He seems lonely as fuck and Delilah will be better with more people supporting her, but I’m not able to make a decision as he says, “Delilah’s upbringing is closer to what I witnessed. There’s an ease in knowing you don’t have to explain yourself.”
Fucking guilt-tripping bastard.
He taps his middle finger on the spacebar of the keyboard, allowing Rowan’s voice through the speakers. “Who is your client?”
It’s the same question, as always. The captives are shackled to the wall without each other for support. The woman is the target this time as a guard steps forward with a cattle prodcrackling in his hand. Her screams echo around the room but he doesn’t stop pushing it against her skin.
The man screams, “Vartanov! He asked me to find you!”
“His weaknesses?” Rowan raises his hand, calling his attack dog back to him, only to focus on the man. The captives remain silent. “Is he still attached to his children?”
The woman is stronger than she looks as she says, “No. He doesn’t care about anyone. He doesn’t even talk to them.”
Lennox stares at the side of my head like this should mean something to me. I don’t think I’ve heard the name before.
“You live with him,” Rowan says calmly. “Therefore you should know what his weakness is.”
“He doesn’t have one!” she screams. “He’s a psychotic fucking prick who’ll tear you apart, limb from fucking limb with a smile on his face!”
His questions are repetitive, but he has a tell despite the mask. He opens and closes his fist on certain questions. If prison taught me anything, it was that everyone is afraid of something. And I’ve just found Rowan’s.
“He’s afraid.” I smile at Lennox. “Isn’t he?”
“Well done, little shadow. Who of?”
“This Vartanov person?”
He shakes his head, muting the speakers as Rowan signals for the guards to begin doling out the punishments.
“There was once a girl Rowan believed he could mold into what he wanted.” Lennox angles the screens so I can’t see them. “Another one of his curiosities. She was the first to harm him, so he brought her here. He took her under his wing, taught her everything Helene had taught him. She had avoraciousappetite for destruction.” He sighs. “Between her need to start fires and her quest for as much death as possible, she wasn’t compatible with the business interests of our family.”
“Who did she kill?”
“Anyone she could. Masks and subjects alike.”
He looks like he wants to say more, but he pushes against my shoulder so I’m staring at the screens. Rowan has left the room. Just as I’m about to ask him where his need to leave out major details comes from, the door opens. Rowan walks in, smiling. “Nephew, would you care to explain why you arrived with a visitor?”
“She needs to learn her fucking place.”—is by my side.“That isn’t possible when she reverts back to the shitty habits her parents allowed.”—like thinking she has to fight everyone alone.
Lennox tenses as his brother removes the mask. Are they going to start touching each other in front of me?
“Are you aware of her crime?” Rowan asks as he walks over to me. He curls his fingers over my shoulder, causing my organs to recoil.
“What did she do?” I ask.
His fingers dig in as he answers, “She stabbed our mother.”
I’m going to throw up.
It’s the first time anyone has mentioned the bullshit Helene tried to convince me of. But I’m not some inbred freak with a tail and three feet.
Pride warms me at the thought of my brave wife stabbing that bitch. It’s why the decrepit cunt was moving slower than usual. But I don’t let it show as I grit, “I’ll pause the training,”to reward my wife for her efforts,“to make sure she understands the gravity of what she did.”
He assesses me before nodding once as he releases my shoulder from his grip. I need to get away from him. Far a-fucking-way. The clack of the keyboard stops me as Lennox quickly switches between screens to show the other cabin is rigged too.
“Uncle?” The word tastes like decay as I pause by the door.
“Yes, dear nephew?” Rowan says.
