I hissed as the needle pierced my skin. That one sting was it. Would it tell her the results instantly? I wasn’t sure if they’d figure out that I was Amihanna from that one test, but they’d know I was Aunare.

“Okay. That’s everything. Just settle in. It’ll take a bit to process the blood. With the scanner down, the lab’s backed up. You won’t see me until dinner unless there’s a problem with your blood.”

Unless some miracle happened, she would be back much sooner than dinner.

“Okay.” It came out a hoarse whisper, but it was all I could manage.

The sound of the locks engaging barely registered this time. I watched the officer until she was gone from view. The tiny box with my blood locked inside was my death sentence. I wanted to shout through the bars that this wasn’t right. That I didn’t deserve to be here. For her to come back and let me out. Instead, I stayed frozen, unable to do anything but watch as she left. A high-pitched whine slipped from me, and I stifled it as I tried to find a shred of hope to cling to.

I don’t know how long I stayed there, staring down the hallway before I finally made myself move. It smelled like something had died in the cell, but I forced myself to step farther away from the bars and find a space clean enough to sit on.

Everything in Albuquerque was dirty. With the winds and the sand, there wasn’t any way for a place to stay clean for long, but this cell was beyond foul. Black and brown smeared the gray cement walls. Some of it must’ve been old blood, but I didn’t want to know what the rest was. The metal toilet in the corner was splattered with shit. I choked back the bile rising in my throat.

Two metal pallets stuck out from the walls. I perched on the edge of the lower one, making sure not to examine it too closely, and pulled my knees to my chest.

This was so iced. The worst thing that could ever happen had happened, and there was nothing I could do but wait for everything to end. There was a tiny drop of relief in that. No more hiding. I wouldn’t have to be scared anymore because I’d be dead.

The absurdity of that thought made me want to laugh and scream and cry all at once. A whimper escaped before I could stop it. I slapped a hand over my mouth to muffle the sound. Air whistled in and out through my nose as I held my hand tight against my face.

I was a fighter. I’d trained my body for years. I could think of something. But what?