Page 95 of Spit

I groaned as a sharp pain rolled through me and stilled my thoughts.

The car door opened, revealing Katalina and a man I didn’t recognize. She must have driven me into the city. The man behind her wore an orderly’s uniform, scrubs in a pristine white color, but no stethoscope, just a lanyard around his neck with a barcode.

“You need me to carry this one in?” The guard grunted; his heavy brow and thin lips held a kind of meanness that had nothing to do with his features.

“I need you to sedate her.” Katalina looked down at me, and I pointedly closed my eyes again, praying she hadn’t seen that I was awake.

The guard sighed and waddled away for a minute, and Katalina bent down.

“I know you're awake.” She whispered. “Just like I know there is nothing you can do. Legion is so far off the trail of what’s happening here that he might as well be looking in London for his missing facets. The boss wants himhere, but Legion doesn’t seem to be picking up on any of the clues. You’re just collateral damage. Once Legion comes here, the boss will let you go.”

I didn’t need a supernatural sense to know that the bitch was lying. I gave her a look, unable to convey through my gag just how much bullshit she was spewing.

Katalina sighed and gave me a withering look as if my silence was all my fault.

The orderly returned, reaching in and grabbing the back of my pajama tank top, and pulling me out of the car like a sack of potatoes. He swung me over his shoulders. Air exploded from my lungs, and I hung, weak and boneless, in a fireman hold.

“I’ve got the sedative.” The orderly grumbled.

“You’re not going to fight, are you, Lexi?” Katalina’s was saccharine, though I couldn’t see her face.

My finger twitched, and I lifted my head just enough to see the street we stood on.

It was dark, and the street lights were a neutral glow—no color for whatever sin dominated the area. We must have been in the human sector.

I recognized the main street. The glass doorways to the skyscrapers, the offices of the dubious businesses that belonged to humans. We were close to Magicktek. I had no idea what Katalina was on about, with her talk of clues and misdirection. Legion was very aware that Magicktek was a suspect.

I kept watch, playing limp so I wasn’t sedated again, as I was carried across the sidewalk and down an alley. There were two buildings. One side belonged to the Magicktek building, and the other had another name. One that I couldn’t place.

My mind went back to a vague conversation days ago, one so quick that I had barely noted the details. The demons had listed the companies in the surrounding area—the ones that may have been responsible for the ward.

Magicktek was the obvious choice because they literally manufactured magic for the human public.

I was speechless when Katalina pushed open a door with a cow logo on the sign.

Happy Cow Pharmaceuticals.

I didn’t feel the needle, but I was given another sedative. I found myself awake in the middle of a white cell. Every surface reflected my own pale face back at me. My blue eyes were bloodshot and rimmed with dark circles. My lips cracked from dehydration, and my head was light because of hunger as my curse began to eat away at my fat reserves.

Every inch of my skin was covered in goose flesh that had nothing to do with temperature, and my pajamas were long gone. Replaced with white scrubs.

There was nothing in the room except for a corner toilet. A plain steel bowl without a cistern or any visible way to flush. No toilet paper.

I touched the wall, feeling the smooth and seamless plastic underneath my fingers. I spun slowly, taking in every inch. One wall of my cell was dark. A glass panel and nothingness behind it.

I had the strangest sense of déjà vu.

My thoughts kept snagging on the sign on the door.

Happy Cow Pharmaceuticals.

If I remembered correctly, they dealt with veterinary drugs for livestock. Why would a company like that want anything to do with demons?

Magicktek made sense, to an extent.

Happy Cow did not.

I stepped closer to the glass wall, hoping to find some weakness I could exploit. A keypad with oils left behind on the numbers or worn buttons so I could begin to guess the combination. Maybe a guard walking past with a key card that I could snag.

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