The Rain (Part III of the Runner Series)

Chapter 30

My temper blooms and I cast my gaze to the ground, fighting to regain my senses. The Enforcers' hold on me is too tight, the number of Brutes too high. Red presses in and I press back, refusing to let the rage pull me under.

"Leave us." The Madam's command shocks me out of my torment. I look up in surprise, stumbling when my arms are abruptly released and the Enforcers and Brutes disappear down the stairs.

I remain very still, my lips pressed tightly together until the doors slam shut and the Madam and I are left alone in the cavernous hall.

"You have a lot of faith in these restraints." I roll my shoulders to loosen them. "You should know that I don't require the use of my arms to kill you."

"You aren't going to kill me." A knowing smile spreads across her sunken face. "You need me."

"Don't count on that."

"None of you would have survived this long if it weren't for me." The smile widens, a glint in her eye causing my stomach to knot. "For years now, I have been sustaining you and your people. I have brought food, water, life to this desert. But of course," she tilts her head, a silvered lock of hair brushing her shoulder. "You know all that. And you know that what I've already accomplished is a pittance compared to what's coming."

Visions of a storm and rain-soaked hangar flash before me. The Madam chuckles mirthlessly, her voice drifting through the fog.

"I can only imagine your disappointment when you saw the rain. Who could have imagined that a bit of water would be all the protection I needed against the legendary Runner?"

"What is it you want?" I snap.

"Temper, temper." She tuts disapprovingly. "I believe it was you who demanded an audience with me. I would have been perfectly content to let you die down in that vault. That was quite the stunt, by the way. Precious, really that you thought you could destroy my labs using my own gunpowder."

At this she spins around, pulling open one of the desk drawers and withdrawing something from inside it. Registering the object she has clenched in her hand my chest seizes and my lungs constrict.

Tawny's detonator.

"Where is she?" I shout in an attempt to disguise the fear in my voice.

"My insolent ex-employee, you mean?" The Madam holds the detonator up to the light, turning it this way and that. "Don't worry about her. The treachery of your rebel friends will be duly dealt with. I'll even take special care of the coward who alerted me to your plans."

Tawny, Simon, Geoff. Any member of the underground could have betrayed us. Disappointment finds me but not surprise; it was always a risk to trust the Babelonians and I lost the right to feel blindsided by people's cowardice long ago.

"It just goes to show." The Madam muses. "You can't really trust anyone, can you?"

Red flares, making it near-impossible to speak. Luckily, the Madam seems content to prattle on, undeterred by my silence.

"I, myself learned that lesson the hard way." She gestures vaguely with her hook. "Take it from me, Runner. You'll make it much further in this world if you rely only on yourself." Coal-black eyes shift from her prosthetic back to me. "Good advice too late, I'm afraid."

"I wouldn't take it, anyway." I say through gritted teeth. "But if I ever need pointers on how to become a pathetic, lonely old hag, I'll look you up."

Fury sparks and I prepare for the Brutes to be re-summoned. Instead, the Madam straightens in her seat, studying me with a renewed interest.

"You're all so eager to cast me as a villain." She taps her chin. "Tell me, what do I have to do to get you to understand that I'm not trying to hurt you? I'm trying to help you."