Page 158 of Death is Familiar

“What’s with all this?”

“I… uh.” Jack looked at the spread as if he suddenly realized just how much variety was on the table. “I didn’t know if you were having any…cravings.”

Cravings. I almost laughed. I hadn’t had the luxury of cravings when held captive by the Seal, and now Jack and Todd went out of their way to give me choice—something the Seal had taken away in every way, shape, and form.

My confused and battered heart, melted just a little, and I decided I was going to make the most of it. So, I said, “fuck it” and pulled up a seat at the table.

Just for the rush. Just for the heck of it, I grabbed the meatball sub, flipped it open on the plate, and loaded it with pickled jalapeños. Then I snatched the marshmallow spread and drew a thick line of it over the toasted bun.

It was perfect.

Two bites in, Jack and Todd joined me at the table, both replicating my sandwich topping choices, when the firelight caught Jack’s face…

There was no way.

Dropping my glorious sub onto my plate, I reached across the table and took a tentative hold of Jack’s chin. He winced, darting his eyes between Todd and me, while I slowly turned him towards the light.

The side of his face was swollen. His lip was split and he had the makings of a black eye. It looked like someone⁠—

“Oh my god, Todd! Did you punch him?”

I’d have expected a cover up but instead was met with, “Yep.”

“He’s got a black eye!”

Todd shrugged, and picked up his sub.

“I deserved it.” Jack pulled his face from my grip. “It’s an arrangement we had, ever since… anyway. We’re good. We’re square.”

Todd’s mouth twitched. Didn’t seem like he felt the same way.

“What the hell?” It wasn’t really a question, but Todd hadn’t been the sort to resort to violence, so whatever this was about must have been something big. “Todd? Care to explain?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Jack?”

“We’re not getting into it, Delilah.” Jack maintained the united front, then pulled out his phone with an app set to record, his finger hovering over the start button. “Now, I need you to tell us everything.”

“You just expect me to ignore the fact you were punched in the face and move on?”

Both Jack and Todd said, “Yes.”

“But—”

“No buts.” Jack turned the side of his face away from view, and clicked the record button. “Now, if you’d please, start at the beginning.”

I wasn’t going to let this go. I was going to figure out what happened. But not while I was being recorded. Now, it was time to bite the bullet.

Through mouthfuls of marshmallow and pickled jalapeño sub, I shared my past three months with the agents. The truths I revealed, the lies, what my captors looked like, subjected me to, and the insights about Solomon’s Seal that came to light.

Like two dragons, Jack and Todd sat perched forward, white knuckling their knees.

With how protective they were behaving, I didn’t see why the shock part of the collar was worth mentioning, so I omitted it from my description. They could see where the collar had rubbed and marked my skin, but Madame’s favorite feature would only infuriate them further, so I kept it to myself.

But there was something just as painful, the agents needed to know—the identity of the woman I was kept captive with.

“The woman Fawzy and Thruppy are looking for, her name is Three.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “And the scar on the side of her face… is also a three.”