Jay gasped awake—not into the damp chill of his tenement, but into sterile lamplight and the scent of dried herbs and ozone. Sweat plastered his shirt to his chest, his throat raw from screaming Tom's name. He tried to scrub the lingering horror from his face, but his right hand was trapped in a grip like iron.
His head snapped sideways, rage flaring hot and instinctive. "Let—!"
The words died.
The woman holding him wasn't a soldier or a faceless devourer. She was… studying him. Auburn hair escaped a messy braid, framing a face that could belong to a baker's daughter – soft cheeks, a smudge of soot on her chin. But her eyes… They were the color of glacier ice, sharp and utterly devoid of warmth. They flickered over his captured hand, his wrist, his pulse point, with unnerving intensity.
And her thoughts, clear as shattering glass, slammed into his mind:
A spike of frustrated curiosity:
Jay froze, the rage replaced by icy dread. Dissection?
He forced calm. **"Could you… let go? Please?" His voice was hoarse, strained. He managed a tight, utterly unconvincing smile.
Lidia's head jerked up, her icy eyes widening slightly, as if she'd forgotten the specimen was sentient. "Oh!" She released his hand instantly, springing back a step with surprising agility. A flicker of something almost like embarrassment crossed her face, quickly replaced by keen interest. She flashed a quick, bright smile that didn't touch her eyes. "Apologies. Fascinating dermal conductivity fluctuations during REM trauma response. Ahem. Lidia. I've been assigned as your current… safeguard." Her gaze dropped back to his hand, lingering. "Could I take a small hair sample? Sterile procedure. Minimal discomfort. Promise."
Jay shrunk back against the rough cot, pulling his hand protectively to his chest. "Lidia. Right. Nice to… meet you? And no. No hair. No samples." He took a shaky breath, pushing down the phantom screams of the Devourer's victims. "Explanations. Not more cult history. I'm full up on secret societies and cosmic horrors. Just… how does this work?" He gestured vaguely at his own head. "The… the noise. The seeing. Powers. Whatever you call it. A decent explanation."
Lidia's eyes didn't just light up; they ignited. That cold, detached focus transformed into the fervent gleam of a scholar presented with a perfect puzzle. "Decent explanations are inefficient! Demonstration yields superior comprehension!"
Before Jay could protest, her hand shot out, not grabbing, but pressing her palm flat against his. Her other hand touched his temple. Her ice-blue eyes locked onto his.
"Observe."
Their eyes rolled back in unison.
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