Page 97 of Spit

“Katalina brought me here too,” I told him, stepping closer to the glass.

“Why would Legion hire you.” Quinn’s brow furrowed. “You’re human.”

I gave him a long look. “You’re a demon, and you’re in a cell, just like I am.”

Quinn hummed, his green eyes flashing. “I suppose you’re right.” He rolled his shoulders as if he was shrugging an uncomfortable weight away.

“Are they going to leave us in here?” I asked, looking at the walls for signs of a camera or a speaker, but I found neither.

The demon did not answer my question. Instead, he turned his back to me as his head tilted to the ceiling—listening to something I couldn’t hear. He closed his eyes, resigned, a moment before a single continuous alarm sounded in our cells. I put my hands over my ears to try and protect myself from the piercing wail.

“What’s going on?!” I shouted over the din, but the demon stood with his face tilted to the ceiling. His eyes remained closed like he was enjoying the warmth of sunlight instead of basking in the chaos of the alarm.

I tasted something sickly sweet and cloying at the back of my throat, and my nostrils began to burn. There was something in the air, something being pumped from the vents. My vision began to tunnel again, and my mind turned to mush in my skull. I felt drunk. My fingers began to tingle, and so did my face, an odd sort of feeling halfway between numbness and pins and needles.

I felt so tired.

The door to my cell opened with a swish, seemingly appearing from the white walls as if by magic. There were people in white coats, but I couldn’t focus on anything for longer than a moment before the most minor sensation stole my attention. The brush of my white scrubs against my skin. The feel of my lungs inflating with sickly sweet air, even the piercing wail of the alarm as it pulsed through my cell.

I slumped down as the white coats helped lower me to the ground.

I turned my head to the side, feeling the cool press of the hard floor on my cheek. My eyes met the demon’s in the other cell. For a moment, he was anything but emotionless—he looked incredibly sad.

I never really lost consciousness, I blinked, and the world shifted. One moment I was on the floor of my stark cell, staring into the eyes of a demon, and the next, I was on a steel bed, my wrists bound with leather restraints.

Whatever I had been drugged with was strong. I felt like I’d been downing tequila for hours and had just stood up.

I groaned and took a deep breath to still the burning in my throat, praying to death and darkness that I wouldn’t vomit while strapped to a table.

A female doctor strode in, carrying a clipboard. She kept her head down as she took my pulse and placed a thermometer in my ear. She took a few notes, nodding to herself.

A moment later, another doctor joined her. Both stood over me like specters in white coats.

“She’s sedated?” The male doctor leaned over and checked the clipboard.

“We weren’t sure that she would respond to the same sedative as the stewards in our care, but she seems to be coping well,” The female doctor replied. “What did the boss say he wanted her for?”

“Dr. Callogry.” The male doctor warned, glancing at her over the grim of his glasses, chiding the female doctor with her name.

Dr. Callogry shook her head, blushing. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. Is she undergoing the same trials as the other two, Dr. Wise?”

“The feeder?” Dr. Wise tapped his chin in thought. “It would be interesting to see if a human subject reacts the same way as a demonic one. We’ll see what the boss says.”

“Of course.” Dr. Callogry dipped her head and scurried away.

When we were alone, Dr. Wise approached the table, dragging his hand against the steel morgue slab they had placed me on. I watched his fingers brush the metal, growing closer to my head, and I couldn’t move a muscle.

“The boss is very interested in you.” Dr. Wise’s eyes glinted in a way I didn’t like. His hair was combed over in several places to hide a bald spot, and he looked too old to be running around in a white coat—more like he should have been on the slab, not me. “He seems to think that your presence will bring Legion to our gates. Which was his plan all along.”

I cleared my throat to speak, but my tongue was a useless hunk of meat in my mouth. “What… about… two… demons?”

“The demons?” Dr. Wise smiled, revealing every tooth in his mouth. “I must admit, when we brought them in, the team thought Mr. Cecil was insane. However, they have proved invaluable to our research. Did you hear us talking about the feeder? We’ve been augmenting bovine feed with demonic magic, encouraging them to breed and gorge themselves against their natural urges. It’s going to make strides in the food industry.”

I digested his words, frowning as my eyes shied away from the fluorescents overhead. “You’re sick.” I spat.

Dr. Wise ignored my condemnation. “You’re in the Red City. Humansarecattle here.”

“Legion is looking for me.” I closed my eyes as the world spun in circles.

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