For fuck’s sake, I knew he was grieving, but comparing me to the Warden was a low blow.
Ava took my hand. “He didn’t mean it. He’s angry, and rightfully so.”
I understood, perhaps far too much. The news about Eddie had devastated us all, but Alistair took the brunt of the blow. Eddie had been his partner, and I knew how it felt to lose someone you cared so much about.
“He’ll come around when he’s ready,” Ez said gently. “In the meantime, we have to clean up this blood trail before anyone follows it here.”
“If we all ditch Work-Study to clean this up, the guards will come looking for us,” Marcus pointed out.
“We’ll stash the body in one of the cells,” I decided. “We can’t dump it in the middle of the day anyhow, or we’ll be spotted. We’ll clean up the blood trail and come back tonight for the body.”
I’d never dumped a body before, but that’s what you did for your friends. Alistair would be caught and sentenced to death unless we wiped all traces of evidence. The Warden would be suspicious about Mazur’s disappearance, but we had to make sure he wouldn’t be able to trace it back to us.
I expected dumping the body to churn my guts, but I’d gone oddly numb to the whole thing. I guess I really did belong in this place amongst criminals, because I’d certainly become one.
Marcus and I dragged Mazur’s body into one of the cells, while the others got to work on cleaning up the blood trail. Ava and Ez used their Toaqua magic to draw the blood out of the carpet in the hall, and Kallie used illusions to cover what was left behind.
We had to be quick about it, because we were cutting it close to Work-Study. We cleaned up as quickly as we could, then rushed to the showers to get any remnants of blood off our bodies.
I ended up leaving Oberi with Ava, then running to the factory after we finished so I wouldn’t be late for my shift. I drew a deep breath before entering the printing room, trying to calm my anxiety and nerves. It didn’t help curb the paranoia, though. My hands shook as I worked my table, and I kept messing up as I focused my attention on the door. I thought for sure guards would come in at any moment and haul me away, then toss me into Cellblock 9 with my friends. I wasn’t sure we’d gotten all the blood, or that Kallie’s illusions would hold, or that no one would stumble across the body in death row.
Alistair was supposed to be working beside me, but his table remained empty. He either figured an infraction was better than going to work, and he’d locked himself in his room to grieve, or the Warden had picked him up.
I was a bundle of nerves when I left my shift. Every time I heard footsteps, I ducked into an alcove or around the corner so the guards wouldn’t spot me. We waited until darkness fell, then my friends and I met up at death row.
“Anyone else paranoid as shit?” Marcus asked.
Ez seemed agitated. “I was glancing over my shoulder all day.”
“Was anyone followed?” Kallie questioned.
“I didn’t let anyone see me while I was coming here,” Marcus said. “Stopped by the witch dorms and checked on Alistair, though. He doesn’t handle grief well.”
He’s in a bad place right now, Oberi agreed.Pig says he’s seen better days.
“Let’s finish this before he ends up in a worse situation,” Ava said.
Marcus, Ez, and I lifted the body, which had gone cold and stiff. We snuck through the halls, and Kallie used illusions to help conceal us. Marcus’ shoe squeaked, and we all went dead still.
Footsteps started in our direction.
“Guards,” I hissed.
I’ve got this, Oberi said.
He walked around the corner, panting like he was having a good time. He sat in front of the guards, his tail thumping on the ground.
“It’s just a stupid Familiar,” one of the guards said.
“Leave him be,” the other stated. “He’s not hurting anyone.”
As soon as the guards left, Oberi ushered us forward.Come. We don’t have much time.
We reached the prison yard. “Stop!” Kallie hissed. We all ducked around a corner, then quickly she said, “This way.”
We made our way across the yard as fast as we could, using the darkness of night to conceal us. We’d made a deal with the sirens to deliver them a body, and we intended to fulfill that promise.
Once we got to the lake, we tossed the body in. Within moments, sirens were swarming the surface, their heavy fins smacking against the water as they viciously fought over their next meal. We could hear the tearing of flesh as their sharp teeth sank through the muscle and tore Mazur’s limbs apart.
