Arrested (Book 1 of the Arrested Trilogy) {malec au}

Chapter Fourteen

"Oh god. You're with Valentine. Aren't you? He's finally come to finish me off?" Hodge cried as he backed up into his room.

"We're not with Valentine. I'm a cop. He's.....whatever he is," Alec said as Magnus gave him a subtle shrug.

Hodge breathed out. "Shit. Really? Am I being put under protection?"

"Protection? For what?" Alec closed the door behind him. The room was clean aside for a bottle of tequila on the bedside table and a glass half filled with the amber liquid. "Why are you hiding from Valentine?"

Hodge sat down on the queen size bed. "I have my reasons. Besides, if I told you and anyone finds out....I'm definitely a dead man."

"We can keep a secret. Valentine or his nutjobs won't know you said a thing. Plus Alec here can get the protection you need. Right Alec?" Magnus looked at Alec, raising an eyebrow. He obviously didn't mean what he said.

"Right. Definitely. I'll make sure you're well protected from Valentine's men. We just need you to answer a few questions that we have first."

Hodge nodded. "Sure. Okay. I'll answer them."

Magnus and Alec took a seat at the table across from the bed. Magnus even poured himself up some tequila and put his feet up on the bed. "My partner here will ask the questions. I'll observe and let him know if you're telling the truth or not. I'm Magnus, by the way. Magnus Bane."

"The nightclub owner? Pandemonium?"

"That's the one," Magnus winked, taking a sip of his drink.

"You're not a cop too?" Hodge asked.

"Nope. I'm his consultant. An expert in catching people in a lie," Magnus took another sip of tequila. "Let's begin, shall we?"

Alec cleared his throat, shooting Magnus a glare. "Why is Valentine so active lately? Nobody's heard from him in over a year. Why now?"

Hodge sighed. "He's searching for something. I've heard the name a few times from the other guys. He's looking for the cup."

"The cup," Alec repeated. "He's looking for a cup?"

"Not just any ordinary cup. It's an abbreviation. Centralized something something. It's huge. It's supposed to give you complete control of the city and everything in it. He's been sniffing it out for a while. Luckily someone is hiding it very well." Hodge poured himself up a glass of tequila. "It's a device that can be sold for a lot of money on the black market. But we all know he's not selling it."

"He wants to use it." Alec whispered. "But why are you hiding from him? What did you do?"

"I...." Hodge rubbed the back of his neck. "I wanted out. I couldn't take it anymore. He was making us do all these kinds of crazy jobs. Like the other day, he made me go into a clothing store and warn the people inside that he ran this city."

The hair on Alec's arms and neck rose as the bullet wound on his side throbbed with the memory. "That was you?!"

"That-what? Were you there?!" Hodge's voice went up an octave.

"Of course I was there. You fucking shot me! My own sister had to take the bullet out of me! My little sister!" Alec grabbed Hodge by the collar of the shirt, hauled him to his feet and slammed him against the wall. "I could shoot you right here. Right now. Give you a taste of your own medicine-"

"Please don't hurt me! Please! I have information! Valuable information!" Hodge began to sob. "I can help you! Point you in the right direction!"

Magnus stood up and laid a gentle hand on Alec's shoulder. "You're scaring him, Alexander. Maybe he can be of some use, but he's no good to us if he's in the hospital. Or dead."