Cipher Code {complete}

Chapter Twenty Nine: A Busy Minister •EDITED•

Time ticked by slowly and Corey was once again forced to acknowledge the fact that he was the only one who owned a wall clock in the entire nation. He watched the antique second hand move one more step and felt like he was losing his mind.

Clocks are a menace.

Despite what he thought about the offending chronal device, he made no move to burn it down and send it to the waste compacter where it truly belonged. Dawn would have his head for destroying such a rare 21st century artifact.

The woman was more obsessed with that time period than anyone else—the thought of what to gift her for her upcoming birthday gave him headaches. Just thinking about having to scour the history of all the four nations to find a relic made his head pound.

If she comes back, that is. . . Corey pressed his gloved hand against his forehead in hopes of alleviating the pain that sat stubbornly on the edge of his mind.

"If I knew being a minister was so hard I wouldn't have contested in the first place," he said with a vexed tone and bolted the door behind him. But even as the words left his lips he knew that they were lies. He loved his job and the risk to his life was worth it.

The moment Corey teleported into his office he had told Priscilla to inform Lords Estell and Maudlin of his current whereabouts. He didn't need them thinking that he was running away from them. Rumors grew too thick in North and all of him itched to get the entire conversation over with as soon as possible—before the press got hold of the news of the match he had just fought.

"Kathryn," he called, his voice heavy with frustration. He pulled off his gloves and watched static blue twirl around his fingers like lightning. . . Blue, like a bewitching sea of death.

"Sir?" The AI replied readily and snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Show me footage of the match." Corey clenched his fists in hopes of dispersing the charge that floated around his skin. He couldn't believe that this was happening, and now of all times. He was loosing control.

While waiting for Kathryn to play the video, he walked to his desk and started pulling the drawers open.

Where is it?

He dug his fingers into piles of paper, not caring for the fact that they caught on fire the moment he touched them. He flung away the smouldering documents before they turned to ash and after a minute of haphazard searching he found the little pill bottle hiding in the corner of the drawer.

"The footage is ready," Kathryn announced.

Corey lifted his hand and popped open the cap of the palm-sized white container. Without a shred of hesitation he poured all its contents into his mouth.

"Play it." Feeling the burning sensation along his skin subside, he finally slumped into his chair as the pills slid down his throat. His vision had stopped swimming and his headache abated too.

He found it odd that the drug made him feel better so fast. When he had been on his chip, he never got instant relief like he did now. Tablets were even not in production anymore, so how Dawn managed to make so many of them was a mystery.

Out of curiosity, Corey turned the plastic bottle over and read the fine prints on its side.

Take one pill a day. This container contains ten. He spent a moment admiring Dawn's calligraphy, then spent another considering the consequences of overdosing.