by I. T. Lucas
Carol closed her eyes. “I was afraid that with me gone, the sadist would go for the human girls. None of them would’ve survived that level of cruelty. But the attack went well, Dalhu killed the sadist, and all the girls were freed.”
“Dalhu? The ex-Doomer?”
“Yeah. By then, Kian was over his initial mistrust of Dalhu and took him along because he was an insider and therefore could be helpful in anticipating his former comrades’ moves. Dalhu, who held a grudge against the sadist, was delighted to be the one to cut off his head.”
Ella nodded. “Remind me to thank him personally for that. What happened with Robert, though? How come you two broke up?”
“For a while, I tried to repay Robert’s kindness by being his girlfriend, but at some point, I realized that letting him go so he could find his true love would be kinder.”
“Sharon.”
“Right. It didn’t happen right away, and it required some matchmaking on Amanda’s part, but they found each other and the rest is history.” She smiled. “I was so happy. You can’t imagine the guilt I felt for kicking him out. Everyone thought I was such a colossal bitch for doing that.”
32
Ella
“You did the right thing. I can imagine how much courage it took to break things off with Robert and face everyone’s scorn, and I’m sure it wasn’t easy either. People are stupid. They should’ve realized that you were doing it for his own good, and you should be proud of yourself for having the guts to do it.”
“I am. Screw what everyone else thinks.”
“Amen to that.” Ella raised her hand for a high five, which Carol returned, thankfully moderating the force of her slap.
The woman was so incredibly brave. Ella couldn’t imagine what Carol had been through, and the truth was that she didn’t want to. The images Carol had painted in her head were enough to cause nightmares.
Twice in one day, Ella had heard stories so much worse than hers. First Tessa’s, and now Carol’s. Which made three things abundantly clear to her.
First and foremost, this kind of shit happened a lot, and it claimed numerous victims. The village was a small community, and if three out of its female residents had fallen victim to despicable evildoers, then it was a widespread phenomenon. There could be even more women who’d been wronged but who hadn’t told anyone about it.
Secondly, both Tessa and Carol were such bad asses. Carol even more than Tessa. If the entire clan had been mobilized to rescue Carol, then everyone in the village knew she’d been violated, and yet no one thought of her as a victim. On the contrary, they were considering her for some super-duper secret spy mission that she was uniquely qualified for.
And thirdly, Ella was done feeling sorry for herself and hiding in her room. She was going to be like Tessa and Carol. She would hold her head high, look everyone in the eye, and be a badass like those two.
How did the saying go? That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?
Tessa and Carol were proof of that, and so was Ella.
Since she wasn’t dead, not for real anyway, it meant that she was stronger now than before what had happened to her.
As the buzzer announced the end of the session, and Parker’s last target retracted, he took off his headphones and looked at the scoreboard. “Awesome. I improved on my last score.” Turning around, he grinned from ear to ear.
Ella clapped her hands. “I'm impressed.”
“Do you want to go another round?” Carol asked.
His eyes widened in delighted surprise. “Could I?”
She got up and walked over to the control screen. “You’re on a winning streak. I’ll give you another short session. Four targets.”
“Thank you.”
Ella hoped that Carol was giving Parker extra practice time because she wanted to talk about her mysterious mission. That was how their talk had started, but it had veered off in other directions that had been no less illuminating.
When Parker put his headphones back on and lifted his bow, Carol sat down next to Ella. “We have fifteen minutes.”
“Are you going to tell me about the mission?”
Carol tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “So, you know who the Doomers are, right?” When Ella nodded, she continued. “Their base is on some uncharted island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Not even Dalhu and Robert can tell us where it is because they fly people in and out of there on planes with no windows and everyone is searched for tracking devices. Anyway, other than serving as their home base and training grounds, the island is also a high-class resort for the rich and the perverted.”
She smiled at Ella. “It’s trafficking taken to the next level. As far as we know, they buy girls from suppliers rather than carry out the abductions themselves. The place is a giant brothel that serves the Doomer army as well as some discriminating clients. My idea is to get in there as one of their victims and do two things.”
She lifted one finger. “One is to collect information for the clan.” She lifted another one. “And the second is to sow the seeds of rebellion. If I can seduce a high-ranking Doomer and have him fall for me, I’ll have a good start.”
That was the craziest idea Ella had ever heard, and she couldn't understand how anyone was even considering it.
“Are you nuts? Do you know what they will do to you? And how in hell are you going to start a rebellion even if you get some top-level Doomer to fall for you?”
Carol smirked. “I may not look it, but I’m a pro. I love sex, and I have no problem with multiple partners. And as far as having someone fall in love with me and do everything he can to please me?” She rolled her eyes. “I’ve done it so many times. Men are incredibly easy to manipulate, and I’m an expert at it. I know I can start something.”
Ella swallowed hard. What had Carol meant by that? Was she a pro at sex? Or was it more than that? And what did any of it have to do with killing animals and cutting out their hearts?
Then it hit her. Carol had to be capable of killing, and the animals were just the test.
She leaned closer and whispered in Carol’s ear. “Does Kian want you to assassinate their leader?”
“Navuh?” Carol pursed her lips. “That’s actually not a bad idea. He is the glue that holds the Brotherhood together. I doubt any of his sons would be able to do that with him gone. But no, Kian doesn't want me to kill Navuh. He wants me to incite someone else to do it.” She sighed. “But unless we find a way to sneak some form of communicator into the island, Kian won’t approve the mission. That’s one obstacle. The other one is an extraction plan in case things go wrong. Unless he has solid solutions for these two problems, it’s a no-go. And of course, there is the little detail of me proving that I’m capable of killing if the need arises.”
“Can you? I mean when it’s not a coyote?”
Carol nodded. “I’ll kill in self-defense and to defend others. I only have a problem with killing for no reason.”
Ella pinched her brows between her thumb and forefinger. “If the island is a resort, then I’m sure they need staff for cleaning and cooking, right?”
“Yeah. They do. The girls they bring over there are given a choice. They can work in the brothel and enjoy lavish accommodations and lots of perks, or they can do the menial jobs, sleep four to a room, work sixteen-hour shifts, seven days a week, and get no perks.”
“So, if you want, you can work in housekeeping, right?”
Carol waved a dismissive hand. “I’m a trained courtesan. And anyway, how am I supposed to seduce a high-ranking Doomer while working in the kitchen?”
Well, that answered the question about what Carol’s specialty was.
“Actually, I was thinking about myself. I can’t do the courtesan stuff, but I can clean and cook.”
Carol regarded her with a puzzled expression. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“I’m offering a solution to your communication problem. My mother and I can communicate telepathically from anywhere i
n the world. If I’m on the island and she’s here, your problem is solved.”
Leaning, Carol hooked a finger under Ella’s chin. “That’s so sweet of you to offer, but hell would freeze over before anyone would allow an innocent like you on the Doomers’ island. You think that with a face like that you’ll be given a choice? And besides, I’m quite sure that pretty kitchen maids and room attendants are not given the option to say no on that island.”
“What if I’m not pretty? What if I make myself look ugly?”
Carol laughed. “You can try, but even if you succeed, there is no way you’re going. Forget I ever told you anything about it.”
“Why? Why is it okay for you and not for me?”
“Because, my sweet Ella, you’re an eighteen-year-old human girl who’s slept with maybe two or three guys. I’m an immortal who is nearly three hundred years old, and I can fill a couple of phone directories with the names of men I’ve bedded.”
33
Losham
“I have the list of properties you asked for, sir.” His laptop tucked under his arm, Rami stepped out into the backyard. “Would you like me to print them out for you?”
Losham put down the shot of whiskey he’d been sipping on and sat up. “First, let’s see what you’ve found.”
“Very well.” Rami put the laptop on the table, opened it, and then sat down on the chair across from Losham. “Here you go, sir.” He turned it around. “I made a page for each property, including pictures and prices.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Rami.”
Scrolling through the list, Losham smirked. Navuh might have lowered his position (from the mastermind of global intrigue, Losham had been reduced to a pimp and a drug lord), but by doing so, Navuh had lost his best advisor’s loyalty.
Not that he’d been overly loyal before.
The simple truth was that Losham was well aware of his limitations. He might be brilliant, but he lacked Navuh’s charisma to inspire and lead. That was why he’d never entertained leadership aspirations or wasted his time on plotting a revolt against his father.
Losham had been satisfied with being Navuh’s right-hand man and charting the Brotherhood’s course in the background. The game—the planning and scheming and seeing it all come to fruition—was the part he enjoyed.
Navuh’s global agenda was less interesting to him.
Come to think of it, it wasn’t all that important to Navuh either.
Or maybe it was.
Navuh was a complicated man. Sometimes it seemed as if he was indeed striving for world domination, and sometimes it seemed as if he was using this far-fetched goal as propaganda aimed at solidifying the Brotherhood and ensuring the warriors’ loyalty and dedication.
It was the classic ‘us versus them’ motivator that never failed to work on groups of people large and small.
Losham, however, had left that train and boarded his own.
He was still going to supply the island with the high-quality female stock Navuh had tasked him with acquiring, and he was still going to run the drug trade to provide funds for Navuh’s ambitious plans.
But in addition to all that, he was going to accelerate the accumulation of his independent wealth.
The house he’d bought for himself in the hills overlooking San Francisco Bay had appreciated more than twenty percent in less than a year. That was a staggering rate of return.
It seemed that in the United States, and especially in the Bay Area, the best way to build wealth was through real estate.
The funds he’d been allotted to provide accommodations for the new stock of warriors arriving shortly were not going toward renting apartments for them. He was going to use the money to buy a multi-unit property instead, and house them there.
But investing in real estate didn’t mean that Losham had given up on reclaiming his previous position. While the properties he bought were making him money, he was going to search for hot spots around the globe and make strategic plans that would appeal to Navuh.
After all, instigating wars was always a profitable business for the Brotherhood, and if Navuh’s top priority was filling its coffers, then he would be open to suggestions.
Providing the idea was good enough, Navuh might even reassign Losham to a more lucrative spot, like Lokan’s post in Washington, and put Lokan in charge of the drug and prostitution operations.
Except, it seemed that his much younger half-brother had gained Navuh’s trust, leapfrogging over Losham to the position of Navuh’s favorite. To get booted out, Lokan would have to incur Navuh’s displeasure, but that wasn’t likely to happen.
The cunning son of a bitch had always managed to avoid shit sticking to him.
Losham, on the other hand, had been responsible for several recent blunders, and even though he’d covered them up flawlessly, Navuh must have found out somehow. That was probably why Losham was elbows-deep in human refuse, while Lokan was hobnobbing with Washington’s movers and shakers.
But perhaps getting assigned Lokan’s post wasn’t all that desirable.
Moving to Washington would mean leaving the comfortable arrangement Losham had in San Francisco, specifically the lovely house overlooking the bay and his relative independence. Politicking in Washington would also mean more frequent meetings with his father back on the island, which would ruin Losham’s illusion of autonomy.
Even dealing with muck was preferable to that.
“I like this one.” He turned the laptop around to show Rami. “I want to see it. Please arrange for a viewing with the realtor.”
His assistant swallowed. “I know you’ve told me to ignore asking prices, sir, but we don’t have the money to purchase it. Where are we going to get ten million dollars to pay for it?”
“Mortgage, Rami. The building has twenty-two units. We only need eight to house the thirty warriors I’ve chosen. We rent out the rest and pay the mortgage with the proceeds.”
The story Losham had sold Navuh was that the warriors would need good- quality accommodations, and because they had to pose as humans or even students, they had to reside in a building near the university where other students rented apartments. Those were costly.
Navuh hadn’t even batted an eyelid. He’d let Losham have his pick of the best-looking warriors, and then from that selection to narrow it down to those possessing a good command of the English language and reasonable charm.
To capture top-quality females, Navuh had agreed that they needed the most attractive males the island had to offer.
Nevertheless, the bunch would need coaching. Used to either paying for sex or thralling for it, the men were not skilled in seduction. Losham might have to hire someone to teach them.
“The warriors will be pleasantly surprised to be assigned such luxurious accommodations,” Rami said.
Compared to what they were used to, the apartments in the building he planned to put them in were indeed luxurious, even if four men shared a two-bedroom two-bathroom apartment.
It was no less than what he’d promised them.
To ensure the best selection, Losham had to whet their appetites, and the accommodations were the least of it. Instead of grueling training in the tropical island’s unbearable heat and humidity, the men would be seducing women and traveling with them around the globe on so-called romantic vacations.
After he’d dangled that bait, Losham had no shortage of volunteers. The men had fought each other to be chosen for the “Acquisition Squad.”
34
Ella
Breakfast is ready, Vivian sent.
Ella replied, I’ll be out in a minute.
Usually, she and her mother made an effort to limit their telepathic conversations when around other people, but with the excellent soundproofing of the house, the only two ways to communicate through closed doors were phone to phone or mind to mind.
These houses should’ve come with an intercom system.
Shuffling her feet and yawning, Ella got to the kitchen. “Good morning.
” She sat at the counter next to her mother.
Vivian cupped her cheek. “You have dark circles under your eyes, sweetheart. What happened? Did you have bad dreams?”
Leaning into her mother’s hand, Ella sighed. “I did, but not about what you think. I talked with Carol yesterday, and she told me some things from her past. It was very disturbing.”
That wasn’t the only reason Ella hadn’t slept much, though. After waking up with Carol’s screams of agony still echoing in her head, she’d spent the rest of the night thinking about the island and the hundreds or maybe even thousands of girls who would never leave it alive.
She kept agonizing over how terrible it was for them—spending their lives in servitude of one kind or another with no possibility of ever having a family of their own or fulfilling any of their dreams.
Slavery should not be tolerated.
It was irrational, but Ella couldn’t help feeling guilty. She was free, while they had no chance to ever be. Those girls’ only hope was Carol, provided that she could somehow infiltrate the island and cause a revolution before it was too late for them.
The plan was so crazy that even Ella, who didn’t know much about anything, realized that it was more a fantasy than an actionable mission. She’d spent hours trying to come up with something better, but none of her ideas were good.
Well, what did she expect? Smarter people than she had pondered the problem, and she thought to outdo them?
“Do you want to talk about it?” Vivian whispered while casting a quick look at Parker’s open door. “After breakfast, we can go for a walk.”
Ella shook her head. “Carol asked me not to.” She looked at the coffeemaker. “I’m not hungry, but I’d love some coffee.”
Vivian poured what was left in the carafe into two mugs and handed one to Ella. “I know that she was rescued too. But I don’t know any of the particulars. I have a feeling that it was nasty, though. Carol is usually so upbeat and easy-going, but the moment that subject comes up, her expression turns deadly.” Vivian chuckled. “In a blink of an eye, the sweet angel turns into a cold-blooded killer. It’s scary.”