I wouldn't have thought it was possible for me to feel even more anger than before, but the sight of Judith towering over me, delighted at my pain and suffering, skyrocketed my rage up to new heights.

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” she said with glee. “Or should I say, how the scum has become scum again. You are where you belong now, Aria: in the dirt.”

I spat in her face. Judith recoiled and slapped me. I tasted blood in my mouth.

“That is ...