Dark Love by Skye Warren

Author:Skye Warren
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Fiction
Publisher: Skye Warren
Published: 2016-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sarah Elizabeth is a year younger than me—I remember her from the schoolroom—but her face is drawn and her doe-like eyes hold an infinite sadness. She looks like she’s seen too much, a lifetime of awful things, even though I know she wouldn’t be allowed to leave Harmony Hills. She’s only seen the same buildings, the same people, who have always been here. I’m the one who’s been into the world, who’s seen the darker, seedy side of humanity, but I feel almost like Pippi Longstocking next to her.

She frowns at me, surprise and dismay warring in her face, and frowns even more at Ivan.

As soon as she sees Luca, her eyes widen. When she notices his holster, which he isn’t making any effort to hide, along with a sinister-looking silver briefcase, she shuts down completely. Any thought or feeling vanishes from her expression, leaving only the glassy-eyed stare of a doll.

“This way,” she says, barely a whisper.

She turns away, shoulders hunched under her beige shift.

Ivan and Luca exchange a look. I can read their opinion loud and clear—they think it’s fucked up, how docile she is, how blank. Well, so do I. Sarah Elizabeth might even agree.

They don’t understand. They can’t understand what it’s like to grow up with Leader Allen’s presence, with his judgment, with his touch.

We follow Sarah Elizabeth deep into the house.

Leader Allen is already seated behind his desk when we arrive. Sarah Elizabeth stands just beside the door, outside the room, and I know that is no mistake. She isn’t allowed in without his express permission. Even when she is serving him, she cannot presume to enter his presence.

Ivan, of course, presumes. He strides inside the large room as if he owns it. His clinical gaze takes in the old volumes and yellowed pages—and dismisses them just as quickly.

For his part, Leader Allen looks shrewd and wary—and very, very old. I hadn’t realized quite how old he was. Or maybe I had, but in my mind that lent him authority. Now he looks the kind of old that’s tired, close to death but fighting it every step of the way. His hair has gone from peppered brown to gray. His skin is faintly discolored in places, stretched grotesquely in others. Only his eyes are exactly how I remember them, cunning and cruel.

He doesn’t stand when we enter. I suppose that’s a show of power, telling us we don’t deserve respect. He doesn’t look particularly afraid, either, even though Ivan and Luca make an imposing pair.

“I suppose you know who I am,” Ivan says in a businesslike tone. “If Rosalie Toussaint’s lawyer knew where to find her daughter, then you do too. And you know who she works for.”

Leader Allen’s gaze snaps to me, and his lip curls. “I always knew you had the devil in you, girl.”

Ivan gestures to Luca, who sets down the briefcase with a loud thunk. It hadn’t seemed heavy when he carried it, but there’s clearly something substantial in it. What are they bringing him? Money? No, Ivan would never cave that quickly.

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