Half in Fire

“Wake up.” A warm touch nudged my arm. “Not carrying you again.” Another nudge followed.

“No… I’m sleeping.” I lazily pushed his hand away and sank back into numbness.

I heard a sigh. The next nudge was harder. “Sleep later. Just wake up already!” Another, even more insistent.

I opened my eyes to blurred vision. Ran my tongue over my lips, tasting bitterness. My head throbbed as though an out-of-control plane had run me over. The surrounding darkness was a relief to my weary corneas.

“Finally.” Saymon ran a hand through his hair.

Pitch-black darkness swallowed everything.

I tried to orient myself. “Where are we?” I rubbed my face. Realized Sentisurge had left my system.

“You’ll see soon.” He smiled, amused.

I frowned but didn’t insist. I was too tired to argue or try to understand anything. All I cared about was going back to sleep.

Saymon opened the vehicle’s door.

I nearly fell trying to get out, but he caught me. “Can you walk?”

I waited for my blood pressure to stabilize. “Yes. I’m a little dizzy.”

Once my feet were firmly on the ground, he released me. “Follow me.”

We walked for about ten minutes until we reached several warehouses.

We were in Franca.

Behind the nanofacilities, peculiar vegetation surrounded us, sparse trees and thin shrubs. The walls’ solitary hololight cast shadows over our bodies.

Saymon stopped suddenly.

I managed to halt before bumping into him. “Sor—”

He leaned toward me. Shadows danced across his face.

My heart missed a beat.

“Rest easy about what happened to Maia. I took care of everything when she was transferred.”

“That… What?”

“What was the hospital director’s name again?”

Director? Ah… “I-it’s… why? It’s… you… what are you going to do?”

A violet glimmer crossed his golden eyes. Intense. Fleeting. Saymon rested a hand on my shoulder. His grin was as lethal as poison. “It’s alright. No need to tell me. I’ve already found out.”

I swallowed.

Then he lifted a trapdoor, revealing an opening in the ground. Warm light spilled over me. Saymon descended first and beckoned me after him.

I climbed slowly down the narrow ladder, uneasy. Dust in the yellowish concrete corridor made me sneeze.

We passed through the first entrance.

“Took you long enough.” A powerful voice rumbled through the room.

“I arrive when I need to.” Saymon gestured casually.

A woman shorter than me, with a fierce face, determined eyes, and a proud bearing, examined me from head to toe. Her arms remained crossed. “So it’s you…”

“I-I…”

“She told me about you.” The woman approached and whispered in my ear. Then she winked and held out her hand. “Pleasure. I’m Maeva.”

My jaw almost dropped, but I managed to contain the reaction. I extended my hand to greet her. “P-pleasure. Akiko.”

“Let’s get on with this. I’m itching to…”

“C’mon, settle in. The fun’s about to begin,” Cron grumbled from the back.

Maeva smiled.

Fun? I drew my brows together, curious.

She stepped aside.

My eyes widened as I took a better look at the room.

It was a medium-sized space, well lit, surrounded by shelves and boxes. Cron sat at the back. When our eyes met, he smiled. Denden occupied a chair at the table on the right and greeted me with a solemn nod. Trix and Kiara weren’t there. Maeva remained standing, her brown eyes fixed on the middle of the room. I stood beside her, strangely drawn to and comforted by her presence. But my attention turned entirely toward the center.

Saymon paced. His threatening aura seemed to reach cosmic proportions.

And before him, naked, gagged, bound, and kneeling, was Paulo Lewis.

Sessota’s director of operations.