Surrender

by Kitty Thomas

  "Girls," Anton said. "This doesn't concern you. Go back to your rooms."

  They lingered for another moment, whispering and gawking, but finally, when it seemed Anton and Gabe wouldn't continue the argument until they were gone, they drifted back down the hallways and through the doorways they'd appeared from.

  "How attached are you to Dmitri and his guys?" Gabe asked when it was just the three of them again.

  Anton's eyes widened. "Are you fucking kidding me? Is this about this whore you picked up?" he asked, making a sweeping gesture toward Julie as if there could otherwise be any question of who he was talking about.

  Gabe launched himself at Anton, landing a hard punch squarely against his jaw. This action drew a few of the girls back, peering around corners, eyes wide. More whispering followed.

  "Okay, okay!" Anton said, holding his hands up, then, "Girls! To bed, now!" he said without turning back in their direction. They scattered.

  Gabe got off him and backed up a few paces to stand in front of Julie. "She's not a whore. She's mine. I knew her before. I didn't just randomly pick her up tonight. Are you fucking crazy?"

  Anton rubbed his jaw. "I think you dislocated it. And you are one to talk about crazy."

  "You'll live. Again, I ask how close are you to these guys? Are they family? Close friends?"

  "Mere acquaintances from back home," Anton said.

  "So you won't cry if they get lost down a well?"

  "Where are you planning to find a well?"

  "Don't be cute."

  A blonde woman moved cautiously into the room. She wore a black silk nightgown that whispered across the floor as she moved. When she walked, dark-red painted toes peered out from beneath the fabric. She had no bracelet, but she wore a solid shiny band around her throat that was either made entirely out of onyx or some other dark stone. She carried an ice pack, which she pressed into Anton's hand. She must have been lingering with the other girls to have been able to get ice for him so quickly.

  "Master?" she said.

  Julie couldn't help the flinch at hearing her speak to him that way, but the woman said it with a strange sort of relish, as if somehow she actually liked being his slave—a thought that was incomprehensible to Julie. Gabe's confession of what he was into came across as an admission of finding enjoyment in dismembering kittens. Certainly nothing to be proud of or happy about, and yet this woman, this flip side of that coin, somehow seemed even more aberrant in her existence.

  At the sound of the woman's voice, Anton's features softened into the least threatening expression she'd seen from him so far.

  "Thank you, Kiska. I'm sorry our fight woke you. Go back to bed. I will join you in a little while."

  "Yes, Master." And then she was gone.

  Anton sighed and turned his attention back to Gabe. "No, I won't cry over Dmitri, but I think you've lost your mind."

  "Where's Brian? I'm sure he'll be happy to clean house. You know how he loves to clean."

  "He and Mina are out on a job. They won't be back until tomorrow."

  "Fine." Gabe grabbed Julie's hand and led her to the stairs.

  "If Dmitri calls, I will act as if everything is normal," Anton said. "It's safest until Brian returns. We can decide our strategy from there. Agreed?"

  Gabe nodded and took Julie upstairs to the second floor. He guided her down the hallway and stopped in front of a door about midway down. He opened the door, peered in, glanced back at Julie, then shut the door again.

  "Not that one. It's too dark. And you're so pale."

  He looked in a few more doors, but nothing seemed to meet his standards. While Gabe deliberated, Anton strode down the hallway toward them. He was out of breath, appearing as though he'd taken the stairs two or three at a time. "Here." He gave Gabe a silver metal cuff like what the other girls wore.

  Julie shrank back, still resistant to the idea of becoming his full-fledged captive. What was she supposed to do? Walk calmly to her own slaughter? So far, the evidence of the evening pointed to Gabe protecting her. She wasn't sure how long he would be so patient and caring. It seemed silly now in hindsight, but she still remembered how much he'd scared her on their date months ago.

  "Is it programmed?" Gabe asked, not noticing her reaction, or else thinking it was motivated by Anton rather than the electronic leash that was about to be put on her.

  "Yes. Brian got bored and programmed all of the extra ones one day. It was right after we upgraded to the new design and features."

  "So then it's got all the standard stuff in it?"

  "Yeah."

  "I'll fix that," Gabe said.

  There was a question in Anton's eyes, but after being punched in the jaw, he didn't seem too keen to initiate another fight.

  "If you think I'm letting ANYONE control this bracelet, you are out of your fucking mind. You know how Brian likes to hurt people. Absolutely not. All I want is the standard electric fence activation—keep her inside the perimeter, but nothing else. And definitely not anything anyone else can control."

  Julie tensed at the mention of someone who liked to hurt people. Gabe had promised safety, but from the brief snippets of information she'd gleaned in the past few minutes, Brian seemed anything but safe.

  Anton shrugged. "You won't get any argument from me. Mina and Annette have the same set up, and if this one is yours, it's only fair that she have it as well." For the first time since she'd stepped inside the house, Anton turned toward her and seemed to acknowledge her presence as more than a mere inconvenience or stationary piece of decor in the room. He offered a hand. "I apologize for my rudeness. I'm Anton. You are?"

  Julie looked at Gabe, and he nodded but she didn't take Anton's hand. She couldn't bring herself to touch him. That smooth politeness was so like Dmitri. She didn't trust it. "I-I'm Julie."

  "It's nice to meet you." Anton casually withdrew his hand, somehow making it appear as if he'd never offered it to begin with. He looked at Gabe again, then back at her. She moved closer to Gabe.

  After a moment of this intense scrutiny, Anton sighed. "You're right about Dmitri. I did not check it out carefully enough. He and I are not close. I will follow your lead about this."

  Gabe nodded. "Thank you."

  "Good night, Julie," Anton said and left them alone.

  Gabe punched a long complicated code into the silver metal cuff, and it sprang open. He locked it around Julie's wrist. "It's a security precaution."

  She nodded, but wasn't at all comforted by this. She'd known he wasn't letting her go, but this was a real, solid piece of metal that reminded her no matter how much nicer he was, she could never be here truly of her own free will because they wouldn't let her leave.

  Gabe proceeded to punch in more codes. A series of beeps responded. She jumped when a small recorded voice emitted from the bracelet.

  "Are you sure you wish to deactivate punishment options A through D?"

  Gabe punched a button on the bracelet.

  The metal bracelet answered, "Punishment options A through D deactivated. To reactivate, please input the correct code and return to this menu."

  Gabe pressed another button and the bracelet said, "This security bracelet is equipped with perimeter security function. If this is correct, press 1."

  Gabe pressed a button. Then he punched in some more numbers.

  The bracelet said, "Are you sure you wish to change the access code to this security bracelet? This action cannot be undone. Press 1 if you are sure."

  "Yes, I'm fucking sure," Gabe muttered, stabbing at a number on the bracelet.

  The bracelet said "Thank you," and then fell silent.

  "Y-you're the only one who has the code you put in?" Julie asked.

  "Yes."

  "So that Brian guy can't..."

  "No. Don't worry about him. Come with me." Gabe seemed to remember he'd been trying to decide on her accommodations before Anton had shown up with the bracelet.

  Julie followed him to the end of the hall, her anxiety
only beginning to recede. He opened another door and peered in, and nodded, satisfied. Then he closed that door and opened the door next to it—the last one on the hall. This final door he held open.

  She stepped inside. "Holy shit," she said. This room wasn't tacky and overblown like Dmitri's. Everything was nice and crisply clean and much more spacious than she'd expected. The room had a distinct masculine touch with simple lines and edges to everything. There was a private bathroom, and an attached balcony.

  "You'll get plenty of light in this room, but I want you to spend some time outside and make friends. I'm sure you'll become friends with Mina and Annette. Let me show you something." Gabe opened the balcony door and she followed him outside. The walls on either side of the room created a private nook outside, but the balcony expanded out farther into more open air where the only thing that finally stopped this sense of expansion was the railing. Next to the railing was a table and chairs with cushions. "I like to eat out here sometimes. It's a nice place to think."

  "So this is your room?" Julie asked. Of course it was. Like they were giving all these girls luxury suites with private bathrooms. The anxiety moved up the back of her throat and formed a lump there. Like hell he wasn't going to make her sleep with him. They were standing in his room. There was one bed. It was a big bed, but it was still one bed, and he was a man who clearly had strong appetites.

  The idea that he wasn't going to force himself on her... it was all a lie. Maybe he was so deluded he thought she could rewind time and go back to the innocence of her crush on him. Or that she'd be so grateful for the illusion of safety that she'd...

  "Yes. This is my room. I'll bring you some more clothes in the morning." He went back into the house and toward the door like he was leaving.

  Julie trailed him back inside and closed the balcony doors behind her. "Wait, where are you going?"

  "To bed."

  But this was his room. If he was going to bed then where was he going?

  "I'll be sleeping in the room next door. Julie, I will never hurt you, but I'm no angel. I can't share a room with you unless you were to come to me and truly give yourself to me."

  She didn't need him to re-explain what all that meant. Her mind immediately went back to the conversation at the rest stop where she'd learned he wanted to be her master and for her to come to him happily of her own free will for this treatment.

  Given these ugly facts, she didn't know why she was arguing with him about room accommodations. The space from him would be a welcome relief, but still, she was taking his room. It felt like a worse idea than the two of them sharing it. What if he came to resent her?

  "But this room is yours," Julie said.

  "This whole house is mine. Mine and the other partners'. I don't always sleep in my own room anyway."

  "Oh." Images of him surrounded by endless willing sexual partners flooded her mind. Maybe she did still have the crush. Maybe she did still impossibly want him—because the most prominent feeling she had suddenly was jealousy.

  "Goodnight, Julie."

  "Gabe. wait. I really can't take your room. For how long?" Maybe he imagined she'd quickly fall into his arms and then it wouldn't matter because he'd be back in here in a few days or a week.

  He moved back to her, and without meaning to, she took a few steps back. But he caught her and took her hands in his. "Try to understand. You aren't some stray I picked up on the side of the road. Your happiness and health and safety matter to me more than anything else. I don't need a fancy room. I need you to be well provided for and to feel safe, and not in a room with barely any light. If you need something, I'm next door. If you get hungry, you'll find the kitchen downstairs. You can't miss it. The other girls aren't allowed in there after hours, but you can go where you want here. My home is your home. Okay?"

  She nodded. Gabe bent and kissed the top of her forehead. "I'll see you in the morning. Try to sleep."

  Then he was gone.

  But she couldn't sleep because now that she was alone, she finally had time to review the events of the evening. Gabe was obviously sending someone in to kill Dmitri and his guys, but what did that mean for her friends? Would they be killed too? Would they be captured and brought here? Even if they were treated a little nicer and fed a little better, Gabe wouldn't just keep them all and leave them unmolested. Would they sell them? The idea was so distressing that for the first time in months Julie couldn't sleep.

  Before, the fantasy of Gabe somehow magically rescuing her had kept her going. Now that it had actually happened, she couldn't come up with a similarly nice mental ending for her friends—no matter how hard she tried.

  Chapter Five

  Bright light startled Julie from a sleep it felt she'd only found mere moments ago, though the clock on the nightstand said differently. In that first brief second of wakefulness, before she opened her eyes, she was sure it was a guard shining a flashlight in her face. But the bed she was in was too comfortable—the mattress too firm and nice, the sheets too luxurious and soft. All at once the events of the previous night came flooding back.

  It had been hard to sleep, but now that she was awake and the bedding had warmed and molded around her body like a big fluffy dog, it was difficult to get up. While she was afraid of what might happen with Gabe and was still trying to process a rescue that had arrived at the cost of any hope of future freedom—not that she'd really had that hope—the biggest fear overtaking all the circuits of her brain was for her friends and what would happen to them now.

  For six months, those women had become her family. They'd comforted each other through difficult nights and after horrible clients. They fed each other the best they could when one among them—more often than not, Julie herself—was denied food. Umiko had been Dmitri's favorite scapegoat until Julie had arrived, then it seemed like she couldn't get a proper meal after that. Despite the big buffet at the mall, her stomach growled, as if broadcasting the anxiety that it might never be properly fed again.

  Last night she'd been certain she couldn't give Gabe the things he wanted, but in the daylight, things looked different, mainly because of her friends still locked away and the new dangers coming their way soon.

  There was a knock on the door.

  "Who is it?"

  "It's Gabe. Can I come in?"

  "Okay." Him knocking on his own door and asking his captive's permission to come in the room was so weird, for a second Julie thought she might still be dreaming.

  He dropped a pile of clothes on the bed. Brightly colored sweatpants and shorts, a lot of white T-shirts, socks, running shoes, and undergarments. "I'm sorry for the whole Workout Barbie thing. If you ever decide to be mine, we will definitely upgrade your wardrobe. There should be fresh towels in your bathroom. They'll stop serving breakfast in the cafeteria in another hour, so you should hurry unless you want lunch instead. I need to get to work, but I'm sure I'll see you later."

  He started to leave.

  "Gabe, wait."

  He stopped and turned, a question in his eyes.

  Suddenly the words didn't want to come out of her mouth. She took a deep breath, in an attempt to steady her nerves. After a good rest, she believed Gabe wouldn't share her or starve her, that he would protect her. After all, she'd known him—however casually—for a long time before last night. And upon reflection, his recent actions fit more closely with the man she'd thought he was, rather than the one she feared he was.

  Her friends weren't so lucky, however traumatic it might be to be Gabe's slave.

  "Julie?"

  "I-I'll do it."

  "Do what?"

  "What you said you wanted. I'll be your slave."

  His expression shuttered, suspicious. "Why?"

  Julie's gaze went to the pile of clothes on the bed. She couldn't look him in the eyes. "I'm afraid for the other girls at Dmitri's house. I-if you spare them, and don't bring them back here... just let them go... I'll do whatever you want me to do f-for as long as you want it." She chanced a
look up at Gabe and was surprised to see he looked angry. Really? He couldn't give her this one thing if she would give him everything?

  "No. Absolutely not. I don't want a trade. I want you without reservation because you want the same things I want. I am not taking you as some unwilling payment to spare your friends."

  Julie's anger came all at once to match his. The ferocity of it felt like a train surging through an endless dark tunnel. She'd been so scared for so long that anger felt like a barely real emotion, so wispy that when it would flow through her, it just as quickly flowed out again, and she could never grab hold of it before it moved outside her reach. But this time it felt unstoppable. It felt like it might light her on fire and burn her away.

  "So you think if you kill or enslave women who became my friends... or have them killed or enslaved... that I will ever give myself to you willingly? Are you that out of touch?"

  Gabe sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "You think I'm that big of a monster?"

  "I don't know what you are. I'm willing to offer you what you want for what I want. It seems mutually beneficial to me."

  "I don't want your martyrdom. I can't believe you think, after my discussion with Anton last night... I can't believe you think that I would either have them killed or bring them here."

  "You brought me here."

  "That's different."

  "How is it different?"

  "I'm going to work."

  Work. Right. Fucking and being serviced by obedient captive women was work. What a fucking asshole.

  "Wait," she said.

  "I said no, and I meant it."

  "No, I mean... what's going to happen to them-my friends?"

  "They'll get to safety. If the mission is successful, Dmitri and his guys won't be a threat to them anymore, and they won't be a threat to the operation here because they don't know about it. Don't worry." Gabe left the room and shut the door quietly behind him.

  As soon as he was gone, she nearly started crying. For the first time the tears would have been relief—for the fate of her friends.