there. But, when I took a look at them, they had all started coming toward us, chasing after the demons... "Okay this—"
"Alexei, I told you—"
"Shut the fuck up, Blanc. I know. This isn't banter. Look around for a second."
"They're all coming for us."
"Uh huh. They need your blood to do the resurrection."
"What?"
I sighed, having to turn again and cover his left. "Rainier was trying to resurrect the Aquireign emperor. I just put it together earlier. For a demon of that caliber, he's gonna need our blood to do it, the blood of two people that were responsible for his vanquishing. I'd bet everything I have that Rainier's already got his hands on my blood, which is enough for a partial resurrection, but if they get yours, we're fucked."
"Well, they haven't yet," he grunted, changing magazines again.
I groaned, covering him. "They're going to if you don't start covering your damn left."
"Either way, we probably need to get out of here. If they get me, we're going to have a bigger problem, but if they get you, this entire operation was useless."
"We're just going to bail?"
"Do you have a better idea?"
"Not really. Besides, we're going to need everyone back at the school to start prepping barriers and shields until we can either resolve this or temporarily evacuate the students. As much as I fucking hate it, Rainier got me. He knows he can use me by threatening them, so that's the first place he's going to go if he wants to lure me back, which by the way this shit show played out, it exactly how he's going to lure you back."
Louis whistled loudly, briskly waving a hand to shoot a signal to round up.
"Damn it, Blanc, why don't you watch your fucking left?" I demanded, breaking quickly from my front to help him, then went back only to get the gun ripped from my hands, my wrist twisted, making me hiss. I jerked back, kicking the demon in the stomach, sending him to the floor, flat on his ass. I stretched out my other hand, calling the gun back to me.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine."
"You're full of shit too," Louis said.
I rolled my eyes. "Shut up and get everyone together. This is starting to be a losing battle fast."
"Oh, not in the mood for witty banter during demon slaying now, are you?"
"If getting your blood didn't mean a visit from the third scariest demon in the last century, I swear to the gods, I'd stop covering your left right about now." I stopped, looking up as I noticed everyone had made their way to the center to file in around Louis and I.
"All right, guys, we're going to teleport back in three, two—"
The fight vanished, replaced by the conference room, right where Rainier had eyes.
"We can't talk in here. Rainier's got the room bugged. Let's move." Without so much as waiting for an acknowledgement, I trekked across the hallway to Louis's office and waited on the others.
Slowly, they all filed in with their masks off. Louis looked more than slightly confused. "Rainier's got it bugged?"
I nodded. "They had up a wall of cameras near my cell. The conference room, investigative's meeting room, my apartment, and the administrative offices were all being monitored. They knew you were coming."
"Makes sense why it was so easy," Louis said. The others nodding in agreement. "It was like they were directing us to where we needed to be with very little interference."
"What's getting me is how many of our assignments may have been setups or diversions. What are they doing behind the scenes? What do we actually need to be worried about?" I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. There was just so much to process, so many unknowns. Gods. "At the very least, they still don't have the Aquireign emperor fully resurrected, which makes this significantly easier."
"If they use the partial, we're still going to be in for a difficult fight."
"For as long as it can last. The more magic is used during it's time back, the more energy it uses, so it won't have enough to fight us and sustain life here for an extended period of time."
Louis grimaced. "He's smarter than that though."
"Being dead for a while and getting to experience the world of the living is addictive. There's always the chance that he's not going to be able to hold himself back and think clearly."
"I'm not putting all my eggs in that basket, so we need to come up with something else, something that gives us better numbers so we have a chance against him," Louis said.
I nodded, folding my arms over my chest. "Well, first thing's first, we've got to get more barriers around the campus." I leaned against his desk, pressing the small of my back against it, breathing deeply. Maybe it was more than a mild panic attack. I really didn't feel so well. "Tonight, we can put the barriers in place so we're covered if Rainier decides to attack and inform the others of the cameras. Tomorrow, we can meet, do a briefing, come up with something." I cocked a brow at Louis, making it more of a question since he was the one with the authority. Not to mention, I'd done enough damage that day. There was no reason to step on his toes when it came to calling orders within Unit 01.
"Okay. Dr. Ponds, I want you with Alexei, since he looks like he's going to pass out. The rest of you—"
"I'm fine."
"You're seeking medical treatment. You overdid it today with the magic, and it's not like he played nice when he pulled his punches. It's time to see a doctor."
"I'll check it out, make the call myself. If I decide to see a doctor, I prefer to have one of the Covenant physicians."
Louis rolled his eyes, leaning against the desk. "Rivian—"
"Either give me a job to do to start securing barriers or dismiss me to go check myself. It's your call, and all you're managing to do right now is waste time."
Narrowing his eyes a sliver, he pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek. "You're dismissed."
Without another word, I teleported out of Louis's office and straight into my apartment, making the last sliver of magic I had evaporate, leaving me weak. My knees trembled and lower lip quivered. As I stepped into the room, I froze, feeling a set of eyes on me. As I whipped around, tearing the gun out of the holster underneath the kitchen table, I stopped short at the sight of Mr. Grimault.
"Put down your weapon, Professor," he said levelly, a gun aimed between my eyes.
Slowly, I placed the gun back onto the table, raising my hands into the air. "What is this about?"
"You're under arrest for suspicion of demonic collusion," said Ms. Rosean from behind me, grabbing my wrists and jerking them down, making me bite back a whimper when she squeezed the one the demon had fucked up. Hard plastic cuffs were tightened around my wrists, and she shoved me forward, closer to Mr. Grimault. "Director Verllion wants to speak with you about this."
Mr. Grimault and Ms. Rosean both touched one of my shoulders and we teleported into the lobby of the building we were just in, right where Louis and the rest of Unit 01 had been. Gods, I hoped they didn't—
Fuck.
There, coming down the stairs just in time to witness the whole scene was the entirety of Unit 01. All of them stared, eyes wide and mouths open. Louis was down the steps and making his way toward us in an instant.
"Excuse me? Where are you taking him? What's going on?" He ended up in front of the three of us, blocking the path as he glanced from me to the reps and back again, looking to someone, anyone, for answers.
Finally, Ms. Rosean responded. "Professor Rivian is under arrest for suspicion of demonic collusion. If you have any further inquiries, Director Verllion will allow you and your team to sit in on the preliminary hearing." Without waiting for response or even for it to sink in, the reps started moving again, dragging me through the halls, straight up to the faculty lounge where they'd set up camp for the last few weeks.
They shoved me into the chair across from a laptop, the screen filled by Director Verllion's less than pleased face. As they stepped around to take their seats on the sofa, the door burst open. Half of Unit 01 filed in and crowded around behind me. With a snap, Mr. Grimault locked the doors and my cuffs tightened, eliciting a stifled hiss when it put pressure on what was likely a fracture.
Verllion's gaze briefly snapped up to the congregation behind me. "Nothing said in this room is to be repeated. If any of this information is leaked, you can and will be punished up to exposure. Please stay quiet, as this is a courtesy viewing. Any interruption will be grounds for immediate dismissal. Is that understood?" Moments later, her gaze came back to me, hardening again. "As Ms. Rosean and Mr. Grimault said, you have been arrested due to the Covenant's suspicion that you are colluding with demons.
"Can you tell me where you were on October 14th at approximately 19:00?"
"I was in my apartment on the balcony. I'd been drinking."
"And following that?"
The entire thing was a probe. As much as it was a pre-trial, it was also a partial investigation, an attempt to get my side of the story, perhaps a confession to top it all off and save the Covenant the trouble of conducting a real trial. What a fucking pain... "I went inside to shower, but I was attacked by a tracker. It captured me and teleported me to a demonic lair, where I was held in a wooden cell and was contacted by former director Rainier." I could tell them the story—the truth—until I was blue in the face, but that didn't mean they would believe me. The others could testify that I was being honest, but at the end of the day, while they would conduct the most thorough investigation they could, they would believe what they wanted and sentence me however they chose. Short of providing some sort of concrete proof that I hadn't been involved with demons, there was nothing I could do.
Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing.
Things were falling apart pretty fucking fast, after all.
"What happened during your time in captivity?"
"I watched cameras Rainier and the others used to monitor the various divisions. Rainier also induced nightmares and used psychological calibration phrases in order to attempt to force me into compliance. Each attempt failed. Later on, earlier today, in fact, Unit 01 arrived as part of a search and rescue. We had to abandon the lair in order to protect the academy's students."
Verllion nodded, eyes glazed over and cold. Nothing I said was getting through to her. Admittedly, while it was the truth, there were a lot of holes in the story. I could tell why she would think it was a lie. It could've all been a ploy to lure Unit 01 to destroy them, to attack the school, to later attack the Covenant. There was a lot happening that no one could solidly account for, and there was nothing to be done about it, not unless I suddenly figured out who in that school was leaking information.
"You realize that your actions put the lives of your teammates in danger, as well as every faculty member, staff member, and student at the Guardians' Academy, yes?" Verllion quirked a brow, waiting for me to respond.
My chest was tightening though. A hard lump formed in my throat as her words began to ring all too familiar, meshing with the ones that screamed in my mind.
"The way this situation was handled on your end makes this much more difficult, Professor Rivian. As a Hunter of your stature, regardless of how active you've been in the last several decades, you know better. Getting captured is not an option, but when you're careless enough to let it happen—"
"You get out of it," I murmured, my voice falling soft, gaze dropping. "I know."
"So why didn't you? Why did you remain there waiting for rescue from Unit 01? Why did you risk all of their lives in return for one other life?"
"I... I tried. I just couldn't get out—"
"That's a poor excuse from you. Had you not already been suspicious and under probation, this wouldn't have been a problem. I'm sure you understand that this display of distress is unusual based on your record, not to mention, risked the lives of six of the best Hunters in the academy."
I took a deep breath, knowing damn well I was getting ready to piss her off, but really not giving a shit. "I really don't know what you want me to say. I know it doesn't sound believable, but I was captured. I couldn't get out, but I tried. It happened, there it is, if you want to get rid of me so goddamn bad, expose me now. It's not like half the demonic world doesn't already know exactly who I am after Rainier's involvement."
"Watch your tongue, or I just may. You've been nothing but trouble ever since the Aquireign made a resurgence, Rivian, and nothing about the way you've conducted yourself lends to the theory of you being innocent." She sighed, propping her chin on her folded hands. "Without concrete evidence of collusion, we cannot convict you. However, during the interim between this and your trial, there will be a thorough investigation into you, your history, and your intentions. During the interim, since there is nothing we can legally use to bind you, you will wear a monitoring bracelet until your trial on November 1st."
Mr. Grimault stood and came over with a metal cuff. He took my left hand and placed the cuff around it, squeezing it tightly in place, making me grit my teeth as it dug into my fracture.
"Cameras have been installed into the bracelet. All of them are audio enabled. In addition to this, any suspicious movements or any tampering whatsoever done to the bracelet will cause you to be injected with tranquilizers embedded inside of it. It will transmit a signal to Covenant representatives who will collect you and bring you straight to me where the Covenant leaders will vote on whether you will be executed or you'll be placed in the Pit."
The Pit was hardly a threat after all the time I'd spent there under Rainier's orders. It was a portal to a mutual plane where all creatures could go. However, demons had overrun it for centuries now, and anything that popped through that gate never received an expiration date that lasted longer than twelve hours.
It was a good place to train, though.
Her gaze went back up to the others behind me. "As for the rest of you, I advise that you remove Professor Rivian from Unit 01, as well as the strategy team. While we still have no concrete evidence, we believe that it is highly likely he is leaking information to the demons via Rainier. The decision ultimately rests in your hands, as it is your team, but rejecting this will result in lack of Covenant aid for the Unit 01 and strategy teams.
"If there are no further questions, everyone is dismissed."
No one said a word and the Unit 01 team made their way out of the lounge. I followed them closely, cutting straight through, and walked out down the corridor frustrated and teary-eyed and just so fucking beyond done with the day. My magic was depleted, so I'd have to walk home. There was no doubt in my mind that I needed a doctor, because my wrist was definitely broken. I'd also have to get a replenishment medication to stave off any illness that could arise due to my magic depletion.
As I headed down the stairs, taking them by twos, just trying to get out of that building as fast as fucking possible, I heard a few calls from the team, all of them trying to stop me. When I hit the lobby, I glanced back, finding all of them a few feet away, concerned expressions plastered on all of their faces.
"What?" It came out desperate and whiny and fucking hell, I should've never stopped.
"Are you okay?" Meredith asked, stepping up a little further, like she actually wanted to come over to me.
I automatically took a step back. "Don't you have a team to go help?" I whipped back around, walking again, only stopping when I heard Louis call out, voice harsh.
"Don't be a fucking idiot, Rivian, see a doctor. You look like shit."
Without a word, I left the building and headed straight for my apartment. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I dialed the number for the Covenant's physician hotline so a doctor would be at my door and waiting to examine me once I arrived at home. As for later, when I was medicated, felt like my ribs weren't trembling when I inhaled, and could actually think in coherent sentences, that was when I would deal with the reality that everything had well and truly fallen the fuck apart.
Louis knew, all of Unit 01 knew. I'd led the people I wanted to protect back into Death's grasp—again—and to top it all off, the Covenant thought everything I was doing was to help the demons. Why did I even bother at that point?