Emily finally settled back in her bed, wrung out and exhausted. She had no idea how long the agents had questioned her, but it had to be for most of the day. They kept repeating the same things over and over again, trying to get her to make a mistake and tell them something more.
With Pegasus lying beside her and Paelen’s warning ringing in her ears, Emily had been careful not to deviate from her story. She was just grateful they’d stopped when they had. She was growing increasingly fatigued and had to concentrate harder to keep all the lies straight in her head.
When the interrogation finished, Emily begged to be allowed to stay with Pegasus. But Agent J denied her request. She could see how much pleasure it gave him to say no.
As they tried to draw her away, Emily felt Pegasus stirring. Lying against his neck throughout the long day, she’d grown aware of his pulse getting steadily stronger beneath her. He was quickly coming back to himself. But as he did, she became frightened that he might try to move against the men. If he did anything, she felt certain Agent J would have him killed so they could dissect him to see how his wings worked.
To warn the stallion, Emily threw herself across his neck and started to wail hysterically that she didn’t want to go. When two orderlies came forward to drag her away, she was able quickly to whisper in the stallion’s ear: ‘Please don’t move, Pegs. I’ll be back.’
Continuing with her hysterics, Emily felt him calming. He wouldn’t move. She was finally pulled away from him, settled in her wheelchair and taken back to her room.
29
Paelen spent as much of the day as he could in the ductwork outside the room where they held Pegasus. He had marvelled at the stories Emily told the men. The lies equalled anything he could have made up. For a human, she would have made a great thief.
When everyone had left, Paelen quietly entered the room and delivered more sweet food to the stallion. He was amazed at how much better Pegasus was. He knew it had something to do with Emily. Pegasus tried to hide it, but Paelen clearly saw the connection between the stallion and the girl.
After making sure Pegasus had everything he needed, Paelen headed back towards Emily’s room. He arrived moments before everyone else and waited silently in the air vent. Soon he heard the lock code chiming for her door. It was the same as his.
Crouching back further in the duct, he saw the door open.
‘It’s been a long day,’ Agent J said. ‘I want you to rest. Then tomorrow we can take up where we left off.’
As the nurse and orderly lifted her into bed, Emily looked up at Agent J. ‘I don’t understand. I told you everything you asked me. I don’t know anything more.’
‘Now, that’s not entirely true is it, Emily?’ Agent J said suspiciously. ‘I’m sure there are a few bits and pieces you’ve been holding back.’
‘No there’s not,’ Emily insisted. ‘You said I could see Pegasus if I told you the truth. I did. There’s nothing more to tell.’
‘Emily, you spent several days with the stallion,’ Agent O pointed out. ‘And more than enough time with Diana to know what’s going on and why they are really here.’
As Emily started to protest, Paelen saw Agent J hold up a warning finger. ‘Don’t bother. I know you are still holding back on us. Rest tonight, because tomorrow we are going to discuss everything again.’
Without another word, they left the room. While the orderly set up her dinner tray and rolled it closer to the bed, the nurse helped Emily get her leg settled in the support strapping.
‘If I were you, I’d tell them what they want to know,’ the nurse warned. ‘Those agents are not nice men.’
‘I’ve already told them everything,’ Emily cried. ‘What more do they want?’
‘They want the truth. And one way or another, they are going to get it. But how they get it is up to you.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You can give them what they want. Or believe me, they know ways you’ve never imagined to get everything out of you.’
Emily threw up her arms in the air. ‘How can I tell them what I don’t know?’
‘I don’t know, dear. But by morning, you’d better have more to say or tomorrow could very well be the worst day of your life.’
When she finished, the nurse and orderly left the room. Emily angrily shoved the tray table away from the bed.
‘I would eat if I were you,’ Paelen called softly down from the vent. ‘You do not know when you might be fed again.’
Emily’s eyes shot up to the vent. ‘Paelen!’
The thief ’s fingers gently pushed the grill away from the wall. After seeing him do it yesterday, watching him stretch out his body wasn’t quite as horrifying; though the sounds of his cracking bones still set her nerves on edge.
‘I’m so glad you’re here,’ Emily said. ‘Did you hear what the nurse said to me? They’re going to torture me tomorrow.’
Paelen nodded. ‘I also heard what you told them today when you were with Pegasus.’