Chapter 9 · Marked Registry - Chapter 9: Don't Touch Me

The door went down on the second kick.

Ella didn't wait for Cain. She shoved through the splintered frame and froze.

Mia was sitting at a metal table. Hands folded. Hair combed. Eyes on the door like she'd been waiting.

"Mia—"

"Don't." Mia's voice came out flat. Wrong. "Don't come closer."

Ella's heart slammed against her ribs. Mia looked fine. Clean clothes. No bruises. But the way she sat there, stiff and still, like someone had posed her—

"What did they do to you?" Ella took a step.

"I said don't." Mia's hands twitched. Her eyes flicked to the corner of the room. To the camera bolted above the door.

Cain grabbed Ella's shoulder and pulled her back. His grip was ice.

"She's flagged," he said. Low. "Red."

Ella twisted to look at him. "What does that mean?"

"It means they're watching." Cain didn't take his eyes off Mia. "Everything she says. Everything she does. It's all getting recorded."

Mia laughed. It sounded like glass breaking. "He's right. I'm a very good citizen now."

"Mia, we're getting you out—"

"No you're not." Mia stood. Slow. Her chair scraped the concrete. "You shouldn't have come."

Ella moved forward again.