TEN

* * *

She was remarkably calm, most of the time. He supposed it was the drugs they had given her to keep her under control, or maybe the fear. Fear could calm you too, could make you sit quietly and wait for death.

But he had never expected this of her. She had never seemed like the type to give in.

Like he was.

He hated having to feed her, hated it worse when he had to walk her to the toilet and lock her in for thirty seconds so she could relieve herself. Thirty seconds and no more; Warren's orders.

He hated Warren, too.

But most of all he hated himself.

It was no game anymore. They were killers, criminals. There was no more talk about who had been the best James Bond, no more references to the beloved comic books and role playing games that had been his only real friends through high school. Rather it was all talk of the police now, of staying under cover until Andrew could complete his preparations, until they gave Willow over to Geyrz and in return were blessed with powers beyond anything they could imagine now.

She looked so helpless, tied and blindfolded, parting her lips so he could slip the spoon or the straw into her mouth, so she could eat or drink.

Maybe she doesn't want to live, he thought. Maybe she doesn't care anymore.

I know I don't.

Jonathan thought, from time to time, that perhaps he should free her, that they could both escape, that they could go to the police and tell them about Warren and Andrew, about Katrina. But Warren was watching now, all the time, and Warren had traps and security things that Jonathan didn't understand, but that he feared. And more than this Jonathan was afraid to run also because it would be admitting what he was, what he had thought and felt when Katrina had stood there and had poured him champagne and called him "master".

Willow took the straw, drank. He had never spoken when she could hear; none of them had. She had no idea who they were, and wouldn't, until the end.

Don't think about that.

What will Geyrz do to her?

Don't think about that.

What will happen to me?

Don't think. Just don't think. You want to live, don't you?

No.

Not anymore.