Jericho starts to laugh. Not an arrogant laugh or a joyful laugh but a broken one, the kind of laugh that’s come loose from the rails and gathers pitch and momentum as it ricochets from dirty corner to dirty corner of the psyche. Jericho laughs like a man who wakes in a hospital bed and learns everyone he loves is dead. He laughs like a child who has to watch her mother die and can’t do anything because she isn’t all-powerful, she can’t turn back time and she can’t undo the sickness rending the flesh. Misery hates that laugh. She wants to push Jericho into the thermally stable water and hold his head under until he stops moving. Shut the fuck up.

Jericho looks at her, eyes rheumy from laughter. “You really—no, I don’t know why I didn’t think—”

He starts to laugh again and Misery snaps. She shoves him and he staggers, enough to lose his footing but not enough to fall into the water. Should have shoved harder.

He looks up at her from the ground. “You want to kill every Heretic? All of them? You should start with me, then.”

She kicks him in the shoulder and he flops, landing with a thud. No resistance. Misery plants a foot on his chest and wonders what would happen if she stomped on him, just crushed his throat with her foot arch or smashed his skull in. Would his flesh split like a normal person’s? Would it be blood that comes out of him, or just ichor? Or—maybe—this is a dream, who knows what could happen? Could be butterflies instead.

Jericho says, “Go on. Do it. I’m a Heretic, you have to kill me.”

“You’re not a Heretic. You’re the voidsickness that I got from Mother. You’re a delusion. But you’re not stronger than me.”

He looks at her, sad. “But I’m not, Misery. I’m a real person. I’m a Heretic, a prisoner like you, except they keep me locked in a cage at the bottom of Angelsteeth.”

“You fucking liar.”

“I know, I know. I let you think I wasn’t real. Like I was one of your delusions. It was wrong of me. I’m sorry. I’ve been here for a long time. You were the first person I got to talk to like a friend. I was so lonely, and you found me through your dreams. Your abilities, whatever they are, let you connect with my mind. In my sleep.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“You don’t believe me? Look around you. This is where I grew up. You’ve never seen it before, have you? Where would it have come from? All these places we meet and you don’t recognize, they’re from Zone Alpha. Where I used to live. Misery—”