Chapter 54: Chapter 54

“My mom’s already unconscious when they let the soldiers drag her back to her room. She wakes up hours later to Jeremy, one of the soldiers, trying to give her a drink of water. She can barely manage to drink.

“She’s got a broken hand, she’s missing two fingers on her right hand, her back is drenched in blood. One of her ribs is broken, and her throat is raw from screaming.

“Her clothes are stained with blood, so Jeremy brings her a new shirt. He unshackles her and carefully helps her change out of the blood-soaked, torn shirt and into the new one.”

“After she’s had something to eat and drink, she falls asleep again. Jeremy leaves her unshackled.

“Hours later, he opens her door again to find her pacing. Her eyes are bloodshot, her good hand cradling her shattered one. She’s hurt, but she’s far from broken, something Jeremy can’t help but admire.

“He’s confused as he shackles her and guides her out of her cell, through the corridors and up to the Masters’ wing. It’s pitch-black outside, the dead of night.

“But, Master Eric had ordered him to bring her up to him. It’s something that Jeremy doesn’t want to think about. Something she had predicted. He wonders what else she said could be true.

“Master Eric opens his door wide for Jeremy to bring my mom in. Jeremy helps Eric place my mom on his bed, and when the Master orders him to, he fetches a medical supply bag.

“They set the bag on the bed, and Jeremy watches as Master Eric leans over the small woman and applies salve to the cuts on her back, to her broken rib, hand, and fingers.”

***

I stay quiet as Master Eric works on me. His salve is cool, soothing the burning cuts he gave me earlier. He applies bandages and binds my broken hand and rib. It hurts, but I won’t scream for him anymore.

“Do you see what a stupid situation you’ve put yourself in without me, Alexandra? Do you understand how stupid you’ve been?” he scolds.

I choose not to answer him. He seems happy enough listening to himself talk.

“Stupid, silly girl! If only you’d listened to me! And now all this. You’re covered in scars. Perfect skin shouldn’t be marred.”

“You’re the one who marred it,” I mumble.

“I was punishing you!” he corrects me. “Your actions have been deplorable.”

“I just wanted to get my daughter back.”

I can feel Eric’s fingers still against my back. He tightens the bandage. He seems to have forgotten about Jeremy still standing at the foot of his bed, watching us.

“Your obsession with that baby is ridiculous,” he snaps.

“She’s my daughter.”

“She’s Albion’s daughter. Just as much mine to take as she is yours.”

I almost flip over and punch him in the face. My body trembles with a rage I’ve never felt before at the thought of Eric anywhere near my daughter.

As I simmer in anger he continues berating me.

“You don’t have to make this so difficult. There’s no reason for this to continue.”

“I won’t tell you anything,” I say, though I’ve already told him countless times.

“You will, Alexandra,” he snaps darkly. “You will, or you’ll pay for it with your life. And I won’t be able to protect you this time!”

“This time?” I hear my voice squeak. “When have you ever protected me? You let Master Hector take me to his bed!”

Eric grabs my shoulders and spins me around so he’s leaning over me on the bed.

“You keep committing crimes!” he snarls.

“I keep trying to save people. You’re the one trying to kill everyone.”

“Watch your words, Alexandra,” he snarls. “You don’t want to get me angry. Do you enjoy humiliating me? My own woman running off to join the Resistance?”

He shakes his head furiously. “When I was so good to you. Caring for you. Letting you spend all your time with that baby.”

I stay quiet again as he applies the salve on the cuts I have on my arm. I watch him work. He’s extremely meticulous.

“Eric, why can’t you let me go?” I murmur. “Why can’t you forget about me? I’m not the same woman you kept locked up in your mansion. I can’t please you like I once did.”

Eric’s expression twists into a mask of rage.

“You are mine, Alexandra,” he growls. “Mine. Now and forever. I told you that. I promised you no other man would ever have you. You are mine, and only mine.”

I shake my head.

“No. No, I’m not. And I never was. I was always a part of Albion, a Mother of Albion. But I was never yours. In my heart, I always hated you.”

I watch the muscles twitch on his face. His dark eyes swivel to meet mine, his lips curling back in a deep scowl.

“You disrespectful whore!” he snarls. “I should teach you your manners again! Teach you your place again!”

He grabs the back of my neck and pulls me up to his face. His lips slam against mine, trying to force some movement. I bite down on his lip, hard, until I taste blood.

He lets out a hiss and pushes me away from him. “How dare you?” he seethes, wiping at the blood pooling from his lip.

I glare back at him.

“How dare you touch me? How dare you bring me up here? How dare you defy every rule you put into place? For me? For someone who loathes you? You are the fool, Eric. I will never want to be with you.”

I’m unstoppable now. My rage grows.

“You’ve never defeated your enemies because you don’t understand how they function. You’ve cut out human relations from Albion culture. You’ve dismissed love. Love isn’t ownership,” I snarl.

“Love is a weakness,” he growls, leaning over me again, both his hands by the side of my head.

I’m looking straight into his eyes. “Then explain how it made me so strong,” I challenge him. “It was love that drove me across this wasteland for Beth. It was love that led me into the arms of a good man.”

Suddenly, he lashes out, hitting me on the side of my face. I’m thrown back onto his pillow. He’s growling over me.

“I am your Master!” he hisses. “I am the one who saves you from the bombs, from the Foreigners! I am the one you honor in bed!”

“You are not that man,” I retort.

He strikes me across the face again, harder this time. He’s panting heavily above me.

“You will learn your place again, Alex,” he threatens. “Or you will die.”

“I’d rather burn at the stake a thousand times than sleep with you once more,” I snap back.

His eyes are filled with uncontrollable rage. “And here I thought I could save you from your fate. Stupid, stupid girl.”

He stands up and steps away from me. “I could end your life right now, and I’d be hailed as a hero,” he tells me.

“No, you want to make a spectacle of a Traitor. You will gather everyone to watch me burn.

“Let me be clear, Eric. I don’t want your help, your protection, your salves. You have nothing I could possibly want.

“I have the power now, Eric. I have the knowledge. I am the one to be feared now.”

“You are a prisoner sentenced to death. You have no power,” he corrects me.

“I am a woman you couldn’t control. I scare you more than you could ever scare me. Because if I could figure it out, if I could break free, that means all Perfect women can.

“And Perfect soldiers. If I could do it, so can they. And they will, Eric. This is the end of Albion. You have no idea how many people are against you. Tell me, Eric, are you ready to kill all Perfect women?”

He leans down, shoving his face close to mine. His breath is heavy on my face.

“Yes, I am,” he snarls.

“Then they’ll just have to stop you,” I retort.

“You know that man you speak of, Alex? The Japanese soldier. He’s dead. They’re all dead. We destroyed them. We stopped that little Asian invasion. There’s no one else out there for you.

“It’s over, Alex. This little rebellious spirit that got into you? Let it go, before it’s too late. You wouldn’t want to die for nothing. Not when you can still give Albion more babies.”

My heart is pounding in my chest. My breaths are short, but I try to keep my emotions in check. I won’t let him see how scared I am.

“Like I said earlier,” I say, lifting my chin. “Do your worst.”

“Take her away. No food for three days,” Eric orders Jeremy, who quickly moves to grab me. I wince as he pulls me to my feet, his arms wrapping around my back to steady me.

“I’ll see you soon, Alex,” I hear Eric chuckle before Jeremy leads me out of his room.

Jeremy doesn’t say a word as he bends down and grabs my legs. He lifts me up into his arms suddenly, holding me against his chest. Then, without a word, he carries me back to my cell.

Once we’re inside, he sets me down gently, closes the door behind him, and makes sure I have water. Then he looks me over slowly.

“Why did you provoke him so much?” he asks. “He will only keep hurting you.”

I lift my chin and meet his gaze.

“Because if I don’t, no one will,” I reply. Then I give him a small smile. “And because it feels good to finally stand up to him.”

Jeremy doesn’t seem impressed. He purses his lips.

“They can really hurt you.”

“I meant what I said in there, Jeremy. I’d rather die than surrender to him and his bed again.”

“I can’t decide whether you are a fool or brave.”

“Probably a bit of both.” I chuckle.

“Good night, Alex,” he says, slipping out of the cell.

He leaves me unshackled.