Fury and Flame | 3

2 | 3

D E L P H I N I U M

      Red.

      I was bathed in it—my fingers, chin, the ends of my hair dripped with the color.

      Blood. But none of it was mine.

      Corpses everywhere. Mouths open, teeth bared. They'd been screaming when they'd died. Their glassy eyes all staring at the thing that had ended their existences. Staring at me.

They hadn't even had a chance.

I remembered the slide of my blades on flesh. Almost loving in the slowness of it. Smooth. Personal.

Metal against splintering bone. A sickening twist of the knife. The way they'd screamed. And how I'd felt nothing. The thoughts that weren't my own whizzing through my shattered mind.

Empty. So unbearably empty.

I awoke with a start. When my eyes darted frantically around the room, I found I was in a brightly-lit cell. Chains bound my hands and feet to the floor.

I was back at the fortress, back under his control. They'd found me, they'd found me, they'd found me—

Leaning over as much as the chains would permit, I vomited over the floor. I couldn't be back, it wasn't possible. Bile dripped from my lips and I retched again. And again and again until I was as empty as I'd felt in my dream.

     I was so empty. So empty and too full at the same time. Whatever it was, it was unbearable. The memory of what I'd become, what I'd done...

     No, I wasn't there. I wasn't there. I remembered now the way the ONNT pulled me from the compound. The needle in my arm—so much like the machine they'd put me inside.

      I was back in an ONNT cell. That strange woman had chained me here to wait for the questioning. I had to repeat it to myself a few times to calm my nauseous stomach and shaking hands.

     My mind went back to the day I'd been questioned, now over a year ago. It was much like this one. But this time was worse. I'd had less to lose then; I hadn't had my friends and the backing of the ONNT. Now, it happened again. I'd let it happen to me again. And I'd done more personal damage—Riley's memory was gone. I'd murdered ONNT soldiers. I'd stabbed Jaxon, Kane and Finn. I'd hurt them all in different ways.

      What if it happened again? The thought made it feel like the ground had been pulled out from under me. They would not stop until they had me once more. And this time, they surely would have perfected the issue with the machine that allowed me to break free from its control.

      My mind and heart raced. No, that could not happen. It couldn't, it couldn't-

      There was a key in the lock of the door and I held perfectly still on the ground. They'd come to retrieve me.

Three soldiers entered the cell. Two were armed. My eyes were glued to the firearms clutched in their hands. Would they truly shoot if I made a move to escape? Would I even care? And if I were to escape, where would I go? There was nowhere in the world for me any longer.

I let the men unlock my chains and haul me to my feet. I was pushed down a long hallway that I recognized as the underground portion of the ONNT headquarters, guided with tight fingers on my arms. It reminded me of how it had been like when I'd been led inside the fortress. The crushing fear. My unknown future.

     Another group was approaching us from down the passageway. More ONNT soldiers. And the person they escorted...

      Benton.