“Onward.” The doctor tapped his cane again.
I frowned as we toddled after him like obedient ducklings. That cane was vintage in appearance and too solid to be used for punishment. So he couldn’t intend to use that on me. I was beginning to think he would be doing precisely nothing to me, tonight. The expression in his eyes had been so dead he might have been looking at a pond full of slime, or a distasteful piece of food.
Had I annoyed him that much? It seemed so.Don’t drown yourself, had been his last instruction, or similar. I’d done what he’d said not to. His reaction left me nauseous, my stomach churned, my chest ached—and it was not the nice sort of ache either. I felt anxious and awful.
Whatever he truly was, whoever he was, being rejected left me empty, as if he had ripped out my heart after all.
We climbed the concrete stairs, went through the entryway, passing a metal detector and a pair of security guards. One of them nodded to Cassius. Then my fears were made real—the doctor pointed to a small, cushioned platform, atop a squat, decorative column then he left us, stalking away down the wide corridor.
I stood there in my tutu and mask, feeling bereft.
Taking pity on me, Cassius took my hand, then helped me climb onto the square platform which sat at waist-height. I arranged the skirt and sat with my legs angled to the side, while he hooked the metal leash to an anchor point below that was sunk into the column. He wandered off down the corridor, and I was afraid he, too, was leaving. I’d be alone and unguarded in the middle of this dangerously kinky party.
He returned carrying a chair, parked it a yard from me, then sat.
“Fuck this,” he muttered, shooting me a glance.
“What?” I asked, muffled due to the mask.
He shook his head. “Shh. I’m not to talk to you.”
“Oh.”
“Fuck this. He’s not paying me, but I’m staying with you. Don’t be too concerned about his attitude. I don’t think it’s all you. He’s distracted, and it’s probably due to Jacob.”
While we’d set up here and talked, people had been going past—more of the weird crowd, which was saying something. I was not exactly the average, sitting here in a tutu and skull mask, with my transparent panties showing, and chained to a column like an ornament.
More people drifted past. More latex and leather. A trio with a naked woman in a cage on wheels. How had that been brought up the stairs? Tattoos and piercings decorated one man, in fact so many piercings the dude glittered. His owner carried a cattle prod and a coiled whip. A few men drifted close and eyed me but were warned off by Cassius. I was grateful they paid heed.
Off and on, I became bored, interspersed with alarm when anyone leered at me too pointedly.
The mask was removed twice, at intervals that were clocked, to let me drink and eat a snack. I tried to engage Cassius in conversation, but he was almost as disgruntled and sullen as the doctor. Until, that is, a gaunt, tall man in steel-gray shirt and black pants halted beside us. Cassius was already on alert and seemed to be assessing the man for threats. The two men flanking Mister Gaunt looked to be security, judging by how they studied everyone who came near him.
Cassius rose from his chair.
“Cassius.” The man nodded. The muscles and tendons of his face and neck were bare of fat, and every movement, every word spoken, seemed organized by ropes and strings. Yet he struck me as being less than forty. “On the job, are we?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is this her?” He nodded at me.
“Yes, sir.”
“Hmph. She hasn’t sent me anything worthwhile. I’ve seen the photos she took.”
What? This had to be Jacob, but I hadn’t sent himanything.
“The pages in that book only reinforced what I already suspected about your doctor. The deal I offered her is off. However, I have another use for her. She’s good enough for my purpose and you can earn a promotion.”
If my stomach had been unhappy before, now it was in creepy turmoil. How had he seen those pics? Automatic cloud update was how. So he had everything that was on the phone. Behind the mask, I was chewing my inner cheek and flustered, even if my body was rock-still.
“Oh, sir? What would that be?”
I was half ready to spit on Cassius, if he went for this spiel. For a moment I doubted him.
“Just say nothing when we take her. Tell the doctor you were away at the restroom.”
The two extras in their cheap black suits made a move toward me. Cassius stepped in between.