Chapter 177 - Nothing but the truth

CHAPTER 84: Nothing but the truth

Arei held Jos's hand firmly as he guided her and Shelly through the maze of corridors that made up the Embassy. Once inside he pulled her to a stop in front of her still holding her hand. He rubbed the back of his neck with his other. "Do you want me to show you around? There isn't much to see." He said as he led her through the corner kitchen and into the hallway. Pushing open the first door they came to, he said. "The bathroom is shared, it… it's a pretty sizeable room so it shouldn't be a problem." He turned pulling her hand to the opposite side of the hall. Pushing open a door, he said. "This will be my room. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask, I'll not lock it." He opened another door there is a second bedroom, but I figured Shelly would want to stay with you, so I put both your things in the room at the end of the hall." He led her to the door and pushed it open revealing the luggage. "I didn't want to go through your things, so I didn't unpack anything." When Jos tried to pull her hand away, he held it tighter pulling her closer and resting her palm against his chest. "We are here for you no matter what. You're not alone this time. I know there's no making up for the events leading up to your last visit here or any of the events thereafter, but history will not be repeating itself. You'll not suffer alone."

She nodded and pulled away again. This time he reluctantly let her. She quickly turned into the dark room and whispered, "I'm going to lay down until they are ready for me downstairs." She glanced down to Shelly. "Would you like to join? You must be exhausted." The wolf nodded and followed her in. Closing the door, Jos watched as Shelly struggled to get on the bed. She helped the wolf onto the bed then sat down on the soft mattress beside her. She let out a long-pained breath. "I'm so sorry you're having to go through all this." Her teary eyes met Shelly's. "You really should stay with Raven and Isha... at least until all this is over. It's probably going to be pretty messy by the end of things." She sighed, "I wouldn't be surprised if I were locked in a cell immediately after my meeting with Themis." She wiped at the moister on her checks. "This is all my fault." Her watery eyes held Shelly's sad gaze. "Every bad thing that has ever happened to you and your brother... I'm the cause. "She stroked a hand over the wolf's growing stomach. "If it weren't for me, Cam would be here right now giving you motherly advice." Tears ran freely down her cheeks. "Your father would be gleaming with pride at how beautiful you and Russ both are... inside and out..." She stroked the fur at the side of Shelly's face. "You would have had a life of luxury, not sharing a tiny apartment with two other people, working minimum wage jobs, or hiding your identities. You would have held your heads high in society... you would have had a perfect life... if I would have just stayed out of it..."She closed her eyes as the tears stung her eyes.

Shelly placed a paw on Jos's shoulder and whimpered until Jos finally met her now watery gaze. Shelly shook her head and moved in closer to Jos resting her head on the opposite shoulder of her paw. She nuzzled against Jos.

Jos wrapped her arms around Shelly and held her tight. "I love you, too!" She sobbed into the soft fur of the wolf's neck. "I love you sooo much! I wish I could have protected you better! I should have protected you better!!! For Cam and Ales, for you and your baby, for Russ, for Rin..." They stayed in a tight hug, both sobbing into the others neck until a light wrap sounded at the door.

"Prometheus just called. He has you worked in, but we need to hurry. Themis leaves in an hour."

Jos lifted her head from where it rested against the soft fur and wiped at her face. She then dabbed at the wolf's damp fur in an attempt to dry it. "We're coming." She called as another light tap sounded. She pushed up from the bed and helped Shelly down before making her way to the door. Pushing it open, her gaze automatically moved upward over the broad chest blocking the entry to the stormy hazel eyes overhead. "I'm ready now if you are."

He nodded and took her hand once again. They didn't speak as he guided her through the maze of hallways and suites that made up business end of the Embassy. He pulled her to a stop in front of a fog-glass door down one of the longest hallways. "This is it." He said anxiety echoing in his husky voice. "What do you plan to tell her? Do you want to go over anything before you go in?"

Jos shook her head. "There's nothing to review. I'm simply going to tell her the whole truth."

He let out a worried groan. "That can be dangerous, and you know it."

She nodded. "Yes, but so would lying to the goddess, especially after her son has already seen it all himself. If I want any possibility of a lesser sentence, then I need their understanding and they need my honesty."

He nodded. When she tried to pull away from him to enter the room, he tugged her back. Wrapping her in a quick hug he whispered against the top of her head. "I told you, we are with you. You'll not go through this alone. Right." He looked down at the wolf as she nodded to Jos.

Jos's concerned eyes held Arei's. "She's been through enough; she doesn't need to set though this. It would be best if you waited out here somewhere with her."

Shelly nudged Jos's calf and shook her head. The wolf moved closer to the door and waited for Arei to open it.

Arei chuckled, his twinkling eyes holding Jos's. "We are with you on this all the way, Kitten, no matter what." With a light kiss to the top of her head, he released her and pulled open the door. Bowing his head after only a few steps inside the room he replied. "My lady Themis, Goddess of justice, thank you so much for allowing us your precious time."

Themis glanced up from the laptop. Her eyes moved from the familiar face of Arei to the silver head barely visible behind him, then down to the wolf letting her eyes linger on Arei and Jos's connected hands. She arched a brow and nodded toward the corner of the room. "You may pull over that chair as I only have two before me now." She closed the laptop and rested her elbows on the sleek glass top of the desk. Her eyes followed Jos as Arei guided her to one of the stylish chairs in front of the desk before helping the wolf into the other, then quietly pulled the other chair behind and between both Jos and Shelly. Themis held Jos's nervous gaze. "I've reviewed your file. It seems you've had quite the summer. Maybe you would like to give me your side of the story first before we review the investigation notes of the seven human murders?"

Jos nodded and sucked in a nervous breath, letting it out slowly in a hope of calming her nerves enough to speak. "I...I would like to start from the beginning if you don't mind... starting with the three that are not part of your investigation notes..."

Themis nodded without surprise. "Very well, a good idea to be sure." She reclined in the white leather office chair and crossed her legs elegantly as she waited for Jos to begin.

"I have always held myself personally responsible for the deaths of Alesandro and Camilla Boosilis. Had They not befriended me, the vampires would have more than likely left them alone and they would both be here today... with that being said... I promised Cam that I would always protect her children." She nodded over to the wolf sitting beside her. "I feel like I have failed in doing so once again."

Themis nodded, "I understand, child, but I don't see the relevance."

Jos let out a heavy sigh unable to force her gaze away from Shelly's questioning eyes. "The first murder that was not on your list was a junior high gym teacher. He would linger around the school after sports events and could often be caught taking interest in some of the young girls at the school. There were rumors going around that he was a pedophile and had been suspected of setting cameras up in the girl's locker rooms and taking pictures of them during the sporting events that he attended, but there was no proof to be found... So, after I found out, Shelly was among the girls scheduled for his class in the upcoming semester, I decided to investigate myself." A heavy frown fell over her face as her words became monotone, her eyes held glued to a spot on the wall right past Shelly. "I shifted into the form of a twelve-year-old girl and attended an event I knew he would be at. After the game I lingered around the parking area and sure enough he approached me. When I told him, my guardian must have forgotten to pick me up, he was more than eager to offer me a ride. On the way he asked me several questions about my parents and my living situation. When I revealed that I lived with a friend of the family and that my father was dead and my mother lived overseas, he became overjoyed. He diverted our ride and drove to a dark overlook with little traffic. I didn't react as he pulled the car to a stop and put it in park... or when he explained that it was a long drive to my home and that I would owe him payment in return for the ride. I watched as he unfastened the buttons and zipper of his pants and began stroking himself. It wasn't until he unhooked my seatbelt and placed my hand on his... member... that I began to sing. I used the siren's lull to guide him to the cliffs and coaxed him to jump." She let out a heavy breath. "The second was a student teach when the twins were in high school. It was rumored he would trade favors for grades and would even go as far as cutting grades if the girls did not agree to his brand of favor. I watched him for a semester to gage the type of girl he was targeting before registering for his class the following semester. Very much like the gym teacher, he had volunteered to me a ride home after class one day and made an advance on me shortly after entering the vehicle. I agreed to preform fellatio while he drove after directing him toward the scenic ocean highway. when the time was right, I quickly jerked the wheel causing the car to crash over the rocky bank and into the ocean. It was ruled an accident." Jos didn't bother looking away from the spot she'd been focusing on as she continued the tale of the third victim. "The third was an Uber driver. There were whispers around the college that he was preying on drunken students, assaulting, molesting, and even raping them. Several of the girls had gone to the police, but their stories didn't check out. There were no signs of **** and the drivers logs showed no obvious discrepancies... So I called for an Uber late one night from down Front Street, and sure enough, the car and man who showed up matched the description. I pretended to be belligerent as I got into his car and attempted to give directions back to campus. Shortly after the car began to move, I faked passing out in the back seat. I watched from veiled lids as he stopped in front of the address I'd given him and turned off the meter waiting there for several long minutes before putting the car back into drive. He drove to a dark, desolate area of River Road and pulled the car into a sandy path leading into the woods. I didn't move, only continued to pretend to be passed out as he got out of the car and opened the back door. I didn't move as he got into the back seat with me and closed the door behind him. I tried to stay as calm and quiet as I could as I heard the metal of his zipper scr.a.p.e downwards, but I couldn't hold back my rage any longer as he reached under my short skirt and pulled my underwear to the side, brushing the rubber of his sheathed length against me." She swallowed harshly in distaste. "I made it look like self defense, leaving the condom on him as he bleed out from the deep gash across his throat. I even left the shard of glass from the window I'd used to kill him in the seat." Her lip snarled as she continued. "The next six were the worst. They were all from the same fraternity, one that had produced many alumni from each of their wealthy, prestigious families. They had been caught red-handed drugging and raping girls on campus, but the dean was paid off and the matters were covered up. The girls were all threatened and the one who had gone to the police was forced to withdraw from classes and leave the school. Even after that she continued to take the matter to court, but the family covered it up with the help of an expensive lawyer who convinced the courts she'd wanted it, had even begged for it, but was ashamed after and lied to make herself feel better." Jos shook her head. "I will admit, I got sloppy with their deaths. It was shortly after the twins had turned eighteen..." She cleared her throat, not wanting to even mention Russ's involvement in her sloppiness. "They had already began taking classes at the same college as had I. I guess, I was more emotionally involved with things this time which lead to my sloppy actions and loss of control." She shook her head. "The seventh was a complete accident... I didn't mean to kill him... I hadn't ever met him before that night. I had simply lost control the night of the beach party. There was nothing I could do, however, Xavier DeMarco showed up shortly after the kill..." She let out a heavy breath. "And there was one more after that... In Florida... I was upset and came across him trying to sell drugs to children on the beach. You could smell the death and decay of all the substances he'd put into his body that was causing it to rot him from the inside out... The thought of him pushing those children into the same fate pushed me over the edge..." Jos lowered her head and focused on her hands. "That... that is all..." Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="/book/strange-love_12792848606358205/nothing-but-the-truth_50776613423480057">/book/strange-love_12792848606358205/nothing-but-the-truth_50776613423480057</a> for visiting.

"All?" Themis asked stoically. "You have admitted to killing eleven humans." She rubbed her thumbs together thoughtfully. "I will admit other than the one you could not identify; all the other crimes were deserving as your stories were of truth." She nodded her appreciation to Jos. "I do appreciate your complete and total honesty with the events of the murders, though I can tell you are still hiding... protecting someone or something with what you have left unsaid... nevertheless..." She sat up in her chair and flipped the computer open and began typing. The room was silent, the only sound was the ticking of the clock on the wall behind her giving a echoing reminder of the seconds that ticked away. When she finally looked up from the computer, her expression was grim. "I'm not sure what to tell you, child. Though the individuals you killed were the worst of criminals, they were humans, and you were in no direct harm yourself from any of them. Also, you were not working with any governing body of law, you acted independently without contacting the human law or the council with your findings." She clicked a few more buttons on her computer, before shutting the screen with a long sigh. "Depending on the rulings of the council, you could be expunged of the crimes all together; or you could, as the maximum punishment, face up to one hundred years per human life you took."