That night, Alex couldn’t sleep. His mind was dead tired, but his body ached for movement. He threw on a sweater—the night breeze was unusually chill for the season—and headed out in the courtyard.

  He was on his second lap around the Happy Motel when he spotted a tiny orange glow flickering in the dark behind the cafeteria, unmistakably the tip of a lit cigarette. It was a fifty-fifty chance; either Buggy or Penny. Alex hesitated for a moment, weighing his options. If it was Buggy, he’d be in for a long, rambling monologue about conspiracy theories and how Grimm was secretly an alien, a government plant, or both.

  If it was Penny, though… Well, at least he’d get some proper, real-life human interaction.

  Alex decided to risk it.

  He approached from the open, making sure his footsteps were loud enough to be heard over the hum of the freeway in the distance. If it was Penny—and he sure hoped it was—he didn’t want to surprise her. She wasn’t the type to scare easy, but she was the type to carry a taser, and he wouldn’t be the first inmate on the Motel to get lit up for creeping around after hours.

  He was lucky; it was Penny, not Buggy. Judging from the four or five cigarette butts scattered at her feet, she’d been out there for a while.

  “Officer Carpenter,” he tipped an imaginary hat at her. “Stretching the definition of one-a-day quite thin, are we?”

  “Go to hell, Rulin.”

  She was in a rotten mood, even moreso than usually. Alex couldn’t be sure in the dark, but there was something about the way she kept her face turned away that made him think she’d been crying.

  “On my way. Sorry. Uh… goodnight?”

  He was just about to turn and leave, give her the space she clearly needed, when she stopped him, her voice a little softer now.

  “Hey, Alex. Sorry, alright? My bad. I’m just having a shitty night.”

  “Sorry to hear that. Want some company, or should I fuck right off?”

  “Whatever,” she said, exhaling smoke through her nose. “It’s a free country, isn’t it?”

  Alex recognized the invitation for what it was, and wisely refrained from pointing out that, technically, they were in a penitentiary, and his freedom had very much been temporarily revoked. He walked over and settled beside her, leaning against the wall.

  “Can I bum one off you?” he asked.

  “Thought you didn’t smoke.”

  “I do tonight.”

  She stomped out what remained of her cigarette with the heel of her boot, pulled another from the pack, lit it, then handed Alex the pack and lighter without a word. He took it with a nod and did the same.

  They smoked in silence for a while, staring up at the night sky. It struck Alex as weird, how much clearer the stars were out here, away from the city lights. But even then, compared to the dazzling firmament of Elderpyre, it felt like a dim, cheap knockoff.

  It was Penny who spoke first.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “You’re alright, Rulin.”

  “You’re alright too, Officer.”

  “Just call me Penny.”

  “You’re alright too, Penny,” Alex said. “Whatever it is… if talking helps, you can get it off your chest. I don’t mind listening.”

  Carpenter arched an eyebrow.

  “Just because we’re on a first name basis now, doesn’t mean we’re suddenly chums, Rulin.”

  “Alright, alright!” he said, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Just figured I’d offer. You give me a cigarette, I give you a sympathetic ear. Fair trade, right? Good old-fashioned mercantile exchange. Give me another, I’ll do a little dance number for you too.”

  “Nobody loves a wiseass, Rulin.”

  “Then I guess the gypsy woman was right, I guess,” he flashed her a crooked grin. “I will die sad and alone.”

  “Jesus Christ, you’re insufferable,” she said, but there was a twitch at the corner of her mouth; she was close to cracking up.

  “Insufferable or not, I am your favorite inmate, aren’t I?”

  “The other choice being Buggy? That’s a low fucking bar.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  That finally made her chuckle. She flicked the butt of her cigarette into the dark, the ember tracing a brief arc through the air, then let out a long, tired sigh.

  “You are an ass clown, you know that, Rulin? But you’re alright. I needed a laugh.”

  “Happy to be of service.”

  “What’s up with you, then?” she chagned the subject. “Can’t sleep? Elderpyre doing a number on your circadian rhythm and all?”

  “You know it,” Alex said. “I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the whole twelve months.”

  “Twelve months?” she scoffed. “Nobody lasts that long. Except for Buggy. That cockroach could make it through fifty years if it meant not having to be a productive member of society.”

  Alex had to pause for a moment. That was quite the bombshell Carpenter had just dropped on him, but he tried to play it off cool.

  “Careful there, Officer. You’re treading awfully close to NDA violation territory,” he said, arching a brow.

  “And you’re treading awfully close to getting my boot up your butt,” she shot back. “Anyway, fuck the NDA.”

  “Fuck the NDA?” Alex echoed. That was new. “Damn, who are you and what did you do with our Penny?”

  “Fuck Grimm, too,” she went on, picking up steam with every word. “Goddamn double-dealing bastard. What did he promise you to sign you up for this little project of his? Well, don’t believe a word that comes out of his goddamn—”

  Something in Alex’s face must have slipped, betraying his surprise, because Carpenter froze mid-sentence. Her posture went rigid, and her fire flickered out, replaced by something colder. Regret? Suspicion? Fear, maybe? She’d clearly just said more than she meant to.

  Alex, on his end, did his best to keep a straight face. He must have been convincing enough, because Carpenter let out a deep sigh and leaned back against he wall again.

  “Forget I said anything, alright? I don’t know what I’m on about. I’m sad and tired and really, really need a drink.”

  “Want me to go fetch you a beer from the fridge?” Hunter offered. She only kept a few bottles of the alcohol-free kind around, as far as he knew, but she seemed to like them just fine.

  “I’m fresh out,” she waved him off. A lie, and not a very convincing one. “I’ll be fine, Rulin. Really. I’ll just… I’ll just go lay down for a bit. Thanks for the company.”

  “Anytime. You know where to find me.” he said, offering her a small, genuine smile, which she was too distracted to notice as she turned and walked off. “Goodnight! Hope you feel better soon!”

  She didn’t bother to answer or look back.

  ***

  Back in her depressing little office, Carpenter locked the door behind her and collapsed onto the old couch with a heavy sigh. She’d run her mouth too much in front of Rulin, let things slip she had no business saying. Would it come back to bite her? Probably not. Rulin had his own problems, getting his noodle fried in Elderpyre day in, day out. He didn’t seem the type to go tattling.

  And even if he did, what would the old bastard do?

  Fire her?

  There was only one thing that mattered to her, only one thing that she cared about. And Grimm, despite all his promises and assurances, Grimm had still managed to fuck it up. She had half a mind to blow her non-disclosure agreement to high heaven, just to spite him. Just to watch him scramble.

  By morning, she’d have gathered her pieces, put herself back together. Live to fight another day.

  Until then, though, there was nothing.

  Nothing but her, her cursed itch, and the six small pills that were still stashed under a flap of the linoleum behind her desk.

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