Page 39 of The Cauldronball Run
He was going to prove her wrong if he had to tear apart every warehouse in Phoenix to do it.
I'm coming, Farrah.I'm choosing you.
***
FARRAH
Storage Facility - Phoenix, Arizona
The warehouse smelled like metal and demon frost—an odd combination in the Arizona desert.Two frost demon mercenaries stood guard at the main entrance, looking supremely bored with their assignment.
"Daddy had to rent this place," Smokie had explained."The Arizona cops told him they didn't have time for what they called 'this interstate nonsense.'He was real mad about that."
The warehouse was exactly the kind of place you'd expect someone to rent when legitimate authorities wouldn't cooperate with your vigilante justice campaign.Corrugated metal walls that turned the interior into an oven during the day and a freezer at night, concrete floors with suspicious stains, and lighting that flickered like a horror movie setup.
Farrah tested the chain that Smokie had connected to her handcuffs. She was secured to a metal bench. At least she could sit down. The trolls were shackled to a beam in the ceiling.
"Excuse me," she called to one of the frost demon mercenaries."I need to use the bathroom."
The demon didn't even look up from his phone."Hold it."
"I'm human.That's not how our biology works."
"Not my problem, witch."
The second demon laughed, a sound like ice cracking."Boss said keep them contained until he gets here.Didn't say nothing about comfort."
"Now, that's not very nice," Smokie said, appearing with Mr.Snuggles tucked under his arm."Daddy always says we should treat prisoners with basic human dignity."He turned to Farrah."How are you doing?"
"I’m chained to a bench in a warehouse, so not great.I also have to pee.”
"She's a witch, not a human," the first demon grumbled.
"She's still a lady, and ladies need bathroom breaks."Smokie walked over to Farrah with a small key."Mr.Snuggles says it's been three hours, and that's medically inadvisable."
"And legally questionable."
"Mr.Snuggles thinks so too," Smokie whispered, then louder: "But Daddy knows what he's doing.He's been sheriffing for thirty years."
"In my experience with international law enforcement—" Bondo called from his corner, where he'd draped himself dramatically despite being chained.
"You don't have experience with international law enforcement," everyone said in unison.
"I've seen all the James Bond films.That's basically the same thing."
After Smoke unclipped her, he escorted her to the makeshift bathroom.It was just a port-a-potty that had seen better decades.
"Where's your father, anyway?I thought he'd be here gloating."
"Oh, he's still chasing your orc boyfriend," Smokie said."Set up roadblocks from here to New York, but that ambulance just disappeared.Daddy thinks J.J.'s using orc magic to turn invisible."
"Orcs don’t have magic."
"Try telling Daddy that.He's convinced those ‘green sumbitches’—‘scuse me ma’am—can do anything."Smokie positioned Mr.Snuggles to guard the bathroom door."Take your time.Mr.Snuggles will make sure nobody bothers you."
Inside the port-a-potty, which was somehow worse than she'd imagined, Farrah let herself feel the full weight of her situation.She missed J.J.The admission hurt more than the uncomfortable accommodations or the uncertainty of her situation.She missed his careful strength, his ridiculous protectiveness, the way he looked at her like she was precious.She'd sent him away, told him to choose money over her, and he'd actually done it.
Just like Derek would have.
