His eyes burned with a cold, inhuman light. Jeez, how could she ever have thought him attractive? He was a monster. How had she not seen that?
“What are you going to do to me?” she asked, hating the way her voice wobbled with fear.
“Ye willnae be harmed if ye cooperate. Yer choice. What will it be?”
She swallowed. “Fine.”
“Good. Now sit there and keep yer mouth shut.”
He sat on the end of the bed, facing away from her, broad shoulders hunched and forehead resting on his hands.
“Stinks doesn’t it?” she said.
He looked at her. “What does?”
“When somebody turns your world upside down. Maybe now you might have the tiniest inkling of how I felt when you snatched Rory from me.”
His lips pulled back into a snarl. “This is far more important than yer sniveling attachment to that boy! I am going to change the world!”
“Oh?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “And how are you going to do that stuck here in the twenty-first century?” She couldn’t help needling him even though she knew it was dangerous to provoke him.
He looked about to say something but then changed his mind. “I need a drink.” He stalked into the living room and Maddy heard the chink of glasses. Through the partly-open door she saw him pouring whisky into a tumbler. He had his back to her.
Maddy seized her chance. In his arrogance Rodric hadn’t bothered to search her. She dug her free hand into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone.
Please, please, please still have some battery left,she prayed. She’d kept it mostly turned off while she’d been with Deryn so she hoped it would still work.
She pressed the button to turn it on and hope washed through her as the screen lit up and the icon in the corner flashed to say it had connected to a signal. She dialed 999 for the emergency services and pressed it to her ear.
“Which emergency service do you need?” said a voice on the other end.
Maddy almost sobbed in relief. “Police,” she whispered. “A man’s holding me captive. His name is Rodric MacKay. He’s the same man who kidnapped my son, Rory Green, from his school. Please come quickly.”
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know. In a hotel I think. Please trace the call and come quickly!”
She heard Rodric’s footsteps so she hung up and put the phone back in her pocket.
Rodric walked into the bedroom carrying a half-empty bottle of whisky which he put down on the bedside table. He shut the door behind him and crossed to the wardrobe. Inside, Maddy saw a row of pristine suits, shirts and ties. It was the kind of outfit he wore when they were dating, back when she’d thought him one of the most sophisticated men she’d ever met. Back when she’d been a naïve, gullible idiot.
He began undressing slowly, taking the expensive rings from his fingers, unwinding the plaid from around his body, folding it neatly and placing it in the wardrobe.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, suddenly uneasy.
“Have ye forgotten what I said right before we came here?” he replied. “Or did ye doubt I meant it?”
Maddy blinked in confusion. She had no idea what he was talking about.
“I said it isnae over. And it isnae. Those Order of the Osprey bastards might think they’ve won but they’re wrong. Iwillachieve my goal. I will get what I’ve worked so hard for. Rory might be beyond my reach now, but that doesnae matter. What I need is another child.” He smiled a predator’s smile that made Maddy’s blood go cold.
“And I think maybe ye can help me with that.”
