AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“This is Lily’s debrief,” King said. “The whole thing would take hours. I selected a couple of highlights, to illustrate my point.”
The sound was tinny, but he would know Lily’s soft voice anywhere, even distorted by the tweeter and rough with exhaustion.
“…all I know, he was already screwing other women. He’s a ladies’ man. He’d boff anything female with a pulse. And he’s attractive. Who could blame me?”
“Oh, no one, my dear.” It was King’s voice, coming from behind the camera. “Was he good?”
Lily froze for a moment. A smile curved her lips. Bruno had never seen that smile, or that strange, hard glitter in her eyes.
“Very good.” Her voice went low, to a sexy purr. “Lots of stamina.”
The camera cut to a moving shot that swirled around her, taking in King and the woman, his other servant. “I was so entertained,” Lily went on, with a light laugh. “We had quite the mad affair.”
The camera flashed to King’s reaction, laughing. “Oh, that’s funny,” he said. “You are unique, Lily. You’ve done a brilliant job.”
She gave the camera that cold-as-glass smile again. It chilled him to the bone. “I’m gratified,” she said. “I live to please.”
“I know you do,” King replied. “You’ve done very well, my dear. You’ve exceeded my expectations. I’m so pleased with you.”
“I’m glad that you are,” she said, her voice oddly wooden.
“In fact, after this is finished, I’ve decided to give you a very special privilege,” King went on. “A great honor. I’ve chosen you for the qualities of bravery and cunning that you displayed in this assignment. I am starting a new crop of embryos for the pods, my dear. And I have chosen to use your eggs—with my sperm.”
The camera cut to Lily’s reaction. She looked dumbstruck. Tears glittered in her eyes. One of them flashed down her cheek.
“Why?” she asked, her voice quivering. “Why me?”
“Because you are so special, my pet,” he crooned. “Do you have anything you want to say to me, my lovely Lily?”
She brushed the tears from her eyes. “I have to…to thank you,” she said. “What a gift you’ve given me.”
King’s voice was soft. “I always reward loyalty and talent, Lily.”
She sniffed. “I love you,” she said. “Just you. Only you.”
“And you belong to me, Lily? Just to me?”
She looked straight at the camera, her eyes blazing with raw emotion. “Yes,” she said. The camera cut to her stark, graceful profile. “I’m all yours,” she added. The video flickered, disappeared.
Bruno couldn’t breathe. He stared at the screen, eyes frozen wide. Hobart gave him a wide, unpleasant smile.
“Yes, Bruno, that’s right,” King said. “She’s the chosen one. She reminds me of Magda, you see.” He chuckled. “Not a coincidence, hmm? She reminded you of Magda, too! That’s why it worked so beautifully. I’ll be so glad to have her in my bed again. She is delicious, isn’t she? So affectionate, so uninhibited. But duty called.” He rubbed his hands together. “Finally things can get back to normal.”
Bruno’s insides were a screaming hole. He fought the pressure, tried to hold onto himself. Who he was. What he knew. “That’s a lie,” he said, roughly. “You doctored that tape. You can’t fuck with me.”
King looked over Melanie’s shoulder as she sprayed antibiotic ointment on his bitten thumb, and began to wind the gauze around it.
He shook his head with a sad smile. “I can, Bruno,” he said.“You see, there are things you don’t know about yourself. Things that I altered in you twenty-four years ago. Let’s see if the preliminary command codes still work, after all this time.” He grabbed Bruno’s chin, and spoke, a harsh, guttural word that Bruno did not recognize, and almost instantly could no longer remember.
King stared at him, expectantly.
What?Bruno wanted to snarl, but then he realized, horrified, that he could not speak. It was as if the nerves had been severed. He tried again. And again.Panic burst like fireworks inside him. He began to sweat. Cold chills racked his body. He fought his bonds, panting.
King was chuckling. “They still hold! That’s wonderful. Listen to this, Bruno.” He declaimed a longer phrase, also in that thick language. “Now, try to move,” he urged. “Go on. Give it your best shot.”
Fuck you,Bruno wanted to scream, to shake his head, to spit in the guy’s face, but he couldn’t. He was physically paralyzed, now. He sagged in his bonds, his head lolling to the side.
“My programming and medications back in those days were relatively primitive, but still effective. It was an intensive learning curve for you. You were strapped into the programming device in a hypnotic trance for ten to fourteen hours a day. Did you ever wonder why your physical reflexes are so quick? Why learning martial arts came so easily to you?” The chair was tilting from Bruno’s weight, which was sagging to the side. King shoved him upright. “It was DeepWeave combat tapes. Remember that fight at the diner? Did you surprise yourself that night?” He stared into Bruno’s eyes, and giggled. “Of course you did.”
