Caroline squeezed her eyes shut before slowly opening them. Sharp pain snaked its way through her temples, and a headache was building in her sinuses. Bright light blocked out most of her vision, but she was vaguely aware of a human shape moving before her. Her arms were tied to a chair, and her hair was loose against her face.
“Good morning, Miss Dupree.” It was Agent Harrison’s voice.
“Where’s Craddoc?” Her throat was dry and her voice was hoarse.
“Your snake friend? He’s in custody.” Steel scraped on concrete beyond her sight.
“Where? Why?” Caroline struggled against the binding to no avail. The headache intensified.
“This is the Department of Monster Affairs. As for the why, dangerous use of magic within a thousand yards of the Executive Mansion as well as interfering with a DMA investigation.” Harrison’s voice was even, almost mechanical, but something was off. His emotions were invisible.
“I can’t feel you.” Caroline whispered, mostly to herself. Her own emotions were stilted and compressed. She was trying to be outraged, but the best she could muster was a passive aggression.
“Neat little trick isn’t it?” His elbows touched the table in front of her. “The boys upstairs worked this little interrogation room up. It’s the first time we’ve gotten to use it on a bonafide wizard.”
Caroline squinted, trying to break through the blinding light. “You can’t hold us here.”
“On the contrary. I’ve been empowered to keep this nation safe from the likes of you.” His form was starting to take blurry shape.
“I want a lawyer.”
“No can do, we’re waiving your right to counsel.” Harrison leaned over and placed something on the table.
“You can’t do that.” Caroline strained at the ropes.
“Monsters are not citizens. Consider yourself an alien to those inalienable rights.” He shuffled some papers and there was the sound of a pencil striking pad.
“I’m a wizard, not a monster.” Her amulet was missing and the emotional deadening made it impossible to conjure any energy.
“I don’t know how you folks do things up there in Titan City, but DMA policy is fairly clear. Wizards have been categorized as monsters for the last five years. Honestly in your family’s case it goes deeper than a legal designation.” Harrison was scratching notes away in the void.
“What are you talking about?”
“Everything your father pulled. You know how many patriots he killed back in the day? Union officers, businessmen, legislators, some people even think he had something to do with Lincoln’s murder. He’s a monster, figuratively and literally.”
“That has nothing to do with me.”
“No, but you are walking his path. Shit, you even stole his identity for your little extralegal crusade.”
Caroline wanted to scream, but she couldn’t summon the fire. Every nerve ending in her body felt like it was a million miles away. This wasn’t right. If this was the treatment Caroline was receiving, she shuddered to picture what was happening to Craddoc. “I don’t have time for this.”
“You have as much time as I say you do.” Harrison’s tone was severe, but Caroline couldn’t feel anything behind it. “What is your business with Melvin Beale?”
“Go to hell.” Caroline spat towards Harrison’s form.
Harrison stood up and placed his pencil on the table. “I don’t want to have to give a dame the third degree, but I will.”
“Do your worst J. Edgar Loser.” Caroline glared, finally bringing his smug face into focus.
“Hoover wishes he could do what I do.” Harrison snapped his fingers and the interrogation lamp switched off. A door slammed open behind him. Two men in white dress shirts with the sleeves rolled to their elbows stormed into the room, pushing Craddoc before them. Craddoc looked worse for wear with deep purple bruises peeking out from the shattered tan scales across his belly. They had stripped him to his pants and had placed a black sack over his head. He struggled against his captors but didn’t seem strong enough to break their grip.
“You see, I know your type. Headstrong, tough, intelligent. You’re not the kind to buckle under intimidation.” Harrison reached down and placed a doctor’s bag on the table. He fished around until he pulled out a crowbar. “You’re unflappable, when it comes to your own pain.” He placed the crowbar on the table and rolled up his sleeves. “But I bet you’ll fold like a worn dollar bill if I was to do something to your friend here.”
“Don’t give this gobshite a thing.” Craddoc squirmed in his captor’s grip. Caroline couldn’t see his face through the mask, but she felt him. His defiance broke through the haze in her mind’s eye, like a far-off lighthouse beckoning her power. Pure and unrefined magic started to sneak through her extremities. It wasn’t enough for a spell yet, but she could start building it.
“Mr. Brogan, that’s no way to speak to a government official.” Harrison grabbed the crowbar once more, swung back and bashed Craddoc across the head. “We give you a chance to make a life for yourself, despite being a monstrosity, and you turn to a life of iniquity and vice.”
Craddoc swooned under the force of the blow. “Me ma hits harder than you, boyo.”
“Leave him alone.” Caroline leaned her head back and closed her eyes, trying to pull on more of Craddoc’s emotions. His pain washed over her mind, intensifying her headache and bringing tears to her eyes. She tried to concentrate on Anson’s lessons about being a conduit for raw magic. There wouldn’t be any finesse to what she unleashed, but it might be enough to get them free. Or kill herself and everyone else in the room.
Harrison cocked back and cracked Craddoc across the ribs. “What is your connection to Beale?”
“Connect yourself to my cloaca.” Craddoc lashed out, almost dislocating his shoulder from the looks of it.
“Keep your degeneracy to yourself.” Harrison hit him again in the torso.
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Craddoc’s voice was getting weaker with each strike.
The magic swirled in Caroline’s body like a maelstrom. Every synapse vibrated and she screamed from the effort of containing it. Anson’s voice was in the back of her mind, urging her to relent. It was too much power to unleash and Craddoc was in no state for an explosion. There had to be another way.
Caroline relented, forcing the magic to dissipate in her body. She lurched forward, her lungs and heart racing in her chest. “Beale has something we need.” Her voice was labored and breathy.
“What’s that now?” Harrison raised the crowbar again.
“He has an artifact that we need to stop Atlas.” Caroline raised her head, sweat dripping down her face.
“And you thought, what exactly? That you would just roll into town and smuggle a magical weapon across state lines?” Harrison dropped the crowbar on the table with a clang.
“If I can’t stop Atlas, there’s no telling what damage he’ll do.” Caroline struggled to compose, hoping Harrison would hear the urgency in her voice.
“That cowgirl vigilante stuff might fly in Titan City, but that’s not how we do things anymore.” Harrison loomed over Caroline. “The government is well aware of Atlas’ activities, and we have the situation under control.”
“There’s no controlling him.” Caroline matched his gaze.
“Believe it or not, Miss Dupree, there are more powerful forces in this world than you and your daddy.” Harrison sneered before standing and looking at his men. “Mark down in Beale’s file that he is smuggling weapons, and get this lizard out of my sight.”
They nodded and dragged Craddoc out of the room.
“Leave him alone.” Caroline lunged forward in her chair, but couldn’t overcome her bindings. The door closed behind them with a final snap. Craddoc was gone. He was a thousand miles from his family and locked in a lunatic’s prison. Yet he hadn’t stopped fighting. She had to set him free, somehow.
Harrison sat opposite Caroline once more and turned back to his legal pad. “I have some more questions for you, now that you’re feeling chatty.”
“No.” Caroline’s emotions were dulled once more. Whatever spark she’d gotten from Craddock’s defiance had evaporated with his exit.
“I can’t believe you still don’t get how this works.” Harrison sighed and looked at the crowbar. “Your cooperation might go a long way into getting you both out of here.”
She noted ‘might’ as the operative term. “I told you, I’m here to find Beale for his artifact.”
“The artifact being?” Harrison picked his pencil up and made a show of putting the tip on a line.
“The Adamantine Chains.” Caroline wasn’t going to give him more information than she had to.
“Greek mythology right? Chains said to be forged by Zeus to hold the Titans in Tartarus. How did Beale get a hold of them?” Harrison scribbled away at his pad.
“Poker game.” Caroline chuckled to herself.
“Interesting.” Harrison’s tin lips knitted themselves together as he wrote down Caroline’s response. “And what about that thing in Mr. Brogan’s pocket? We couldn’t get it off of him.”
“I don’t know–” Caroline started to answer, but the light’s in the room flared red.
“Lying isn’t going to get you far in here, Miss Dupree.” Harrison clapped his hands and the lighting switched back to its pale glow.
Caroline leaned back in her chair and sighed. “That’s a neat trick, learn it from a wizard?”
“That’s a gift from Jupiter Enterprises actually, I’ve heard you’re familiar with their work.” Harrison grinned and tapped his pad with the eraser. “My question, Miss Dupree.”
The door opened before Caroline could answer. Another man in a suit with close cut salt and pepper hair stepped into the room. His eyes were hidden behind dark-lensed glasses. “Mr. Harrison, Mr. Roosevelt is on the line for you, he says its urgent.”
Harrison narrowed his eyes as he scanned the other man. He stood and turned back to Caroline. “Apologies, Miss Dupree. Duty calls.”
“It’s not like I’m going anywhere.” Caroline scowled and looked at the other man. Something was strange about him. The coppery taste of magic surrounded him, even through her deadened senses.
Harrison nodded and made his way to the door. “Keep an eye on her, Simmons. I’ll be right back.”
Simmons closed the door behind him and moved to untie Caroline. Another voice seemed to flow underneath his own as he spoke. “Miss Walker, it’s most unfortunate that we have to meet this way, but if you’ll come with me I can escort you to a more proper introduction.”
“Beale?” Caroline arched an eyebrow.
“In the…someone else’s flesh?” Simmons lowered his sunglasses revealing glowing indigo pupils. “I’ll explain when we’re clear.”
“I can’t leave without Craddock.” Caroline stood and rubbed her arms where the ropes had dug in.
“I have another agent working on Mr. Brogan’s release as we speak.” Simmons moved to the door and pulled a brass key inlaid with purple stones out of his pocket. “By the time Harrison comes back you’ll both be long gone.”
Caroline waited for the room to flash red but it didn’t. Maybe that meant he was telling the truth. Maybe the room didn’t work when Harrison wasn’t present. Either way, she didn’t have much choice. “Okay, I’m trusting you, but if Craddock isn’t safe there’s going to be more than words exchanged.”
“You have my deepest assurances.” Simmons stuck the key into the keyhole and indigo light outlined the door jamb. He pulled open the door revealing a swirling, glowing portal. “After you.”
Caroline grabbed Harrison’s bag and notes off the table, looked at Simmons, looked at the portal, and sighed. The only way out was through.
