“What about him?” Another prisoner, a vampire, hauled Franklin out of the control room where he’d been hiding.

Lena strode toward him. “You opened the cells. That’s a point in your favor.” She paused just long enough for him to open his mouth, then cut him off. “It’s not enough. Not even close. So if there’s anything you want to tell us, anything about the sirens or the researchers or the people running things here that might make me decide not to hand you over to the werebears, this is your chance.”

“Hurry up,” Deb shouted.

Franklin looked at the prisoners, then at Lena, and swallowed hard. “I don’t know much about the researchers, but one of the big shots was through here a couple of days ago for a surprise inspection. Some senator. Keebler, or something.”

My jaw clenched so hard I was surprised I didn’t set off my implanted phone. “Keeler.”

“Yeah, that’s the guy. I saw him at the end of my shift. He didn’t look happy. Whatever they’re doing here, I guess they’re not doing it fast enough for him.”

I was going to check out a copy of Kafka’s Metamorphosis and turn the bastard into a giant cockroach. “Anything else?”

He shook his head and blinked back tears. “What are you going to do to me?”

“Do you know what a geis is, Mister Franklin? It’s a kind of curse. A magical command with consequences if you try to disobey.”

“What kind of consequences?”

“Whatever I want.” I pressed my thumb to his forehead. “When you leave here today, you’re going to drive to the closest news station. You’re going to tell them all about your magical prison here, and then you’re going to confess to everything you’ve done to these prisoners.”

His tears broke free.

“If you lie, your tongue will transform into a leech and crawl into your throat. I’ve never tried this particular curse, but I’d give you fifty-fifty odds of survival, assuming someone’s fast enough to trach you and kill the leech before it goes too deep.”

“I can’t,” he whimpered.

“You’d better. Because if you haven’t confessed within the next twenty-four hours, let’s just say it won’t be your tongue that develops a mind of its own and starts burrowing inward.”

His eyes went to the rip on his shirt where his badge had been. Lena must have torn it away.

“Those badges protect you from external magic,” I said. “They won’t protect you from me. This curse is written onto your skull. Just like Gutenberg used to do.” I shoved him away and turned my back. “Deb, can you erase us from their thoughts? Leave Franklin’s geis and terror in place, though. It’s time to get the hell out of here.”

Loading Pinti6.4.

Hello, Talulah.

Shall we play a game?

Pinti:> bd 192.142.82.1:80