“Freeze. Stay where you are.”
I ignored it.
“Marty, freeze!”
I turned to the speaker. Guns and magical weapons were pointed at me, glowing, and ready to be used.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Hands up!” screamed Miles.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“We traced the source of the bomb. It had your magical residue all over it. No one else could have done it.”
“You’ve got to listen. I –”
“I don’t have to listen to anything. You’ve been hiding out and plotting. I knew you were a menace, but I never suspected you were capable of this violence. You’re a monster in every sense of the word.”
Two of the enforcers charged me and wrestled me to the ground. They made sure to use extra force. One had his knee in my back and the other was jabbing a magical prong into my arm.
Sterling or Lochlan would get this straightened out – I hoped.
“If your dog had come sooner, then we’d have come in time to stop you. Did you enjoy seeing the destruction?” Miles asked. “Why bother warning us?”
“I didn’t do it! It was the Jamisons. They had my magic in a bomb.”
“Gag her and restrain her. She needs to go into a maximum security cell asap. Treat her as you would someone like the Crimson Fiend. Expect violence and don’t underestimate her. I made that mistake and look what it cost us,” said Miles.
I was roughly hauled to my feet, which were now shackled with metal cuffs that connected by a chain to each other. A draining magic was spelled into them. My hands were behind my back and disrupters were on my wrists. They weren’t taking any chances.
“Dorian, if you will,” said Miles.
One of the enforcers hit me with a spell and everything went black.
I woke up and doubled over from hunger pains. That was one hell of a spell the enforcers had hit me with. My mind was wandering and I felt a brief thought fluttered in my mind that something was off with me.
My stomach twisted and clenched in protest of its empty state.
“Are you planning on starving me?” I asked to the empty hall.
My plea fell on deaf ears. Why is it so hot in here? My shirt was soaked through with sweat, making it cling to me uncomfortably. My limbs twitched and seized up – sending me crashing to the floor. Spasms so painful that I couldn’t even get up hit me one after another. Time had no meaning.
At some point, I dreamt about Lochlan and Miles.
In it I heard, “For the sake of all that’s holy, how long has she been like this?” asked Lochlan.
“Since shortly after we brought her in,” said Miles.
“What’s wrong with her and why hasn’t a healer been brought in?” asked Lochlan.
“We had one come and she said it’s withdrawals.”
“She’s wrong. Marty doesn’t do drugs,” said Lochlan.
“Go smell her,” suggested Miles.
He made a small sound of surprise. “What’s the smell? It’s sickening sweat.”
“It’s the drugs leaving her body,” said Miles.
I woke up to Miles standing outside my cell.
“What did you do to me?” I asked.
“Saved your life, not that I expect you to acknowledge it or thank me,” he said.
“I’m in prison and feel more dead than alive. Forgive me if thanks isn’t what instantly comes to my mind.”
“And you stink. Someone will be by to clean you up.”
“Screw you.”
“I’ll pass.”
Miles walked off and a guard came down. The guard ignored me. He opened a panel in the wall and uncoiled a hose. Oh no, he isn’t going to do what I think he is.
The full force of the water knocked me off my feet. Every place the spray hit me, turned red. Once I was completely soaked through, he stopped.
“That’ll do,” he said before putting the hose away and left me shivering on the floor.
My jaw hurt from my teeth chattering. I mustered enough energy to wrap my arms around my legs and curl into a ball to conserve warmth. My stomach was eating itself and I was cold and miserable. I was exhausted, but too wet and cold to sleep.
“You are beyond pathetic,” said Miles.
I didn’t bother looking up. I didn’t want to see him gloating. A warmth spread over me, loosening my cramped muscles. My clothes started drying out and I nearly sobbed. He stopped before my clothes were fully dry and while I wanted to complain, him doing anything to help was a mercy.
“I wouldn’t say you owe me your life, but at least the stench is gone.”
“Go away.”
“Withdrawal sucks. Never took you for a junkie, but I also never thought you’d be a mass murderer,” he said.
Memories of smoke, screams, and blood hit me hard – all of those people were dead. If my stomach had anything in it, I’d have spilled it on the floor. Dry heaves wracked my body and left me shaking on the cell floor.
“Death is too good for you. The public is comparing you to the Crimson Fiend. Personally, you haven’t managed to achieve that level of evil, but you’re well on your way.”
“I didn’t do it. And where’s my phone call.”
Sterling would believe me. He didn’t think I was a monster. I wasn’t capable of the carnage that occurred in the Mid Line. I messed up. I didn’t predict that Jarl would do this. I thought he was really freeing the Jamisons. His words were, “I will let them go onward to their future.” I’d thought the words were odd at the time, but I was so relieved to be away from the cult that I didn’t question his words. So stupid. I’d believed that my threat to expose them and the Rare Herbs and Medicinals Company was enough to ensure their cooperation.
Footsteps warned me of my visitor, but I didn’t want to see Miles.
“You have five minutes, use them wisely,” said Miles, who walked off, leaving left us alone.
Lochlan came into view and hope welled up inside me. He stopped in front of my cell and his
