Roman locked eyes with his former teacher. He expected a look of determination, that same fire he always saw behind her eyes. Instead, he saw something he hadn’t expected: a sliver of fear.
“I don’t know,” Roman finally said.
“Perhaps you would be able to kill both of us,” Rafner said with a shrug. “And then you could move through the door, or up through the ceiling. But you don’t know what we have here; you don’t know who is above us, or in the room next to ours, or in the floor below, really. These are all unknown variables to you. You don’t have the power to know those types of things. You’re not a telepath, at least last I checked.”
“No, I’m not.”
“So you may take two people out with you, but you would not get out of here alive. If that idea has crossed your mind, I would suggest forgetting it now. You will not escape if you try, Roman.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I am a forgiving man, and as much as it pains her, Ava cares a lot about you; she has vouched for you since the start of the mission in Ravja. It was clever what you did, really, sending your small doll in to trail Kevin. We would have gotten him eventually, probably through the usage of Turquoise, but that is an unknown variable. So we will consider it speculation. You did what I asked you to do; you accomplished your mission.”
“Thank you,” Roman said, now trying to figure out what Rafner was hinting at, what he was about to say.
He had to be prepared, even if it meant…
Roman glanced at Ava, who was now unable to make eye contact with him.
He swallowed hard.
Even if it meant killing her.
No. He would have to do something else to Ava. Perhaps break her limbs so she couldn’t pursue him. They had access to a healing serum now—he couldn’t kill her. Rafner? Roman didn’t give a flying fuck about the man, but he couldn’t do it to Ava.
And perhaps Rafner was bluffing, perhaps there wasn’t someone waiting for him to rebel. And even if there was, how was the man sitting in front of them so sure Roman would be able to make it through?
Roman had always been a fighter; he had always bitten off more than he could chew. Maybe he would make it out alive.
Maybe.
Roman returned his focus to Rafner.
“I believe there’s only one option here,” Rafner told him firmly. “Well, there’s always more than one option, but only one that will allow us to look past this. Now, you can decline this option, and if you do, you will die here today.”
“Let me go after Margo.”
“Yes, that is one option, but not one I am prepared to offer you, even if I agree that it would benefit the world. She has been searching for you, if you didn’t know already. Margo destroyed the bodega you worked at and killed everyone there.”
Roman felt his muscles tense. “She did?”
“Do you remember the illegal immigrant you were having relations with? The one from the Northern Alliance?”
Roman felt that shame again, as if Ava were staring him down.
“Yes,” was all he could manage to say.
“Margo has killed her and is now using her body.”
“Margo killed Catherine?” Roman asked, recalling the messages he had received.
Rafner nodded.
“But why?”
“Why does Margo kill anyone?”
“Catherine was sending me messages while I was in the West, asking me to meet. Except this time, she was sending them through one of those messaging services.”
“That would have been an interesting meeting for you,” Rafner said. “Anyway, that’s just so you know not to meet with her going forward and maintain vigilance at all times. We’re still contemplating the best way to handle Margo.”
“Why is it so hard to figure out what to do with her?”
“Who says we want to kill her?”
“Come again?” Roman asked.
“I’m sure Ava here has told you that there are things you know and things you don’t need to know.”
“Why won’t you let me go after her?”
“Because we don’t…” Rafner folded his hands together. “Let’s get to what we need you to do. Our motives aren’t what’s important at the moment.”
Roman nodded. “What could you possibly want me to do?”
“You have been to the Eastern Province, and even though you don’t remember it…”
“I get it,” Roman said, cutting him off. “I did something I shouldn’t have done. What do you want me to do?”
Rafner smiled firmly. “We need you to perform another streamlined removal.”
“Shit…” Roman started to say.
“Aren’t you curious who we want you to remove?” Rafner asked.
“Who now?”
“Nadine Under.”
Roman stopped himself from gasping. “Nadine?”
“Your mission has several parts to it. One, we want you to locate Eli the boy healer. If you can locate Lisa as well, that will be helpful, but not necessary. Two, we want you to remove Nadine. We have already attempted this, and we believe it will only get harder from here. But coming from you, a known and trusted source—that should make this assignment relatively easy.”
“Fuck,” Roman said through gritted teeth.
“Fuck, indeed,” Rafner told him. “Handle Nadine, and your transgressions in the East will never leave this room. They will disappear. No record of them, nor will they be used again as leverage. You are the one that is most equipped to kill her, especially considering she trusts you. There is a third component to this: before killing her, we need you to learn what you can about what it is they have done with your power in the East, whether they have been able to reverse engineer it in any way. This may require you going to the East with Nadine. If so, you have clearance to do so. Are there any questions?”
Roman glanced at Coma, trying to hide the frown on his face. Finally, he shook his head.
“Great. You are free to go, Roman. Ava will escort you to temporary housing, where you will find your other dolls. I don’t think this is going to be a very difficult assignment, to be honest. It’s not like you’re going after an exemplar.”
The walls trembled, Roman barely able to stop himself from using his power on Rafner.
“Is there something else you would like to say?” Rafner asked, tilting his head at Roman as the walls stopped shaking.
“No.”
Roman stood, his head still bowed. He walked to the door of the room and tried not to slam it shut behind him.
A message came in from Nadine, and he ignored it.
The end.
Back of the Book Content
Another installment of House of Dolls comes to a close, and there will be one more book after this one.
If you’ve made it this far in the series, please be sure to review the first book.
I’ll wait. Hell, you may even want to go on a review marathon, which I welcome and encourage:
House of Dolls 1 - https://geni.us/HouseofDolls
House of Dolls 2 - https://geni.us/HouseofDolls2
House of Dolls 3 - https://geni.us/HouseofDolls3
House of Dolls 4 - https://geni.us/HouseofDolls4
The reason I ask is because the first book is generally how people gauge whether they’ll get into the series or not. Of course, review this book as well, as that is monstrously helpful.
You may have missed it, but I released a prequel to the House of Dolls series that stars Margo, Orange and a few other familiar faces (no spoilers). The House of Dolls prequel is called Child of Chaos.
Child of Chaos takes place ten years before House of Dolls, during the Western Plague (vampire epidemic) in the Western Province. It is available in print, ebook and audiobook:
https://geni.us/ChildofChaos
I encourage you to read Child of Chaos. It will really make some of the hints in this book, as well as some of the reasoning behind Margo and Orange’s actions more apparent.
It also is my favorite book that takes place in this world, with House of Dolls 4 as a second in that ranking.
Finally, I do have something in the works that is in the same dark vein of House of Dolls. It is called Pilgrim, and it will be released, I believe, starting in the spring of 2020. Think of it as a John Wick Wuxia trilogy heavy on darkness, action, vengeance and killer scenes.
Be sure to look for that.
Thanks for the love and support and reviews. I couldn’t do this, or write books about a guy animating sex dolls without you.
Yours in sanity,
Harmon Cooper
www.harmoncooper.com
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Other Books by Harmon Cooper
I have written over fifty books. Here are some of the highlights!
A man becomes the grim reaper and introduces game mechanics to the role. DO NOT miss this book.
https://geni.us/DeathsMantle
My first cultivation novel about a monk, a bird and a drifter from Massachusetts karmically fighting their way through a world based on Bhutanese, Mongolian, and Tibetan landscapes and literature.
https://geni.us/Way-of-the-Immortals
My best-selling Superhero Harem Adventure about a sci-fi writer and the superpowered women who are trying to kill him. Fun content, adult read!
https://geni.us/CherryBlossomGirls1
A fantasy harem adventure inspired by Pokemon Go!, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and the Persona family of video games. Check out this Amazon best seller!
https://geni.us/MonsterHuntNYC
What if Ready Player One was a multi-part epic? Gritty LitRPG action, gamer humor, fantastic fantasy worlds, and a killer MC.
(This one is related to Monster Hunt NYC)
https://geni.us/TheLoop
If you love dark fantasy, RPGs, Witcher, Punisher, or Mad Max, you'll love this powerful gamer trilogy about a man and his wolf companion.
https://geni.us/LastWarrior
Tokyo, Japan meets online fantasy gaming and South Park-styled humor. Yakuza, goblins, action, intrigue - add this book to your inventory list!
(This one is related to Monster Hunt NYC)
https://geni.us/FICK
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