Page 4 of Dark Soul

British seemed to detect the change in him. Something flashed in his eyes, and then they were dark pools again.

“You’re here because you became part of the problem, Dark.” He looked at his colleague quickly. “We’re giving you the chance to become part of the solution.”

“Come with us,” Bald said, spreading his hands amiably to reinforce his words. “If you don’t like what we have to say, we will bring you right back.”

The emphasis was on the word back.

“All you’ll lose is a bit of time,” British continued, waving an elegant hand, “and it looks to me like time’s the one thing you have plenty of.”

* * *

The seat and the floor vibrated gently beneath his feet.

Strange that flying should feel so foreign, when once upon a time it’d been an everyday occurrence.

Dark leaned back into the luxuriously soft seat and closed his eyes.

He hadn’t actually seen the outside of the aircraft. He’d been blindfolded from the time they’d left the prison, until long after he’d boarded the plane.

Finally, his blindfold had been removed by British, who turned out to be the only other passenger. Bald was nowhere to be seen—unless he was the pilot inside the cockpit.

British was currently sitting across the aisle from Dark, staring intently at some papers and pretending he didn’t feel Dark’s eyes on him.

Dark looked around the cabin. With its plush seats and gray-on-gray decor, it didn’t take a genius to know this wasn’t a military plane.

And though he didn’t have a watch, he would bet … well, he didn’t have much to bet, anymore … but from the amount of time they’d spent in the air, and the glimpse of sea he’d gotten out of the one window whose shade hadn’t been pulled all the way down, he was pretty confident they must be halfway across the Atlantic by now.

That was a surprising range for a private jet.

Whoever owned this baby didn’t have any cash troubles.

Dark hadn’t asked where they were going. He didn’t like to waste his time, and he didn’t think British would tell him anything else until he was good and ready.

Dark stretched his legs out. If he wasn’t still wearing his handcuffs, he might almost have been able to forget about the mess he was currently in. But he didn’t want to forget about it. He had to stay alert. He had to figure out a way forward.

Find out what they want.

Then decide whether it’s something you’re willing to give.

Closing his eyes, he pretended to doze.

2

* * *

Alexia

The first sign that someone didn’t belong in Gstaad was when they didn’t know how to pronounce the name of the town. The right way to do it was with a hard, guttural g, followed quickly by a soft sh sound, and that was just the start of the word.

Alexia had learned this the hard way, but then, she’d never had any illusions that she belonged in this place. Hell, she wasn’t the kind of person who would normally even have set foot in a place like this—she defined the middle in middle class, in all senses. An average girl who’d grown up in an average town in upstate New York. With average grades, an average job, and average life, until—

She shook her head. She couldn’t start thinking about that now. She had to get out of bed and get ready for work.

While she gathered her courage, she felt in the dark for the glass panel on the wall that controlled the blackout curtains filtering out all light.

As the curtains magically opened to reveal the mountains outside, Alexia found herself holding her breath. Her room was technically in the basement of the large house, but because the house was built on the side of the mountain, she still had a view.

And what a view.