22. Blue
22
BLUE
I text Rudy as soon as Zeke leaves and he assures me Wren is fine. She s napping. No one has tried to visit her. He also mentions there seems to be more activity with the guards Zeke placed at the center.
I can t sit still and find myself pacing. It ll take a few hours for him to get back. The drive round trip is over an hour as it is. When, about twenty minutes later, I hear a car coming up the drive, I rush to the front door. I pull it open, not sure what I m expecting. Maybe Jericho with news. Two vehicles come into view. The first is a Rolls Royce, the second a van with dark windows. They re driving slowly up toward the house.
Jericho has a Rolls Royce. Is it his? I don t recognize the driver and I can t see the one in the van. It s not Dex, but that doesn t mean anything. It could be the guards Zeke said he d send.
The vehicles come to a stop and the driver of the first climbs out to open the back door.
My heart races. Something s wrong. It s not Jericho. Jericho wouldn t remain in the back seat waiting for someone to open his door. The passenger side door opens as does the one behind that and two men in dark suits step out while six men climb out of the van. They re all dressed in identical suits. It s when I see the blond head of the man who is being driven that my brain puts two and two together, remembering the guards from the night of the IVI charity event. Vaguely, I remember the faces of the Councilors of The Tribunal. I d noted the cane one had held in his hand as he d crossed the ballroom.
This is him. The Councilor with the cane.
And when he looks up at the house and his cool blue gaze lands on mine, I slam the door shut, hear the lock engage and run into the study. The locked door won t keep them out for long. I have no doubt they ll break it down to get inside. I hear their heavy steps, the thud of the cane, as they ascend the stairs. The doorbell rings even as I hear the beep before the door unlocks. How the hell do they know the code to open the fucking door?
Knock-knock, someone, I guess Councilor Augustus, says in a mocking cheerful tone. Anyone home?
Shit.
I open the drawer where I saw Zeke drop the flash drive and Antoine Girard s card. I take both and look around, panicked. I need to hide it because those men he brought aren t here for his personal security. They re here to search the house. The desk will be the first place they ll look and no way I can keep it on me. I m sure they ll search me.
Footsteps approach. Come out come out wherever you are, he calls and it s more terrifying for the game he s making of it.
I hurry to the fireplace and drop both the flash drive and the card into the back corner, covering them with a half-burnt log and ash. I straighten just in time, wiping my hands on the backs of my jeans as Councilor Augustus knocks his cane twice against the door to announce his arrival.
There you are. I didn t realize we d be playing hide-and-seek. He steps inside. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the game, he says, already looking around, taking in the room.
He gestures to his men with a nod of his head, and they follow him inside, all nine of them, and get to work.
What are you doing? I ask as if I don t know.
The Councilor approaches me. Forgive me, how rude. I haven t properly introduced myself although I believe you and I know of each other. I m Councilor Lucius Augustus. He holds out his hand and as I look into his pale face and icy eyes, my mind conjures up an image of a vampire. When he smiles, I half expect extended incisors.
Councilor Augustus raises his eyebrows.
Zeke s not here, I say.
Oh, I know that. Young lady, I can imagine you weren t taught proper etiquette, knowing your father even briefly, but let me tell you that it is polite to introduce yourself and to take a hand offered in greeting.
My… father?
His smile betrays his distaste, and he gestures to his hand.
For some reason, I place mine in his. I don t know what else to do.
He clears his throat, waiting.
I m Blue. Blue Masterson, I say, not sure why because I don t think it matters anymore.
Now, now, you know what I do, yes? I am a Councilor of The Tribunal. Lying is not tolerated in my courtroom and liars are severely punished. It is not something to take lightly. However, I m not unreasonable. Since you re new to our ways, let s try again. Your name is?
Blue Thorne.
Better. I believe you may have something for me.
What would I have?
He gestures to a man who comes over and pats me down. I don t bother to fight him because he won t find anything and better to pretend ignorance.
Nothing, sir.
The Councilor nods. Well, Blue Thorne, have a seat.
I m fine. How do you know my father?
Sit and I ll tell you.
I sit where he points while his men turn the office upside down, pulling out desk drawers and dumping them on the floor, tossing files out of a tall cabinet.
When I turn back to the Councilor, he s sitting with both hands on his cane watching me intently.
I had the displeasure of meeting Lucky very recently. Not twenty-four hours ago. His lip curls. Not a very nice man, is he? He cocks his head, studying me as if he really cares.
No, he s not. But neither are you, I want to say, but don t.
Where is it? he asks.
I furrow my brows. Where is what?
Give it to me and this is over. We leave. You return to your life playing mistress of the mansion. No harm, no foul. I have nothing with you, Blue Thorne.
What about Zeke and Jericho?
He raises his eyebrows. They re grown men. They can handle themselves without your help, I m sure.
This man is evil. I see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice. Hell, I feel the malice vibrating off him.
You want to take your sister and disappear, he continues, gaze never faltering as he scrutinizes me. I can do that for you. The St. James brothers, they belong to The Society. Our rules are different. You are not a part of The Society. I m giving you an opportunity to walk away, Blue Thorne. It will only be offered once. Be cleverer than your father. I think you are, aren t you? Take what I m offering. Give me what I want and walk away.
He s lying. He s selling me real estate on a swamp. No way he s going to let me walk away and even if he did, I won t let him hurt Zeke or his brother. No way.
I don t know what you re talking about, Councilor, I say, my heart racing even as I try to keep my voice level.
He exhales with a hm. Indeed. He turns to one of his men. Maurice.
Maurice looks to the Councilor. Yes, sir.
The Councilor stands, checks his watch. Ines will be wondering where I am. And I mustn t be late for the Atonement hour. Bring the young lady to the house.
I jump to my feet. No.
The Councilor shifts his gaze to me and slowly approaches. I can t help my step backward because this man is a predator and instinct is telling me to run. I don t think you realize who you re dealing with here. I will show you, so you see with your own eyes. He holds his cane up, pointing the lion s head between my eyes as he says the last part.
I m not going anywhere. Zeke will be back?—
Oh, I m sure he ll come as soon as he hears you re visiting. Not to worry. He turns back to Maurice. Bring her. The rest of you keep searching, he tells the room of guards. He makes his way out without a backward glance and Maurice stalks toward me, hands like sausages fisted at his sides, a mean look in his eyes. He takes painful hold of my arm and I cry out.
The Councilor begins to whistle a summery tune as Maurice marches me out of the room. I go because I don t have a choice, but I don t make it easy. The Councilor s driver opens his door, and he climbs inside, still whistling. I assume they re going to put me in the back beside him and I don t know if I m relieved or terrified when Maurice walks me to the back of the van instead. I m full-on fighting but he is unfazed. The Rolls Royce carrying the Councilor drives past, the Councilor raising a hand to wave, smiling, as Maurice opens the double back doors of the vehicle and easily lifts me inside. He cuffs my wrists to a bar hanging from the roof which forces me to lean forward at an uncomfortable angle. There are six restraints, I notice, and two long benches and I wonder what the hell the Councilor is transporting that he needs a van like this.
Maurice closes the door and walks around to the driver s side. He climbs in and starts the engine. I test the cuffs, knowing there will be no give. I wince as they tighten on my wrists when he takes the turn not too gently and I struggle to hold myself in my seat. There are no windows in the back of the van, but I see from the front windshield that the gates stand open, and we drive through. He switches on the radio to a country station and now and then whistles along with the tune.
We drive for what feels like an eternity and I wonder if he s taking me to the compound. If I ll be locked in a cell at The Tribunal building. Would Zeke find me there? But we turn in a direction opposite of the compound to an area I don t know, to another set of gates and another estate set on private grounds. We pull to a stop behind the Rolls Royce and Maurice opens the back of the van, reaches in to unhook the cuffs from the beam and keeping them around my wrists, he wraps an arm around my waist to lift me out.
Let me go, you fucking asshole!
He doesn t and as he carries me toward the house, I see the Councilor disappear inside. Maurice gives me a sharp tug when I manage to kick his shin. Again, my struggles don t seem to impact him at all as he follows the Councilor up the stairs to the second floor, and down a hallway. He s still whistling, that bastard. He opens the double doors at the end of the hallway and when Maurice steps inside, I quiet because we re in a large, circular bedroom with a king size bed against the far wall, opulent bedding matches the window coverings in shades of white and beige, the sun shining in through the five windows bright. It s a beautiful room. A very feminine room.
I realize why a moment later when a woman who looks vaguely familiar steps out of what I guess is the bathroom.
Ines. The Councilor checks his watch, sets his cane aside to remove his bespoke jacket. He drapes it over the back of a chair. You re late.
I needed to use the bathroom, Ines says, her glance landing on me. I realize who she is. Why she s familiar. It s the woman from the photos who was standing between the Councilor and Antoine Girard. Councilor Augustus s wife.
Well, I ll take that into account. This, my dear, is Blue Thorne. Fitting name. He mutters that last part. And today she will bear witness to your Atonement.
Ines s eyes flash back to his. Why?
Excuse me? he asks, sounding astonished.
She stands with her hands on the belt of her robe.
You were saying, darling? the Councilor asks, cocking his head as if he really is curious.
Nothing. Of course. As you wish.
Maurice, he starts, turning to face us. He sees my wrists are still bound and acts like this is an affront to him. Unbind her. She is a guest.
Yes, sir.
My wrists are freed, but I don t run. I don t do anything. I don t know what the hell is about to happen, but I know I will need to see it through.
Place that chair where Blue can have the best possible view.
Maurice moves around me and carries a chair to place it at the foot of the bed. He stands behind it.
Ines.
At the Councilor s word, Ines moves to the small, circular carpet set at the very center of the room and kneels facing the bed. She picks up the long, thin switch which I hadn t noticed was on the carpet, bows her head down, sets her elbows beside her head and holds the whip in offering.
She s lovely like this, isn t she? Councilor Augustus asks, dragging his gaze from his wife s prostrated body to me. My throat goes dry. He s going to whip her and he s going to make me watch. Blue, if you will. The Councilor gestures for me to have a seat.
I don t want to stay.
I m afraid walking away is no longer an option. If I need to ask Maurice to take you to the chair, Ines will pay the price. He begins to roll up his right shirt sleeve. Once it s folded to his elbow, he raises his eyebrows to me.
Leaden legs carry me across to that chair and I take a seat. Maurice sets his hands on my shoulders, and I grip the edges of the chair.
The Councilor walks to his wife and takes the whip from her hands. She straightens, looks at me as she undoes the belt that holds her robe closed and pushes it off her shoulders. She s naked beneath and I realize why her hair is up when she leans forward to offer her back to her husband.
Lovely, he says, turning a circle around her. It took us a while to get here, didn t it, Ines, but my wife has learned her place and on the appointed day and hour, her Hour of Atonement I like to call it, she kneels and offers her body for correction, don t you, darling? he asks, striking her shoulders, making her and me gasp.
Silence. You know better.
She nods, bows her head.
No. For this week s session, I want you to look at our guest. Maurice, you ll tell me if my wife breaks eye contact. Blue, if you close your eyes or look away, I start at one, understand?
I nod.
Shall we begin?
He does. And I watch, my eyes tearing for the woman, my hands gripping the edges of the chair hard as I watch Ines s face, see her struggle to keep silent, to not cry as her husband, his control tight, punishes her for what sins I do not know.
I didn t miss the little joke you and Antoine shared last night, he says, his focus entirely on his wife, his strokes growing harder as she fidgets, as her hands turn to fists and she struggles to remain still.
I want to look away, to close my eyes, but I know she ll be punished for it and for as dry as her eyes remain, mine flow over and I lose count of the punishment.
Tell me, did you like his kiss on your cheek? I saw you flush red. You re still a whore, you know that? he barks, striking so hard the switch breaks across her back. She cries out, falling forward. He grins an evil grin at the sound. He walks around to see her face as she resumes her position. Still no tears, wife?
She looks at him, the hate in her eyes unhidden. She doesn t answer and her quiet only enrages him. He slaps her so hard that she falls over.
I turn away but Maurice grabs my face with his meaty hands and forces me to look.
I want tears, Ines. I want your goddamned tears.
She gets back up on her knees and stares up at him, her jaw set. That s it. No words. No emotion. And definitely no tears. She s getting strength from this. From his hate.
Blood it is then. Have it your way. He walks behind her, undoing his belt and pulling it from its loops. I see her brace herself as she locks eyes with me and when he lays into her, when he tells her to lift her hips and bury her face in the carpet, she turns her head, so she holds my gaze and as I see drops of blood fall from her thigh into the pristine white carpet, I watch her swallow back her tears, her pain.
I hate him. I want to kill him. And all I can do is sit here and watch, Maurice s grip not allowing me to move.
The Councilor is grunting with the effort now, cursing. The bedroom door opens but he must not hear because he doesn t stop the beating. I recognize one of the men who was searching the house. Maurice gets the Councilor s attention. His hair is out of place and sweat drips from his forehead as he turns to face the man.
Nothing, sir.
When he looks back at me, he is fuming, snarling. He stalks toward me, and I lean so far in my chair the back of my head is pressed into Maurice s stomach.
Where. Is. It? he screams.
In my periphery I see his wife straighten. I don t break eye contact with him. With this monster.
I don t know what you re talking about, I hiss, taking my cue from her.
Ines grins. I see it. She must have been suffering his wrath for all the years of their marriage. If she can stay steadfast and strong, I must.
He raises his arm, preparing to slap me. Maurice presses on my shoulders and as Councilor Augustus brings his arm down, I close my eyes, turn my face, instinct taking over.
But the slap never comes. Instead, a commotion of voices, of screams to get the hell out of the way has me open my eyes just as Zeke hurls himself into the room and at Councilor Augustus, grabbing his arm mid-air and wrenching him away, throwing him against the wall.
Maurice releases me and he and another soldier grab Zeke, but I can see the damage is done, the Councilor is caught off guard, unprepared, I suppose, for this breach of his property.
You touch her, you fucking lay a hand on her, and I will fucking bury you! Zeke roars.
I m on my feet, going to Zeke, stepping between him and Augustus because all those men that were at the house are now here, filing into the room, closing in on him.
I m okay, Zeke. Zeke? Look at me.
It takes him a long, long time to do it. To drag his gaze from the monster to me, the rage in his eyes a fucking inferno.
Get the hell off me. He tugs free of the men and cups my face, searching my eyes before we all turn to the door, to the next impossibility.
I gasp.
Zeke pulls me to him as the Councilor peels himself from the wall and turns to the man entering. He pushes his hair back, but it s ruined, his perfect coif destroyed when he beat his wife.
Lucky Thorne, the Councilor says.
My father only has eyes for me, though. My heart races and my hands are fists at my sides. Because what I see is the man who broke my sister. Who beat her, would have drowned her. The man who destroyed her life.
Well, Little Blue Rabbit. It s good to see you, sweetheart.
I would charge him if Zeke weren t holding me back. I d carve out his eyes with my fingernails.
You have it. You have the laptop, Zeke says to the Councilor who turns to him. You fucking come near her again, and I will fucking put you in the ground, Councilor or not.
He keeps a tight arm around me as he walks us to the door and I glance back at Ines, still kneeling on the floor, her robe tied around her, watching, a grin spreading across her face before her laughter rings out, the unhinged laughter of a mad woman.
Get the fuck out of my way, Zeke tells the soldiers.
Let them go, the Councilor calls and they do, and Zeke moves us quickly through the house and out to where Dex is waiting, the car idling.
Without a look back, he opens the back door and helps me in then climbs in after me and we take off. Did he hurt you?
I shake my head. He made me watch as he beat his wife. He s a sick bastard, Zeke. I wipe my eyes at the memory.
Zeke s jaw tightens.
But wait, I start. The computer… There are no files on it.
It ll take him a little while to figure that out. But we don t have much time.
My father, I say.
He looks at me. I wanted to kill him. I will. I promise. But it was a trap to get me out of the house. So, I trapped Augustus. At least temporarily.
What now?
What now? You really have to ask? Now I get you on a plane out of the country and out of reach.