Ashes (Web of Desire #3) - Aleatha Romig Page 0,48

one.”

Reid spoke, “When Allister died, we spent months scanning all the documents we uncovered in his inner sanctum. I know that’s where the information is. I’m pissed I can’t recall the location. With all that’s happened, I haven’t had the chance to search.”

It was ridiculous to think that Reid could recall folder and page of each bit of information, but that was what he could do. Usually.

I turned back to the computer keyboard. “I’ll start looking.” The clock in the corner of the screen read 5:15 a.m. “We have a few hours before breakfast and before Mrs. Sparrow will be ready to talk.”

“I can’t promise she’ll talk at all,” Sparrow said, “but we’ll pay her a visit.”

Mason stood. “I already have reports coming in from capos on 1. I’ll see you when Lorna rings.”

I accessed the various electronic files of scanned documents. There were literally hundreds of thousands of pages in PDF. We had the information; I just needed to find it.

Reid stood and walked my direction. Placing a small cell phone on the counter by the keyboard, he said, “Here.”

“What?”

“It’s for Madeline. We can’t have her stuck in the apartment with no way to contact others. I’ve disabled her real phone except for her pictures and phonebook, which I’ve copied. With this phone she can reach you, Ruby—Araneae gave Ruby a similar phone last night—and everyone else who lives here.”

Picking it up, I smiled. “Thank you.”

“Hey, we’re better at this than we were when Araneae arrived.”

“Practice makes perfect, right?”

Madeline

Over sixteen years ago

I woke with a groan as a shooting pain radiated from my lower back and my midsection grew painfully hard.

This couldn’t be a real contraction.

Maybe it was what the doctor had referred to as Braxton-Hicks, fake contractions that help the body prepare for birth.

My baby wasn’t due for four and a half weeks.

I rolled upon the soft bed, piling pillows beneath my enlarged stomach and praying to any being who would listen to keep my baby inside of me, safe and secure, until it was the right time. It was easy to believe that no one listened to prayers of people like me. After all, I’d spent four months in hell praying every day to be delivered. Then again, I survived and was no longer there. My baby also survived, so maybe it wasn’t that prayers went unheard but were just answered on a timetable beyond our understanding.

“This timetable isn’t negotiable,” I said aloud. “Please don’t let my baby come too early.”

Sleep came and went in waves. Each time, waking was precipitated by either pain or a combination of nausea with an excruciating pressure to use the bathroom.

It had been over a week since Andros had visited my room, and I hadn’t seen him since. Irina mentioned that he was out of town and even Tadeas let that information slip. Usually my tutor was tight-lipped when it came to Andros or the workings around us. He usually stayed on task, talking only about my studies. Of course, I didn’t tell either of them what had occurred the night Andros came to my suite.

What could I say? The man who purchased me came to collect.

The night Andros entered, I’d mistakenly assumed I was prepared for whatever he had planned. While it wasn’t the most horrific night of my life—I had too many to choose from—it wasn’t what I’d expected. I’d thought it would be the two of us, building up his positives in my head before his arrival. I never imagined he wouldn’t be the one to have sex with me. The man who bought me was apparently both manipulative and a voyeur.

Before Andros arrived, I’d heard him in the garden with another man. Since we weren’t formally introduced, I still didn’t know the other man’s name, but I assumed that the second man to arrive was the one from the garden. I didn’t recognize him and couldn’t understand most of what he said.

Instead of introduced, I was reminded.

“Is there anything you won’t do to stay with your child?”

Andros’s question brought back my pledge before the evening began.

My answer remained steadfast, and to that end, so did my compliance.

The realization that there was no bottom to the pit of my depravity had eaten away at me over the last week. While at the same time, I reminded myself that it was nearly a week ago and it hadn’t happened again. This wasn’t Miss Warner’s cell. There weren’t men upstairs selecting me from a menu of available pussy. This was