Power Corrupts. Insanity Cures.

Chapter 36. Spanner in the Works

Sorry. Life and ill health, y'know? Thanks for the over 30,000 views and 2000 likes, that's amazing! This one goes out to Othala851, for the stellar comment.

Steal my story and I'll make you late for the dog groomer's. Seriously, when you mess with them the people there are scarier than librarians and airport check-in chicks.

Chapter 36. Spanner in the Works

It's been proven by quite a few studies that plants are good for our psychological development. If you green an area, the rate of crime goes down. Torture victims begin to recover when they spend time outside in a garden with flowers. So we need them, in some deep psychological sense, which I don't suppose anybody really understands yet.

- Jane Goodall

Serena shivered, hugging her jacket tighter. It was cold on the rooftop garden tonight. But she didn't want to go back down yet, to the judging stares and an empty room. She took her time examining the flowers, the roses, hollyhocks and daffodils, madly blooming in the chilly air as if it were a sunny spring day.

How were they going to escape? Serena felt like she was back in Agnes, imprisoned within four walls with a locked door and a slew of henchmen to battle pass. Except now the henchmen had freaky dangerous powers, each one unique, and they hated Taras and Serena. They wouldn't hesitate to take them down if they headed for the door.

It was only today that Serena was able to speak to Taras at breakfast after weeks of separation. It had been their punishment. And a security measure. Mercury knew one wouldn't escape without the other. They were gradually given more room to breathe due to good behaviour, though they were restricted to the top levels of the building and couldn't go from A to B without an escort.

Serena leaned on the railing and looked at the artificial glow of the city landscape. The stars were blotted out, but she could just make out the curve of the moon. She brushed her mind against Taras's like a cat rubbing against someone's legs. She wished he were here with her, their reunion had been so brief and closely supervised that they couldn't talk freely.

Bending over and laying her head against the railing, she groaned. She was selfish – right to the core. She was the worst lover in the world. She couldn't fool herself into thinking that she wanted to escape Mercury just for Taras's sake. She still wanted to help uncover the inhuman trafficking and Mercury had become an obstruction, and so they had to leave.

"If I wasn't an exceptional kisser," Serena murmured to herself, "I wouldn't understand what Taras sees in me."

She couldn't stay out all night, she'd freeze to death. Her forehead was nearly frozen to the metal railing already. Reluctantly, she headed for the exit and made her way through the garden.

There was a rustle in a nearby bush. Serena frowned. A quick darting motion, as something large seemed to fly over her head. Her heart jumped and she ducked on instinct. The creature landed in a camellia tree, rocking the branches and knocking fat red blossoms off.

It could only be an inhuman looking at her with fluffy round ears on his head. A long brown tail was wrapped around a branch, his bent fingers and toes gripped the tree. Even though he was a slight thing, he should've been too heavy for the branches to support his weight, but he balanced himself easily.

He was super cute, in a weird tamarin monkey/human being sort of way. Serena tried to find his mind but couldn't. It was like there was nothing there.

"Huh," Serena cocked her head, "Thoughtful of Mercury to find a spy incompatible with my powers. It makes it so much easier to have a heart attack when they sneak up on you."