Used her.
And become utterly, corruptly addicted to her.
Chapter Twenty-Six
______________________________
Pim
For half an hour, I sat in the hotel suite, dressed in a floaty baby blue dress that’d been packed for me by Phantom staff, staring out the window at the foot traffic and sparkling harbour beyond. The cheery architecture and rich toys of the wealthy and famous below beckoned me to play with them.
The thought of being out there on my own—of going where I wanted with no master to beat me, no rules to bind me…it was terrifying as well as liberating.
Elder hadn’t given me instructions not to explore, and I had no idea how long he’d be at the warehouse.
I was jittery with things that’d happened between us. Confused as to how nervous I was about tonight. And a little lost for telling him I loved him when I didn’t fully understand the word. I’d only known hate for so long…could I be mistaken about this warm magical feeling inside?
I couldn’t sit and do nothing anymore.
I couldn’t be surrounded by my thoughts.
Slipping into courage and a pair of black flip-flops, I marched purposely toward the door and opened it.
Instead of an open corridor full of indecision, there stood two strangers.
Men.
Instantly, my instincts prickled and hackles shot up. “Oh, hi.” I clutched the handle, eyeing the two men in dark suits. I swayed back, ready to slam the door in their face and lock it tight if they so much as sniffed toward me.
One, with a bald head and Mediterranean skin, smiled professionally. “Hello, Ms. Pimlico. Did you need something?”
They know my name?
“Um…” I glanced past them toward the elevator that would deposit me on the street where countless strangers and shops and sensations would be. If I couldn’t handle two strangers in a hotel…how would I handle teeming crowds in the wide-open world where crime was committed just as easily as lawful activities?
Puffing up my chest, I looked down my nose. Hoping I seemed in control and aloof and not trembling with rapidly building fear, I said, “I was just going for a walk.”
Was that permitted?
Who were these men?
Had Elder placed them there to keep me under lock and key? Were his talks of freedom worthless?
The shorter guard with a thin moustache and startling blue eyes moved out of the way. “Of course, great day for a walk.”
My mouth hung open as the corridor was made clear and the men granted me space to walk past. Terror replaced my fear. Perhaps I had it wrong, and these weren’t Elder’s men but sinister people who might hurt me the moment I stepped from the suite. Perhaps they were here to take me back.
Steal me back for Alrik.
Maybe Alrik had somehow woken from the dead and sent people after me?
Maybe it’s Monty?
Monty wasn’t there the day Darryl and Alrik tried to cut out my tongue.
He’s still out there…alive.
Backing into the suite, I shook my head. “On second thought…I might stay—”
The guard with blue eyes frowned. “Whatever you want, ma’am. Mr. Prest told us to go wherever you go and to protect you. But if you’d rather relax, we’re happy to keep you safe from out here.”
I paused, my fingers tightening on the door handle. “What did you say?”
“I said we’re here at your beck and call. Where you go, we go. Just to keep you safe.”
“So…you’re not here to prevent me from leaving?”
The bald guard grinned. “Not at all. We live on the Phantom and are under the employment of Elder Prest. Selix is with Mr. Prest, so he asked us to guard you.” He shrugged. “I know it’s an inconvenience, but those are the boss’s rules I’m afraid.”
Inconvenience?
Hell, I owed Elder an apology. I’d just thought the worst of him. After all my talk of trust and affection, I still expected him to keep me prisoner.
Wait…could I trust these men? They knew my name and Elder’s but so did Monty. He might not know Selix was Elder’s bodyguard, but I couldn’t shed my suspicion.
Would I ever believe someone without doing my own research? Would I ever be able to enjoy the company of people I didn’t know without searching for an alternate agenda?
My mind couldn’t comprehend why Elder had not only freed me, shown me the world, and given me things I could only dream of, but then gone out of his way to keep me safe.
I might have trust issues, but he trusted me to wander on my own with no approval from him. He was thoughtful enough to provide me with guards in case the world in its monstrous size scared the timid little mouse suddenly freed from her cage.
I narrowed my eyes, testing the guards. “Do you know a man named Monty?”
The two guys glanced at each other. I searched for lies but only saw puzzlement on their faces.
The bald man shrugged. “No, ma’am.”
“Fine. Next question. What if, on this walk, I went to a police station or airport…would you stop me?”
The two men once again looked at each other. A question flitted between the two. The blue-eyed one raised his hands in confusion. “Our orders don’t cover specifics, Ms. Pimlico. We’re here to protect you. What you want to do and why are your business, not ours.”
“And if I tell you to let me go on my own?”
The bald headed man scowled. “Well, I guess we’d call Mr. Prest and get his approval.”
And would Elder say yes to letting me leave?
I had no doubt seeing as he’d tried to force freedom on me only a few days ago. But that was before things had changed.
Before I’d yelled at him in the bathroom.
Before he’d given in and agreed to bed me one last time.
I swallowed my suddenly pounding heart.
I hated the truth in that. That something had changed between us. Something huge and poignant. Something irreversible and both Elder and myself weren’t ready to face it.
He was trying to stop it.
I was trying to seek it.
We would run into problems worse than the ones we’d solved this morning soon enough.
Enough thinking.
The sun is warm, and the city is vibrant.
Elder was busy, and besides, I wanted to do something for me. To claim back another piece of my confidence without him there to bolster me all the time.
It’s now or never.
Moving over the threshold, I smiled with determination. “You’d better tell me your names, so I know who I’m walking with.”
The bald guy smiled with slightly crooked teeth. “I’m Lance, and this is Bill.” He held out his hand to shake.
Bill with his blue eyes tapped his temple. “Pleasure to be of service.”
“Hello.” Awkwardly, I completed social niceties and inserted my hand into Lance’s.
The instant his skin touched mine, his fingers wrapping over me, his warmth infecting my body, I was no longer in the hotel but back there.
There with Alrik.
There in the white mansion.
Terrible memories replaced safe memories of Elder. History of hating all men and silent self-preservation and internal hatred and dreams of death all triggered a panic attack so swift and violent, I stumbled backward.