Page 93 of Dark Endures

There’s a filter for everything now. “Thanks for taking care of this.”

“If you need anything else, just let me know.” Rage clicks off.

An address pops up. “Enzo, you’re going for a drive.”

“Thank you.”

If all of our problems could be that easy to solve.

Canyon rushes over. “Fiona needs to see you.”

That’s not what I want to hear. “Got it.”

***

Fiona could have run an army. She’s in her element handling twenty things at once. I hang out by the door, not wanting to get in her way, but not being able to look away from the first sight of good any of these children have experienced in a long while.

She has help, but there never seems to be enough hands at moments like these. I message Canyon.

Me: See if you can find any other women to help out in The Dorms.

Canyon: On it.

Fiona glances around and notices me. It takes her a long minute to get away.

“How are they?” I ask, even though the answer is right in front of my eyes.

“Scared. Traumatized. Alive.” Her eyes are filled with as much pain as the children’s.

“How can I help?”

“Find the guy that did this. It was a cop.”

WHAT?

“Most of these kids got separated from their parents in the city, and they went to a cop for help?” She shakes her head.

That’s what parents teach their kids to do. And the police are supposed to protect and defend, especially the smallest among us.

“I think it’s all one man. Just the way they describe him, it always feels like they’re describing the same guy.”

“Uniforms can do that.” You can be blinded. “It could even be a man posing as a cop. Uniforms are easy enough to fake. Send me the description when you have time.”

“Will do.” Fiona turns back to the kids but doesn’t walk away. “Thank you for saving them, too.”

***

I step into the dungeon, seething with my hands full of death. Our guest has already been chained to the wall. Several members of the council stand at the back, waiting for me to arrive.

No time like the present to make the introductions. I set down the travel cages, grab two hooks off the wall, and walk over to our guest. “You have two choices tonight. Fast or slow.”

“What? I didn’t do—”

“Spare me the lies and don’t waste my time. We all know what you did. All I need from you are the answers to two questions. If you answer them honestly, I’ll grant you a fast, relatively painless death.” I open one of the cages and lift out a snake. For our safety, I placed it in a chilling cage for a few minutes to make it a bit more docile without hurting it. But that doesn’t mitigate how lethal its bite is. “This is an Eastern Brown Snake all the way from Australia. As you might know, almost everything from there can kill you, and this is one of the biggest killers. One bite will kill you in as little as fifteen minutes. During that time, you will wish you were already dead, but it’s relatively quick.” I put the snake back away. “This one you should know.”The rattles sound as soon as I lift it out. “Rattlesnakes are always so showy, aren’t they? Especially the Eastern Diamondback. From the lavish design on their scales to the rows and rows of rattles, they are impressive snakes. But the thing is, you can live for days after one bites you. We keep these to help produce anti-venom, but you won’t be receiving any of that.” I bring the snake up close enough to give our guest a good view, and then put it back in its case.

The trick is to let them stew in their thoughts for a little bit.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Just don’t let those things near me.”

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