“It’s an honor, Sir. If you want, you can bring her by tomorrow. She’s obviously beyond exhausted, and she needs to eat something. Do you know if she has prior incidents?”
“No. I mean… I don’t think so.” Somehow, I could feel his gaze upon me even though I was facing away from them.
“I’ll check her records.” Except what was on file were not really my records, so he won’t see my prior attempt. “We can discuss it tomorrow when you’re both rested. I’ll give you your privacy.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Sir replied. The door clicked closed.
“We will update you as soon as we find anything substantial,” one of the guards said.
“Thank you.”
The forest looked scary at night. I wondered which forest this was. Were we somewhere in theBosque de Secuoyas,ormaybe the Western Pyrenees Forest? That’s what it’d looked like from the living room, pine trees everywhere.
As soon as the door closed behind them, I heard Sir’s heavy sigh. He was walking around the living room, rummaging. My stomach hurt. I had no energy, so I stayed put, looking at the night sky.
His voice startled me awake when he said, “Yes, I’d like to order two bowls of chicken noodle soup. Um… do you happen to have any…”
“Magdalena?”
“Hmm.”
“A-are you still hungry?”
“Yes.”
“It’s time for your antibiotics. You should eat something first.” What was wrong with him? He was acting shy, like he wasn’t sure what to say to me.
We studied each other. “Sir?—
“Don’t.” He paused. “Just eat. I need you to get your strength back as fast as possible.” Sir placed his arms under my knees and neck.
“What are you doing?” He picked me up and took me to the round dining table at the corner and gently sat me in a chair.I hissed when the skin on my ass throbbed at the slightest touch.
“I’ll put the medicine on after.” He sat across from me. I lifted the metal covers from the dishes. In front of me was a plate witharroz blanco, y pollo guisado. On the side, was a small bowl ofhabichuelas rojas. My mouth watered at the steam rising as I poured the red beans over the white rice. There was a small plate of salad and then an even smaller plate withplatano maduros. I smiled and closed my eyes at the amazing smell. It almost worked. The smell like magic made me feel I was at home. I could almost pretend Mom was in the kitchen and the twins were about to come downstairs and Dad was about to get home from work. I opened my eyes, realizing that pretending was even more painful because it was like losing them all over again.
“Comé!”A partial giggle burst out of me. I could hear Mom chastise me in Spanish to hurry up and start eating instead of just smelling the food.
“Enjoy, Little One.” He seemed to relish the happiness on my face but eventually went back to reading whatever was on his laptop screen.
“Magdalena, we need to talk. I only have another twenty-four hours with you here.”
My mouth was full of food, and perhaps that was a blessing. “I know that you’re used to a certain lifestyle. And my goal is to find you an owner who will give you that quality of life even if you are… his slave. You’d be surprised at the liberties some buyers are willing to offer.” He cleared his throat while I chugged water to keep my big mouth from saying a word. The chicken was so juicy and seasoned to perfection.
“It’s the best-case scenario. All of the girls I’ve trained have ended up even better than their previous lives.” Yes, because life as a slave to a sick monster would always be better than the chance to make your own life whatever you wanted it to be.Bravo, Sir, in showing me you hold absolutely no value to women.“Again, I know you don’t come from a poor background?—”
“Where are we?”
“In an apartment in the training center.”
“No. I mean where is this? Are we on the Western Pyrenees mountains? Russia? The Alps?”
He rolled his eyes, pursing his lips, then sighed. “We’re in upstate New York. Now, can we get back to some relevant topics?” I nodded while taking another bite. The beans were runny on the rice, and so savory, just the way I liked it. I could eat five more plates of this meal.
“Magdalena, I need you to?—”
“Why are you here?”
“What do you mean? I’m here to train you.” He was agitated by my questions, almost yelling. It took everything for me not to laugh. Oh, this was gonna be a fun night. I stabbed the plantain with my fork and ate it while staring at him.
