Chapter 6

I sat at the table near the corner. Some habits were hard to break. In the asylum, sitting in the corner allowed you to observe the rest of the room and not have to worry about someone coming up behind you. And, if there was a problem, everyone would rush for the door to escape, no one ran to a corner with no exit.

Gold and glass tables were scattered throughout the room, with a long one between the two doors. I was fighting the urge to pull my legs up and hug them, but didn’t want to get the white cushioned chair dirty.

I held onto the rubber bracelet around my wrist, so far there were fifteen people in the room, sixteen if the small redheaded lady running in and out were to be counted. I wasn’t picking up a single thought. Not one. I looked down at the cuff. I didn’t know what was so special about this thing, and I didn’t care. It was stopping other people’s thoughts from invading my mind.

Rafael, still holding my bag, was talking to Crissy. He had a soft look of adoration on his face as he smiled down at her. She was either upset, worried or angry. Knowing what I did about her thought patterns, I may have been all three. The expression of loathing when he looked at me was gone, he looked cheerful. Maybe not actually cheerful, but at least nice.

Chase came over with a plate of food in his hand, Alona was beside him. He was nodding as she talked quietly to him. I didn’t need to hear their thoughts or words to know that she was excited about the room and he was just happy she was happy.

He sat down in one of the other chairs at the table I was at. “You can go get something to eat.” He motioned to the long table the red headed lady kept putting trays on.

I looked at his plate, then the table. “I can-I can take whatever I want?”

Chase smiled. “Yes. I suggest you do it now before my brothers get there.”

I got up and slowly went to the table. I knew, without looking where everyone else in the room was. I couldn’t help thinking, again, that all of this might be in my head. My eyes went wide when I saw the amount of food on the table. One more thing to make me think this was a dream. Never had I seen that much food—not from the same side of a window, that I was allowed to help myself to. Reaching the table, I picked up a plate. If it was in my head, at least I’d have a full stomach while stuck in this episode.

I hovered over the plate of sandwiches. He’d said whatever I wanted. I took one and put it quickly on the plate. Next were some sort of pastries. I didn’t know if they were dessert or appetizers, but I took three. There were vegetables all lined up neatly beside a bowl of dip. I added some of those to the plate. I didn’t need dip, eating fresh, not borderline spoiled vegetables would be good alone. There was fruit. I had no idea what the fruits were other than a few of the berries, but I filled the edge of my plate with those.

I looked at the full plate in my hand, wondering if they’d allow me to take any leftovers when I left. Of course, if I snapped out of it and hadn’t really been here, I’d be hungry and there would be no leftovers. Turning, I went quickly back to the table and sat down. Neither Chase nor Alona said a word about the amount of food I’d taken.

As I raised the sandwich to my mouth the redheaded lady rushed toward me. I froze. Was this the part where I came to?

She held out a glass. “Here you are, love. Chocolate milk.”

I lowered the sandwich slowly and took the glass. I looked into it. It looked like chocolate milk. “Th-thank you.”

She smiled. “I’m Mitz. If you need anything let me know.”

Nodding, I didn’t know what to say.

She smiled again and moved out of the room seeming in a hurry.

I looked at the glass again and then took a sip. It was chocolate milk and was richer than any I’d ever tasted before. I set it down before I drank it all. “How did she know?” I glanced to the door she’d gone out.

Chase chuckled. “We have no idea. Mitz just knows.”

Alona smiled, then nodded. “Eat something now, while their,” she motioned to the others, “mouths are full.”

She didn’t need to tell me again. I took a bite of the sandwich. I had no idea what it was, but even the bread tasted better then bread ever had. This had to be in my head, which was too bad, I was looking forward to finding out how they’d put me that cube earlier and how they appeared out of nowhere.

I glanced up when Quinton, I think his name was, sat down.

He winked at me and took a much larger bite of a sandwich.

“This is nice.” Alona said, turning her head and looking to the wall with the long table. “no reaching across tables and standing to pass things.”

Quinton paused before he took a bite. “No brothers stealing off your plate.”

Chase grinned.

“I don’t think I’ve witnessed that.” Alona said with a smirk.

“It happens.” Quinton ate the rest of the sandwich in one bite.

“It is refreshing, beloved, and now you can redecorate the dining room and we’ll still have somewhere to eat.” Chase gave her a soft look.

Her face lit up. “Oh, that’s a wonderful idea.”

Lifting her hand, he kissed it.

“Keep the mushy crap down, don’t make me go sit with Raf.” Quinton mumbled before he devoured another sandwich.

Taking a taste of one of the pastries, I glanced around. Rafael was sitting with Leone and Bethany. My bag was beside him on the floor. I chewed slowly. I didn’t know what it was, not a dessert, but it didn’t have a definite flavor that I could identify. I took another bite. Whatever it was, it was good.

“While we’re all in one place, perhaps we could…”

Alona shook her head and looked at Victor. “At least let her finish a sandwich before grilling her for details.”

I looked from her to Victor.

He inclined his head. “Very well.” He picked up his glass and took a drink.

I moved just my eyes and looked at Alona. She was much braver than I was. “Thanks.” I said softly.

She gave me an understanding look. “Not a single one of them have ever been lacking mounds of food, they don’t understand what it’s like to be hungry for days.”

My eyebrows went up. She didn’t look like someone that knew hunger and struggle. I picked up a piece of the fruit, then realized I should have probably grabbed a fork or spoon.

Alona picked up a berry with her fingers and popped it into her mouth, then gave me a daring smile.

Grinning I put the fruit in my mouth. I chewed it slowly, trying not to drool the juice out of my mouth. Swallowing, I picked up my glass. “I don’t know what that was, but it was amazing.” I took a drink of the milk.

“I have to ask.” Chase waved his finger in a circle. “Why chocolate milk?”

I set the glass down after a small sip. “I was twenty-four when I tasted it for the first time.” I rolled my eyes, a little embarrassed at the admission. “I guess serving it in the institution didn’t allow for calm emotions.”

He grinned. “No, I’m sure the sugar rush wouldn’t be of help.”

I nodded and looked at my plate. I didn’t know what to eat next.

“Brother, more than a few of us are going to fall asleep where we sit.” Troy said looking at Chase.

Chase gave Alona a soft look, then turned to Troy. “Fair enough, brother king, I forget you night people aren’t as skilled in sleep deprivation as I am.”

Whatever I’d been chewing lost it flavor. Brother king? There were two kings? I’d never heard of that, not that I was knowledgeable in royal hierarchy, but still, two?

I ate another pastry slowly, while looking around. No one was looking anywhere but at me. Did they expect me to speak first? That never ended well. I didn’t know what they wanted me to tell them.

“I have a few questions.” Autumn turned in her chair and leaned onto her knees.

I leaned back in the chair, hoping that whatever she was going to ask I was able to keep my mouth from saying what I really thought. Automatically I started tracing around the edge of the guard still on my hand.

“You said your family dumped you off at a psych hospital?”

I held her look and nodded.

“When you were ten?” She glanced at Michael briefly.

“Yes.” I traced it slowly, wondering why she was asking me this.

“Do you know your family? Their names?” She watched me, a strange look on her face.

I shook my head.

“Did they ever visit you?” Bethany asked.

“Not that I know of.” For a half a second, I almost wished I could hear what they were thinking, so I could figure out why they were asking me this. How was this supposed to help them find the people taking women?

“Do you know your last name?” Chase asked.

Ignoring the annoyed look Alona gave him, I nodded slowly. “Yes, the one attendant always called me Miss Coffey.”

Chase was quiet for a moment. “Doesn’t ring a bell.” He glanced at Michael. “Check the archives.”

Michael gave him an abrupt nod.

“How long were you there?” Paisley asked me, an understanding expression on her face.

“Twelve years.” I looked from her to Alona. “I think. I may have lost some time when I was in the solitary cells.” I shrugged.

“Were you released?” Arius asked with a serious expression on his face.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I’d already shot his brother in the tush, what could be worse than that? “No. I walked out the front door with a group of new interns that were touring the facility.”

He turned and gave Victor a quick look. I couldn’t tell what it meant.

“Perhaps we could save the personal history discussions for another time?” Troy suggested. “If Kara has any information that can help, the sooner we know, we can act on it.”

I bit my lip before I blurted out that I just wanted my gear so I could leave. Under the table I touched the rubber around my wrist, wondering if I was allowed to leave, could I keep their miracle band.

“Have you witnessed any women being taken?” Troy stood up with his cup and went to the long table.

“Not grabbed kind of taken, although with how intellectually handicapped some of them are—” I stopped when his lips twitched. Stick to the facts I reminded my wandering mind. “I’ve seen them lured away under various different guises.”

“How do you mean?” Victor asked.

“There’s one slag—man, that is almost always involved, that’s how I figured it out. He was there today.”

Victor looked to Troy. “Perhaps he has an ability that allows him to do this with ease?”

“Seems likely.” Troy mused quietly.

I wasn’t sure what kind of ability that would be, just hoped I never found out firsthand. “After,” Troy looked back to me, “after I put that together, I’d go up on a roof or high location and check the neighborhood for women stupidly leaving themselves in a bad spot. Any time I spotted him, he always went for the girls. None came back.”

“Did you ever follow to see where they went?” Michael asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, well, mostly. They went down into old tunnels and I,” I glanced down at the leather I was tracing. It shouldn’t make a difference to them if I admit it. I lifted my chin and held Michaels’ look. “I can’t go underground. I was put in a small windowless room whenever I,” I shrugged, “whenever I acted out.”

No one spoke for a few moments.

“Could you show us where?” Chase asked softly. “On a map.”

I gnawed on my lip for a second. “I don’t know if I could find it on a map, but I could take you there.” Maybe if I did, they’d give me my gear and let me go.

“Perhaps tomorrow we could arrange it.” Troy gave me a slight nod.

That meant I was here for at least the night. I glanced at the food in front of me. I supposed one night with food like this wouldn’t be too hard to cope with. I nodded back to Troy. “Okay.”

“Was it just the tunnel you followed them to?” Rafael spoke directly to me. I met his look, he wasn’t glaring now, so that was progress.

“No. No, there’s two other places. The one is a building with security doors, so I couldn’t follow. The other time I followed them to the harbor.”

Rafael turned in his chair and looked at Leone.

Leone nodded. “The Island is warded now. That building is a priority.”

I frowned. “You’re going there? To-to find the women?”

“They might still be there.” Paisley said giving me a serious look.

“We’ve found many.” Bethany sighed. “I thought they would have given up by now, after we found their data…”

“I don’t think they’re being as selective now.” Daxx stood up and went over to stand beside the glass window overlooking the yard. “There’s no way they’re all diluted relatives from here. One here and there, sure, but groups of women just hanging out.” She looked to Troy and shook her head. “I think they’re beyond desperate now.”

Troy turned to Quinton. “How are the team searches going?”

Quinton sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re finding fewer at the locations from the data sheets.”

“They’ve regrouped.” Troy turned to Chase, a look passing between them briefly before he looked back to me. “Would you be willing to look at some photos to see if this man you’ve just mentioned is one of the ones we got when you…” He glanced to Rafael while rubbing the back of his neck. “when you were on the fire escape.”

I gave him a wide-eyed look, then blinked. “You got those slags?”

He inclined his head.

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat, “yes, I’ll look.”

Arius stood up doing something on his phone. “I’ll have Felix go get the files.”

“Are we still limiting who comes and goes from here?” Emil asked him.

Arius set his phone down and picked up his cup. “Yes, personal guards, hand-picked guards and minimal staff, all cleared by Troy and Crissy.”

Emil looked relieved. “Good to hear. I'm not sure when Rena is coming over, but I'd like to believe it’s safe for her.”

“We've done all we can do to ensure this, brother.” Victor told him

I sat there quietly wondering what they were talking about. The size of the men in this room—if people weren't safe with them, where in the world would they be safe? They might all be royalty, but they were still twice the size of most males I'd ever seen.

A dark-haired man came through the door, he went to Arius and handed him a small tablet. Arius took it. “Thank you.”

“Do you have the guards’ lounge sorted out?” Paisley asked him

The man smiled, “Yes. Not that we expect to use it much.”

Paisley grinned.

“Guards lounge?” Chase asked.

Alona smiled at him. “For when we women are here, so they're close at hand but not underfoot.”

Chase raised one eyebrow. “I fear you ladies are ruining the best guards I've ever had.”

Alona patted his hand. “But we are including them now and not just trying to be rid of them.”

Chase sighed in a dramatic way. “There is that.”

Arius came towards me holding up the tablet. “Just scroll through these and see if anyone looks familiar.”

I took it and looked down. There was a man’s face on the screen. It wasn't the one I told them about. I continued to look at it, I had no idea how to make the picture move or to scroll to another one.

Alona leaned over and slid her finger across the face and another face appeared.

Moving just my eyes, I looked at her hoping she understood my appreciation. She gave me a small smile.

Crissy jumped up. “Oh. I need a book.” She grabbed her phone and sat back down.

No one else seemed to care that she’d just done that. I didn’t know how she lived with her mind the way it was. I looked back to the face on the tablet. I didn't know him either. Placing my finger on his cheek I swiped it and his face slid off the screen. The next one I knew right away. I looked at Arius. “This is him.”

Arius stepped closer and took the tablet.

Troy came over and looked at the screen. “I'll go see what I can find in his head.”

“You can do that.” I frowned. “How do you do that?”

Troy smirked. “I can read what's inside a person's mind.”

I know my mouth dropped open, but I couldn't help it. “Pish. That's so much better than having their thoughts slam into my head.”

Alona leaned forward. “You could go to the cells with them and help if you like.”

The confusion must have been clear on my face.

She glanced at the red cuff around my wrist. “You could listen to what he's thinking and help Troy and Arius get locations,” she shrugged, “answers.”

I looked at the thing on my wrist preventing me from hearing others’ inner dialogue.

“We can keep the exposure down.” Arius said in a light tone, “so the only thoughts are his, no others.”

I gnawed on my lip. I hadn't been able to hear anything when I'd been in the cube. I looked from Troy to Arius.

A man came into the room. Crissy jumped up and ran to him, taking the book he had. “Thank you.” The large man left again. She stood there in the middle of the room and flipped through it. “It is Latin.” She closed the book so quickly it made a loud whup noise. Spinning back around she looked at Rafael. “Arcus is Latin for—”

“I know, sis.” He said quickly.

“Oh. You do.” She sighed. “Okay. I didn’t know you knew, and I wanted to explain why it was important.”

Rafael motioned to her chair. “I know.”

She nodded her head enthusiastically. “Okay. That’s good, right. That you do.” She went over and sat down.

I looked to see if Alona or Chase knew what that was about. Chase looked slowly from Crissy and Rafael to Troy. Troy had a slight smirk on his face. Alona sent her king a questioning look. He smirked and gave his head a slight shake.

“As intriguing as that is,” Chase said as he stood up, “They’re both thick-headed.” He smiled at me while motioning to Troy and Arius. “You won't hear a thing from them.” He motioned around the room. “Everyone else will stay here.”

I took a deep breath and looked down at my wrist. Did I want to find out what that slag did with the missing women? Moving just my eyes I glanced around the room. I didn’t need to hear the thoughts of all present, their anxious looks said it all. Blowing out a breath, I looked to Chase and gave a slight nod.