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The moment he saw my throat contract, Peter let me go.
Just in time as Victor turned to look at us and Henri narrowed his eyes.
Tension whipped down the corridor.
Coughing on betrayal and swiping at tears, I couldn’t look at anyone.
With predatory calculation, Henri sniffed the air as if he could sense something had just happened. He glowered at me, then Peter, but he didn’t ask. Didn’t suspect that Peter had just drugged me against my will.
Breathing hard, hating the tablet lodged in my gullet, I kept my eyes down.
“Everything okay, pets?” Victor finally asked. “Did you fall?”
“I’m fine, Sir V.” Peter bowed his head. “A little trip, that’s all.”
Henri snorted as if he didn’t believe him.
Victor cocked his head, his greying blond hair almost silver in the night. “Do try to be careful.” With an elegant spin that sent his dressing gown twirling around his legs, Victor placed his hand on a brass handle and opened a door thick enough to be the entrance to a vault.
“After you, Ward.” He bowed gallantly and waited for Henri to stop glaring at me. Reluctantly, Henri turned and stepped over the threshold.
Victor followed, both of them disappearing.
For a single heartbeat, Peter and I were alone in the corridor.
I whirled on him. “How could you—”
“That will take effect in ten minutes or so.” He held up slightly shaking hands. “Don’t fight it. Let it take you. You do not want to be fully lucid for what he’s about to do to you.”
My heart stopped. I rubbed my throat where the sour pill still lodged. “Please tell me you didn’t just give me—”
“Psilocybin?” He nodded, rich brown hair flopping over his forehead. “I did. I watched him fuck you on stage tonight. I saw the pain on your face as he rode you. I have no idea what he’s done to you since he’s had you trapped in his room, but at least I can offer you a smidgen of comfort before he hurts you again.”
Kissing my cheek, he shrugged sadly. “It’s the only thing I can do. I can’t stop him, and I can’t save you. But at least you’ll be off in a fugue and hopefully pain free.”
Terror pinched my chest. “You don’t know what you’ve done, Peter.”
How was I supposed to keep my wits and play along with Henri? How could I act with him and not go completely off script because of some recreational drug I’d never taken?
“I couldn’t stand by and let you go through this without some help.”
“You drugged me against my will,” I hissed. “That’s not help. That’s—”
“It’s for your own protection.”
Fury burned.
I slipped into my first language as panic billowed quicker and thicker. “Mujhpar nashili dawayein buree pratikriya karti hain, Paavak.” (I react badly to drugs, Paavak.)
His eyes widened; he replied in kind. “Aap theek rahogi —” (You’ll be fine.)
My mind scrambled. Horror tangled. I repeated what kept echoing in my mind. “You don’t know what you’ve done. You’ve—”
“I’ve saved you from a world of pain.”
“I didn’t ask you to—”
“Peter, Ily…come along, sweetlings. We don’t have all night.” Victor’s voice sailed into the corridor, lashing around us and dragging us forward.
