Free Chronicles of the Uprising (Trilogy 1): Trilogy 1 by Katie Salidas, K.A. Salidas

staring her down, hands on her hips, positively seething with anger. Not because she was upset that Mira had not answered her yet. That was simply Olivia’s normal stance when dealing with Mira. Rather than stand on ceremony, she continued to lie on her mattress. “I tried to escape. I got caught. I’m awaiting punishment.”
    “Oh, and I wish I could give it. Trust me, you troublesome little leech. Do you know how much that escape attempt of yours cost me?”
    Olivia’s tone was dangerous, but Mira just couldn’t help herself, now that she knew she was in the clear.
    “You’re good for it,” Mira said, not bothering to hide her smile.
    “Oh, I can afford it, but you’ll be the one paying back the damages.” Olivia’s angry voice had suddenly turned wicked. She laughed, and that piqued Mira’s interest.
    She sat up and looked at her Owner. “The usual pound of flesh I assume? Can we postpone the tanning salon until after my nap? I’m a bit tired at the moment.” She knew she shouldn’t have said it, but she just couldn’t help herself. She loved getting a rise out of her Owner – or any human, for that matter.
    “You think you’re untouchable, don’t you? That’s all about to change. You’ll learn a new meaning of the word ‘touched’ soon enough. Well, after you’re prepped, of course.”
    Prepped?
    Olivia sounded as if she were truly enjoying this new devious plan of torture. Mira chanced a glance up to her Owner’s face. A smile, twisted and cruel, met her, and the glint in Olivia’s hazel eyes said that Mira was in for a whole new world of trouble she’d yet to encounter.
    “You got yourself a Patron, dearie.”
    Olivia must have mistaken her gasp as a sign of fright because she cackled loud enough to wake George in the cell next to her.
    He really followed through? Fear was the farthest thing from her mind. She’d service anyone she had to in order to get a little comfort at this point. No, shock had stolen her ability to express anything at that moment. Mira couldn’t believe the Elite had actually followed through. There had to be something she was missing, some angle, some reason. Humans never did anything nice… not without an ulterior motive.
    “And a rich one at that. So, you had better be on your best behavior and do whatever he wants. And I do mean anything that he wants, whatever, wherever, and however. Do you hear me?”
    Mira heard her all right, and more than that, she heard the dollar signs in her Owner’s voice. “He’s called for you to meet him later tonight, so I need to have you prepped and ready.” That brought another wicked smile to her Owner’s face.
    Mira wasn’t sure what being prepped entailed, but it couldn’t be any worse than the lightbox. “Bring on your worst.”
    “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Chapter 7
     
    Escorted by her two handlers, with Olivia leading the way, Mira was ushered to a place referred to affectionately by George as the ‘spa.’
    The inside of the spa was a place Mira had never before earned the privilege of seeing. She’d expected it to look lavish. George had made it sound positively magical, but other than the strange stations with equipment she couldn’t imagine the uses for, the place was just as dreary as the rest of the prison. Flat gray walls, black and white tile floors, and thick steel doors at the entrance and exit. Curiously, there was one door — more like a window — in the back corner of the room that was not steel like the rest.  It was made of a thick pane of glass and led into a small room completely covered in tile, just big enough for a single person to stand in.
    She’d never seen such an odd space.
    The butt of a UV torch hit her in the back. “Move,” the handler ordered.
    A woman dressed in a skin-tight black full body suit sauntered up to Olivia. She looked down at her clipboard and ran a long red manicured fingernail down the page. “You’re the works, right?”
     Olivia smirked at Mira