“What the fuck?!” Bishop growled with a tremor of fear in his voice while he backed away from the puddle. “What thefuck?” He looked over at me. “Why did that happen?”
“I don't know,” I whispered.
Bishop's face twisted into anger as he stepped around some worktables to get to me. He grabbed me by my upper arms and yelled into my face, “Why did that just happen?!”
“I don't know!” I screamed back. “What was in that other vial?”
Bishop blinked, let go of me, and looked at the man-puddle pensively. “It was magic from a supe with the ability to turn into a virulent sludge. Hmm. Yes, that could be the problem.”
“A virulent sludge?” I nearly shrieked. “And you wanted to meld it withhealing?”
“I thought it would be the perfect combination—opposite magics,” he said stiffly.
“Shapeshifting into poison,” I whispered. “That's not a power of any race I know of. He must have been an Evolved supe.”
“A mutant,” Bishop growled. “Yes, that's what we determined as well.” He stared at me thoughtfully, then snapped. “Take her back to her cell.”
Bishop's guards started to escort me away. They hadn't panicked at the puddle transformation, but the skin around their eyes was tight and their jaws clenched. I wondered what other horrors they'd witnessed.
As we started up the stairs, Bishop added, “And put that Fury in the vacant cell next to her.”
“No matter what you do, I won't help you, Bishop,” I snarled back at him.
“Oh, I've realized that, Amanda,” he said with a smug grin. “But it will be so much fun to watch you squirm.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
As soon as I was sealed in my cell again, Bishop's men had the prison guards move the Fury. They shot him with one of their paintballs first, then walked him from his old cell to the one beside me at gunpoint, staying far out of his reach. He snarled at them, tossing his crimson mane of hair over his broad shoulders and spreading his leathery wings aggressively. Barbed wing tips caught the low lights, flashing like spears. He wasn't a shapeshifter, this was his natural form, and it was just as deadly as his magic. The guards watched the Fury warily as he stepped into his new cell. He grinned at them, baring his sharp teeth, as the door slid shut.
The guards lowered their guns once the Fury was secure and grinned at each other as if they'd just made it through a minefield. They walked away, slapping each other on the back, glad to be alive.
“Hey, you guys missing one of your buddies?” I called after them. “I know where he is. Or what's left of him.”
One of the guards paused.
“What did she say?” Another guard asked in Mandarin.
The one who paused waved off the others as he stared at me. “What you say?” he asked in stilted English.
“Magnus Bishop just turned your friend into a pile of goo,” I said smugly. “He's being mopped up from the lab floor right about now. If you think any of you are safe, you're dearly mistaken. You're as screwed as us prisoners, you just don't know it.”
“Fuck you, bitch,” he said those words just fine.
I grinned. “Go ahead and try to find him. I'll bet they tell you he quit or some other bullshit like that.”
The man narrowed his stare at me, waved the others out, and followed them without another word.
As soon as they were gone, Rain spoke in Dralmarin, “What the fuck happened? Are you all right, Amara?”
“I'm fine. Bishop stole a little of my magic. I won't know how much until this suppression potion wears off, but I don't think it was anything significant.”
“Good,” he said in relief. “What was that about the goo? It sounds similar to the guy I told you about. Were you just making that up to scare them?”
“Unfortunately, no,” I said grimly. “Bishop is some kind of mad scientist. He knew the Americans wouldn't allow him to experiment on supes in their prisons, so he came to China. He's the one who found a way to extract the magic; he uses this big, ball of a machine. He took some magic from me and injected it into one of the prison guards, then added someone else's magic. Bishop was hoping my healing abilities would allow a human body to support supernatural magic. Instead, the man disintegrated in seconds.”
“Seconds?” Rain gaped at me. “Why so fast?”
“I don't know.” I grimaced. “The only thing I can think of is that the other magic was unnatural—it came from a supe who could turn his body into a poisonous sludge.”
