Page 150 of Scorched Earth

Marcus didn’t even seem to hear.

“What is it?” Teriana demanded. “I know the first one is for pain, but what is the other?”

Felix sniffed the contents, then in one violent motion, smashed the bottle on the stone. “It’s a potion cooked up by chemists in Celendrial. Men use it to stay awake on guard duty, but it’s banned because it’s dangerous. Some of the Thirty-First must have brought it over with them because I doubt the Fifty-First has yet crossed paths with it.”

Something to make him sleep.

Something to keep him awake.

It was no wonder he wasn’t making any sense, and sickness pooled in Teriana’s stomach because how long had this been going on? How long had he been poisoning himself for the sake of bearing the full weight of this mad strategy?

“Sir!” Racker shook Marcus hard, but he only shoved the surgeon away, then returned to gripping the balustrade, knuckles bleached white and nails scratching the stone.

“Restrain him,” Racker ordered, and with grimaces, Felix and Quintus grabbed hold of Marcus’s arms. They were stronger than him, yet Marcus fought them like a thing possessed. “I have to watch!” he screamed at them, the pupils of his eyes drowning out the irises despite the brilliant sunshine. “I need to see the smoke!”

“We have time.” Felix forced him to his knees. “Wex will needtime to set up the explosives. They’ll need to do it carefully or they’ll take out the entire stem—you know that.”

Yet it was as though Felix hadn’t spoken, for Marcus only fought harder, desperately trying to look over his shoulder even as the worst sort of threats poured from his lips.

Teriana’s pulse roared with fear, and heedless of the jostling men, she threw herself at him. Catching hold of the sides of Marcus’s face, she forced him to look at her. “I’ll watch. I’ll watch the city for any sign of smoke. Red, right?”

He stared at her, and it felt like staring into a void. “Red, yes. But the size as well. If the explosives go off at the wrong time, this will be for nothing. We’ll have to start over with a new stem.” He sucked in a breath. “You can’t look away. We can’t miss it.”

“As though we’d miss that earthquake,” Felix muttered. “Marcus, we’re watching. Answer Racker’s questions, all right?”

Marcus only stared at her.

“I won’t look away.” Taking hold of his hand, she stood up and fixed her gaze on the city sprawled in the distance, never mind that tears were streaming down her face.

“How long have you been taking the narcotics?” Racker asked, voice calm. “And how frequently?”

Silence.

Teriana clenched her teeth, almost afraid to blink lest she miss whatever signal Wex would send, though she knew that was irrational given it was to be an explosion.

“I can’t sleep,” Marcus finally answered. “Too many dreams. It takes away the dreams.”

“How long? How often.”

“The night Titus died. Every… every night I had enough time.”

Racker let out a long breath. “I knew someone was stealing from my stores, but I thought it was one of the medics. Notyou.”

“I can take what I want.”

The surgeon huffed out a breath, but only asked, “What about the stimulant?”

Marcus didn’t answer him, only said, “Teriana, are you watching?”

“Yes.” It was a struggle to stifle her sobs. “I’m watching.”

“Marcus, how long?” Racker repeated.

“I don’t know. A week, maybe.” His voice was bitter as he added, “I needed to be able tothink.”

“The thoughts of the dead have little value,” Racker snapped.

“Better to be dead than for this plan to have failed.”