Page 5 of Mud

Cassie raised her thin brows. “What kind of an inmate?”

“Blackfire,” I muttered.

“I’m listening,” was her way of saying she wanted to know more.

And what the hell did I have to lose, anyway? We were already here, and I was sure she knew all about how I came to be in their midst. The youngest ever agent in the IDD, a clumsy rich girl who didn’t know shit about even firing a gun when I first went through the doors of the IDD training academy. Like I said, people owed her favors, and I was a hundred percent sure she’d used one or two to figure out what my deal was.

But even so, that didn’t make spitting out that name any easier.

In fact, it was just like sticking my hand in my gut and pulling out a handful of my own organs.

“Taland Tivoux,” I said, and if keeping my shit together and my face empty hadn’t become an instinct to me by now, I’d have probably broken down in front of Cassie. I’d have cried, bawled like a damn infant. I’d have probablyhuggedher, too.

The second of silence that followed said that my earlier suspicions were true—shedidknow exactly how I came to be an agent at the age of eighteen.

“Oh,” said Cassie after a good moment. “Oh, you mean…theTaland Tivoux?”

I swallowed hard. “Yes.”

“Goddess-damn it,” she whispered, so low I barely caught it. “What, um…what about Taland Tivoux?”

Please stop saying his name.

“I have information that he escaped from the Tomb tonight,” I forced myself to say, and she jumped to her feet as if I’d assaulted her.

“You better be fucking with me,” Cassie said but didn’t actually wait for a reply. “How in the world do you even know that? Are you keeping in touch with him—no, no, that don’t be it. Must be someone on the inside, is it? Or maybe someone on theoutside?” She stopped in front of me, looking down at me likeshewas about to burst into tears now. “Tell me, woman! How’d you know?!”

So damn dramatic.

I stood up because the only person who looked down at me was my grandmother. Cassie had no choice but to step back. “Doesn’t matter. Find out if it’s true, and I’ll interrogate your siren.” I raised my hand for hers. “Do we have a deal?”

“By the Blue,” she whispered, looking down at my hand for a second before she shook it. “Yes, we have a deal. Fine, La Rouge.Fine.”

I stepped back, pretending that I wasn’t anxious and excited and relieved at the same time. Always pretending. “Number Seven?”

With her hands on her hips, she lowered her head. “Yes, she’s all tied up and ready for you. Her file is by the door.” Then she continued to mutter under her breath words I didn’t understand.

“I’ll find you when I’m done,” I said, slipping out of the dressing room.

Cassie said nothing and the door fell closed behind me.

As I made my way toward the interrogation area, I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to know what the end of this day was going to look like or not.

Chapter 3

Taland Tivoux

Present day, a few hours earlier

Fascinating to see those tiny needles penetrating my skin the way they were doing, releasing ink, marking me forever. I had plenty of ink on my body already, but this one was…different. It was special. It was a reminder rather than a token from the past. It was raw and painful and bloody, and it reminded me ofbreakingand tearing and cutting and smashing and?—

“You good?”

My train of thought came to a halt, and I focused on Rotto, the only guy who knew how to handle a needle in the Tomb. They said he’d picked up the habit right here in his cell as a way to kill time. He’d been here seventeen years already and had the rest of his life to look forward to in this shithole.

“Perfect,” I said with a raised brow—why the fuck had he stopped? The pain felt mighty good against the chaosthat had reigned inside me for the past two years. If I spent any more time in this place, I might have to tattoo every inch of my skin if it hurt this good.

“Just, uh…” Rotto wiped his brow with the back of his hand, his skin completely black with ink from his wrist down to his nails. “Just try to relax your pecs,” he finally muttered.

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