Chapter 9
DAISY
Idon’t know how long I’ve been in this lab, but it must be coming up to eleven hours.
The alarm I set on one of the little magnetic timers I found beeps, jolting me out of the half-asleep state I’m in with my head propped up on the cold metal table by my elbow.
I get up a little unsteadily, wondering if I’m going to keel over. The only thing that keeps me upright is the knowledge that I’m so close. After the past however many hours, I’m on the cusp of my plan actually coming to fruition.
I put the green powder in the mixer with the excipient and set it to run. I glance back at the two guys who are standing by the door. New ones. Must have been a shift change. I didn’t notice when.
‘Can I have a glass of water, please?’ I ask faintly.
Neither of them moves.
‘I’m not trying to trick you,’ I say. ‘I just haven’t had anything for…a long time. I’m very thirsty. And hungry. And tired.’
They ignore me, of course.
The mixer beeps a little while later and I put the powder into the pill press.
I use the manual crank to make a couple, and then peer at them to make sure the consistency is right.
It is, so I press the red button and it starts to vibrate, little green pills rolling much more quickly out of this new press than my old one in the cellar of Wrath.
I stagger to the table and sit down. ‘Tell him I’m finished,’ I whisper, closing my eyes.
I feel myself falling, but I don’t hit the floor.
I hear someone angrily whispering that they should have got me a sandwich, and then nothing.
When I open my eyes, I’m in bed, I think. The sheets are black and slippery, and I cringe at the feel of them.
I sit up carefully, my head swimming a little as I lean back on the high pillows behind me with a groan, my eyes closed.
‘You weren’t lying to me.’
My eyes snap open again and I belatedly see Sauvage sitting at the table in the low light. I’m in the same room as before, the one with the bed cage.
‘No, didn’t lie,’ I breathe.
‘You have slept for hours, chéri. You were very tired.’
I nod and look down at myself, so happy to find that I’m still in my own clothes, and no one appears to have tampered with them, that tears come to my eyes.
There’s a knock at the door and my eyes fly to him, wondering what’s going to happen next. I feel a little better after resting, but I’m so hungry and thirsty and I’m still exhausted.
The door opens and one of the guards I remember from the beginning comes in with a tray. He puts it on the table in front of Sauvage who waves him away.
‘You need refreshment, I think. Come.’
Not needing any more prompting, I scootch to the edge of the bed and let my legs down to the floor. I stand up, gripping one of the posts for a moment before I walk carefully to the table and sit across from the French gangster.
On the tray, there’s a carafe of red wine, and a charcuterie board of cheese, cured meat, grapes, and bread.
I eye it and then look up at him.
‘Please,’ he invites. ‘Eat your fill, my petite fleur.’
I take a plate and put some food on it, observing every rule that Mrs. Tremaine drilled into me at The Heath, mostly because I’m running on auto pilot. I can’t seem to force that usual pleasant smile to my face, though, no matter how hard I try.
While I eat, Sauvage watches me in silence. He offers me wine, but I decline, asking quietly for water.
He taps on his phone and the door opens a minute later, the same guy bringing a bottle of water.
He puts it on the table and I snatch it up, drinking from it thirstily, forgetting my manners until my thirst is sated.
‘You have been to finishing school? Your manners are impeccable.’
My lips turn upward just a little. ‘A tutor. A mean bitch with a little stick to rap my knuckles.’
He lets out a soft chuckle. ‘Do you feel better?’
I nod. ‘Yes.’
‘Good.’ He leans back in his seat. ‘So, you are the chemist. I knew it could not be that idiot, Maverick Shaw.’
I frown at Sauvage, not liking the way he’s talking.
‘Mav is very brilliant,’ I contest stiffly. ‘But I was the one who worked out the problems with the original formula. I made the first batches. I was telling you the truth before. It’s a temperamental drug. Making it requires a delicate touch.’
‘Le toucher de la femme,’ he muses. ‘Where have the Novelles been hiding you, hmm?’
‘An institution,’ I say candidly, tilting my head at him.
He snorts.
My gaze falls on the bed again.
‘Mr. In-charge said that’s your bed.’
‘The hotel is mine. So is everything in it,’ he says. ‘And his name is Thomas.’
I think Sauvage sounds bored.
‘Can I go in there?’
‘Go in where?’
‘The bed cage. I’m curious.’
His brow furrows but he nods.
I get up, feeling much more like myself as I walk to the slightly open door and crawl into it.
‘It’s like a soft mattress!’ I exclaim.
His head is tilted. ‘Oui.’
‘And it’s warm.’
‘The floor is heated.’
I turn onto my back and stare up, then I look at the door.
‘And people are locked in?’ I ask, glancing back at him.
‘That is the idea.’
I turn so that I can see him more easily.
‘Doesn’t seem safe,’ I remark with a frown. ‘What if there was a fire? Someone in here would be burnt to a crisp!’
His lips twitch and I get the sense that he’s amused.
‘There is a way of opening it for emergencies.’
‘Have you been in here?’ I ask him.
‘Not to sleep.’
I raise my brows. ‘Oh.’
I get out from underneath and return to my seat.
‘Have your curiosités been assuaged, petite fleur?’
‘For now.’
‘Are we ready to discuss terms? I would like you to make Envy for me. What do you want in return? I’ve already cut the three…how you say…stooges loose. They are useless to me. I assume you want them out of the deal as well, oui?’
‘No!’ I exclaim, sitting up straight. ‘I don’t want that at all!’
Sauvage raises a brow.
‘You’re not what I thought,’ he mutters. ‘Tell me then. What is it that you want?’
‘I’ll make Envy in that nice lab downstairs, for you and for Mav, Shade, and Blake. They’re my partners.’
‘And you do this out of the goodness of your heart?’
‘Not quite. I need a place to stay. Somewhere to hide.’
‘You are engaged, no?’
I look down at the table and nod.
‘You run from this man?’
I nod again, not even bothering to try to hide it.
‘And your stepfather… He is your guardian. He wants this marriage for you. He is your doting père, no?’
I force myself to meet Sauvage’s eyes. ‘John Novelle makes people see what he wants them to. In reality, he hates me. Always has. He kept me locked away for something I may not have done years ago. He kept me from the people I cared about. Care about. There’s no love lost between us.
He is a liar and a snake and the man he wants me to marry is worse.
Keep my presence here a secret except from Mav, Shade, and Blake.
Ensure no one else can find me and I’ll make so much Envy for you that you won’t know what to do with it. ’
Pierre Sauvage’s eyes gleam as he looks at me. ‘No, you are not what I thought, petite fleur. You are so much more. We have a deal. You will stay at my hotel. You will have everything you need. Food, drink.’ He winks. ‘Your men if you desire.’
I find myself nodding. ‘But they get their money, too. No cutting them out. And they stay safe.’
Sauvage holds out his hand and I take it. He squeezes it a little and my eyes find his. ‘Do not double cross me, chéri. I am a fair man, but I am not weak.’
My eyes narrow. ‘Me neither.’
Sauvage’s phone vibrates on the table, and he looks at it. He rolls his eyes. ‘Speak of le diable. I think your lovers have discovered you are here. They are demanding to meet with me.’
My heart flips. I’m going to see them! All three of them. But just as quickly, my elation turns to dread.
‘How did they know where to find me?’ I whisper. ‘Who else knows?’
Have Joe and Nasty Nurse found me already? I’m out of the chair in an instant, my breathing coming in fits and starts. ‘Is there a way out of here?’
Sauvage stands up, keeping his distance. He remains calm in the face of my panic.
My fingers flex. My body vibrates with the need to run. I can’t breathe.
‘I need to get out of here,’ I stutter, holding my chest where my heart beats erratically.
‘The Bandervilles and the Novelles have no idea where you are, chéri,’ he says slowly.
‘You can’t know that. This was a mistake,’ I mutter to myself.
‘I do know that,’ the Frenchman says slowly. ‘I give you my word that no one shall take you from here.’
‘Your word?’ I scoff. ‘What’s that worth?’
‘More than you’d think,’ he answers smoothly. ‘But tell me, who has done this, petite fleur? Who has stolen your fire and replaced it with fear? Your fiancé?’
I nod jerkily. ‘He—They—’
I shake my head, not able to say the words, my hand finding the Stinger that’s still strapped to me under my clothes and I see Sauvage’s eyes flick down to where it is.
‘I will meet with the Stooges. I will tell them you are here and unharmed. If you wish to see them in a few minutes, ask the guard at the door and he will bring you to us. No one will find you here, chéri. No one would think to look in this place. I will find out from them how they knew to come here, so I can ensure no one else does.’
He comes to stand in front of me, not touching me at all.
‘You have proven your worth to me. You will be safe here, Daisy Evans. Je le promets I promise. Come in a few minutes if you wish to see your amours.’
He nods his head at me and leaves the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
I try to get myself together. I want to see them, I want to be in their arms, but I don’t want them to see how Joe and the nurse broke me in just a few days. I thought I was stronger than that, than them. But I was wrong.
Maybe everything Nasty Nurse said was true.
BLAKE
‘Where the fuck is she?’ I yell as soon as we’re let into Sauvage’s office.
‘Who?’ the smug asshole asks.
And then he smirks, and I lunge for the French fuck.