Page 67 of Cruel Salvation

“Thank you.” Lotus gave a fake smile at the not compliment, but her brain was rushing ahead, and a slither of fear took root in her chest, not for her but what this meant for her child and others if she was right in her suspicions.

Andrea paced slowly in front of her as if teasing her, baiting her when in fact Lotus was just biding her time.

“Rhea Winslow was smart, no doubt, but she made a fatal mistake that cost her, and I won’t do the same.”

“Which was?”

Lotus wiggled her wrists, testing the binds and finding them secure. Likely Simon or Tim had made sure she wouldn’t be a problem. Her mouth was dry, and she’d kill for a glass of water, but she wouldn’t touch anything these people gave her. She just needed to find a way out or wait for her team to find her.

“She used men as the soldiers in her army when every woman knows that we’re the far more dangerous sex.”

Yep, her worst fear was becoming a reality. “That’s your plan? To use me as a member of your zombie army?”

“Not just a member, Nazareli, but the pinnacle. The woman others will look to. I want you to lead them.”

“But I’ll still be your zombie.”

Andrea gave a tinkly little laugh, which sounded more unhinged than girlish. “Well, of course. I can’t have you turning on the hand that feeds you, can I?”

Tension was tingling in her body now at the thought of that poison entering her bloodstream. That drug was made with the intention of giving it to men and held huge quantities of testosterone, as well as God knew what else. Who knew what it would do to her.

“It won’t work, Andrea. It was designed for men, to make them aggressive and compliant. The quantities alone would be impossible to work out without the risk of killing your subject.”

A delicate hand waved in the air. “Don’t be silly, my father said it would work before he died. I just have to adjust, based on weight and body mass.”

Lotus had no idea why he had told her that because it just wasn’t true. She had not a scientific bone in her body, but she realised the risks involved. Andrea was in no way smart enough to pull this off. All she would succeed in doing would be to slaughter countless women.

“I don’t know why he said that, but he was wrong.”

“Don’t you fucking dare dismiss his legacy. My father was a great man, he sacrificed time with his family for this mission and I will finish it for him.”

“You mean he neglected you, and now you want to justify Daddy not loving you by killing people with a drug you have no idea how to administer.”

Another slap, this one with the back of her hand, the ring on her right-hand splitting Lotus’ lip. The bloody metallic taste on her tongue made her want to gag.

“You know nothing.”

It wasn’t in her nature to give up and, bound like she was, she only had her ability to piss people off to get under Andrea’s skin. “I know a woman who’s pretending when I see her. I know a pathetic imitation trying to be something she isn’t. What’s the plan? Will Simon or Tim guard you when this is done if you succeed? Because let me tell you, Andrea, if you make this happen and get hundreds of women like me, killers, who are cold and calculating, under your control, and you make the slightest mistake, they’ll kill you and not only not think twice, they’ll enjoy it. And let me tell you, I’ll be first in that line.”

“Simon is dead. He served his usefulness.”

Despite his betrayal, Lotus felt sad that the man who’d worked so hard to get better had been killed. All he’d wanted was his family back, and now she was here, and he was dead. Perhaps that was poetic. She was now where she’d forced the men under her leadership, albeit undercover, to be. Now she was about to lose the man she loved and possibly her unborn child.

“I’m pregnant.”

It was a long shot, but perhaps the maternal part of this woman would kick in and buy her some time.

Again, her hand fluttered in the air, making Lotus want to snap her wrist like a twig.

“Easily dealt with. A simple pill and that little problem will flow down the drain. Perhaps the drug will even take care of it for us.”

Andrea turned to the open door and beckoned to someone she couldn’t see, and Tim Copper stepped into the room. He was clearly already under the influence, but he hadn’t been before. It made her wonder if he was on board with this or whether he’d seen what happened to Simon and got cold feet, resulting in Andrea having to drug him.

Lotus’ eyes zeroed in on the needle in his hand, the hypodermic looked more terrifying than any weapon she’d ever faced.

Her fight or flight was usually under control but now, with the stakes so high and her child’s health and well-being at risk, flight took over. Her body began to thrash as she tried to fight her way free.

“Please, Andrea, don’t do this. Keep me here if you must, but please don’t use that on me. I’ll do whatever you ask of me.”