Aeromancist (Seven Forbidden Arts 3)

When he reached for her, she had a hard time to stay put, not certain what they had planned for her, but the man only took her hand and gave her a smile that made drool run down the side of his mouth.

“Nicolasj,” he said.

He spoke with difficulty, and it took her a moment to figure out what he’d said. Nicolas. His name was Nicolas.

“Kat,” she said, returning his handshake.

“I’m Gerda,” the woman said.

Kat turned her attention to the blond woman. She was short and delicate, and her accent sounded German.

“Gerda is going to administer the treatment,” Adam said. “She’s a doctor, one of the best, so you needn’t worry.”

In contrast to this morning’s harsh deliverance, his soothing words confused her.

Gerda conducted all the checks Eve used to run while Nicolas seemed content to hover in the background, eagerly taking in Gerda’s actions. Kat wanted to ask what his role was, but after Adam’s warning that morning, she let it slide. She’d bide her time. In five months’ time, one could learn a lot.

Nicolas hobbled forward when Gerda took a vial from a refrigerator and filled a hypodermic needle. He took the needle and held it to the light. Whatever he’d checked, he seemed content, because he handed it back to Gerda.

“I’m going to inject you with an antiserum that will start preparing your body for the birth,” Gerda said.

Nervousness overcame Kat. “This has never been done before, right?”

Gerda gave a tight nod.

“So we don’t know if it’s going to work or not, or if it will have any ill effects on the baby.”

Gerda pursed her lips and glanced at Adam, but Nicolas stepped forward and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Looking closer, she noticed the self-assurance in his eyes. The message he gave her was one of confidence and hope. It was so unexpected that it immobilized her for a second, and Gerda made use of the moment to push the needle into her arm. Kat flinched. Nicolas stared at the emptying syringe with another emotion Kat could clearly identify. Pride.

“We’re done,” Adam said.

Kat looked between the three people. She itched to know how they connected to Godfrey, and what their relationship was to each other, but she kept her questions to herself and followed Adam back to her room. Once inside, he turned up the AC.

“How do you feel?” he asked with so much warmth she almost believed he cared.

“Vanessa said I could call home once a week,” she started uncertainly. She wanted to ask when she could speak to Lann.

“About that.”

His smile was grim, but she had a feeling it was all show.

“We’ve decided to change that allowance,” he said.

He could’ve just as well punched her in the stomach. “You’re not going to let me speak to him, are you?”

He eyed her with sympathy, which was no doubt false. “No, angel.”

“Vanessa promised,” she whispered.

“Oh, he’ll know you’re fine. We’re sending him a five-minute video feed every week.”

“The cameras?” she asked, glancing at the ceiling.

He nodded, watching her like a shark assessing his meal. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of going to pieces in front of him. She wouldn’t let him see her pain or anguish.

“Are you all right?” he asked, a smirk back on his face.

She bit her lip to prevent herself from crying, but his clever eyes took everything in. He studied her as if she were an interesting science project, which to them, she was.

His tone was smug. “Was there anything you wanted to ask me?”

“May I have a watch?”

He arched an eyebrow.

“Please,” she added.

“Of course. And?”

He was good at reading her. She needed to remember that, and make herself less of an open book. “Can I continue with my studies? The thesis I’m working on—”

“Has been cancelled.”

She gasped. “What?”

“Naturally, we cancelled the scholarship, seeing you don’t need it any longer. We’ve already informed Charles.”

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but the news disappointed her. Adam took in her expression with a strange glint in his eyes. The realization came with a shock. He enjoyed hurting her. He was an emotional sadist. Every time he shared a morsel of bad news, he drank in her reaction and enjoyed her pain. The bastard got off on it. The knowledge made her lift her chin.

A smile spread across his face, his eyes lighting up with knowledge. He knew she was onto him, and he understood the bravery was all act.

Gripping her chin between his fingers, he said, “Such a brave little girl. Vanessa was wrong about you.”

His touch alarmed her. She pulled away, trying to look defiant instead of scared. “About what?”

“You’re not doing this for yourself. You’re doing it for him.”

Despite her resolution, she couldn’t help the truth from showing. For all her effort to give him nothing but an expressionless slate, her love for Lann was the one thing she couldn’t hide.