Page 85 of Shadowman

This is no correctional facility.

The discomfort of being naked on a freezing cold, filthy concrete floor, paired with the way my bones are already aching beneath my violent shakes, isn’t all that’s preventing me from getting rest, though. I’m also stewing in a wrath so potent, I cansmellit like sulfur and ash.

I saw Dr. Love. In fact, he was thefirstperson I saw upon my arrival at Alabaster Penitentiary. When the two officers who’d driven me here yanked the bag off of my head and pulled me out of the SUV, there he was. Standing just a few feet away, dressed in his usual tailored clothes, the sleeves of his dark-blue dress shirt rolled up his muscular forearms. Still and emotionless.Watchingme, as if nothing had changed.

As if we weren’t on an island in the middle of bloodynowhere, outside of the foreboding monstrosity he left me for. As if he hadn’t chosen to sacrifice me tothis placefor his own selfish purposes based on a few measly murders.

Bloody robot man.

He looks exactly the same. And yet somehow… different.

I can’t place my finger on it, but when I came face-to-face with the man who’d been my doctor—myrock—for three years, the person responsible for getting me out of Riverwoods and convincing me thatI,Trevel Fenwick, could lead anormallife… I sensed a change in him. Hisaurafelt renewed;enlivened.

Naturally, it made me sick with rage.

Whatabout working in this devastating place has made him seem more fulfilled than he ever was in his sleek, modern office in downtown Atlanta?

What could possibly beherethat’s making him happier than he was back in civilization??

We exchanged words, though I was seething so hard I can barely remember what I said to him. Still, the look on his face is burned into my brain. The way he stood there, beside three guards—two men and a woman, all of whom were watching me with distinct distrust on their faces—giving me nothing more than his typical brand of impassive,holier-than-thouattitude.

There was no remorse for bringing me here.Why would there be??He’s never given a single shred of afuckabout what happens to me, and that’s clear now more than ever. He didn’tdeny that he sent Sven to find me and bring me here as some token of his appreciation forThe Warden—whom I still haven’t met, by the way.

If anything, he was gaslighting me into thinking he somehow did this formybenefit.

“I’m glad to have you here, though. I think this could be good for you.”

My teeth are set, grinding away as I growl into the pitch blackness of this tomb.

This isgoodfor me, is it, Doctor?? Dying a slow, humiliating death with my bangers out… Locked away like a worthless bloody animal?!

I’m a volcano of contempt, ready to erupt. And what’s worse, I haven’t seen Leo since I got here. I’m completelyalone. Not even an imaginary friend to keep me company anymore.

I swear, if I ever get out of here, I will make it mylife’s missionto destroy Dr. Love. I don’t care if it kills me in the process. Revenge is the one thing I’m good at.

Lemuel Love will pay for what he’s done to me.

Footsteps steal my attention, and I sit up. There’s a lot ofnoisein this place. Even when you’re separated from everything else by thick walls of concrete, you can still hear things banging and clanging from somewhere in the distance. Although, this is the first time the stomping and jingling of keys have come this close…

Someone has stopped outside my door. And before I can even prepare myself, it flings open, and I’m being blinded by fluorescent light.

I can’t see fuck-all. I’m just cowering, with my hands over my face.

Whoever is there tosses something at me that feels like fabric. “Put those on.”

“God?Is that You?” I mouth off, because I can’t help myself, blinking over and over.

“Pretty much,” the male voice rumbles. “Get fucking dressed, 102.Now.”

My eyes are slowly adjusting to the light, just enough to make out some clothes on the floor by my feet. Dull gray jumpsuit pants, a white t-shirt, and some basic gray slippers that look like they’ll barely fit. I wriggle into everything quickly, attempting to stand, though it takes me a moment. I’m very wobbly.

“Good job,” the man growls with patronizing sarcasm.

The more my eyes adjust, the more I begin to reallyseehim. He’s quite large, and attractive, with dark hair tied back into a tiny man-bun.

Wait a minute… I recognize him. He was one of the blokes standing beside Dr. Love when I arrived.

I blink as he pulls handcuffs off of his holster. “Up against the wall, palms flat. You move, I break your jaw.”