Chapter Seventeen #2
“Being raped by a necrophiliac will do that to a person,” Mollie snapped.
I held up my hand. “You...you want me to ask Henri to join us?”
Both girls slouched. “Want is a strong word. But...we might need someone who’s above every rule. He can go anywhere he pleases. He can explain away his presence far easier than we can if he gets caught in certain areas—”
“Victor is still suspicious of him.” I tensed. “He might not be as inconspicuous as you think.”
“Then you tell us.” Mollie looked me up and down. “You live with him. You sleep with him. How has he been since his mentor flew away? Has he taken to whispering to you again? Asking you to go along with him?”
My heart seized, hating that her question was so close to my own hope and reminding me all over again that Henri hadn’t said yes.
“Has he hurt you in the past three weeks?” Rachel asked softly.
I caught her eyes. “He hasn’t laid a single finger on me.”
Rachel grabbed my hand. “That’s a good thing, don’t you see? The moment Victor left, he stopped. That has to mean he’s still on your side. That he’s still a—”
I clamped a hand over her mouth. “Don’t say that word again.
Twice is already too much.” I shuddered, remembering my own voice echoing the word ‘cop’ thanks to Victor’s show-and-tell with the video recordings.
“He’s not one. He’s never been one. And I think...
” I swallowed hard. “I think it’s a risk to include him. ”
“You do?” Rachel pulled away from my hand.
I wished it were different.
I wished Henri would return to goodness and light before it was too late, but...I had to be smart about this. I wouldn’t let my heart get in the way of my mind. My heart might be an idiot, but my mind had decided to get these jewels out.
They came before me.
They came before my scrambled feelings for Henri.
I wouldn’t jeopardise them for anything or anyone.
I dropped my arms and nodded. “He’s different. Ever since the night he carried Peter back here, he can barely look at me. He has the worst nightmares. He can’t cope unless he’s reading or typing. He...he isn’t the same man who targeted and claimed me.”
Mollie nodded. “See, Rach? It’s a risk that even Ily doesn’t want to take, and we both know she’s caught feelings she shouldn’t.”
I flinched but didn’t try to deny it.
Mollie continued. “He could tattle on us. We could all be killed by morning—”
“But what he did in that cave,” Rachel murmured, cutting Mollie off.
“The way he looked at you, Ily. Victor has never looked at me that way. In fact, I’ve never seen any Master become completely unhinged at someone else touching their jewel.
Most of the time they just laugh and watch.
He’s possessive of you, and I think...I think if you could convince him that he could keep you, even if we managed to make a dramatic escape... he might help.”
“Keep me?”
“You know...if you agree to stay his no matter where you guys end up.”
I scowled and tapped my collar. “The minute this comes off, I won’t belong to anyone ever again.”
“I’m not saying you will.” Rachel scowled. “I’m saying just make him believe it.”
“Even if he did believe it. Even if I was the best actress in the world and convinced him we have a future together outside of here, he won’t buy it and he won’t go for it.” I shook my head. Hating that truth stung my tongue.
“Why? You’re the only one he wants. He hasn’t touched another jewel—”
“You heard him that day. If he leaves here, his brother will hunt him down. He won’t trade his life for ours. There’s just no way.”
“Maybe not our lives but yours...” Rachel whispered.
My heart skipped.
“And besides,” —she continued— “he and his brother are family, whether they like it or not. And family forgives each other. If you convinced Henri that you’d fallen in love with him—that you’d stand by him no matter what.
That you’d protect him from his brother...
he might help. Not to help us but to keep you all to himself.
He hates the other Masters. He slaughtered two of them that day without even batting an eye.
He shot us, not because he was thinking about winning a game and earning a few more jewels for his twisted pleasure, but so others wouldn’t lay a finger on us. ”
Pressing one of the faded bruises on her arm where Henri had layered both of them in red paint, she added, “Peter was right when he said he saw something good in him. I saw it too. It might’ve only been for a second, but...
no other Master would’ve carried Peter back for treatment.
” Rachel took my hand with a warm squeeze.
“No other Master would’ve gone to the lengths he did to protect you. He loves you, Ily—”
“He what?” I stumbled back. “No, he—”
“I don’t think he realises it himself yet, and I’m pretty sure he’d do whatever it took to prove otherwise, but...I think we could use him to get free...if you think he’s trustworthy.”
Loves me?
Ha!
My insides tangled at the thought.
Henri was many things. Kind in a dangerous way. Protective in a monstrous way. Messed up in every way. He couldn’t even say my name anymore. Couldn’t look at me, talk to me, touch me...
They’re wrong.
If anything, his unwillingness to have anything to do with love was the reason he was here in the first place. Even the offer of staying with him in the outside world wouldn’t be enough to make him rejoin it.
“What if he doesn’t agree?” I asked quietly. “What if he’s loyal to Victor and merely waiting for him to return?”
Rachel shook her head. “I think he’s loyal to you.”
“That’s a lot of thinking, Rach.” Mollie sighed heavily. “Know what I think? I think you’ve read too many romance novels.”
“No. I just have eyes.” Rachel sniffed. “I haven’t been immune to feelings in this place.
Crap, a year into being Victor’s favourite, I truly thought I was falling for him.
So yes, I admit I might not be the best judge of character.
And bringing Henri into our little operation could backfire, but...
you both said we need as many hands as possible.
And I agree. The workload is immense. I want out of here before I’m seventy-five, so...
we have to be prepared to use everything and everyone we can. ”
Goosebumps scattered down my arms.
I hung my head, a confession springing free.
“I admit it’s crossed my mind to ask him.
It’s on the tip of my tongue every night when he looks so tormented and tragic, but...
he hasn’t said much of anything to me since the night of Emerald Bruises.
Each time I try to talk to him, he ignores me and acts as if he can’t stand me.
Whatever you think you saw between us is over and—”
My throat closed up.
God, that hurt.
Admitting that all the cold rebuffs and lack of intimacy hadn’t been because he was sinking into places I couldn’t go but perhaps because he no longer felt anything for me.
“Test him out tonight,” Rachel murmured.
“Test him out?” I squeaked. “How?”
“Seduce him.” Rachel leaned closer. “Give him whatever he likes and make him confess how he feels about you. Depending on his answer, tell him what we’re planning or don’t. We trust you to make the call.”
I shivered. “And what if he doesn’t react the way we hope? What if the man who tried to protect us no longer exists?”
Mollie shrugged. “Then he’ll die with the rest of them.”
My entire body flinched.
We all paused for a long moment, mulling over our separate tasks.
Finally, I whispered, “I know we said we’d try to blow this place up while Victor and the Masters are gone, but...we’re nowhere near ready...are we?”
Mollie shook her head. “Unfortunately, no.” Her eyes glinted.
“But...Christmas is always quiet here. Most of the Masters go back to spend the holidays with families and oblivious little children. Victor will probably be in residence, and I would very, very much like to kill him so...if we plan our siege for around then, we’ll stand the best chance. ”
My mind raced.
I’d been here a month.
It’d been the end of June when I’d gone to Paris with Sam.
That means it’s August.
“So we have four months?” My throat closed up at the thought of enduring another four months in this place.
Then again, Peter had endured five years. Rachel three. Mollie who knew how long.
I could handle four months.
As long as we don’t get caught.
If everything goes to plan, we’ll be free in sixteen weeks.
And if you’re not?
I shut off that thought immediately.
Failure was not an option.
This Christmas, Victor would receive a present he never saw coming. A firework display explosive enough to burn his entire island down. And if luck was on our side and karma kept us safe, he’d never go hunting for jewels again.
* * * * *
“Have you asked him yet?” Peter murmured.
I nibbled on a piece of apricot shortcake May had given us when we’d huddled in the larder’s shadow four days later.
Just Rachel, Peter, and me today. Mollie was busy making wicks in the slave quarters, hidden under her covers.
Faiza had managed to sneak in three bottles of bleach, some pool chlorine, two bottles of pesticide, and even a bag of fertilizer pellets, courtesy of Willem, the gardener.
Our supplies were carefully tucked behind all the pasta, flour, and sugar boxes in the larder.
Peter leaned against the wall, his bandage-wrapped hands not as thick as that first day but still a nuisance. Passing him a napkin to protect his bandages, I gave him the rest of my shortcake.
He gave me a soft smile.
My heart surged with warmth, grateful for the friendship after the chilly few days I’d spent in Henri’s company.
I’d tried to seduce him.
I’d deliberately stepped out of the bathroom and dropped my towel by ‘accident’.
He choked and looked away.
I’d lain beside him and watched him type on that blasted laptop. I’d even touched his arm and sat up, leaning toward him like I had the night I’d been high on GHB.
He gritted his teeth and leapt out of bed.