by A. A. Dark
Metal banged and bounced from the wall as our leader surged through the threshold.
“What the fuck do you want? You better have a damn good fucking excuse for interrupting me, boy.”
“I do. I’m leaving.”
“Leaving where?”
Standing tall, I didn’t back down as he got inches from my face.
“I’ve been issued orders. I need you to sign me out and send the release to Mateo so he knows I’ve gone through the required steps.”
“Document? Right now?”
“I’m afraid so. The Main Master is in a bit of a hurry. I don’t think you’d want to upset him.”
Three’s glare went to the cell, and then back to me. “Why are you telling me this? Mateo would have called me if you were chosen. You were not. The selection was made weeks ago.”
“It was, but that’s irrelevant. I’m chosen now. You can call Mateo if you don’t believe me.”
Suspicion crept onto his face as he grabbed his phone from his pocket. The moment he clicked the button, his expression transitioned to worry. Again, he looked toward the door as he brought the phone to his ear.
“You called, sir?”
“Hours ago.” The scout leader’s loud voice boomed through. It was early. The flight from Cheyenne to Chicago had been a few hours, then the drive, not to mention I had to tidy stuff up at Whitlock before I managed to leave. I hadn’t taken that into account, but I didn’t care. Mateo knew his job, and we were both on the Main Master’s clock.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear my phone. Where you calling about Scout Nineteen? I have him here. He mentioned something about a release paper.”
“Maria Warner! Maria Warner! Help! Help me, please!”
Pleas broke out from the room, and Three reached over, slamming the barrier shut before stomping down the hall. Following, I gave a nod to the guys as they whispered to each other. The girl was as good as gone. She’d never make it to Whitlock. She wouldn’t make it out of that room alive given Three’s angry stride to the stairs.
“Yeah, I know it. Been awhile since I had to get into that folder. I’ll email it right over.”
A curse followed as he hung up. The door was thrown open to the main level and he waved me away without so much as looking back. Shaking my head, I headed toward my room. The wooden stairs creaked under my feet and the fake pictures on the wall drew my attention as I headed up. The family that smiled back was nothing more than for show. Yet, here, in this moment, I questioned who they were. It was stupid, but something I couldn’t push away. My mother had never looked that happy. Not once that I could remember. And the two children sitting by the woman…they were equally as enthusiastic. It was foreign to understand that sort of emotion. Why I had never contemplated it before was beyond me. Why I was even letting it in now was more bizarre. I was so close to making something of myself. Maybe that was the conundrum. I never thought I’d actually stand a chance at being someone within Whitlock. Now, I could.
Footsteps sounded only a moment before Twenty-four broke around the hall. He jerked to a stop, smiling.
“Where the fuck have you been? We had plans to go to Borders last night.”
I rounded the turn as he followed me down the hall. When I opened my door, the desolate space had me coming to a standstill. My room didn’t look like the other scouts. They had tables with weapons strewn out. Some even had posters on their walls. The space I claimed as my own was just as empty as it had been when I moved in years ago.
“Whitlock called. I’ve been assigned to the search. I leave immediately.”
“What? You’re fucking kidding me.”
Glancing at Twenty-four, I shook my head as I opened my closet and began gathering my clothes.
“Do you know where you’re going?”
“No.” Intentionally, I paused before grabbing my suitcase from the corner of the walk-in space. “I did overhear something about Ecuador in the lounge. Maybe they’ll send me there.”
“Fuck.” The word dragged out as he lowered to the edge of the bed. “You know if she’s there…” Silence had me looking over.
“I know. You don’t have to worry.”
“Let’s not play the tough-guys. I’m serious. Everleigh Harper is dangerous. Her men are dangerous. You can’t drop your guard for a second. Not one.”
I threw him a smile as I tossed the suitcase on the foot of the bed.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t be so sure of that. I’ve seen her. I know her. If she’s there and knows you’re after her, you will not be fine. She will kill you, Nineteen.” Twenty-four paused, lacing his fingers as he stared at the floor. “I was a guard for a while. You know that. Well, I was pulling duty when she was accused of killing her first Master. I stood next to the old high leader as Bram Whitlock had him chop off another guard’s hand for hitting her.” He glanced up. “Hitting her…a slave. I knew it then. I knew the Main Master loved her. We were never reprimanded for beating slaves back then. As long as it wasn’t right before auction day, we could pretty much rough them up as much as we wanted. That day…everything changed. Maybe she would have been fine if it weren’t for West Harper. Maybe the Main Master would have kept her in line as his slave. But that didn’t happen. West Harper fucked her up beyond repair. He created a monster bigger than the one living inside him. And now, Bram Whitlock wants her back. Fucking horrible mistake.”
“You really think so? Some of the guards seem to like her.”
As I put my clothes in my suitcase, my only real friend began a warning I knew I needed to heed.
“To confine that woman in a place where she can manipulate herself to full power—power over Whitlock and what it stands for…she’ll change everything. Whitlock will be ash, and so will everyone inside it. Our Main Master is playing with fire. He thinks what he feels is love, and maybe it is, but let me ask you this. Can you love a void and expect it to love you back? Everleigh Harper is a shell. Action is all she knows. Emotion doesn’t reside within that pretty package anymore. She’s dead, Nineteen. She died long ago, and if the Main Master thinks he can revive what once was, he’s mistaken. You can’t keep a corpse and not expect it to rot. She will fester trapped within those walls. At least in the outside world, she’s free. That’s all she ever wanted.”
Chapter 6
Bram
Four days. Four days and not a word on my slave. I was sick with worry. Sick something bad happened and she was hurt even worse. Or dead. And who would tell me if something happened? Luke wouldn’t. He didn’t give a shit whether I knew. He only cared for her, and that filled me with even more fury.
I stared down the length of the large table at my members: Masters Hunt, King, Elliot, Barclane, and Torres—at the men who were Whitlock’s new foundation. I’d brought them in because of their amazing technological connections and pull in the outside world. They promised me Everleigh would be found within days. They were so confident. Weeks upon weeks later, they still couldn’t deliver on their promise.
“So, you’re telling me we had her exact fucking location on Red Island and none of you could track her whereabouts after she took off? Am I getting this right? Her jet didn’t have secret powers or cloaking devices to make it invisible. It can’t time travel. Yet…nothing?”
Hard faces stared at me silently. Master Hunt, my second, opened a file, refusing to look at me. “We have all the satellite shots surrounding the time of her departure. None of the actual island. There’s a block around it, just as there is here. But what we do have—”
“You are the director of the CIA, Master Hunt. You mean to tell me you couldn’t turn off the device blocking the satellite’s signal for…five minutes?”
Light gray eyes shot up to me. “No. We’re all equally protected, Main Master. You know that. I could never, under any circumstance, turn it off. Even if I wanted to, I don’t have that authority or any idea who does. No one was meant to know. It’s a safeguard for all of us.”
“What e
lse do we have?” I snapped.
Barclane took the folder from Hunt, and walked over, handing me the file. There was a small stack of aerial shots: some boats, open ocean, nothing that stood out as a plane.
“What we do know is the plane arrived in Athens hours later. It hasn’t left since. We’re keeping a very close eye on it, but no one other than the pilots got off.”
“So, she stopped somewhere else before they arrived. Have you backtracked their flight so you know where they flew in from?”
Master King nodded, opened his own file, and passed a paper to Barclane, who brought it to me.
“Three stops within Greece and the surrounding islands, Main Master. All three were…strategically placed. The airports were nothing more than a landing strip. Other than locations, we have no video or images of who got off.”
“Of course you don’t.” I glared as I glanced at the different marked dots on the map. Back and forth, I went between the men and the paper. “Everleigh wouldn’t know this on her own. When I find her, I’m recruiting her men. By God, if I ever want to disappear, you all don’t stand a fucking chance at finding me! This is pathetic. I expected so much more out of all of you. Tomorrow, I better have some sort of news.”
Standing, I spun and threw the door open as I headed back to my wing. For all the intel and money I was wasting, I was getting nowhere. My best hope rested on a slave—on the hope that Everleigh took my bait.
The two guards at my door stiffened as I rounded the corner, and I gave a nod as I swept through, heading inside. The quiet interior had me looking at my watch. It was noon—Alvin’s nap time. Ms. Pat would be sitting with him. And me…I came to a stop, closing my eyes. I was exhausted. Sleep didn’t come. It never really did to begin with, but especially not now that my obsession with my slave was out of control. I ached for her. My heart knew nothing but the need to have her back.
Walking into my bedroom, I slowed as I quietly shut the door and made my way to the bedside table. When I opened it, a smile tugged at my lips. Nothing was there. And that’s what left me happy. The lotion and perfume I had made for Everleigh was gone. Once, I told her to wear it and know I was with her. And she’d taken it upon her return. She’d taken me with her. That meant something. It said everything she wouldn’t.
I pushed the drawer closed and stripped off my suit jacket and tie. I barely had three buttons to my shirt undone before I couldn’t resist the urge to pull my phone out and stare at the screen. Collapsing to the mattress, I compulsively hit her number. Voicemail. I didn’t think as I hit the video calling. My entire body froze as it was accepted and Everleigh came in clear. She was sitting with the pillows all around her, and although her hair appeared brushed, she had dark circles under her eyes.
“Slave. I was worried. You never called. How did the surgery go? How do you feel? Are they taking good care of you?”
“I’m so mad at you, Bram Whitlock. If I were in my right mind, I wouldn’t have answered the phone at all. I can’t believe you.”
I pushed to sit against my own pillows as I soaked in her livid expression. She was so angry, she was on the verge of tears. “I only wanted you to come back. I thought if you were drugged, I could explain things better. You’d listen, because you wouldn’t have the choice to argue. I thought I could win you over before we arrived at Whitlock. I never imagined Luke hurting you.”
“I’m pissed at the drugging, but that’s not what I’m talking about. You separated my slaves. You gave the girl to the Dragon. Now, I hear you mean to sell the boy. Do you care nothing for what I want? For human life? Do you know what you’ve done to them?”
“I did what I had to do. Gavin Draper wanted her as the reward. Was I supposed to deny him—a Main Master who turned you in to me?”
“Yes! They were mine.”
“No, they were not. I didn’t have a choice. If you would have just come home instead of going to Master Draper, he wouldn’t have needed a reward. You could have bought them legally through the auction, and I would have supported you buying them. This isn’t my doing, it’s yours, Everleigh. You can’t go behind my back and expect me to give you your way because I love you. You know better than that. You, more than anyone, know how Whitlock works.”
“You’ve condemned those poor kids. You know that, and you don’t care. You’ve never cared about anyone but yourself.”
“That’s also not true.”
“Yes, it is. You say you love me, but you’ve never given me anything I’ve asked for, or wanted.”
“Another lie. I let you leave. And you once wanted me. Do you remember that? You begged me to take you as my slave. Against my better judgement, I gave in. West ruined that, but we can have it again. We can make this work. And if you want slaves, I’ll buy you however many you want. All you have to do is return. Our life doesn’t have to be bad here. We’ll have each other. We’ll have Alvin.”
Blue eyes disappeared behind closed lids and dark hair swayed over her shoulders as her head slightly lowered. The camera was trembling in her hold.
“A part of me wishes that could be true. That I could turn back time and…” A sniffle broke through. “Do you not see me? Do you not see what I’ve become?”
“Oh, I see. I told you I knew who you really were before you ever got on that plane. I don’t care. You know me too. The entire reason I wouldn’t take you as my slave is because I was afraid I would kill you. I’m still fearful of what I’m capable of. But I have to believe there’s some reason things happened as they did. We’re stronger than our demons. We can make this work.”
“How?” Blue eyes blazed as they shot open. “We become a couple, raise a boy who is not ours, and pretend we’re not surround by the same walls harboring the most malicious men on this planet? What if one of them hurts Alvin? What if they try to kill you again? Explain to me how that is a happily-ever-after?”
I pushed higher on the bed and licked my lips as my brain screamed to spout out an answer I knew was fabricated—to say anything to bring her home. I couldn’t.
“Neither of us will ever have a fairytale. We’re tragedy laced with love. Our best hope of happiness is with each other. I don’t expect you to want this life. I know you don’t. But let me ask you this. Do you love me?”
The anger melted into pain as her features drew in. “I’ll always love you.”
“And do you think you’ll be happier out there with who you are now? If I were stop looking for you, and you had no scouts to sate your need, would the world be safe against the Everleigh who can’t stop the urges to kill?” When she didn’t reply, I continued. “We both know the answer to that. You belong here with me. You hate it, but it’s the truth. The place you despise is the only home where you’ll ever be safe. Where you’ll ever experience the love you want. I can give you that. I can love you. I do love you.”
“I don’t want to kill slaves. If you think I’ll ever give in and become one of those monsters of Whitlock, you don’t know me at all.”
A smile tugged at my mouth. “I never said anything about slaves. What I offer is much more your taste.”
Her head rose, and her eyes flickered with interest. “What are you offering, Bram?”
“Your wildest dreams. I think it’s high time we be honest and lay everything on the table. What do you say?”
“I say you’re trying to convince me to come back at any cost. How do I know you’ll be true to your word and not throw me in the White Room the moment I return?”
“You don’t. This is where I ask you to trust me. And I’ll trust you. Can you do that? Can you trust me, slave?”
Everleigh glanced above the phone, only to come back to me. I could tell someone had come into the room by the way her face became devoid of emotion. When the camera moved to rest angled against her propped-up legs, I caught a full glimpse of her silk pajama top and bandaged shoulder. She reached up, taking something from someone’s hand. I knew it was pills when she brought her palm to her mouth and chased them down wit
h water.
“Is there anything else I can get you, Ms. Harper?” A woman’s voice.
“No, thank you. Please tell Luke I’ll be fine and wish not to be disturbed. I’ll call him if I need anything.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
A slight sound of pain came as she shifted and brought the phone back up. From the glimpses I’d been given, I couldn’t see anything that would trigger a possible location. There had been a small section of what looked like a wooden wall, but it could have been the headboard.
“I really hate that fucking name. Harper. I’d almost prefer you to go by Vicolette or Davenport, consequences be damned.”
“Harper is who I am. I earned this name. It makes me happy knowing I killed the man who thought forcing it on me was the answer to all his problems.”
“You were easy on him. He deserved to suffer for what he did to us. Now the woman I love carries a last name that makes my blood boil.” I met her stare, frowning through the raw emotions. “I still can’t believe he married you. I hate that he took something I never even thought conceivable. I was such a fool.”
“You still can be at times. Take right now for instance.”
“…What do you mean?”
Eveleigh’s eyes rolled, and she looked away for a moment before coming back to me. At the slight blush on her cheeks, heat poured from my skin. I wanted her. I wanted her so much, my heart slammed into my chest. I could see the slave in her. See the Everleigh I fell in love with.
“We were talking about being honest. You want to lay out possible terms, fine. I’ll take the bait and see what you have to say. I assume you mean to keep Alvin. To raise him as your heir so he can run Whitlock someday. Am I correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you want us to be together. To be a family. Yes?”
I nodded, unable to stop the excitement at her even having this conversation with me. It seemed too much like my dreams instead of the game we had been playing.