Serix slept deeply that night while his body worked to heal itself. He didn’t even wake up when the first guard entered the hold in the morning. Well, not until the human began rapping his cell bars with something metal, that is. He groaned irritably and looked up to see Ryan standing on the other side of the divide, holding a key in his hand. Serix’s heart skipped a beat when, for a moment, he thought he had slept through the entire day and the human was here to bring him back to the interrogation room for another beating. Then, he noticed that Ryan was alone. He let out his breath in relief. If it was time for another interrogation, the human would have brought others along to drag him there.

“I have things to do, so I’ll make this quick,” Ryan said, getting straight to the point. Serix forced himself to sit up as he listened to what the human had to say. “We investigated that tunnel by the river, and it looks like the intruder did use it to get in. That blood on the rocks was his. Also,” he hesitated as if he was reluctant to go on. “The blood was six days old. The only time you were unaccounted for was the night of the bonfire, which was only five days ago. So congratulations, it looks like you have an alibi, after all.” He unlocked the cell door and moved aside for Serix to step through.

“I’m glad you finally realized I was telling you the truth,” Serix spat at him as he rose slowly to his feet. “And all it took was a little bloodstain on a rock. Who would have guessed?” He shot Ryan a glare as he walked past him to get out of the cell, opening a brief mental link into the male’s mind, [i]If you tell Cassie[/i] anything [i]about the interrogation, I might actually turn into a threat you should worry about.[/i]

“Same to you,” Ryan hissed under his breath, returning the Lunairan’s cold stare. He stepped over to Cassie’s cell to unlock her door next and offered her a smile. “Since you’ve been in here for three days, you should take today off from work. I want you to rest and get your strength back, okay, Cass?” He glanced back at Serix. “You can rest, too, I s’pose. After today, I’m putting you on level-two probation. Someone will be assigned to keep an eye on you at all hours of the day until I’m absolutely certain you had nothing to do with that break-in.” He turned back to Cassie, putting a hand on her shoulder to direct her towards the exit. “Lunch is in four hours. You should get some sleep before then, alright?”