HONOR lay in her cage, curled into an unfeeling ball. She sensed Maksimov’s frustration, his mounting rage. And his puzzlement over her ability to withstand his repeated attempts to hurt her. But she simply felt nothing at all. It was hard to hurt someone who simply didn’t care and no longer had anything to live for.
She wasn’t a fool. There would be no rescue. When Maksimov grew tired of his games, he’d resort to getting the only thing from her he could. Money. From ANE. She knew it would be soon because with every passing day—and she’d lost count of them—he grew more agitated and disappointed that his prey didn’t give him the satisfaction he’d counted on.
She sensed the change in him this morning when he strode into the tiny, windowless room where her cage was suspended from the ceiling. He hadn’t bothered giving her food and water. She couldn’t have eaten anyway. She would have thrown it all up. But water, she’d sell her soul for, but then she remembered she didn’t have one.
Dead people didn’t have souls or anything else.
“You’ve proved a disappointment,” he said in a churlish tone. Almost like a child deprived of his favorite toy. But then he was nothing more than a spoiled bully, unused to not getting his way.
He was used to being feared to the point of being able to bend and manipulate people to his will, and he’d utterly failed with Honor.
“I’ll be going out for a while,” he said with a sinister smile that might have once scared her. “ANE is very anxious to get their hands on you. You’ll be going on a trip soon. I believe you’re familiar with the destination. At least you won’t have an issue with the language barrier.”
She didn’t react. Wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Besides, this brought her one step closer to death, so she welcomed it. She’d expected him to keep her several more days, determined to have his fun and more importantly win the battle of wills he thought ensued between them.
If he only knew. There was no battle. She had no reason to fight. All she wanted now was to rest. And hope to find peace in the next life, though her beliefs had been badly shaken and she was no longer sure what awaited her upon death. She’d witnessed evil winning too many times to be so sure that goodness existed. That it triumphed over all. And that those who fought the good fight were rewarded in final rest.
He didn’t even bother with a parting shot. No attempt to make her cry out in pain. Perhaps he knew he wouldn’t be any more successful than he’d been with all the other attempts.
He simply turned on his heel and stalked from the room, slamming it behind him. She heard the hiss of the airlock, sealing the room. It was an impenetrable room with fortified walls. Likely underground, though she was only guessing by the dank smell and the fact that there were no windows, just fluorescent light that stayed on at all times, ensuring that she was never able to seek solace in the soothing embrace of the dark. Just another attempt to break the already broken.
She fixed her gaze on the far wall and began making patterns in her mind, creating a swirl of color and calling back memories of her family, a ritual she indulged in constantly, especially when Maksimov was tormenting her. She was building a wall around herself because worse was to come and just because she welcomed it, wanted it, would be relieved when death finally claimed her, didn’t mean that she was going to go out screaming, begging, sobbing.
She might have no pride any longer, but it wasn’t about pride. It was about not letting them have that ultimate victory of seeing and enjoying her torture. She’d go as silently and as peacefully as one ever went to their death.
That was her promise to herself. And to her family.
? ? ?
“THE problem, as I’m sure you know, Hancock, is that gaining access to one of Maksimov’s holdings isn’t the problem. He’s a cagey, paranoid bastard with hidden nooks and crannies that can easily be overlooked when they’re right under your nose,” Resnick said.
Hancock nodded, moving slower than he’d like. He still labored for breath, but his absolute focus was on finding Honor, and this was their third search. They were running out of time and he was choking on his despair.