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“Maybe later.” She grabbed his tie and pulled him closer. “I was thinking maybe we should get reacquainted.”
“I’d like that very much.” Eric caressed her knee while his stomach roiled. He needed to act quickly before he vomited. He conjured up the energy inside of him—filling it with the story and script she should follow. He was thrown off for a second when the midlife-crisis vixen started nibbling on his ear. His first instinct was to swear and push her away, but then he remembered who he was doing this for and soldiered on. He focused back on the energy within him and leaned away, capturing Ivy’s eyes. While she stared longingly into his, he let go of the energy within him, transferring it to her like a tidal wave crashing against the shoreline. She shook like a thrill had gone through her. It emboldened her to kiss him before his silent instructions worked their magic.
When her collagen-filled lips hit his, it was as if she remembered something and thankfully disengaged. Eric wanted to wipe his mouth off and gargle with bleach. It wasn’t only that he was repulsed by the woman—his body wanted to expunge every touch that wasn’t Sorrel’s. However, time was of the essence, so despite Eric’s aversion, he leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “I’m going to record you, and you will verbally give me permission to. Then you’re going to tell me how your boss is luring people to work in his sweatshops and how he’s getting away with it.”
Fear filled Ivy’s eyes. She shook her head. “I can’t.”
Eric squeezed her knee, his fingers pressing deeply into her skin. His fingertips could feel the rush of blood. Blood that was mostly made of water. His powers began to seize control of the life force that flowed through her. The water within her cells began to swell—he could feel it, and so could she. She placed a hand on her forehead. The headache always came first; next she would feel nauseated, and then she would have difficulty breathing. He was slowly poisoning her with water. If he let it go on too long, it would send her into cerebral edema and eventually she would die. It would be so easy. He’d seen his father take more than one life. But Eric swore that would never be him. He hated himself for even going as far as he had. So much so he backed off a little.
Ivy reached for him. “What are you doing to me?”
“Nothing, darling,” he whispered. “You want to tell me about Clayton, don’t you? Clear your conscience,” his tones were seductive.
She nodded, unsure.
“This is all your idea.” He pushed the thought into her mind. “You asked to meet me here.”
“I’m so glad you came,” she said, zombie-like.
Eric knew he had control of her now. With his free hand he got his phone out and pushed Record. “You are aware I’m recording this conversation and you agree to it?”
“Yes,” she stated.
“Tell me where the workers in the factory come from,” Eric asked.
Ivy had the audacity to smirk. “From all over the world, even first world countries. Young girls are so naive. Most of them are runaways stupid enough to believe anything.”
It was all Eric could do not to burst every vessel in her body.
“Who hires these girls?”
“We have special contractors.”
“You mean traffickers?” Eric didn’t mince words.
That wiped the smirk off her face. “Yes.” She hung her head.
“Where do I find them?” Eric seethed, debating with himself whether the traffickers would live when he got his hands on them.
Ivy prattled off several names and even addresses. He was disgusted by how involved she seemed to be. She went into detail about how they got these girls into the country and the lies they sold them about making a better life for them here in America, only to pay them a few dollars an hour. She then explained the dummy corporations and “subcontractors” they claimed to use to cover it all up. With every detail, Eric had to fight himself to not just finish her off; he even fleetingly considered the sickening thought of sleeping with her. That way he wouldn’t be the one to kill her—the curse would. No. No. He wasn’t that person.
Flashes of Karina flooded his mind. Her bloodied and mangled body after a freak factory accident where she worked in Prague haunted him. It had happened the day after they’d made love for the first and only time. He’d convinced himself the curse must have been broken or perhaps it wasn’t real, as the book hadn’t told him who he should bind himself to on his twenty-fifth birthday. And Karina had been tempting him for months. Teasing him about being a virgin. He would never forgive himself for giving in to her. Just as he would never forgive himself if he killed the snake in front of him. He would let her slither away, at least from him. She wasn’t going to be so lucky with the authorities.
