18. Immortal Ever After - Argeneau.pdf

(1145 KB) Pobierz
Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
A Peek into the Argeneau World
About the Author
By Lynsay Sands
Copyright
About the Publisher
One
V
alerie’s eyes blinked open to darkness. For a moment she was disoriented and wondered what had
woken her, but then she became aware of footsteps overhead. She lay still and listened as someone
puttered in the kitchen at the top of the stairs, but tensed when the footsteps paused and she heard the slide
and click of first one, then another, and finally a third bolt being slid open.
A moment of silence passed before the door swung open. Light immediately raced down the steps and
across the basement’s concrete floor. By the time it reached her cage, it was weak and dull, but even that
bit of light made her blink after the pitch black they were left in most of the day.
She could hear the other women stirring and feel the tension building behind her. Fear was suddenly a
living, breathing thing in that dark, dank room. Valerie tried not to let it claim her as well and began
counting backward from one hundred to distract herself. A clear head was necessary if she wanted to
escape. Fear led to panicky actions and reactions. It led to mistakes, and there was no room for mistakes
if she wanted to get herself and the others out of this house of horrors.
Her attention was claimed when the bit of light from above was suddenly blocked by a large figure
filling the doorway. It was Igor with a tray in hand, she saw as the light framed his silhouette. That light
danced around his body and shifted on the floor as he started down. The heavy thud of his boots on the
wooden stairs was loud in the sudden hush. The women were now as still as deer caught in headlights.
Valerie held her breath and waited as Igor reached the bottom of the steps. He walked past her cage
without a glance, heading for the back of the room and the cages there. He always started at the back,
distributing a bottle of water and bowl of oatmeal and fruit to each captive until he reached the front.
Everyone would get a meal except for the woman who had been chosen for that night’s fun. Knowing that,
Valerie tried to make out who was getting food and who wasn’t, but her cage at the front of the room and
the virtual darkness the other women were in made it hard to see anything. She thought Igor had stopped at
every cage but couldn’t be sure.
When he stopped in front of her cage and Valerie realized that he was now dangling the tray by one
handle alongside his leg, empty, she let her breath out on a slow, silent hiss. It was her turn for a “night
out” then. Finally. She remained still as he set the tray on the ground and retrieved his keys from his front
pants pocket. The tray would remain there until he returned her to her cage. He’d use it to carry away all
the bowls he’d just handed out, she knew.
Well, he would if he were to return, but she didn’t intend to allow that.
The door of her cage swung open, but Valerie waited for his terse, “Come,” before shifting to her hands
and knees to crawl out. Her home for the last ten days was four feet high, four feet wide, and the same
deep. There wasn’t room to stand, or even lie inside it. For ten days she’d either lain curled in a ball on
the floor, or sat with her knees tucked to her chest. The only time she got to straighten her legs fully was
when she was let out of the cage, like now, and that had only happened once before since she’d been
dragged here. Other than that, she’d spent all her time in this cage, eating and even relieving herself there
in the bedpan provided. The bedpans were removed once a day when he collected their bowls after
feeding, and returned after emptying.
“Up,” came the terse order as she paused on her hands and knees on the cold concrete floor. Valerie
wasn’t surprised when the order was accompanied by Igor grasping her arm and dragging her upward.
After so long without being able to straighten her legs, she needed the help and barely restrained a groan
of pain as she came upright. She was even grateful for his supporting hand on her arm as he walked her
silently up the stairs.
Much to Valerie’s relief, the worst of the pain eased by the time she reached the top step, but she
continued to lean into his hold, even deliberately stumbling on the last step to give the impression that she
wasn’t completely steady on her feet. He’d expect that. Normally, the drugs they put in the oatmeal would
only now be wearing off and she would be expected to be slow and a little uncoordinated.
She wasn’t.
Valerie had stopped eating the oatmeal after her last “night out.” She was clearheaded. Her only worry
was that she would be weaker than usual after four days without food. But there was nothing she could do
about that and would just have to count on her skills, her strength, and the element of surprise to see her
through what was coming. She had no intention of dying in her own filth in that damned, stinking cage in
the basement.
Valerie continued to lean into Igor’s hold and throw in an occasional stumble as he led her across the
kitchen. She let her head hang forward as if she was too weary and stoned to hold it up. Doing so allowed
her to dart her eyes swiftly around under the cover of her long hair as she searched for a possible
weapon, or chance at escape.
There was nothing. The kitchen counters and table were clear of anything useful. There were no knife
handles sticking out of a handy knife block, no glasses or cups sitting about that she could shatter and use
as a weapon, not even a coffee machine or toaster. It could have been an empty house.
Valerie continued forward, eyes searching as he led her into a hall and up another set of stairs to the top
floor of the house. She wasn’t surprised when he steered her left at the landing, urging her toward the
back of the house. She’d been this way before, but had been drugged at the time. Her recollections of the
hallway, the renaissance portrait on the wall, the paneled walls, and the blue carpet were all slightly
distorted in her memory.
The hallway ended at a large bedroom. She refused to look at the old-fashioned four-poster bed as they
walked past it to the en suite bathroom. The house was probably over a hundred years old, but the
bathroom spoke of a renovation at some point. She’d guess it had taken place in the fifties or sixties. It
was green; the walls were painted green, the toilet was green, the sink was green, and there was a green
tub with small green tiles covering the wall around it.
It was incredibly ugly, Valerie thought as Igor urged her to the side and moved past her to bend over the
tub and start a bath running. Valerie knew what came next, but refused to panic. Her gaze slid around the
small room, settling on a collection of items on the sink counter: a towel, a washcloth, a bar of soap,
shampoo, conditioner, and a clean white robe. All of it was meant for her, set neatly on the sink counter to
“prepare her for dinner,” as Igor called it.
Valerie had started to look away from the collection when she had second thoughts. Igor was
straightening from setting the stopper and turning on the taps. He would turn his attention to her next. With
no time to lose, Valerie snatched up the shampoo, popped the lid, and squirted it at Igor’s face as he
turned toward her. When the man gave a startled cry, fingers reaching for his eyes, she followed up with a
roundhouse kick to his abdomen.
Valerie had hoped to send him tumbling backward into the bath, but either he was more steadfast on his
feet than most, or she was weaker than she’d expected after four days without food. He did stagger back a
step, but that was it, and even as he did, he lashed out with one arm, hitting her in the chest.
The blow was like an explosive charge going off in front of her. Valerie was sent flying through the air,
and out of the bathroom. She landed on something with enough impact that it collapsed beneath her weight

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin