Page 112 of Tapeworld Induction

“You had your chance. Now come on.” She grabbed Dylan’s arm and started to drag her.

“Let me go, you brute!” Dylan protested. Her heart, which had been in her throat, fell down to her stomach. She looked around desperately for Talia, for anyone else who might step in to help her, but in the sea of uninterested faces, there wasn’t much sympathy.

“She’s one of them,” said one of the people staring as they walked by. “A natural-born vegan.” They followed it with a spitting sound. Talia was nowhere to be found. The murmurs amongst the crowd persisted. Most agreed she was likely stirring up trouble. And so Jewel was able to forcibly drag her along the length of the whole gallery, through a sea of bewildered, nodding, and nonchalant faces.

They made their way to a room off the side of one of the many corridors in the building. On the way, she saw neither Talia nor Astrid, and the potential implication of that sent her insides twisting. There was no Isaak in her ear, and she didn’t want to talk to Sacha directly, lest muscle-bound Jewel over here felt like tearing her to shreds for it. Her Apocalypse Revolt training would help in a fight but Dylan wasn’t sure she’d win against pure muscle and brawn like this woman.

“Sit down,” Jewel barked, her voice hoarse, pushing Dylan towards a wooden chair in front of the desk. “Tell me everything. What are you doing here?”

Dylan – whose dress had been ripped down the side as she was towed along by the head of security, exposing more of her legs than she intended – tried to keep her cool.

“Sit!”

“Okay, okay…” Dylan sat down on the mid-century modern chair. It was then she noticed the whole room they were in was done up MCM – angular furniture, clean lines. The table between them was decorated with an organically shaped vase, but with no flowers or plants. The decor clashed with the rest of the building, which leaned hard on Victorian design, with polished wood balustrades and dark, curved pieces of furniture.

“You know what I’m doing here. I’m from The ChainMail.”

“Bullshit!” Jewel slammed her fist on the table and the vase fell over onto its side. Some of the woman’s spittle hit Dylan’s face. “I reached out to them, and they’ve never heard of you. Didn’t even send someone here.”

“Oh, you got connects there? Doesn’t surprise me…” She scratched the side of her face with her middle finger.

Jewel grabbed her hand, pulling her arm.

“Ow!”

“Who sent you?” The veins on Jewel’s temples throbbed. Over a layer of polished makeup, sweat dripped down her face.

“No one sent me, bitch.”

Jewel twisted Dylan’s middle finger in response, using the pain to push her forward and splay her across the desk, ignoring her shouts of pain. The struggle caused the vase to roll off and shatter on the floor.

“I was curious,” Dylan said between gasps, her breathing heavy. “Someone said there’d be a show tonight. Cool tech. I wasn’t—” She stumbled over her words, Jewel keeping the hold on her hand strong. “I wasn’t disappointed… Ah!”

The woman let go of Dylan’s hand and sat back down, her face turning strangely calm. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-nine.” Dylan rubbed her hand and wrist.

There’s gonna be hell to pay for this.

“Dylan, what the fuck is going on?” Sacha, buzzing in her ear. Good timing. “Fucking hell… Isaak’s in the cab, unconscious, drooling. He’s taped up somewhere.”

“No!” Fuck.

Isaak taped in? He hasn’t learned anything. The fuck was he thinking?

Jewel lit up. “No what?”

Dylan shook her head and tried to pass it off. “Nothing…”

“I’m coming in,” Sacha said through the comm.

Dylan smoothed the dress down her legs, and sat up straight on the chair, keeping her mouth shut. The bouncer frowned, arms crossed. They sat in silence for a few moments, until the door burst open.

Astrid strode in. Behind her, Talia was a nervous wreck, fidgeting with her hands, body shivering. Goddess dammit. Astrid had got to her too. Could this be going any worse? Fear was a black hole, and Dylan was sliding down it in freefall.

“Sit,” Astrid said.

Talia sat on the chair next to Dylan.