Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
I don’t have much choice, so I enter the house.
Inside is a great room that’s two stories high. It’s styled differently than the main house, more of a luxurious mountain cabin with wide logs for walls. Along the second story is a catwalk and books line shelf upon shelf of where the second floor would be. The kitchen takes up the whole of one wall with restaurant quality appliances and a long oak counter with six stools set before it. A heavy dining table inlaid with turquoise seats a dozen and the furnishings in the living area are of a similar style, everything oversized and beautiful. One wall is made entirely of glass and overlooks a beautiful, wild garden. Outside is a fire pit and several chairs circling it as well as another large dining table. At the center of the patio, it looks like a dais has been built. The wood is newer than the rest of the deck and it strikes me. I’m not sure why. It’s wide enough for just a few people and there’s something like a boulder on it that’s covered under a tarp. A garden tool leans against it on the opposite side so all I see is the long handle.
A man who was seated on one of the couches in the living room stands and comes to us, looking me over with eyebrows raised. He’s smiling, though, and doesn’t have the coda anywhere that I can see at least.
“Trae, this is Blue. Blue, Trae.”
Trae nods and looks at Antoine. “You have it?”
Antoine digs the flash drive out of his pocket and hands it over. Trae takes it and moves to the dining table where he boots up a laptop and plugs the flash drive in.
“What did he do to her?” Antoine finally asks. He doesn’t have to say her name for me to know he means Ines.
I swallow at the memory of the woman kneeling, stripping, being lashed while I and at least one guard watched her pain. Her humiliation.
“He whipped her,” I say, looking at the side of Antoine’s face, watching his jaw clench, seeing his hands fist. “He got angry at her and demanded her tears. When she wouldn’t react to him, he slapped her so hard she fell over and still, when she straightened and got back into position, she still wouldn’t give him anything but silence.”
“What did he do at that?” he asks, voice hoarse.
I hesitate to tell him.
He turns to look at me. “What did he do when she wouldn’t give him her tears? What did he take in their stead?” he asks, voice hard.
“Blood,” I say plainly.
Antoine doesn’t speak.
“She’s strong,” I tell him, touching his arm. He looks at it and appears almost confused. Feeling like I made a mistake I pull it away. I clear my throat. “She’s stronger than I would have been, I think.”
He nods. “Survivors only survive if they’re strong. We learn to adapt.”
That’s true. I think I’ve been adapting all my life.
“What happened next? How did you get out?”
“He was getting ready to hit me, the Councilor. He had his arm raised and I closed my eyes. His soldier made sure I couldn’t move. Zeke came in just in time.” I have to smile at this part. “Ines laughed at him. He was so angry, he was fuming, spitting. And she just put on her robe and laughed at him.”
He nods with a proud smile.
“Did you love her?” I ask, purely out of curiosity because there are layers to this man. He is ruthless and single minded, but that’s not all.
He studies me.
“It’s all here,” Trae says, saving Antoine from answering.
Antoine moves behind Trae to look at the screen. He smiles a calculated, relishing smile. “You’ve done well, Blue,” he says, still scanning what is on the screen. “Send the blast.”
“Do you want me to redact any names?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
Antoine doesn’t answer. He simply looks at Trae who blanches, nods. “I’ll do it now.”
“Come, Blue.”
He walks to the sliding door and opens it, steps out onto the patio. He walks straight to the dais, and I follow a few steps behind.
“I paid an arm and a leg, pardon the expression, to borrow it. Not to mention shipping.” He whistles. “Everyone’s an extortionist these days. Insurance alone was over five grand. IVI does not want their property damaged,” he says, stepping up to it, taking hold of the long handle of what I thought was a garden tool and lifting it away, handing it to someone who is standing ready so he can remove the covering on what I assumed was a boulder.
My throat goes dry when I see what it truly is.
Antoine’s smile widens. “I haven’t seen this in over twenty-five years, yet it’s exactly as I dream it each night.” He looks down at the block of wood, the replica he mentioned, I guess. He touches it. Caresses it. The action sends a shiver down my spine. “My own blood infuses it.” He looks up at me. “I said come, Blue.”