Page 195 of Psycho Pack
"He asked you a question," Thane barks, his deep voice echoing off the walls.
Recognition dawns in Monty's eyes.
"You're... you're the Ghosts," he chokes out.
"Very good," Valek purrs, tossing the bloodied pomegranate aside. "Now, who sent the kill order?"
Monty swallows hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Isn't it obvious?" A bitter laugh escapes him. "General Hargrove."
The words hit like physical blows. I watch Thane and Wraith go rigid, though they try to hide it. My heart hurts for them both. We suspected this, of course, but having it confirmed... I wish I could comfort them, but there's no time for that now.
"Why?" Thane demands, his voice carefully controlled.
"You were captured," Monty says quickly, words tumbling out. "And when the lab exploded, which was certainly no coincidence, and you didn't report back immediately, he assumed you'd gone rogue. But..." He trails off, licking his bloody lips.
"But what?" Plague asks softly. The quiet menace in his voice casts a chill over the room.
"It was only a matter of time anyway," Monty mumbles, shrinking in on himself as he grates the words out.
"What do you mean by that?" Thane growls, taking a threatening step forward.
Monty's mouth opens and closes, but no words come out. He glances toward the door like he's calculating his chances of escape.
"Wrong answer," Whiskey snarls.
His boot connects with the chair's leg, splintering the wood. The entire thing collapses, sending Monty sprawling. The ropesfall away, but instead of trying to run, he just curls into a trembling ball on the floor.
"Please," he whimpers again. "I'll tell you everything. Just don't?—"
"Then start talking," Thane cuts him off.
I glance at the omega in the corner. She's stopped panicking, watching everything with sharp violet eyes. As her beta writhes and whimpers pathetically on the floor, her nose wrinkles slightly in… what? Shame? Distaste?
Monty keeps squirming on the floor, his pig mask askew. "The omega was supposed to break you," he chokes out. "You'd already been deemed a liability that's outlived your usefulness. You're all on a hair trigger. One wrong move and you'd tear each other apart. That's what we were counting on."
My blood runs cold. "What?"
"You were meant to be the catalyst," he continues, looking at me with something like pity in his eyes. "But you... you made them stronger instead. Made them more dangerous. Unpredictable. And an unpredictable weapon is useless."
"Who on the Council wanted us gone?" Thane demands, his voice tight with barely controlled rage.
Monty lets out a hysterical laugh that makes my skin crawl. "The Council? We're just puppets. Hargrove says jump, and they ask how high. That's the way it's been for a while now. Just… just don't kill the messenger," he croaks, watching them nervously. "I'm giving you what you want. The truth. That counts for something, right?"
Thane and Wraith just stare at him.
Movement catches my eye too late.
The omega lunges forward, wielding the heavy statue she was cowering behind moments ago. Before any of us can react, she swings it with surprising strength, catching Thane in the back ofthe head. He drops to one knee with a loud grunt, momentarily stunned.
Monty seizes his chance. He scrambles to his feet and bolts for the door while we're distracted, abandoning his omega without so much as a second glance. Valek and I both move to grab her as she winds up for another swing.
“Get your hands off me!" she hisses, twisting against us, still gripping the statue.
"After him!" Thane barks, already pushing himself up despite the blood trickling down his neck. "Don't let him?—"
Shouting and sirens erupt in the hallway, the sound deafening in the enclosed space. Wraith positions himself in front of me, shielding me with his massive frame as the omega takes advantage of the chaos, driving her knee up into Valek's groin with brutal force. He doubles over with a grunt of pain.
"I… may need to revisit my policy on not killing omegas," he wheezes.