Raising Hell

13. I Think Gertrude Hates Me

"Wake up!" A guard, who I have named Gertrude, pokes at me with the handle of his Seraph blade. "It's time for questioning."

I struggle to push myself off the stiff mattress and into a sitting position. My muscles ache from the uncomfortable position I had to lay in all night to fit on the small mattress.

"Already?" I say with a tight-lipped smile. "I just got here."

"Get up!" The guard demands. "The Inquisitor is waiting for you."

"No." I stand quickly—too quickly. The edges of my vision start to go black and I blink it away. I hadn't eaten anything since I had been locked up. "I refuse to answer to Inquisitor Herondale."

"You don't have a choice." He seizes my arm, causing me to smirk.

I twist my arm around to grip his, pushing his arm behind his back and pressing him against the wall. He grunts, trying to force his way out of my grip. He almost succeeds, but I push his wrist closer to his shoulder blades. He grunts in pain.

"You're going to go up there and tell your boss that your prisoner refuses to talk to anyone but Lydia Branwell, got it?" I tell the man before releasing him. Of all the people with the authority to talk to me, Lydia is the only one who might take it easy on me. After all, she is the fiancee of the person I love. She might show a little sympathy.

Gertrude scurries out of the cell, making sure to shut the door quickly so I don't escape.

I was surprised when I wasn't sent directly to Idris to be questioned. Someone is keeping me here and I have exactly two guesses about who it is. Julian, of course, would want to keep me here for his own questioning. After dropping that bombshell on him, I expect some form of disgrace and eternal torture. Knowing how he processes things, he'll want me to suffer mentally.

Then there's Jace, who is the only one that seems to have hope for me. He would want to stall my transfer as long as possible to give him time to convince everyone that I'm innocent. That's just the kind of person he is-- inherently good and incredibly reckless. He is the type who would sacrifice his own name for the sake of his friends, a huge sacrifice amongst Shadowhunters.  However, given that I don't know about anything going on outside of these four walls, I have no idea if I should expect visit from Julian or Jace.

My cell door opens to reveal Gertrude. He now holds not one, but two seraph blades. He enters the cell, holding his blades in front of him.

I laugh loudly. "Are you scared of me, Gertrude?"

He gives me an angry look. "Lydia Branwell has ordered me to move you to the interrogation room."

To Gertrude's surprise, I hold out my wrists. He puts away his blades and pulls out the restraints to bind my wrists together. When I am tied up, he grabs my shoulder and roughly pushes me out the door. We go down a dimly-lit hallway and into a large, white room. In the center of the room is a metal chair that looks like it came straight out of my nightmares. The wall across from the chair is made completely of glass, allowing me to look through and see that there are three guards waiting outside. It's a little excessive, but I'm flattered that they think I'm talented enough to escape the restraints.

Gertrude throws me into the chair. Knowing the drill, I hold out my wrists so he can take the restraints away, which he does. When my wrists are free, I set them on the armrests and wait patiently while he straps down my ankles and my wrists. When he's done, he backs away to stand next to the door.

"Cozy," I comment with a smile. "Is this really necessary? I already promised cooperation."

"The Clave doesn't trust you." Lydia walks through the door. Her face is completely blank as she enters the room. For some reason, I see a lot of myself in the way she holds herself. We both have a stiff posture and a kind face, making it harder for us to interrogate people. To compensate, people like us have to practice our "interrogation face," which usually includes frowning and pulling our eyebrows together. This gives us an older and more professional appearance. "Is there a reason you couldn't meet with Inquisitor Herondale?"