as polyester.

cross her chest. It was designed to humiliate, to strip away the last remnants of

hands trembling slightly. Marta had orde

Marta's retreating back. "I

de of angles and starch. "There is no signal on the

? This is k

," she corrected. "

alked

table. The china rattled. She d

e doors at the end of the

ed the d

ng windows overlooking a churning grey ocean.

ve was rolled up. A doctor was prepping a vein in his arm

ed, stepping into the room.

the needle slipping

y. Sweat beaded on his upper lip. He

out," h

the corner, his han

!" She took anot

outh to bark an order,

s rolle

hand slipped. It hit the h

he wheelchair, his arms seizing up against his che

e doctor yelled. "

or tried to hold Augustine's shoulders

she sc

Augustine's lips. T

!" She ran ac

pulled his gun. The barrel was bl

un. She ignored the fear. She onl

side. He was too panicked to resist. "He's swal

ad weight and rigid muscle. She pulled. He tumb

hard. She scrambled

!" the doctor ye

His jaw was clamped shut. He was m

oint behind his jaw, forcing his mouth open. She swept two fingers int

barked at th

e, stari

o

mbled to

to keep him on his side. She could feel every t

ad. It was instinct. The same instinct she'd used for three years

forty seconds. It f

against her, heavy and limp. A ragged br

heels. Her hands were shaking.

om was

his glasses askew. "Wh

"He was a vegetable for three years bef

from t

re hazy, unfocused. He blinked, trying t

r him, her hair fall

look like a tyrant. He

." he

life," she sai

a hand. He stayed there, on the floor, looking at her. His vis

" Dr. Aris or

minished, weak. He hated it. She could see the humiliat

d, standing up. Her legs f

nds were still trembling slightly. H

, Jericho puts a bullet in your head,"

I'm not a monster," s

Dr. Aris. "Is

exactly what to do. Better than the n

Not as a woman, but as an asset. A piece of eq

maid," he said to he

hesitate

rubbed his thumb over the heavy signet ring o

u have one. You keep me alive until the

asn't t

he said. "Get

ir around and rolled

g, watching him leave.

grey ocean crashing

and. There was no

d in a cage wi