BLAZE The stench hits first. Rot. Piss. Blood. A thousand different kinds of suffering mixed into one suffocating, rancid stink. It clings to the walls, seeps into my f*****g bones. I roll my shoulders, trying to shake it off, but it’s in me now. Under my skin. Fucking Theodus. The plan is to f*****g kill him, release the hostages and go. It’s simple but there are a lot of guards outside and we already made a commotion coming here. It’s not we don’t know what he is capable of—we just underestimated him. I never knew his connection with Nic in the black market but I knew that many hates the f*****g guy too. My fists tighten around my weapons as I step deeper into the dungeon, boots slick with something I don’t want to name. The walls are damp, dripping, like they’re sweating out

