"It appears I live to get things. Like shafted by my supposed friends." He tugged on the rope. Synthetic. It stretched a little. He could get the balls of his feet down now. And she was so wrapped up in her own drama, she didn't notice.

"The Oracle gets it, too." Anne turned away and walked to a long table at the side of the room. "She says it's one of my strengths."

With a flourish, Anne pulled back the canvas draping the table to reveal an assortment of weapons, branding irons, power tools and surgical implements.

Keep her talking, Harrison. Keep her talking or your worst trip to the dentist is about to be grossly outdone. He twisted his wrists in the cuffs, but they held. Damn bondage weirdos and their escape-proof fetish gear. "So, what's her game, anyway? I mean, is she working with the Soul Eater or what?"

"Oh, please!" Anne snorted when she laughed. "Do you think I've never seen a James Bond movie before? Right, I'm going to spill all my secrets to you."

"The only reason Bond villains were stupid to spill their secrets was because Bond always got away." Max tugged the rope for effect. "Not like I'm going anywhere."

She cocked her head, considering. "Yeah, okay."

Suppressing a sigh of relief when she dropped a cordless drill, Max gave the rope another discreet pull. All he needed was a little more slack…

But he also needed to hear what she'd tell him.

"What do you already know?" She eyed him warily.

This was where playing it cool would come in handy. He had to act as if he was casually interested in the stuff he really wanted to know, but not so casual that she'd decide to quit wasting her time and get on with the torture. "Not much. Why don't you give me the rundown. It'll kill some time."

"Right, like you don't just want to keep me from carving into you." She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Did you know that the Soul Eater was, like, trying to become a god?"

"Yeah, that was the message your boss gave us. Right before she broke your back? Remember that?" He gave her a sarcastic look.

Anne clearly didn't appreciate it. "Yeah, I remember. Now, do you want to hear the rest of the story or what?"

He inclined his head. "Continue."

"Okay." After a dramatic pause, she did. "Well, you know how she, like, blew up the Movement? She was talking to me for the whole month that I was healing from when she broke my back. I could hear her voice in my head. So she freed me, I helped her pick off a few Movement staffers, and now I get to be, like, her right hand."

"That's great, but I wasn't really curious about your life story here. I figured most of that out myself."