Chapter 27
elaine
The next day was a whirlwind of activity, getting caught up on the mission situation, as Vera and Petra told us everything they really knew about the situation.
Jenna agreed to work with us as well—she felt loyal to Vera and didn’t want anything to happen to me, either—and Caitlyn admitted to everything she did, poking around inside the database.
“How did you even access those files from within the system?” Petra said, sitting across the control room table from me and Caitlyn, her shoes up on the table even after Vera had swatted them off once.
“The only people who are supposed to have that level of access are Glenn, Quayle, and the administrators.”
“Access is subjective,” Caitlyn laughed. I looked incredulously at her.
“You hacked into the Blackbirds’ database?”
“I grew up with computers. I mean…” She looked down. “Mom didn’t let me go out anywhere. This was all I knew.”
Jenna put a hand on her shoulder. “Things are going to be different now, dear,” she said.
“But it works in our favor,” Vera said. “If you can dig inside the database, we can try to find the Blackbirds’ transit system’s weak points.”
“The transit system?” I said, and Petra nodded like she was just seeing the vision.
“Yeah… that would shut down Horizon in an instant.”
Jenna set out the cups of tea she’d brought in, pouring from the teapot. “There are a lot of crime rings operating around Merona,” she said. “Each with their own strength. The Blackbirds specialize in logistics.”
“Moving shit around,” Petra said. “It’s why Horizon was the ultimate culmination of their work.”
Vera’s gaze was so intense today, flaring up hot with something I hadn’t seen in her before. “But logistics are fragile. If you’re able to identify the interchange mechanisms and tracking systems, we’ll be able to launch coordinated efforts to bring them down, and Horizon is done for.”
Caitlyn sat up taller, eyes shining. “If there’s some way I can help… I’ve always wanted to be able to be a part. To pitch in.”
Petra grinned. “Just not with a gun.”
She huffed. “Shut up, Petra!”
“I’ll work with you,” Vera said. “I’m not the computers specialist you are, but I know what we’re looking for. Petra will handle location reconnaissance. I’ll stay at the house to make sure Elaine stays safe.”
“What can I do?” I said, and Vera shook her head.
“Stay in one piece, that’s what you can do,” she said. “If something happens to you, the whole operation comes down. Stay here, and stay safe.”
I looked down. “I don’t want to just… sit there while everybody else is putting themselves at risk.”
Caitlyn shook her head. “You’ve given enough.”
“It’s true,” Jenna said. “And besides—”
“Ah, shit,” Vera said, and I whipped my head over and relaxed at the sight: the kitten, Clara, jumping up into her lap. I stifled a laugh. Petra didn’t—she laughed out loud as Vera held her hands up, not sure what to do with the cat.
“Dogs and cats living in harmony,” Petra cackled. “How’d you get a kitten to attach to you?”
“She was like that the whole way here, too,” I said. “I was the one feeding her, but she kept clinging to Vera.”
“I didn’t do anything. Why are you on my lap?
” Vera said, but Clara just purred, curled up, and went to sleep.
“Son of a… so, anyway, we’re on duty cracking the logistics.
” She petted Clara absently while she spoke.
“Right now we have the advantage, because they don’t know yet we’ve broken rank.
For now, we play with our cards close to our chest. Everybody on board? ”
We all chimed in, putting our hands together, and my heart jumped when Vera’s came down on top of mine in the center and, subtly, she caressed her fingers over my knuckles, the motion hidden under the next hand.
Unseen. But very, very there.
The music room was filled with rolling piano chords, and I found myself walking in carefully, not wanting to interrupt.
Vera sat at the piano bench, under the dark walls and the hardy, jade-green vines that curled around dramatic accents carved into the furniture.
A jet-black grand piano that Vera poured her heart into, and my heart thumped at the sight.
She was a different woman at the piano. Her intense concentration was focused not on a mission, not on a target, but just on the moment. On the sounds that she sculpted. She closed her eyes in yearning passion as the song rose to its climax, and I watched her with a nervous flutter in my chest.
My wife.
What were we now? She’d married me to kill me, in the end. So if she wasn’t going to kill me…
Her ring gleamed in the low light from the dramatic chandelier.
I thought it looked beautiful on her long, slender fingers.
She finished, the song rolling out to a quiet finish, and I clapped quietly. She cracked her eyes, looking at me.
“I didn’t notice you come in,” she said.
“I didn’t know you ever stopped noticing your surroundings.”
“It’s rare.” She looked at the piano. “Maybe I felt safe for a moment.”
“You play beautifully.”
“Tchaikovsky. It was one of my favorites growing up. My father was a classical musician.” She spread her hands over the piano, smirking at me. “We have a bit of time now. Any requests?”
“I have one I’d like to hear, but I’m worried you’d think it’s too… generic.”
“I’m not playing you Chopsticks.”
“I’ve always loved Moonlight Sonata… my music teacher growing up was one of the only places I felt safe.
She would play it, and I’d sit after hours in the room to listen.
I think she played because she knew I would stay and that I felt safer there than at home…
I know I would do the same for the library kids if I could. ”
She studied me for a second before she turned back to the piano. “Not generic. Classic. And for a reason. Rachmaninov may be stunning, but there’s often more beauty in simplicity.”
She played. I felt tears welling up as I hovered at the side of the piano, those familiar rolling chords, the soft simplicity of the melody…
Maybe Vera was my safe place now. The woman who tried to kill me. My shelter.
My chest heaved by the time she finished, and I wiped my eyes in between clapping. She stood up, and I reached for her arm, just to touch her, but she pulled away.
“Oh… I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“You should be careful touching me,” she said quietly, not looking at me. “I told you I’m a predator. And you’re very tempting prey.”
My heart beat faster. “Vera… I’m not afraid of you.”
She scoffed. “You should be. Have you learned nothing?”
“I’ve learned that you keep me safe. No matter what happens.”
She whipped around to face me, and she backed me up against the piano, putting her hand on the piano body next to me. Her eyes smoldered this close, and I felt like they were piercing through to my soul.
“I don’t think you understand, Elaine,” she growled. “If you give me half an opportunity, I will break you. My body… has been aching for yours.”
My heart jumped. “Vera…”
“Do not say my name in that voice. Do you know how hard it is to restrain myself?” She caressed my jaw. “Maybe I shouldn’t. I’m the one who’s kept you alive. Maybe I should seek some repayment.”
My breath came faster now, my head warm and fuzzy. “I… I do want to be useful for you.”
She bit her lip, desire in her eyes as she looked me over. “You’re fast running out of chances to back out, Elaine. You are tinder kindling, and I am a fire you won’t escape from alive.”
“I’m stronger than you think,” I whispered.
She put her hands on my hips, and I gasped as she started to lift my dress, gripping handfuls of it.
“Then do your part,” she murmured huskily.
“I’ve built up so much tension that needs release…
if you really think you can take it, then take it.
” She bent in and pressed a kiss against my neck.
“I’ll keep you as my personal relief. My toy.
And we’ll see how long you go before you break. ”
“Oh, God, Vera,” I whispered. My body responded to the touch, curving into her. Her personal relief. Kept on reserve to pleasure her, to satisfy her… my body burned with dark, forbidden desire.
She was asking to objectify me. To use me. And my body cried out wanting it.
“Do you think you could handle it?” she said, pulling my dress up to my waist, sliding her hands down my thighs, greedy, claiming. “Do you really think you’ll be able to satisfy me?”
I couldn’t do this. But I knew that she had her weakness… that she had her need for release. And it would keep me safer. To give me a useful purpose here.
My body responded for me anyway, as I rocked my hips against her hands. “I will,” I whispered. “I’ll do everything I can for you.”
“You won’t be my lover,” she whispered, pushing her hands up underneath my dress, roaming over my skin.
“I’m not capable of love. But once this is over…
you’ll be free to go find someone to love you.
And for as long as we’re doing this, I’ll take what I want from you. From your body. Do you understand?”
“I understand.” I spoke in a trance, not knowing a single word except yes.
“Good. Then let’s put you to work.”
She crushed her lips against mine, slipping my dress up higher, over my breasts and up off of me, and my body felt like it would erupt.
I’d had sex, but I’d never done this. I’d gotten close to somebody I loved and cared for, and we’d touched one another to show that love.
But this? Vera’s touch wasn’t that of a lover.
It was the rough, claiming touch of someone who wanted to turn me into an obedient little fuck doll.
And I was going to let her.