Her grip tightened on the jug of coffee. Suddenly she didn’t want Z and his friends inside the Flesh Shimmer.
It wasn’t safe for them.
She followed Joy into the dim.
And straight into hell.
Chapter Nineteen
There were rooms—cells—lining the long halls down which Joy took her. Nothing else that she could see. No office, or kitchen, or rec room.
No nurse’s stations or areas for visitation.
Just doors.
The doors had small frames near the tops, which she imagined would slide open to allow for trays of food to be passed through. They would also allow a guard to slide back the closed panels so that he might peer in at the prisoner.
The building was stuffy and hot and smelled of mold, rot, and sickness. Its bare walls were grimy from decades of blood spatters, vomit, waste, and…
“Do I feel obsidian?” Something was weakening her.
Joy tossed a quick, nervous glance around and nodded. “Skyllians are sensitive to it. Lining the walls of the cells keeps the inmates sedated. Obedient.”
She could taste the thick desolation.
Moans and cries and an occasional scream were the only sounds.
“This…” she cleared her throat, trying to speak through the horror clogging her throat. “This is the asylum? What is being done to help these people?”
“These people did not just commit crimes. They have lost their minds and are quite dangerous. Our shimmer lord decided there is no help for them.”
“Why doesn’t he kill them?” She wasn’t being cold—she really wanted to know. Death was surely preferable to being shut away in that hellhole, devoid of sunshine or company or touch.
“He does.” Her smile was not nice. Not even a little bit. “But he does it slowly. He must be respected, or he must be feared. He is our shimmer lord.” She shrugged. “It is not easy. He does what he must for the sake of all his people.”
“That’s some recital,” Rune said. “You sound like a tour guide.” She walked across the hall and slid open a panel. That room was empty. “Why didn’t Dray put guards on me?”
Joy raised an eyebrow. “He is not afraid, Princess. You are in his world and no matter what you do here, in the end you will kill the witch. And that is all he wants.”
Rune approached Joy and waited until she had the deputy’s full attention. “What do you need me to see?”
Joy didn’t look away, but her face darkened and her swallow was audible. “I don’t know what you mean. You requested admittance into the dim. I can only obey you.”
Rune stared for a moment longer, then let Joy off the hook. “Okay, baby. Let’s do this. Lead the way.”
“We mustn’t interfere,” Joy said, as they walked down the grimy hallways. “Those of us who serve the shimmer lord.”
“I got it,” Rune told her. “Tell me about the prisoners.”
Joy pointed at the cell three doors down. “The man inside that cell collected eyes. He felt he had to take them while his victim was still alive, so he could see into the next world. Maybe even use them as a portal. He took fifty-eight eyeballs before he was caught.
“The cell across from him holds a woman who cut the penises off sixteen young men. She rolled the severed organs in biscuit dough and offered them to guests as appetizers. Shall I go on?”
“The ruler of Flesh Shimmer,” Rune replied, “is a man who captures and tortures dozens of men and women before killing them…slowly.” She curled her lip. “He is the same as the worst criminals in this dim.”
Joy pursed her lips. “Are you saying you would not—that you have not—tortured for revenge or to get information or simply because you wanted to? Is that what you are saying?”
Rune stopped walking. “I’m getting some mixed signals from you, Deputy Joy. What exactly do you want from me?”
Joy continued walking. “Our world is our own. Our rules work. If we do not trust our shimmer lords, our lives…” She shook her head. “We must trust our lords.”
“But?”
Joy licked her lips. “I owe him,” she whispered.
“You owe the shimmer lord?”
“No.” Her voice was stronger. “Please. We must hurry before we’re discovered.”
The place was like a creepy, filthy hotel from a black and white horror movie. There was no color. There were no moments when she spotted something and thought, “Oh, that’s nice.” Not even a little bit.
Joy took her to wide stairs that led down to the prison level.
She discovered quickly that it wasn’t really a prison any more than the