AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He raises his eyebrows at me, clearly very serious. I take the pen and notepad and start to jot down a list of products I normally use.
“Any allergies or food you dislike?” Dom asks.
“I don’t like fish, or any type of seafood. I eat everything else.”
“Are there any foods you are partial to?”
I mull over the question for a moment. “Sour worms and Indian food. And mangoes—when in season.”
Dom clicks away at the keys on his laptop. “Done, done, and done.”
I finish writing my list and hand the notepad back to him. “Will I be getting a phone?” I ask, trying not to sound desperate or demanding.
“I’m sure you will eventually,” Dom answers, looking up at Odin’s shoulder. I glare at the headrest Odin is leaning against. Of course, hehad to sit in front of me. That way, neither of us could see each other and not spit fire.
“Right. I forgot that I am now thepropertyof my fiancé,” I say, allowing some venom to slip into the last word. Dom smiles empathetically, which confuses me. Why would he work for this man and show signs of feeling sorry for me? Does he not like what his boss has made him do? What type of relationship do these men have with one another?
I’m distracted from analyzing Dom’s posture or facial expressions when Ford starts to sing. It’s not bad, but it’s not pleasant either and the fact that it’s an Ed Sheeran song makes it slightly hilarious. In the rearview mirror, I see him watching me. He winks and starts to sing louder. I fight the awkward smile that wants to spread across my lips and cover Juniper’s ears with my hands.
“I can see that,” Ford says.
“Can you cover mine, too?” Dom asks me.
Odin shifts in his chair, a microscopic movement. When he’s spent so many hours staring out the front window completely immobile, it’s hard not to notice. I wonder what made him uncomfortable. The fact that he can feel me glaring at him. Or that Ford and Dom are clearly trying to lighten the mood, and strangely, are succeeding?
Ford finishes the final note of the song with a pitiful attempt at vibrato. It successfully manages to pull a tiny chuckle from my throat. “Curry sounds like a good idea,” he says. “We should get some for dinner.” He releases a hand from the wheel to lean over and nudge Odin on the arm. “You like naan bread. You’re always stealing the last piece.”
Odin grunts in response.
“I’ll organize it,” Dom says and takes out his phone.
My belly rumbles with the anticipation of eating a hearty meal. Juniper sits up after all this mention of food. My fingers scratch underneath her chin and she delightfully leans into it, her eyes fluttering closed.
“Naan bread is my favorite, too,” I whisper, though I’m not really sure why.
We drive all the way around Loch Ness, and I don’t see anything. Not a snake or a dragon or even a plank of wood. The waters are so dark and choppy, it’s actually a relief to know a monster isn’t trapped in there. No, because I know where it is.
It’s sitting right in front of me.
The sun has retreated behind a pearl-stained horizon by the time the car comes to a stop. Through the tinted windows, a relatively small, but newly built house sits erect and alone on a small hill, a smattering of tall pine trees surrounding it. Dom and Ford jump out before I have a chance to register that this is our destination. After staying in a luxury apartment complex in the middle of London, this isolated location nips at my nerves. There’s nothing for miles. Besides a tiny cottage behind the main house, there are no other places of residence around. The temperature is below freezing. The only indication of our geography, in regard to Scotland, is the few signs that I saw saying Inverness. So, north, somewhere. I really should have been paying more attention.
But even though I’ve been kidnapped, I have no secret, hidden knowledge of how to get out of it. I don’t watch crime shows on repeat or listen to podcasts with dark themes. I have no time for that shit. I only listen to the same two or three albums over and over again and watch trashyTV when I’m so tired, the only things that can move are my eyes and my thumb controlling the remote.
I was not built for this type of situation. No one should be.
Once again, it just proves how perfect I am to steal. The only thing I hold on to is the fact that if given a knife or at least something sharp enough to cut, I’ll know exactly where to slice it to cause maximum damage. It may not be an animal, but skin and muscle and arteries are all the same. They all bleed.
My mind snaps to the present as the chair in front of me groans. Odin steps out and even in the dark, the shape of his face startles me. Too sleek, too cruel, too… sad. I wonder if his other eye hadn’t been damaged, if he’d be less or even more dreadfully beautiful. The disturbing thoughts in my head dissolve as Odin’s suit jacket flicks to the side, revealing the gun tucked into his pants.
I stiffen. Juniper sits up, her golden fur the only bright thing in the car. Looking down, I pat her head and try to gather myself. The door to my left swings open and a burst of icy air slaps me in the face.
Odin stands in the gap. “Let’s go.”
I fix him with a hard stare, place my beanie on my head and do as he says. My pride isn’t worth sitting out in the car all night and slowly freezing to death.
My teeth chatter as I race with Juniper through the sheets of snow that thankfully haven’t piled beyond the first few inches of my feet. The thick jacket seems like a silk nightdress, the cold a living thing clawing at my body, as I trudge up the slate steps and through the impressive wooden door.
The warmth from the huge fireplace burning to my right slithers along my skin and calms the shaking almost instantly. My feet take tiny, stunned steps as I view the inside of the house. Caramel leather couchesand matching dining chairs, heated gray slate tiles covered with sheepskin rugs, windows the size of a single wall with black metal borders. The dining room with a deer antler chandelier is to the left, the magnificent kitchen with a gorgeous marble island is in the center, and the sunken living room is to the right. Either side of the open space are two hallways, leading to more rooms that remain hidden. Considering the cohesive palette lacking anything bright in color, it’s incredibly homey. The perfect place to stay for weeks on end, sipping tea or wine, reading books or playing board games, enjoying the tranquility the Scottish landscape has to offer.
