Chapter Nineteen
Sabrina.
There are bodies on the ground.
They are stepping over the bodies on the ground. I scan them from where I stand alone on the veranda, trying to verify that none of the frozen corpses buried under the snow are my husband.
A glimpse of him.
That’s all I had.
A glimpse of him in shackles and some kind of collar.
Don’t break, don't break, don't break, Sabrina. Not now. You’re so close. He’s so close. None of them are him.
It was so cold last night. So cold I couldn’t breathe.
I stayed on the veranda until I couldn't stand the surrounding bitterness of that same cold. Once I was in my room, I left the window open so I could suffer with him. But I had a sweater, a thermal, my wool leggings, and socks. I didn’t sleep.
I prayed all night. To every and any deity.
I prayed to Charlie to watch over him. I stayed by the window and surveyed the massacre as it happened.
They used arrows like primitive hunters.
Some had spears. Others simply had large hunting knives.
They were all dressed in black. Some from head to toe and wearing black paint on their faces.
Kane was wearing a balaclava that only showed his eyes.
He had kissed me hungrily in front of the other members before pulling it completely over his face and over that disgusting mouth of his.
And then I had to stand around on this very balcony beside Kane’s grandfather and have small talk—ooohing and ahhing every now and then, agreeing that it was a nice kill.
I’ve never had to swallow down so much bile in my life.
I’m going to ask for a lip transplant after this. Or simply scrub them off with a Brillo pad so I can grow new lips.
I jump when a horn blasts above me. The sun is up now and more people are emerging from the woods. They’re not the Initiates. They’re people that survived.
I hold my breath and wait, counting the people coming through the thicket of naked trees.
One.. two… seven… two more…
And there, in the distance—I choke on a sob—is my bleeding heart.
Even so far away I can feel his dark stare, the one that holds me captive like a straitjacket.
I dip my chin once to acknowledge him and turn away before I break.
I turn away before I launch myself off this fucking balcony and run to my husband on broken legs.
I know they’d shoot an arrow into my back.
But to die in my husband’s arms… not alone…
As macabre as it is, it would be bliss. I run to the bathroom and sob in gratitude, trembling everywhere.
My heart is safe.
But it is not secure.
I cry so hard I make myself sick.
There’s a soft knock on the door and I flush the commode. “One moment, please!” I get up off the floor, brush my teeth, wash my face, and then open the door to the bathroom.
“Oh… darling. Are you sick?”
I gag again at Kane’s darling and turn to vomit in the sink. “Yes, I’m so sorry. I think the lobster bisque didn’t settle very well with me.”
I look up to see Kane holding a hand over his mouth as though me being sick is going to make him sick. “Well, are you feeling better now?”
I brush my teeth again quickly. Once I’m done, I smooth my hand over my stomach and rub the other across my forehead. “A bit. I’m sorry. What a dreadful way to spend the morning, isn’t it?”
He reaches for my hand and grasps it. “It’s no matter. Besides, I suppose I should get used to it. Morning sickness and whatnot when you’re pregnant with my children.”
Projectile bile shoots out of me and onto his chest.
We’re both so surprised we stare at it horrified.
I cover my mouth with my hand. “I’m so sorry!”
“Right,” he says with disgust and scurries out of my bedchamber.
I brush my teeth a third time and then flop onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking of yesterday. Not the massacre but what happened in the morning beforehand.
I was dining in the dining hall alone when the doorbell rang.
The house manager answered, and I swore I heard a familiar voice but with an English accent.
I went to see who it was to find Francesca in a uniform.
Though I was dumbfounded, she pretended not to know me, and I took the hint, forcing the surprised look on my face away.
“Oh, good morning.”
She nodded at me. “Morning. Are you the owner of the home?”
I shook my head and let my gaze travel to the house manager, Weeple. The little older man rolled his eyes at me and left us.
“What are you doing here?”
She kept her voice low. “Rewiring the cameras. Raven found blueprints to a facility underground. We’re trying to get into it.
We’ve been able to case the grounds via drone—thanks to Aleksi—we have an entry point.
Now we just need to figure it all out but we need to get in first." She hands me a small rucksack. “Damon said you’d know what to do with that. And put on your microphone. We haven’t been able to hear anything.
Keep it on at all times. Soon we’ll have eyes everywhere, but we need to be able to hear what’s going on, too. ”
I shoved the little sack between my tits immediately.
“Go away,” she said, “Let me do my part.”
So I did.
I was around the corner when she explained she was with Ironclad and their systems alerted them to a security breach. About an hour later, Kane, looking a bit distraught, found me in my designated room.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“Yes. I just came from downstairs. Everything is in order. Everyone should start arriving soon. I want you to dress your best. I can’t have my future wife looking all… well…” He gestures to me, and I look down at my off-the-shoulder oversized sweatshirt and leggings, then back to him. “Homely.”
My gun is suddenly calling my name from my purse. I am going to murder him in cold blood. Don’t break. I let out a soft chuckle. “Of course, I’ll… get on it right away.” Kane turns to leave me to get dressed so I can wow his pathetic friends or whatever they are to him. “Kane?”
“Yes, love?”
I smiled and played with the hem of my sleeves. “What exactly is going on tonight?”
He tipped his head back and nodded. “Ah, I forget how ignorant you are at times of these matters, darling. No worries. Think of tonight as Darwinism, yes? Only the strong survive the first night, which makes the rest of the games that much more satisfying.”
I hiked a brow.
He sighed. “If they survive the evening, they’ll be fed proper and allowed to rest. Afterward, the next morning, it’s a free-for-all.
Those of the Initiates who caught their prey are to stay for the rest of the week, where we’ll have the branding ceremony at the end of it once all candidates have been slaughtered. Isn’t that fun?”
A ceremony. Candidates. Slaughtered.
I smile broadly and nod. “It sounds like a fantastic time. Let me get out of these garbs. I want to impress everyone.”
He lifts a hand and pinches my cheek before kissing my forehead. “That’s my girl. I’ll be back for you in a few. They’ll be arriving shortly.”
I sigh and turn toward the window as more snow begins to fall.
Kane said Maksim would be resting today.
So I let my eyes close. But it doesn’t take me away.
Instead it takes me back to a snowy void where screams are cut short and the uncertainty is a constant garbled, whirring hum in the back of my mind.
Slight tapping on my shoulder pulls me out of a slumber but it’s the whispered “Duchess?” that makes me spring up quickly.
A new maid with big brown eyes and blonde hair I haven’t met yet is blinking at me. I squint at her. “Who are you?”
She keeps her voice low but sets a large tray with tea down on the nightstand.
“I have to go before I’m found. So I'm going to talk very fast. My name is Alice. I’m a nurse.
I’ve been helping Maksim in the facility.
He’s not there anymore. He’s in the east wing with the others who survived the night. ”
“Can you get me to him?”
“I can tell you how to get there and which room he’s in but not much else.” She gives me quick directions as I fumble for my purse.
I hand her the small sack Franny gave me yesterday. “You’re a nurse. Help him with this. It’s to tag him. I know how that sounds. It’s a bio chip that goes just beneath the surface of his skin, smaller than a grain of rice. Get that in him. Please. It’ll help me find him no matter where he is.”
Without a word, she takes it from me and shoves it into the front pocket of her apron and begins to leave. “I won’t forget this kindness, Miss Alice. Thank you.”
“He said you'd say that.” She grins at me, and then a little louder she says, “Enjoy your tea, ma’am.” She curtseys almost perfectly just as Kane enters the room.
Ergh! Cockwombles.