Fury and Flame | 3

5 | 7

D E L P H I N I U M

My entire body ached from the abuse Krasowski's soldiers had dealt me. But they'd succeeded in their goal: making me weak enough to stand in front of their leader without her being in danger. Well, physical danger.

I'd find a way to make her talk.

As my muscles throbbed and my head pounded, my purpose here was only strengthened. We couldn't make any real moves against Imperium being fugitives. And we were only fugitives because Krasowski decided we were. So I wouldn't leave here until I could find a way to get rid of her and reinstate Hunt.

Even if I had to cleave her head from her body, I'd do it.

Taking that action would lead to many more criminal charges brought against me—primarily the murder of a legally 'innocent' government leader. And this time, though I didn't have the excuse of being controlled, I didn't care. It would be my last resort. Whereas I was too broken to do it before, I was strong enough to do it now without batting an eye.

      Therefore, I was prepared when the soldiers unlocked my chains and began dragging me from the cell—they didn't even trust me to move on my own. As my own booted feet slid against the smooth floor, I sensed I was in a large group of soldiers—much larger than the few that had come into my cell and beat me into weakness.

     They were taking me to her, I knew it despite the blindfold. I couldn't be sure of what she wanted with me: answers, information, more torture. Whatever it was, I'd do it. She wouldn't be the victorious one coming out of this encounter. In fact, she'd be lucky if she walked away with her life.

     A series of whispers and a door opened. Just as it had been when Benny brought me back to Orion.

     "Sit her down." It was Krasowski's voice before me. She seemed to be across the room.

     Hands on my shoulders shoved me into a chair. I resisted the urge to groan as my broken body was compressed into the cold metal. Even as the aching pain raged through my body, I remained completely silent and as motionless as possible. If not for the rigidness of my body, I might have appeared to be a shrouded corpse.

     "Delphinium Tesla." She ran my name through her mouth, savoring the fact that she'd finally caught me. I said nothing.

      "We know what you've done," she told me, still not appearing to move forward. "You've murdered thousands. You've gathered special intelligence for terrorists. You're a liar, a terrorist, a mass murderer, a serial killer." Someone shifted to my side; the soldiers were still guarding her from me. "I should send you to a mental institution. You should be on death row."

     There was a pause and I wondered if she'd actually sentence me to either of those things. "But you're too valuable an asset to destroy."

     Too valuable an asset to destroy... That meant she did want me for some purpose; she wasn't just going to hand me over like the rest of the criminals she locked up. I didn't know why I'd be different, but I knew I'd soon find out.

     She expected me to be the shell-shocked husk of a human I'd been when she'd last seen me. And because I'd wisely not used my abilities, she trusted that I still was. The only reason she hadn't injected me with sedatives was because she thought I was more of a threat to myself than I was to her.

She wanted a scared, paranoid child? I'd give her one.

"What are you going to do with me?" I willed my voice to be soft and flighty as a breeze, just as it had been when I'd been interrogated.