CHAPTER SEVEN
Our captor opened the back door in the death room, ushering me into a pitch-black hallway, the only light from the room behind us. My lips pinched as I walked in front of him on shaky legs and stopped at another door. He reached around me to the doorknob and opened it, still holding Megan over his shoulder, her butt hitting the back of my head.
He ordered, “Inside, Ms. Kramer.”
I walked into the new space and stared at the hundreds of black, frightening mannequins standing in the vast room. The area smelled like mud as if there were piles of dirt on the floor and rain had poured inside, but the space was immaculate with concrete flooring, and the roof was intact—in this area.
“Don’t touch them,” he hissed when I eyed one for too long. “You won’t like the result if you do.”
I nodded and swallowed, following orders.
Those figures spooked the soul.
No eyes. Obsidian leather ‘skin.’
Gaping mouths the length of my forearm.
Black claws that were as sharp as blades.
This place truly was a nightmare.
One I may not wake from, my mind added.
My mortality was slipping through my fingers with each passing minute. I needed to do something.
“My parents are filthy rich,” I blabbed, peering into his eyes. “You could ask for any amount of money, and they would give it to you for my safe return.”
He shoved me forward to the center of the room where a small glass enclosure stood. “This isn’t about money for me, Ms. Kramer, so save your pleas.”
I kept walking forward but glanced over my shoulder. I asked quickly, “What are you doing this for? Maybe I can help you. Or my parents. Aside from money, my family is influential in New City.”
“I know who your parents are. I’d done my reconnaissance before I high-jacked the train’s system.”
“You didn’t answer me,” I pleaded frantically, almost at the enclosure. “What can I do for you? I can do it better than your master can. I promise.”
He snorted. “Not likely.”
“Healthcare. Money. Social status. Homes. Vacation homes. Trains. A business. A new name. Anything you want, I can give it to you.”
My captor rolled his eyes. “Do you have a cure for growing old, Ms. Kramer? Because, if you don’t, then you are wasting your breath on pretty words for me.”
I blinked, and then sputtered, “I may have that.”
Mr. King.
His eyes narrowed, and his hand paused on the handle to the glass room. “What do you mean? I know all of the latest technology, and the fountain of youth doesn’t exist yet in the medical field.”
“I know someone,” I hedged. I had snared his attention, captured his interest. I couldn’t lose this advantage. “I think this someone is very old, older than any human who has ever lived. There has to be a way this person has survived that long—and still be perfectly young and healthy.”
He stared. “You know absolutely nothing, do you?”
“No, I swear I’m not lying!”
“I didn’t say you were,” he muttered as he opened the door to the enclosure. He tipped his head to the side, indicating I should enter without force. “I’m saying you know nothing about magic.”
“Magic?” I didn’t want to go inside.
“Get. In. There.”
My chin trembled and tears sprung to my eyes.
I whispered in mutiny, “No.”
“Wrong answer.”
I screamed as he grabbed the back of my head with his free hand. He gripped my hair in a fist and shoved me into the room with too much force. I toppled on my side and rolled a few feet, landing on my back with my bound hands pinned beneath me.
My eyes found his, terrified. “Don’t do this!”
He set Megan gently on the floor next to me.
“Please,” I screamed at his retreating back.
He stepped out of the glass room and locked it.
I shook my head, scrambling for any thought. “Magic, right? Men change into animals! I know that! I can help you, I swear it.”
His eyes blinked, and his head cocked. “Maybe you will pass Master’s test, since you know that much. I imagine he’ll be extremely pleased with me.”
“I have names of the men! The beasts.”
“They’re called shifters, Ms. Kramer,” he stated patiently, staring through the glass at my prone body on the floor. “Anyway, Master will be here sometime after the sun rises. It is late, you know. I’d rather not wake him right now.”
This man wasn’t going to back down, his mind set.
“Wait,” I hissed, my eyes wide in terror. “What is this test? Help me pass it. I want to live.”
He was quiet, staring. Thoughtful.
“Please.”
His masked head shook, his tone deathly serious. “I’ll be honest with you. The dead you saw out there? That is what you want. You want Master to kill you that way. The living he’ll give you won’t be living at all.”
My brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Rape…
“He’ll steal your soul, Ms. Kramer. Only if he dies or your body dies will your enslaved soul release to wherever souls go after death. But if one of those two things doesn’t happen, he’ll keep your soul forever, and your body will be a living corpse, dead but linked to Master for eternity.”
I sputtered in disbelief, “You’ve done that to someone?”
“Not yet. But I helped Master create the spell.”
“Why did you help him?”
He didn’t answer, turning his back to me.
“Why?” I asked again.
He started walking away.
“You fucking coward!” I screamed.
He didn’t flinch at my words.
“You’re just a puppet!”
Nothing, not even a sigh. He kept walking.
I sucked in a large breath. “Please don’t leave me!”
The door shut behind him as he left.
“Oh, my God,” I cried in panic, staring at the tiny holes throughout the glass room allowing oxygen inside. “This can’t be real. This can’t be real…”