by Mia Hoddell
“Don’t do this,” Cora said, allowing a little plea to creep into her voice as the other man released her to Jed and retreated somewhere now that they were in the main part of the tunnel that housed their organisation.
“You don’t get a choice in this world anymore, Cora. It’s one or the other.”
“I’ve never had a choice! How can I when the top criminal in the country is my father?”
“You have a choice now. Leave him and join us willingly.” As he spoke, he led her through a series of hallways until they stopped in front of what looked like an old station worker’s office.
“Wow great choices I have: work for Rogan and have my every decision controlled and monitored, or join your group of assholes and have to kill a father I only just learnt about, only to then be killed myself. You’re on to a real winner there Jed, how could I resist those options?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she spoke.
“You don’t have to kill him, Cora. Mayana hasn’t thought that part through yet.”
“Really? Because from where I’m standing she believes exactly what she’s saying. For the record though, I’m not someone you can control. Ask Rogan if you don’t believe me. I do nothing if it doesn’t benefit me, I don’t build debts and I always make sure I have a backup plan. If one thing my ability comes in handy with it’s leverage. I know a lot more than normal people do and I’m not someone who’s afraid to use it,” Cora threatened, hoping she had made her point clear as Jed leaned forward to unlock the door.
“You didn’t know about Carvelli though, did you? Your ability didn’t help you there,” Jed sneered, hating himself for the way it made her flinch against him subtlety before he shoved her forward.
Catching Cora off guard, Jed’s actions caused her to stumble into the room. Her arms were outstretched in case she fell but by the time she had regained her balance Jed had already shut the door and locked it, trapping her in the dark as he walked away.
He felt a small amount of guilt at both his final comment to Cora and his actions. But it didn’t matter how strongly he disagreed with Mayana’s plan, he still had to take orders from her if he wanted Carvelli dead. So, ignoring the pang of remorse rising within him, he forced himself to walk away from her.
Making his way back through the tangle of tunnels, it wasn’t long before he was outside Mayana’s office wanting to inform her that Cora had been contained. But, overhearing her angrily dictating from the other side, he paused for a moment to listen. “I told you before, Cora and Rogan are both mine! Your only job is to get us supplies and get us in.”
Jed guessed she was talking to one of her many connections on the phone as he heard no response.
“I don’t give a shit what you want, we made a deal. Cora is working for me until I decide otherwise; she is not to be harmed. I have been impressed with you so far so don’t ruin it. You have done more than I had expected and if you keep it up, the rewards promised will be worth it.”
Mayana’s tone softened with the praise but the authority in her voice was clear.
“If you don’t have anything else to waste my time with, I have to go and question this insufferable girl who is refusing to co-operate. Maybe if I can’t get through to her, I will allow you to do what you want.” Mayana sounded bored by the conversation and Jed was just beginning to back away when he heard Mayana’s footsteps on the floor and her door opened.
“Is she secure?”
Jed only nodded in response, confused as to what Mayana’s connection wanted with Cora.
* * *
Finally alone, Cora allowed herself to sink to the floor with a sigh. She considered banging on the door but she knew it would be a wasted effort. So instead, curling her knees up, she rested her head against them, folding her arms to hold her head as she shut her eyes.
She couldn’t believe Rogan was her father. It didn’t seem right and she noticed herself referring to him as ‘father’ and not ‘dad’ because dad was for someone who had been there, for someone who actually cared and someone who showed love. Rogan was none of those things. Okay, so he had always been there and shown an interest in her but it was always related to his business. It was never love.
As the thought crossed her mind Cora realised something. He had been training her. Since she first stepped foot in his house, he had been training her to take over from him. Part of her wanted to kill him like Mayana wanted. She couldn’t understand why he had never told her. But just because suddenly he was her father, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t kill him—at least not until she had the answer to every question she needed to ask.
If she did it though, it definitely wouldn’t be for Mayana’s benefit. Cora was tired of being used and only wanted to because of a specific reason.
As she drew her conclusion, the door to her prison opened slowly. It was like the person on the other side was wary of what Cora might be doing. However, the moment of hesitation lasted only a second as Mayana walked into the doorway, her body silhouetted against the backdrop of artificial light.
“Are you done playing these childish games and going to follow me and my cause?” Mayana asked, her voice stern.
“You must be delusional if you think I would ever consider what you are asking me to do,” Cora spat, raising her head and turning it toward Mayana who had made it no further than the threshold.
“You must be delusional if you think I’m asking,” Mayana threw back, her tone deathly serious. “You will follow my every order and you will kill Rogan. After that you will sign everything over to me and you’ll be free to go back to your normal life without worry.”
Cora snorted in response, baffled by Mayana’s assumptions. She could also hear how her words changed as Mayana turned her orders into lies.
“Aren’t you forgetting something, Mayana?” Cora asked, raising her eyebrow in question.
Mayana looked at Cora in confusion, her carefully poised control breaking for a second as Cora’s question derailed her plan.
“You can’t lie to me. I know you have no intention of either keeping me around or letting me go free if I ever fulfil your wishes—which I won’t.”
“You will, you just don’t know it yet.”
“And how are you going to make me do that? Like you said, only I can get into that building undetected and if I don’t want to pull the trigger, you can’t make me.”
Cora looked at her defiantly, her voice becoming stronger as she realised she had the upper hand for once. Cora was not someone who liked to be controlled and there was no way she was going to allow herself to be manipulated by someone she had never met before and was beginning to loathe.
The defiance and hesitation was not down to a desire to bond with Rogan on a fatherly level. Cora didn’t know what her feelings were towards him. At that moment in time she assumed they hadn’t changed, she still hated Rogan and everything he stood for. She didn’t want to take over his business, she didn’t want his money either but that didn’t mean she wanted him or Mayana to have control of it.
Sure, she would have no problem if someone else pulled the trigger, but to ask her to do it? She didn’t think she had it in her, even with the years of hell Rogan had put her through.
“I have my ways of persuading people around to my way of thinking Cora and you’d be wise not to test me. I will not put up with your attitude like Rogan. You’d be surprised by the things I’ve done if you knew. People don’t say no to me and I’m not going to start by allowing you to be the first. You will come around to my way of thinking or you’ll die slowly and screaming. By the time I have finished you’ll be begging for a merciful bullet to end your misery.”
The irony did not go amiss on Cora that Mayana, in essence, was incredibly similar to Rogan. “Sorry Mayana, but that doesn’t really give me much of an incentive to help you. If I die either way, what’s the point in trying? You’ll have to do better than that if you want me to work for you and co-operate.”
“We’ll see.”
With her t
hreat delivered, Mayana left the room, pulling the door shut hard. Cora heard the lock turn with a clunk, leaving her isolated with only her thoughts.
Chapter 20
Without daylight or a clock Cora couldn’t tell how long she had been left locked inside. The consuming effect of the darkness had allowed her undisturbed thoughts to overwhelm her. There was nothing visible for her to stare at as a distraction, but there was only so many times she could run over things inside her mind. It was like someone had pressed repeat on her thoughts but it didn’t matter how many times they cycled, Cora was no nearer to understanding what she wanted.
I’m Rogan’s daughter.
He knew and he never said anything.
He’s left everything to me—that must be why Kirby was so eager to get rid of me.
My mum’s inheritance is Rogan’s money.
My mum lied to me every day she dragged me to that house to watch her work.
Everyone knew the truth but me.
This is all why Rogan was so persistent with indoctrinating me. I needed to become one of them so I can lead them eventually.
Cora deliberately stayed away from Mayana’s demands and threats during the cycle. If she added that to the mix, Cora was sure the overload in information would cause her mind to burn up in frustration. For now she just needed to focus on the facts, not her own desires—she didn’t know what those were.
Remaining seated, her knees were raised against her chest as she rested her head back against the wall with heavy sighs. She had been in the same position for what felt like hours but her concept of time may have been altered. Not seeing or hearing anything could do that to a person. Her joints were stiff, her muscles ached and she had a severe case of pins and needles stabbing her in her left foot as her bent knee restricted the blood flow.
She was becoming restless and she wanted out.
There was nothing in the room to entertain herself with and as the repetitive thoughts began once more, Cora felt she needed something better to do. All that came to mind was sleep. At least if she was fully alert after it, she may have a better chance of figuring something out. That was what she told herself anyway, but even in her confused state she didn’t believe it.
* * *
Cora had not been awake long when a slither of light flicked on and shone underneath the thin gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. The artificial glow crept into her prison, revealing a few shelves and cleaning equipment in one corner opposite her. Watching as the light altered beneath the door, she was aware of the shadow of a person’s feet on the opposite side. She had heard no one approach, their footsteps silent, but their presence was obvious as they blocked half the light out.
With a slow, imperceptible clunk, the lock slid back into the door and the handle turned. Then the door opened, more light falling inside from a torch that was pointed directly into Cora’s eyes making her wince. Peering past the beam, she could see the vague outline of someone only just visible. Cora was sure it was Jed. The figure’s stature was the same and beside Mayana he was the only one who had come into contact with her.
“What do you want?” Cora asked sullenly, not pleased by the company.
“You know there’s a light switch in here, right? You don’t have to sit in the dark.”
Cora wanted to thump him. “Oh I’m sorry, the person who threw me in here must have forgotten to mention that,” Cora spat sarcastically instead as Jed raised his hand to turn on the light.
Flinching like a vampire recoiling from sunlight, Jed was almost surprised she didn’t hiss at him as he sat down beside her.
“I’m not here to argue with you, Cora. I just want to talk.” He looked across at her as she lifted her head out of her folded arms but stubbornly refused to look at him, choosing to focus on one of the rusty, blue paint cans that was suddenly intriguing to her. Taking her silence as a cue to continue, he spoke again. “I know you’re against what Mayana is asking you to do—”
“Let me save you the trouble, Jed. I will not, nor will I ever, join and willingly go along with Mayana’s scheme. In fact it’s not even a scheme. Her whole plan revolves around me killing a father I never knew I had and then dying myself. Whether I despise Rogan or not, it’s not going to make me pick up the gun and pull the trigger. You want someone to kill him? Then you’ll have to infiltrate the house yourself and find someone crazy enough to take the shot. That person is not me.” She fixed her stare on Jed, her eyes showing her defiance and unwillingness to comply. If that wasn’t clear enough, her rigid posture, squared shoulders and the venom in her voice was enough for Jed to get the hint and try another tactic.
“You’ve got me all wrong, Cora. I don’t agree with Mayana’s idea to make you kill Carvelli. Didn’t you hear me trying to fight for her not to make you do that?”
She had gone back to studying the paint can, ignoring his words as Jed let out a sigh.
“I guess that’s not what you’ve been focused on from that encounter is it?”
Again, he received no response, just a tense and awkward silence. He could hear her deep, annoyed breaths that were coming in quick succession at his words. Her fists kept clenching and unclenching in anger, putting Jed on edge slightly.
Cora was trained, she had to have been growing up in the midst of Rogan’s empire and no matter what his strength was compared to her, she had more skill; something he had experienced first-hand. She wouldn’t have survived this long if she didn’t. He had heard all the stories about how she treated Rogan, escaped his clutches and although Jed knew she had one thing going for her that no one else did, it still took guts and a lot of determination to pull the stunts she had when all along she had been ignorant about her parents.
“Cora, I don’t agree with Mayana. Yes I want Carvelli to be dethroned and I believe his death is the only way that can happen but I don’t believe making you do something like that is right.” He wanted to place a hand on top of hers to emphasise his words but he refrained. A broken wrist was not something he needed at that precise moment. All he hoped for was that she could hear the truth in his words.
“Oh that’s just great, Jed. ‘I don’t think you should kill your father but someone else should.’ What does it matter who pulls the trigger? One way or another, you are still agreeing with Mayana and taking something from me. She just wants me even more damaged so I sign everything over to her. I may not want the business but I’m not giving it to that controlling, psycho-bitch.”
Cora couldn’t understand why she was defending Rogan all of a sudden or referring to him as her father. In her mind she would never see him that way. He was evil to her. She wanted nothing to do with him and couldn’t care whether he lived or died but ironically he would be her way out to freedom, if she used the situation to her advantage. For a moment she saw a glimpse of her father in her. Maybe that is why she had survived, she had what Rogan had: the instinct to survive.
“Cora, you know yourself Carvelli needs to be stopped. You also know where your heart lies about him,” Jed spoke with caution, aware that one wrong word was all it would take to set off the explosion of anger that was building inside her.
She turned back to him, her steely eyes fixing him and pinning him against the wall.
“I will only say this once more. I will never help you and I won’t kill Rogan. Why would I? I don’t want to inherit anything and there is no chance in hell I’m signing it over to Mayana. Rogan lives and that’s the end of it.”
Jed sighed at her resolve, sensing there was nothing he could say to change her mind.
“Mayana doesn’t deserve that empire. In my opinion she would be worse than Rogan.”
“Oh would I now?”
Cora raised her eyes to the doorway where Mayana was stood, flanked by two of her men. Neither Jed nor Cora had noticed the door open during their argument and neither of them knew how much she had heard. From the cold anger displayed on her face though it was obvious she had heard enough.
“Jed, l
eave us,” Mayana ordered before either of them had time to respond to her first statement.
Obeying without question, Jed placed a hand on the floor and the other on his knee, pulling himself off the floor with a grunt. Cora couldn’t see his expression as his back was turned on her but Mayana arched an eyebrow in question to something he had done. Nothing more was exchanged as Jed pushed past the men either side of her and left the room.
Taking a step into the small space, the door shut behind all three of them ominously, causing Cora to stand as a precaution.
“If you’ve come here to lecture me again, you’re wasting your time and mine.” Cora’s tone was laced with resolve and irritation, mostly because she hated being confined in small spaces.
“I’m not here to lecture you. I’m here to change your mind.”
“And how are you going to do that? Didn’t you hear what I said to you and Jed? It’s not going to happen, ever, so just give up now and save yourself the disappointment.”
Cora and Mayana never broke eye contact as they challenged each other.
“That’s what these two are here for. I’m sure you’ll change your mind,” Mayana said, gesturing to the two men either side of her.
Looking at them properly for the first time Cora noticed the thick layer of muscle coating their arms and chest. Unlike all of the other men in the tunnels, these looked like they were built to take part in a rebellion or an overthrow. Cora, however, wasn’t intimidated. She had gone up against men like them at Rogan’s and faced more than two at once.
