Jordan let Francois's body roll back and zipped up the bag. “Let me tell you the tale of two women, two men, and how forty-seven minutes total created a gulf that was nearly insurmountable.”
It took her over an hour, at the end of which we were both shivering from the cold of the meat locker, but the chill that coursed through my body was deeper than that. “All of this, over a gold crown and an apparently meaningless title, or at least one of little power?”
“I wouldn't say little power,” Jordan replied. “Twelve of the fifteen men who rescued you were relatives of yours. They risked their life for a man they had never even met, simply because he was their king and their kin.”
I shook my head, rubbing again at my temples. “Jordan . . . this is difficult for me. I know that you and I, and apparently Francois, were in love?”
She sighed again. “We were. I'll tell you the story, but not here. I'm freezing, and looking at Francois — it hurts too damn much. Come to my room, it'll be quiet there.”
We left the restaurant and made our way through the darkened streets, going back to the cheap inn that we'd rented for the night. Jordan explained their line of thinking, which was that the lower profile we traveled, the less likely we were to incur Vladimir Ilyushin's notice.
“We met when you literally ran me over in a museum,” Jordan said as we walked, the streets quieter than I'd expected. “At first you two kidnapped me because you thought that I might have been able to identify you.”
Something stirred inside of me, a few more puzzle pieces falling into place, and I blinked. “I . . . I think I remember, at least some of it.”
“Good,” Jordan said, smiling. “Let it come in time. There's no rush.”
“Why not?”
She reached up, stopping her hand an inch short of my face before dropping it back to my side. “Because you’re back, and while I can see it in your eyes you don't yet recognize who I am, or what we shared together, I'm a more patient woman than you think. Come on, let's get you some peace and quiet in order to think, you've probably had enough new information for the day.”
Jordan led me back to the inn, making sure I was safely in my room before pausing at the door. She hesitated, and I could see the conflict in her eyes. She wanted to join me, but she also knew that the man she saw in front of her was not the same man who had taken her to bed before. “Okay, well, I guess I'll see you in the morning then,” she said. “We've got a long ride in front of us. We’re going to make a straight shot all the way to Albania. Syeira and Charani are looking forward to seeing you again, and we have to bury Francois.”
“Okay. Good night, Jordan.”
I laid down in bed, thinking I'd be unable to sleep, until I woke up in the middle of the night, screaming in terror as flashbacks and withdrawals coursed through my system. I’d started the tremors two days after leaving the estate, and I wondered just how much drugs Svetlana had been pumping through me on a daily basis. At least I knew how they'd done it, with Maria the chef most likely dosing me with the twice daily supplement shakes. God alone knew how else they'd done it, but since being freed, I'd found myself jumping anytime I heard a hissing sound.
It was the hissing sound that had me scared out of my wits this time, as outside in the streets a nearby factory that obviously still used steam for something inside, let loose their built up boiler with a long, hooting hiss that penetrated the walls of the inn and crept into my sleep.
Suddenly, the door to my room crashed open and Jordan was there in her night clothes, rushing to my side and pulling me close. “Felix, are you okay?” She asked in a whispered voice, and I felt her arms coming to embrace me.
“The gas . . .” I managed to get out as two more faces, men from our escort party who we'd met just yesterday, arrived at the doorway only to be waved off by Jordan. They closed the door behind them, leaving us in the dim light and privacy. “Please, light. I need light.”
Jordan reached over and turned on the table lamp, and I did my best to hide my fear that was coursing through me. I was a broken thing, not a man any longer, afraid even of the darkness and the sound of a hissing steam pipe. Her skin was warm, even though her flannel sleep shirt, and there was something in her scent that helped.
“Close your eyes, I’ll sleep in here tonight if you don’t mind.”