It took what had felt like a minute before she stopped struggling and went still in Seir’s grip. Only fifteen or twenty seconds.

When Seir held her by only one wrist, she didn’t fight. Her eyes were wide, terrified.

“Spit on her,” Seir said.

Rain spat on the girl’s face.

If I’d hesitated even a fraction of a second, he would have destroyed me and said he was justified doing it.

“Give me an excuse,” Seir said. “Fuck up one time.”

“I’m not going to fuck up,” Rain said.

“I’m giving you an easy job,” Seir said. “You won’t have much of a chance, but I think you’ll manage to fuck it up anyway.”

He dragged the girl, jerked her arm when she wasn’t fast enough. Her hand went away from her face to wipe away the spit, and Seir shook her hard.

“Leave it there,” he said. She did. Seir looked back, and said, “Kid, what do you think you’re doing? Open the fucking doors.”

Rain opened the double-set of metal doors. Rain could see within, see the plaza on the far, far end of the hallway, the signs on either side, and the stacked tables and pallets, people walking this way and that, going about their days.

Rain heard a muffled shriek. Three shadowy Seirs hauled the girl off her feet, the fourth holding her hair and mouth.

She was lifted up until she was horizontal to the ground, then forced to the ground.

“Make a sound,” Seir said. “And I’ll kill you. Stay.”

Fingers knotted in her hair, Seir held the hair and let the doors swing shut, trapping the hair there. He stepped on it for good measure, straightening with a grunt.

The man took a chain from around his arm and wound it through and around the door handles, squares of sheet metal, and hauled the chains tight. He rummaged, and a moment later, came up with a padlock. He put it through several of the chains to keep it tight, but left it unlocked.

“You’re guarding the door,” Seir said.

“I wanted to do more,” Rain said.

Did I? Rain wondered. His old self was so long ago, so far away.

“Cry about it. We’re scaring the shit out of them. Step one in scaring the shit out of them is not letting them escape. Got it? Let any of them go, you’re not going to get another shot at being a soldier.”

He reached a hand out for Rain. Rain knocked it away, then backed up a step.

“Don’t disappoint us, boy,” Seir said. “You know how fucking bad it is to disappoint us.”

“The only disappointment today is that I’m left guarding a door.”

Seir snorted.

Black lines flowed up from Seir’s head and shoulders, arcing and bouncing off the wall on their way to the roof.