Pictures and clips of Lucille play over and between Marcy Hunniesett speaking. Lucille was happy. They show her at charity events and private parties. She was quiet but social and sweet. Lucille took after her mother in personality and fate, too.

  Octavia knew her in passing. Whenever she talked with Lucille, usually briefly at events they attended together with their parents, she found her boring but tolerable and considerate. Her parents found her a minor nuisance but nothing dangerous so allowed Octavia to speak with her. Lucille didn’t deserve to die like this.

  The feed flips over to live footage of Councilman Stickler grieving.

  His wails crush Octavia's heart. "Lucy! Lucy Baby!" The councilman buries his face in his hands. "You better be with your mama now." His fingers dig into his scalp and pull at what's left of his hair. "They'll pay! Every single last one! The Chromies will burn for what they've done to our children, to our families. I'll tear them limb from limb myself!"

  Octavia's chest heaves. Her fists ball. Lucille is dead. Mindy’s death report could be next and Xander when he's 'released'. She herself, too. Everyone could be dead.

  Her voice to be full of rage sticks in her throat when she sees Shard. His growly breaths are audible. His hair is black. The periwinkle in his eyes has turned dark. Tiny whisps of red light his irises like fire. The flames lick the whites of his eyes. A scowl etches deeper into his brow.

  "What the hell did they do?" Shard whispers. "What the hell did they do?" he screams.

  The remote flies and shatters against the wall. The popcorn bowl follows it.

  Propelling himself off his bunk, he smashes plastic under his feet as he lands and punches a hole in the wall's solid concrete.

  Octavia gasps.

  Shard snaps around towards her at the sound.

  Their eyes lock. His monstrous gaze stops Octavia's heart. Any bit of him that once appeared human is gone.

  He grabs the neck of her shirt in both his shaking hands. His eyes burn deep into her as they seem to search for something. Octavia doesn't know what. Cold sweat grows on her brow. Trembles rattle her breath. Shard punching the wall replays in her head. She tries pulling away, but his grip is impossible to break. He pins her to the wall.

  Nickie gently taps the bars. “Shard.” He speaks like one would to a hurt, growling dog. “Chill out. You need me to get Hatchette or one of the others?”

  Without letting go, Shard’s gaze slowly glides over towards Nickie. Nickie shows no fear - only sorrow. Shard’s eyes come back to Octavia. He releases Octavia's stretched shirt.

  "I hope, I really hope you're just stupid." Shard's words are smooth and not loud. "Because if you really know and are not as ignorant as you're playing up to be, damn you. I hope you'll burn long in hell. And I'll gladly be the one to send you there." His flickering eyes linger on her.

  It's the lighting. It's the lighting, Octavia repeats in her head.

  Shard walks up to the cell door. He keeps his eyes on the ground. "Lucy didn't know. She was innocent and ignorant. Stickler loves her too much to involve her. She is just his little princess." He glances at the TV. “Was his little princess…”

  Squad help carry away a screaming, crying Stickler.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Damn it!" Shard kicks one of the cell door bars. The bar bends. "Get me out of here," Shard tells Nickie. "I need a walk."

  The door jams on the bent bar.

  "Move,” Shard says gruffly.

  The guards barely move out of the way before Shard forces the door open. A creak, ring, and slam echo. More bars are damaged, but the door is able to slide open and closed, although it bumps along.

  Octavia hugs her knees. Her life is not as secure as she thought. Maybe if she's lucky, she could end up in the same place as Aurora to be with her once more. She hopes at least as much for Lucy and her mother.

  But why did Shard react the way he did to Lucy’s death? Was it not supposed to happen? Or is he upset that the others haven’t been reported dead yet?

  Octavia tries distracting herself from these thoughts by staying awake for information on Mindy, but the news drones on about Lucille's death. Interviews are done with drowsy, heart-broken friends and extended family. The Chromies are cursed and threatened. The hostages are pitied and feared for. But no updates on Mindy or even Ajax come up. Cheery, cheesy commercials between breaks grate Octavia more than usual.

  As the time of sunrise draws nearer, the news moves to daily events, drama, and political talk mostly about handling negotiations. Occasional reminders of Lucy’s death pop up. The weights on Octavia's eyes get heavier. The moment of accidental sleep she got was brief. No more than an hour she figures. Dizziness forces her to lie down which works for a little while until she has to close her eyes, but she continues to listen to the news. For a moment, she dozes off but wakes up at the sound of Nickie's voice.

  "She's been stayin' up to hear word on her friend and went out not too long ago," he says, "so I don't think she'll give y'all much trouble today. She almost never gives us any trouble."

  A thud and 'oof' come from Nickie.

  "'Cuz she's almost always asleep when you're on shift, idiot," Tam says.

  "Doesn't mean she's quiet. She has a good number of nightmares."

  Tam scoffs. "Like I care. Do you?"

  "Not sure if it's care or curiosity. I mean, we know some but not everything. And I'm not gonna be the one to bring up the past with her. Not my place. Although, I can't help but feel a little bad whenever I hear her cry for Aurora in her sleep. Kinda a shame."

  "I don't think so. What needed to happen to her sister needed to. Yoo allowed it. Aurora Rhinehart is dead. Shard had to know what would happen when he took her; otherwise, he wouldn't've."

  "Yeah. He had to. I wonder if he has similar plans for her. He did take her, too. And this time he's in charge."

  "Don't know. Would be nice if he and the Grounders would share. But in light of recent events, I don't blame ‘em for not sharing. They haven't done any wrong by us despite what the Tarnished think. Those damn defectors don't get Shard plays a different but just as effective game as Yoo did. Let's just hope we can weed all of them out before they start anymore trouble."

  "Don't worry. We'll polish out the Tarnishes. It's easy to tell where Chrome doesn't shine. It can't hide."

  Tam lets out a chuckle. "A poet as always, Nickie."

  "I try." Nickie returns the light-hearted sound.

  "But it's hard for us to help when he's got us watching her," Tam says.

  "You know he chose us to do this because he knows we're not Tarnished and won't ruin his plans. Whatever those plans are."

  "True. I don't like how he still won't tell us what these plans are, though."

  "More than likely it's to protect us. Ya know that's what he does," Nickie says.

  "Yeah. But curiosity's a real bitch, ain't it? Anyways, I've held ya two up for long enough. Marque and I are good. Ya need to get goin' before ya fall out. I know y'all did an extended shift."

  "Yeah. We're gonna crash hard tonight. Good to actually talk to ya for once. Thankfully Rhinehart's out hard enough for us to, and Shard isn't snoopin' 'round and able to butt in like he loves to. Love the man but he's a bit much at times."

  "Couldn't say it better myself. Man deserves all the love and patience in the world, though."

  "So true. Say 'hi' to your little man for me next time ya see him. See ya, Sis."

  "Will do. See ya."

  Nickie and the other guard's footsteps fade away.

  Octavia struggles to not react. Tremors push their way through her skin. Hopefully Tam and Marque will think she's dreaming. She lets a soft moan out of her lips to add to the appearance. Her mind reels with this new knowledge. Forget about using the mask against him. There are defectors within the Chromies? And Shard did lie to her. Aurora was killed by him. And she’ll be dead, too. So if she's going to die, anyway, she's going do as much damage as she can on her way to hell.