A pair of bloodshot, wet eyes peered out through the narrow window, grimy, wrinkled fingers gripping the steel edge. At the mention of that name, their owner let out a ragged, exhausted laugh. "My little redheaded whore—what made her remember me?" Maximus clutched the edge of the visitation window, the chains on his hands clattering. "Why didn't she come see me herself? Is she afraid I'll tell everyone how humble she once was before me? Afraid I'll tell my brother how she once begged me to make love to her? Don't worry. I told Black long ago. He knows all of Medusa's little secrets. He even knows which bed she slept with me in."
Crystal's face flushed crimson with rage at Maximus's words. "Don't slander her!"
"Yes, yes." The voice behind the steel door gave a few nervous chuckles. "Do you know what Medusa has planned for you, Crystal? Do you know what she is capable of doing for her own benefit? It seems you really want to know, or you would have interrupted me already... You know, we grew up together. What we had between us is too much for me to lie to you about... Why didn't she come to see me herself? Why did she send a little whore like you to stand before me? Is she planning to buy me off with you, just as she once bought me off with herself?"
"Shut up, traitor!"
"All right, all right." Maximus withdrew his tense fingers, and Crystal felt his voice pull farther away from her. In her haste, she took several urgent steps forward. If Tetanus had not bitten the hem of her clothes in time, she would not even have realized what she was doing. "I'm doing quite well here alone. Even the guards treat me