Read Online The Condemned by Claire Jolliff - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Claire Jolliff
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many as twenty huge cage-type pens. Heavy bars ran from floor to ceiling, allowing prisoners to see out and guards to see in. Each pen looked to hold maybe thirty people inside and they looked cramped and uncomfortable.
As they entered a man at a desk in the centre of the room glanced up from his paperwork and frowned. Alecia assumed that the only thing stopping him from reaching for the gun at his hip was the suit that the unnamed man still wore. He reached up and pulled off the hood. She took the opportunity to study his face.
She had only ever really seen his eyes and they had always comforted her. The combination of bad lighting and panic in her cell had meant she hadn’t really been able to get a good look at the rest of him and her attention had been more focused on looking to see if he were a clone.
She found herself pleasantly surprised by his features. He reminded her a lot of Xavian in that his face had a strong, set quality about it. His jaw was square and looked solid, his nose slightly crooked as though it had been broken at some point in the past. His eyes were a beautiful shade of blue, like she remembered the sky to be when she had last seen it. Dark brown hair stuck to his forehead, matted with sweat from being inside the confining hood. At the back it curled around the nape of his neck in a way that strangely made her want to run her fingers through it.
When he spoke she found her eyes drawn to his lips. His mouth was surrounded by rough looking stubble.
‘Bringing back a Clone.’ He reached out, grabbing hold of Beriael by an arm and pushing him slightly towards the man at the desk who looked uncertain and glanced to Alecia.
‘Who’s the girl?’
‘Her? She’s nothing to worry about, just a Firebug... Hey, why don’t you show him what you can do?’
Leci tilted her head to one side in mild puzzlement, not sure she understood his intentions correctly. He grinned and tipped her a wink. It was all the permission she needed and without hesitation she set the man on fire.
He launched from his seat, his shriek of pain hurting her ears.
‘Fast, shut him up. Now.’ He hissed at her impatiently, watching Beriael as the man scanned the cages of watching Clones. Alecia did as she was told, intensified the flames to scorch the man. He died quickly and his screams were cut off abruptly as he fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.
‘Holy Fuck!’
‘A Firebug! A fucking Firebug, they’ve sent her in to torch the fucking lot of us!’
‘Bastards! You can’t do this to us, treating us like animals!’
As the Clones one by one found their voices the shouts mingled into a noisy mess. Alecia held her hands over her ears and closed her eyes, trying to block out the commotion. Beriael was halfway down the room urgently trying to find the woman they were here to retrieve.
‘SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW BEFORE I HAVE HER BURN THE FUCKING LOT OF YOU.’
His voice rose above the yelling and almost instantly the clamouring clones fell silent. Some stared at the suited man who seemed to be in charge, some watched Alecia with unmasked wariness and a few seemed morbidly fascinated with the smoking remains on the floor. Most of them ignored Beriael, until one woman called his name.
‘Beriael?’
She sounded confused, uncertain and disbelieving. Alecia and her new friend ran quickly to ‘their’ Clone who was reaching through the bars, a woman on the other side wrapped in his embrace.
She was a small redhead, about Leci’s height and build, pretty, with piercing green eyes that seemed even sharper right now than they probably were because they were brightened by unshed tears.
Scanning the pen that held her, the man with the key card motioned for a tall man to come to him. The man didn’t argue, he approached the bars quietly and listened as instructions were given.
‘I need to open this cage. The
As they entered a man at a desk in the centre of the room glanced up from his paperwork and frowned. Alecia assumed that the only thing stopping him from reaching for the gun at his hip was the suit that the unnamed man still wore. He reached up and pulled off the hood. She took the opportunity to study his face.
She had only ever really seen his eyes and they had always comforted her. The combination of bad lighting and panic in her cell had meant she hadn’t really been able to get a good look at the rest of him and her attention had been more focused on looking to see if he were a clone.
She found herself pleasantly surprised by his features. He reminded her a lot of Xavian in that his face had a strong, set quality about it. His jaw was square and looked solid, his nose slightly crooked as though it had been broken at some point in the past. His eyes were a beautiful shade of blue, like she remembered the sky to be when she had last seen it. Dark brown hair stuck to his forehead, matted with sweat from being inside the confining hood. At the back it curled around the nape of his neck in a way that strangely made her want to run her fingers through it.
When he spoke she found her eyes drawn to his lips. His mouth was surrounded by rough looking stubble.
‘Bringing back a Clone.’ He reached out, grabbing hold of Beriael by an arm and pushing him slightly towards the man at the desk who looked uncertain and glanced to Alecia.
‘Who’s the girl?’
‘Her? She’s nothing to worry about, just a Firebug... Hey, why don’t you show him what you can do?’
Leci tilted her head to one side in mild puzzlement, not sure she understood his intentions correctly. He grinned and tipped her a wink. It was all the permission she needed and without hesitation she set the man on fire.
He launched from his seat, his shriek of pain hurting her ears.
‘Fast, shut him up. Now.’ He hissed at her impatiently, watching Beriael as the man scanned the cages of watching Clones. Alecia did as she was told, intensified the flames to scorch the man. He died quickly and his screams were cut off abruptly as he fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.
‘Holy Fuck!’
‘A Firebug! A fucking Firebug, they’ve sent her in to torch the fucking lot of us!’
‘Bastards! You can’t do this to us, treating us like animals!’
As the Clones one by one found their voices the shouts mingled into a noisy mess. Alecia held her hands over her ears and closed her eyes, trying to block out the commotion. Beriael was halfway down the room urgently trying to find the woman they were here to retrieve.
‘SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW BEFORE I HAVE HER BURN THE FUCKING LOT OF YOU.’
His voice rose above the yelling and almost instantly the clamouring clones fell silent. Some stared at the suited man who seemed to be in charge, some watched Alecia with unmasked wariness and a few seemed morbidly fascinated with the smoking remains on the floor. Most of them ignored Beriael, until one woman called his name.
‘Beriael?’
She sounded confused, uncertain and disbelieving. Alecia and her new friend ran quickly to ‘their’ Clone who was reaching through the bars, a woman on the other side wrapped in his embrace.
She was a small redhead, about Leci’s height and build, pretty, with piercing green eyes that seemed even sharper right now than they probably were because they were brightened by unshed tears.
Scanning the pen that held her, the man with the key card motioned for a tall man to come to him. The man didn’t argue, he approached the bars quietly and listened as instructions were given.
‘I need to open this cage. The
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