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30. Duce
NIGHTMARES TORMENTED MY sleep. Visions of Traube euthanising people he didn’t deem worthy of living woke me up, leaving me damp with sweat and breathing hard. On top of that, anger for what the Eros did left me shaking for hours. The fact that the Ministry of Defence was killing us didn’t make angels out of the Nazis. They were guilty as well. And I’d fight everyone, even my own country, to make things better. It was a matter of deciding which monster should be slayed first. The Nazis won that contest. I hugged my pillow, tears threatening to spill, and wished Roy were here, holding me, kissing me, and giving me the strength to go on.
Another troubled sleep dragged me into the darkness. But it didn’t last.
Wheezing, I sat up on the bed, brushing my matted hair from my face. It wasn’t only the nightmare that woke me up. There was something else. A pounding in my chest. I rubbed the spot where an ache sliced through me.
Lights flickered in the garden, and car tyres screeched on the driveway. The odd pull in my chest intensified. It burned. Cold sweat broke out on my skin. Minutes passed, and the pain in my chest didn’t diminish. Doors slammed and footsteps pounded. Then my door was flung open.
Lukas’s silhouette was limned by the yellow light in the corridor. I squinted.
With heavy strides, he stomped to my bed and shook my shoulder. “Come out of bed. Change clothes and go downstairs.”
“Why?”
“Do as I say.” The urgency in his voice woke me for good. “Do it—now,” he said again before leaving and slamming the door behind him.
With shaking hands, I removed my nightgown and slid on a plain brown dress I found in the wardrobe. After twisting my hair in a low bun, I staggered out of the room. The knot of anxiety in my belly didn’t want to loosen, no matter how many deep breaths I took. SS officers strode in and out of the hallway when I climbed down the stairs, one hand on the banister for balance.
When I arrived at the landing, Lukas beckoned me to follow him. We took a flight of stairs that led down, lower than the ground floor. Cold, damp air caused goosebumps to grow on my skin and shivers to run up my back. The officers stood at attention and offered the Nazi salute when Lukas brushed past them. He paused, wincing, a hand on his stomach.
“What’s the matter?” I asked as he shivered.
Blood trickled down his nose. He wiped it with an impatient gesture.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, teeth chattering.
He stopped in front of a sturdy door, blood oozing down his nose again. Maybe it was the shock of the encounter with Traube, but I could swear a hint of fear crossed his face. He gave my hand a squeeze and parted his lips, as if he wanted to say something. Then his cold mask, the same as Roy’s, slipped into place, hiding all the warmth. “Let’s see if keeping you here has been a good move.” He closed his eyes for a moment, as if to steel himself, before shoving the door inward.
The smell of blood filled my lungs as the burning in my chest shot fire through my veins. Tied on a chair and covered in blood sat Roy, his face a mask of purple bruises and swelling. All the air was flushed out of my lungs when he tilted his head to the side.
“Roy.” I went to run to him, but Lukas blocked me, grabbing my arm. “Roy.” I punched Lukas. “You promised. You promised.”
“I kept my promise,” he said, without glancing at his brother.
Roy gazed up. So much anger smarted in his gaze that I was surprised the entire building wasn’t in flames. I hardly recognised that furious face. Despite the cuts and bruises, he didn’t look beaten. The hard light softened when he saw me, but he didn’t show any other emotion.
“What have you done to him?” I yanked my arm free from Lukas’s grip.
“Me? Nothing. That was the job of the officers who caught him. It took an entire team to bring him down, and no, I didn’t give the order to beat him. It was all his doing.” He waved at the two SS officers standing behind Roy. “I told you I can’t hurt him.”
Tears welled in my eyes. A mix of worry and anger burned the back of my throat. “Let him go.” My legs quivered. “You promised you’d let him go.”
“I can’t, especially since he refused my offer to join us.” Lukas stepped closer. “But I believe I’ve found the right motivation for him. If he doesn’t care about his welfare, he might care about yours.”
“Lukas.” Roy’s growl thundered in the confined room. Even his beast’s growl echoed, the sound like a sharp blade scratching glass.
“You gave me no choice, brother.” Lukas grabbed me and slammed me on the scarred wooden table in front of Roy, face down.
I gasped as his hand closed around my neck from behind. My cheek was squashed against the rough wood while he tied my wrists to a pair of metal shackles, stretching out my arms. He stepped behind me and, seizing my hair, turned my head left, so that I faced Roy. Fear was a cold shiver on my back. I couldn’t even scream. Another strap was tied around my waist, immobilising me to the table. I struggled against the restraints, my beast growling, but nothing worked.
“War is inevitable, Roy,” Lukas said in English from behind me. “As we speak, a team of operatives are heading for Gleiwitz. Do you know what’s interesting about that bloody forsaken town close to the Polish border? There’s a radio station there.” He pressed a hand to my back, ignoring Roy’s increasingly icy growls. “A team of our best agents is going to attack the radio station and broadcast an anti-German message, pretending to be Polish rebels.” He lifted my skirts, exposing my drawers. A whimper escaped me. Not in front of Roy. Not like that. “Dead bodies wearing Polish uniforms will be found inside the station. They’re prisoners from a concentration camp, selected and killed for the sole purpose of starting the war. Canned goods, they’re called. The story we’re going to spread is that these fake Polish guards have been killed while trying to escape, after sending a war declaration to Germany via radio. Millions of people will hear the message. Outrage will spread like fire. Everyone will agree that Germany has been provoked. After the supposed Polish attack, Germany will march to Poland. It will be war. There won’t be a repeat of Austria and Czechoslovakia. No peaceful annexation to Germany. This will be a full-scale act of war. There’s no choice but to join us.” Excitement and something else I couldn’t place filled his voice.
I cried out when the sound of ripped fabric came. Lukas was shredding my underwear with his bare hands.
He leaned closer, his chest touching my back and his mouth next to my ear. “Let him hear your screams, let him see your fear, and please, watch him. I want him to look at your face.”
Lukas unbuttoned his trousers. Nausea gripped my stomach.Not like that. Not in front of Roy. I shut my eyes as my beast came out, claws scratching the wood. But even the extra strength wasn’t enough to break the metal straps. A ‘please’ was about to leave my lips, but begging would only humiliate me. So I gritted my teeth, tears streaming down my eyes, refusing to see Roy’s face.
