Darkest Light by Hiromi Goto

Author:Hiromi Goto
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Published: 2011-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The elevator lurched, and began descending.

Gee almost wept.

The numbers lighting up above the door didn’t stop at the lobby. Gee tucked himself against the side of the car as it continued descending.

The car halted at sub-basement level 2. The doors slid open.

A moist waft of cooked meat, wet fur and dirty laundry rolled inside the enclosed space. Gee’s gut churned. He didn’t know if it was hunger or nausea.

A room service attendant, holding a tray with champagne on ice, stepped into the car. He did a double-take when he caught sight of Gee. “Mr. Glueskin, sir!” he exclaimed.

It was the boy who’d been taking canapés to the pumpkin head, Gee realized.

“Are you looking for that delicious guest you had with you?” The attendant leaned toward him and winked. “I saw her down here with a cat! Of course I didn’t try to catch her myself—I know she’s your special treat. Are you playing hide ’n’ seek to make it all the more exciting?”

Gee cleared his throat. Phlegm rattled, and he swallowed it down. “Yes, as a matter of fact.” He smiled with what he hoped looked like malicious anticipation. “I thought raising the stakes would make the capture so much more satisfying.”

“Very good, sir!” The boy nodded enthusiastically.

“But she seems to be a clever little mouse,” Gee complained. “I don’t suppose you could provide me with a little hint.”

“Oh, it would be so unsporting, sir, if I mentioned that I might have seen a mouse entering the Archives.” The attendant opened his eyes wide, affecting innocence, as he pointed down the long hallway.

“Ahhh,” Gee sighed. “One must be sporting, at all costs, in order to be a gentleman.” He punched the attendant’s free arm, hard enough to hurt. The bottle in the ice bucket clattered. “I do admire your integrity.” He winked. “I’ll be sure to reward you later.”

The attendant took a step back, his expression fearful and confused. “Thank you, sir?”

Gee strode confidently out of the elevator, when an idea flared inside him. He spun around to catch the edge of the closing door, forcing it to open once more. “One other thing,” he whispered.

“Yes?” The attendant instinctively tried to push himself deeper into the farthest corner.

Gee could see that the boy struggled to stop himself from raising his arm to protect his head. As if he expected Gee to strike him.

That someone could be so frightened of him. It was awful.

It was heady….

Gee cleared his throat. “Ilanna has become tedious. She has her charms, but I’ve grown tired of her antics. Have security escort her out of my suite. She is to have no further access to my quarters. See that this is dealt with, and you shall be….” Gee paused.

The room service boy held the tray with both hands in front of his chest so that the champagne partly blocked his face.

“Appreciated,” Gee said slowly.

“Of course, sir! Right away, sir!” the boy cried over-enthusiastically.

Gee released his hand and stepped back. The elevator doors slid shut.

A wide grin spread across his face.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.