How could I forget? He'd set a date , and I'd been counting down the days. My life wouldn't be any different from what it was now—only my prison would be permanent. There was no such thing as divorce when you were a Grim. You were paired for life. Unless you were Dunningham. In his case, if he grew tired of me, he would just have me killed.
35
The next morning, I was awakened bright and early by Hesper leaning over me. She smiled broadly. "Good Morning. Mr. Dunningham has asked me to get you prepared."
"Prepared for what?"
She went to my dresser and began to rummage through my things. "Mr. Dunningham told me that the two of you had had a discussion last night."
I'd wanted to think what happened last night had been a nightmare, but apparently it wasn't. Here was Hesper in my room before seven o'clock rambling on about it was if it were nothing.
"Hesper, have you ever—"
"Of course not," she said, cutting me off abruptly. "I've never been married."
Then how the hell was she supposed to get me prepared when she had no idea what she was talking about herself? Consummation was something discussed only between fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, when children were old enough to understand. Since Hesper's parents had been killed when she was ten, I figured she'd never gotten the talk.
"Hesper, no offense, but what do you know about it?"
She moved over to my vanity and picked out the bottle of perfume that she claimed was Dunningham's favorite. "Well, I've heard things here and there. It's not a big deal really. Most Grims seem to think that it's rather nice."
"Yeah, when you actually love the other person."
Hesper waved her hand to dismiss me. "Love has nothing to do with it, you know that."
I knew that my mother and father loved each other very much and consummation hadn't been a dreaded chore for them.
"Hesper, I need to see my mother."
She was in my closet and I could picture her shaking her head. "You know that's not possible."
I was crying before I realized it. "Hesper, please. I need her. At least let me talk to her on the phone."
Hesper stuck her head out of the closet and sighed. "I don't know, but I'll see what I can do."
I lay back in bed. I didn't want this day to happen. I wanted to be anywhere else but there.
Dunningham had arranged a spa day for me. I spent the morning being waxed, plucked, exfoliated, and rubbed down with different types of scrubs. I didn't understand how the richer Grim women did this for fun and relaxation. It was like paying someone to torture you. My skin did feel softer and smoother when I was done, but I didn't care about that.
Dunningham was out for the day on business. When the car brought me back to the house, I enjoyed a light lunch of turkey sandwiches with lemonade. Afterward Hesper called me to Mr. Dunningham's study.
She stood behind his desk holding up a skeleton phone. "I'm only doing this because he won’t be back for another two hours. Just a few minutes, okay?"
I nodded and took the phone from her. She hurried to the door and closed it gently behind her.
I placed the receiver to my ear. "Hello?"
I heard a breath being exhaled. "Baby!"
My eyes immediately clouded with tears. "Mommy," I said, not caring that I sounded like a little girl.
"Are you okay?"
I wasn't okay, but I didn't want to tell her that. My mom was the closest person to me besides Naomi , and I was tempted to tell her about how much I hated living here and how Dunningham had tried to squeeze the breath out of me, but that would only worry her , and there was nothing she could do about it anyway.
"Where were you?" Mom asked.
"Trust me, it's better if you don't know."
"Keira, I should tell you that Joshua's missing. He and some of the other boys."
"He's okay, Mom."
"What? How do you know? We have no idea where he is. He just left a note saying he was sorry and not to worry about him."
"Then you shouldn't, Mom. Don't worry about him. He's fine." I wanted to tell her the truth so she and Daddy wouldn't worry, but I knew that even the truth would bring its own concerns. I took a deep breath. "Mom, I wanted to talk to you about something else."
"What?"
"Consummation."
She paused for a moment. "Oh. You won't have to worry about that for a little while, but—"
"No. I have to worry about it now. Mr. Dunningham won't wait."
"What?"
I wrapped the phone cord around my finger and squeezed. "He won't wait, Mom."
"Hold on." I could hear her moving and a door closing. Maybe she was trying to get to a secluded place and away from Dad. "What do you mean he won't wait? He has to."
"No, he doesn't, Mom. He can do whatever he wants , and he doesn't want to wait. I'm scared."
There was silence on the other end for a long time. "Okay. Umm… let me talk to your father about it."
"No!" I didn't wanted my dad doing anything that could get them both killed. "I just—I just wanted some motherly advice."
"Try to hold him off as long as you can."
Maybe calling my mother wasn't what I needed. She'd only made it worse. I wished Naomi were here to talk me through this. Consummation was something we had discussed a little here and there, but I knew she would understand why I was afraid and why I didn't want to do it. What would Bram think if he found out?
"Never mind, Mom. How's Daddy?"
"He's fine. He misses you dearly , though."
I miss him too. "I miss both of you." There was a light knock on the door. "I have to go, Mom. I'll talk to you later." For all I knew , I wouldn't be able to see or talk to my parents until my wedding day. "Don't worry about Josh or me. We'll be fine."
"Okay. If you hear anything from Josh, let us know," Mom said. Her voice came out in a whisper, like as though she was afraid if she talked louder I'd realize that she was crying. "Keira, I'm sorry. I really thought this would be the best thing for our family. And you know—no one says no to Mr. Dunningham."
"It's fine, Mom. I love it here," I lied. "Good-bye."
"Bye," she said and we both hung up.
I opened the door to the study and Hesper stood there waiting. "Feel better?"
I nodded, even though I felt worse. I didn't want her to think that I was ungrateful for her allowing me to speak to my mom. She could get into a lot of trouble for what she had done.
That night we had a light dinner. Butternut squash or something like that. I hated it, but it was fine because I had no appetite. After I excused myself, Hesper drew me a nice bath—one of the fancy baths where she added some kind of cream and rose petals to the water.
I soaked long after the steaming water had turned cold. Hesper entered and handed me a towel. I imagined what would happen if I never got out of the tub. What would Dunningham do? It was a good thing I was immortal because if not, I might have drowned myself.
Finally , I stood and wrapped myself in the towel.
"Mr. Dunningham is waiting for you. He would like your hair to be down," Hesper informed me.
She left and walked over to the mirror. Still dripping wet. I stood in the mirror and studied myself. My hair was tied up in a black scarf.
I thought about what I could do to make myself unattractive to him. I could get the sharp pair of scissors that sat in the drawer of my desk and cut all my hair off. I could take a razor blade and cut slashes across my face. Maybe I could make myself sick and vomit on him. Certainly that would kill the moment.
I pushed all those ideas away and dried off. When I left the bedroom, I discovered a black lace negligee on the dress form with a matching overlay. I dropped the towel and slid the negligee over my body. The delicate spaghetti straps fell over my shoulders. I slid my arms through the holes of the overlay and wrapped it tightly around me. I released the wrap , and my sea of black hair fell against my back. I didn’t even bother to look at myself in the mirror, although I prob
ably should have. I knew that after that night I would never want to look at myself again.
I didn't bother spraying Dunningham's favorite perfume on me. I took a deep breath and walked to his bedroom. I stood at Dunningham's door with my hand on the knob for what seemed like forever. Then I remembered that I was supposed to knock first, so I rapped lightly on the door and waited.
"Come in," Dunningham called.
I forced myself to twist the knob and let myself inside. He lay in the middle of his bed, propped up on pillows. A spread of playing cards sat in his hand.
He gave me his disgusting smile. "It's about time. You look beautiful. Worth the wait."
"Thank you," I answered, but I didn’t move from my spot.
"Well, close the door and come in."
Reluctantly, I closed the door behind me and walked toward the bed. As I did, Dunningham hopped off to meet me.
I froze as he approached, watching me like a vulture spying a dead carcass. He lifted my chin and planted his hard dry lips on mine. I hated the taste of his kiss. I couldn't help but pull away.
He frowned. "Is that how this is going to be? We're going to play this game? I thought we were past this."
"Please, don't make me do this," I pleaded with him.
He looked at me unmercifully. "You're lucky I waited this long."
He brought his long, slender fingers to my waist and untied the overlay. Then he pulled it away from my shoulders , and it dropped to the floor. His fingers made their way to the spaghetti straps on my shoulder. The negligee was the only thing between him and me , and I had to put a stop to it.
I kneed him in the groin and made a run for the door.
I dashed to my bedroom, locking the door behind me. Since he had a key, locking the door would only buy me a few seconds. I grabbed a chair and slid it underneath the doorknob. The black curtains billowed as a chilly air swirled through the room. I was positive that I hadn't left the balcony doors open.
The rattling of keys outside of my door drew me to the balcony. My only way out would be down. Something grabbed my arm, pulling me toward the railing, but I saw no one.
"Keira, we have to jump," Bram's voice called.
I had no time to ask how he had gotten onto my balcony. "What?" I asked. "Bram, we're three stories up."
"I know. Just tuck and roll. Try to land on the balls of your feet. Bend your knees. Don't land on your back."
How did he know so much about jumping off buildings? I could hear Dunningham throwing himself against the bedroom door. I shook my head. "Bram, I can't."
Bram's hand on the small of my back pushed me forward. "Keira, we don't have time to think about this. What's going to happen? We're not going to die."
"I could break both my legs and then Dunningham would kill me."
"Okay. Yeah, that could happen. But it probably won't." That didn't make me feel any better about jumping.
The sound of Dunningham bursting through the door of my bedroom and cursing at the top of his lungs motivated me to sit on the railing and sling my legs over the edge. I had never been more afraid of anything in my life.
Bram grabbed my hand, squeezing it too tight. "One, two—"
Dunningham barreled through the doors of the balcony and made a grab for me.
"Three!"
Before I could even think, which was probably for the best, Bram and I both pushed ourselves off of the balcony railing.
The fall was quick and startling. We landed in a cluster of shrubs. I let out a scream as rough branches clawed at my face and arms.
I felt Bram moving. He pulled me up. I stood—or tried to stand, but a sharp pain shot through my right ankle. I winced as I placed my bare foot on the concrete. Bram didn't sound like as though he w ere as hurt at all.
I looked up. Dunningham stared down at me. Thankfully Fortunately , he had no idea Bram was there.
"Where do you think you're going?" he called down.
Bram pulled me away , and I ran after him. Dunningham's wicked shouting rang in my ears. We headed for the gate at the side of the house, which was already opened. I heard the sound of dogs barking—Black and Blue.
Once we made it to the front lawn, urgent voices shouted at each other. Dunningham's security. He didn't have much, just two at night. There wasn't a need for more than that. Neither he nor his residence had ever been put in danger.
Bram stopped running and suddenly came into view. Something wrapped around me. "Keira, just run—run for the wall and keep running. No matter what happens."
Two men flew out of Dunningham's front door. We were trapped. The house was surrounded by a tall stone wall , and the wrought-iron fence that opened only to let authorized vehicles inside was shut. That didn't stop Bram for running toward it.
Between breaths I asked, "Bram… how… are… we—"
We stopped at the gate. What was his plan? The spaces between the bars weren't large enough for our bodies to squeeze through. The men were gaining on us , and I was at Bram's mercy. Why had I listened to him? Bram never thought things through all the way. His body moved faster than his mind. But Bram went to the small keypad on the side of the fence and punched in some numbers.
"Doyle gave me the code."
The gate began to open , but much too slowly. I turned back to look at the men who were after us. Once they saw the gate opening, they turned back to the house, probably to get vehicles. They would hunt us down in no time.
Once the opening was large enough, I slid through, followed closely by Bram. I was a fast runner, but he was faster. He pulled me along. I wanted him to leave me. I had invisibility and he didn't, but I knew he would never do that. It would only be a matter of seconds before the guards were after us.
A black carriage sped toward us from the opposite direction. I wondered who would be out that late. Grims usually retired early , and the streets were empty after a certain time. The dark tinted windows prevented me from seeing who was inside.
The car stopped , and Bram pulled me toward it. I wanted to ask him what he was doing, but I had no time as he pulled the back door open and pushed me in the back seat. He climbed in behind me, slamming the door shut and ducking down.
Doyle was in the driver's seat. He said nothing, but he blew the car's horn and let down his window. Two cars came toward us in the opposite lane. The first car stopped next to us. The other car stopped short behind him. Doyle rolled his window down. "What's going on?" Doyle asked.
"Keira. She ran away. We also saw that boy on the property. One of the runaways. You must have seen them. They came this way."
I took a deep breath.
"No, I haven't seen anyone," Doyle said. "They didn't come this way."
The guard swore. "They must have gone the other way or turned down a side street, but I was sure I saw them come this way."
I was amazed by how easily everyone believed and trusted Doyle. The thought never entered the man's mind that Doyle was hiding us in his back seat. This worked to our benefit. Doyle had saved our lives more than once.
Doyle slammed his hands on the steering wheel, feigning frustration. "You guys go in the opposite direction. I'll check down the side streets, they couldn't have gotten too far."
"Okay," the guard replied. "Mr. Dunningham wants you to sound the alarm."
"Will do," Doyle said as he rolled his windows up. He made a U-turn , and he headed in the direction of Farrington.
Bram sat up. "Doyle, we owe you big."
"Yeah, you do. I could get killed for this," Doyle said. "This clown threatened to turn me in to Dunningham if we didn't come and get you."
I looked at Bram. He stared out of the window.
"And you, my dear," Doyle continued, "can rest assured that if Dunningham ever gets his hands on you again, it'll be to make you expire. Even you can't get him to be that forgiving."
"We're never coming back here, so that's nothing we need to worry about," Bram said.
The full impact of that statement didn't hit me until
then. We were never coming back here again. I hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye to my parents.
"Now, I have to sound the alarm soon or he'll get suspicious. The wall has been extra guarded since the last time you left, so you'll have to use the transportation chamber to get back. It's behind Bram's house and programmed to take you to Dunstan."
We were out of the Upper Estates and Doyle tore through the quiet streets of Farrington. I had only a minute to take a last look at my city. My home. The place where I had been born and raised.
The car slowed as we pulled up to Bram's house. There were no guards in sight, at least not yet. Doyle slammed the brakes , and we exited the car without a word. Pain shot through my ankle, but I ignored it. We made our way to the transportation chamber. I only breathed normally when the doors slid shut and we were sealed inside.
36
Once the doors of the transportation chamber opened again, we were in the lab with Dunstan and Colden.
"Are you okay?" Dunstan asked.
Bram helped me limp out of the chamber. "I'll live," I answered. "Uh, I'd love to return your cloak, but I kind of need something to put on." I was still wearing lingerie underneath the cloak.
Dunstan went to a cabinet and pulled out a lab coat. "I hope this will do for a few minutes."
The three of them had the decency to turn around while I changed.
I handed Dunstan back his cloak and thanked him for letting us borrow it. It had to be the most precious thing he had , and he didn't have to lend it to us.
"Where's Doyle?" Dunstan asked.
Bram held his side as if he had a cramp. "Still there. He had orders to follow."
Dunstan shook his head. "I don't like him being there so much. At some point my brother's going to figure it out. He's not stupid. We can't afford to lose Doyle."
Keira Grim: The Final Breath Chronicles Book Two Page 26
